User blog comment:Rupert Giles/Global Navigation Update/@comment-5762645-20141203221115/@comment-25035274-20141203224706

Well, you're certainly getting plenty of criticism, both constructive and... not-so-constructive.

Frankly, I've seen numerous suggestions that could improve it. First and foremost, it should be able to be matched to wiki color schemes. By that, I do not mean that each individual user should be forced to go into their wiki settings and edit css somewhere to force it to match one specific wiki. I mean that either Wikia should have a built-in function that automatically adjusts it to match whatever wiki you're on presently, or the owners of the wikis should be able to at least set specific settings for the bar on their wiki. Remember that user-friendliness is a hallmark of elegant design.

Secondly, the bar needs to be slimmer. It takes up too much real-estate, as is. On medium to large screens at fairly high resolutions it's an unwelcome distraction, so I'd imagine that on smaller screens it might come uncomfortably close to making things borderline unusable.

Thirdly, either the bar needs to auto-hide (which would also make the first two suggestions far less necessary), or at minimum it needs to sit firmly at the top of the article, and not follow you around like an attention seeking puppy. Of those two suggestions, I'd prefer the auto-hide personally, as that would still allow your organization to maintain that "Unified Look", rather "Branding", that you guys have been on about.

As-is, it is an eyesore. It is damaging to the visual appeal of many wikis. And for some users, it is quite possible that it actively hampers usability on some mobile devices due to the amount of space it takes up (as I use a laptop rather than a smartphone, I can't verify this, admittedly), and that's something no web designer should ever do.

I understand that you ladies and gents are going for a "unified look", which again is to say "branding", but Wikia is not unified at the end-user side of things. It is a vast collection of many widely varied wikis with many widely varied designs, appearances, and sensibilities. This "one-size-fits-all" style of branding does not work well in such a setting, because one size does not, in fact, fit all.

Failing all of these suggestions, and you opt to leave it exactly as is? Then you may as well remove the ability to customize wiki appearances all together, as (yet again) many (possibly most, I can't speak with authority on that) wikis use themes that do not mesh with this bar in its present state at all.

And as a pre-emptive strike against anyone who might pop up to say, "Psssshhhhhh. No one cares how it looks," I respond with a resounding, "Wrong. An unappealing design can actively damage a product's brand."