4 ms·

Show HN: Chrome extension for less confusing Digital Ocean menus

48 points by naicuoctavian 10y ago

brassattax 10y ago
This is interesting, thanks for sharing. I hope this doesn't sound critical (because I like when people make a change for the better and share it), but before doing this, did you provide feedback to DigitalOcean regarding their menus? If so, did they respond? Seems odd to me to create a Chrome Extension to change what would probably be a pretty minor change on DO's end for everyone's benefit.
- Operyl 10y ago
  Digital Ocean, for as long as they've been around, have been rather finicky with regards to any third party suggestions. So, while I'm unsure of how the OP talked to them, I know I've had troubles in the past.
  - roflc0ptic 10y ago
    I have a friend who worked at DO several years ago and said the company culture was really dysfunctional. Really hard to get features out, bad organization. From what he said, I could imagine them not being responsive simply because they couldn't be. Again, this was years ago - no commentary on DO 2017. I still use them for all of my personal projects.
- naiyt 10y ago
  Hm, "simple changes" are almost never simple. To get it done, the following would likely need to happen: Project managers would need to write a proposal and use cases. UX/design would need to meet and make wireframes and mocks. Engineers would need to nail down the technical design. The time and costs would have to be approved by management. They'd likely end up discussing the change with their biggest clients to make sure it doesn't interrupt their work flow. Eventually the engineers will be able to write a bit of code to make the change -- at which point QA will get their hands on it when they finally have time. This is why suggestions like that are typically "put on the roadmap" with little likelihood of actually happening.
  - naicuoctavian 10y ago
    That's pretty much how it works in bigger companies.
  - vlunkr 10y ago
    I think it depends on what type of company DO is. It's renaming one link and moving two others, there's really no need to additional wireframes etc. (This extension did that part for them)
  - ryanq_do 10y ago
    This is true to a degree at DO though these changes to language and positioning aren't quite so large to require everything you listed. We rolled out the copy change a few minutes ago to change "Notifications" to "Email Subscriptions" as suggested.
    - notwhoyouthink 10y ago
      I wonder if this change breaks the extension, ha. I can appreciate the flexibility you're offered even with the A-list clientele you have. In a world of "move fast and break things" I've re-worked that into my own mantra of "move fast and make things better." In fintech we can't afford -- both figuratively and literally -- to break things, but you still have to allow your teams to take a crazy "bar napkin" idea and run with it without a bunch of red tape or you lose the competitive edge that makes you stand out. Now changing the wording on a link isn't a crazy bar napkin idea, but it still demonstrates the flexibility you're afforded to make things better and I see a lot of value in that.
- naicuoctavian 10y ago
  I actually did open a ticket. Their support suggested I post on their UserVoice ( http://do.co/uservoice http://do.co/uservoice ) which I did and sent them the links. They've then passed the links "along to our control panel team so that they are aware". I work in a similar software company and I know how much time it takes from an idea coming through to support > product managers > UI > implementation > QA > rolling out to production so I just built the extension myself.
  - ryanq_do 10y ago
    This is great. Our teams here at DO took a look at the changes you implemented in the extension and while there is a process to things and we're looking at the other changes you implemented, the idea to change "Notifications" to "Email Subscriptions" in settings was an easy one to implement, so we did. This change went live a few minutes ago. Thanks for your great work on this and I hope that our change hasn't done anything to break your extension.
    - naicuoctavian 10y ago
      Wow, that was fast. Thanks DO :)! Hope you can make the other changes too in the future. Change does not break extension.
- zulln 10y ago
  To be fair is a plugin like this quite good to have when suggesting ideas. Just describing them does not take you as far.
relics443 10y ago
I wonder how often a Chrome extension had to led to a feature implementation or bug fix?
JangoSteve 10y ago
I'd also rename Droplets => Servers or Instances, and add a link for actual Notifications.
- geoffmcc 10y ago
  As far as renaming droplets to servers or instances- i don't think that will ever happen. Calling them droplets is basically (whats the word im looking for here) their brand/marketing term.
  - JangoSteve 10y ago
    Exactly. That's why I'd do it in the extension.
overcast 10y ago
Out of all of the virtual hosts, I would have pinned Digital Ocean's to be the most simple to navigate.
- robzyb 10y ago
  My opinion: It's structure is simple, but that doesn't preclude it from being confusing. For example, where do you go to see a list of your volumes (virtual block storage, like EBS)? Well you click on the "Droplets" button which shows you a list of Droplets (instances). Personally, I would've rathered that they rename "Image" to "Storage" and put both images and volumes under that.
  - naicuoctavian 10y ago
    Similarly their new "Monitoring BETA" product/section is just a confusing name for Alerts.
- therealmarv 10y ago
  totally agree. Try to manage servers on any competitor. Never seen a better UI/UX than on DO. Nevertheless interesting extension.
fiatjaf 10y ago
Why not a Greasemonkey / Tampermonkey script?
xur17 10y ago
I would love (and pay for) something like this for aws. Their website is a mess.
chrisallick 10y ago
Wow. So cool. I love offering a solution that could ultimate inform a change in their product in the form of a Chrome Extension. In principle, however, I am not comfortable giving over control of a site that has financial information, and thus potential financial ramifications, to a chrome extension. To echo other comments. If you made this for AWS though, id have no choice but to adopt. That site is too fucked not to accept any solution to clean it up
nicostouch 10y ago
Awesome work. I actually built a chrome extension yesterday to fix the log work experience in JIRA because of its horrible ＵＸ. Funny to see someone else with a desire to hack together a chrome extension to get the experience they want. DO even implemented a change in response! Thats just awesome. Their UX is pretty decent IMO but it does miss the mark in some areas. Its funny working in software we know how painful it can be to get changes like that all the way into production, yet isnt it amazing the speed at which you can move when you are free from any constraints and dont have to worry about any backend stuff or frameworks... just bolt something on the front and boom.

48 points by naicuoctavian 10y ago

This is interesting, thanks for sharing. I hope this doesn't sound critical (because I like when people make a change for the better and share it), but before doing this, did you provide feedback to DigitalOcean regarding their menus? If so, did they respond? Seems odd to me to create a Chrome Extension to change what would probably be a pretty minor change on DO's end for everyone's benefit.

Operyl 10y ago
Digital Ocean, for as long as they've been around, have been rather finicky with regards to any third party suggestions. So, while I'm unsure of how the OP talked to them, I know I've had troubles in the past.
- roflc0ptic 10y ago
  I have a friend who worked at DO several years ago and said the company culture was really dysfunctional. Really hard to get features out, bad organization. From what he said, I could imagine them not being responsive simply because they couldn't be. Again, this was years ago - no commentary on DO 2017. I still use them for all of my personal projects.
naiyt 10y ago
Hm, "simple changes" are almost never simple. To get it done, the following would likely need to happen: Project managers would need to write a proposal and use cases. UX/design would need to meet and make wireframes and mocks. Engineers would need to nail down the technical design. The time and costs would have to be approved by management. They'd likely end up discussing the change with their biggest clients to make sure it doesn't interrupt their work flow. Eventually the engineers will be able to write a bit of code to make the change -- at which point QA will get their hands on it when they finally have time. This is why suggestions like that are typically "put on the roadmap" with little likelihood of actually happening.
- naicuoctavian 10y ago
  That's pretty much how it works in bigger companies.
- vlunkr 10y ago
  I think it depends on what type of company DO is. It's renaming one link and moving two others, there's really no need to additional wireframes etc. (This extension did that part for them)
- ryanq_do 10y ago
  This is true to a degree at DO though these changes to language and positioning aren't quite so large to require everything you listed. We rolled out the copy change a few minutes ago to change "Notifications" to "Email Subscriptions" as suggested.
  - notwhoyouthink 10y ago
    I wonder if this change breaks the extension, ha. I can appreciate the flexibility you're offered even with the A-list clientele you have. In a world of "move fast and break things" I've re-worked that into my own mantra of "move fast and make things better." In fintech we can't afford -- both figuratively and literally -- to break things, but you still have to allow your teams to take a crazy "bar napkin" idea and run with it without a bunch of red tape or you lose the competitive edge that makes you stand out. Now changing the wording on a link isn't a crazy bar napkin idea, but it still demonstrates the flexibility you're afforded to make things better and I see a lot of value in that.
naicuoctavian 10y ago
I actually did open a ticket. Their support suggested I post on their UserVoice ( http://do.co/uservoice http://do.co/uservoice ) which I did and sent them the links. They've then passed the links "along to our control panel team so that they are aware". I work in a similar software company and I know how much time it takes from an idea coming through to support > product managers > UI > implementation > QA > rolling out to production so I just built the extension myself.
- ryanq_do 10y ago
  This is great. Our teams here at DO took a look at the changes you implemented in the extension and while there is a process to things and we're looking at the other changes you implemented, the idea to change "Notifications" to "Email Subscriptions" in settings was an easy one to implement, so we did. This change went live a few minutes ago. Thanks for your great work on this and I hope that our change hasn't done anything to break your extension.
  - naicuoctavian 10y ago
    Wow, that was fast. Thanks DO :)! Hope you can make the other changes too in the future. Change does not break extension.
zulln 10y ago
To be fair is a plugin like this quite good to have when suggesting ideas. Just describing them does not take you as far.

relics443 10y ago

I wonder how often a Chrome extension had to led to a feature implementation or bug fix?

JangoSteve 10y ago

I'd also rename Droplets => Servers or Instances, and add a link for actual Notifications.

geoffmcc 10y ago
As far as renaming droplets to servers or instances- i don't think that will ever happen. Calling them droplets is basically (whats the word im looking for here) their brand/marketing term.
- JangoSteve 10y ago
  Exactly. That's why I'd do it in the extension.

overcast 10y ago

Out of all of the virtual hosts, I would have pinned Digital Ocean's to be the most simple to navigate.

robzyb 10y ago
My opinion: It's structure is simple, but that doesn't preclude it from being confusing. For example, where do you go to see a list of your volumes (virtual block storage, like EBS)? Well you click on the "Droplets" button which shows you a list of Droplets (instances). Personally, I would've rathered that they rename "Image" to "Storage" and put both images and volumes under that.
- naicuoctavian 10y ago
  Similarly their new "Monitoring BETA" product/section is just a confusing name for Alerts.
therealmarv 10y ago
totally agree. Try to manage servers on any competitor. Never seen a better UI/UX than on DO. Nevertheless interesting extension.

fiatjaf 10y ago

Why not a Greasemonkey / Tampermonkey script?

xur17 10y ago

I would love (and pay for) something like this for aws. Their website is a mess.

chrisallick 10y ago

Wow. So cool. I love offering a solution that could ultimate inform a change in their product in the form of a Chrome Extension. In principle, however, I am not comfortable giving over control of a site that has financial information, and thus potential financial ramifications, to a chrome extension. To echo other comments. If you made this for AWS though, id have no choice but to adopt. That site is too fucked not to accept any solution to clean it up

nicostouch 10y ago

Awesome work. I actually built a chrome extension yesterday to fix the log work experience in JIRA because of its horrible ＵＸ. Funny to see someone else with a desire to hack together a chrome extension to get the experience they want. DO even implemented a change in response! Thats just awesome. Their UX is pretty decent IMO but it does miss the mark in some areas. Its funny working in software we know how painful it can be to get changes like that all the way into production, yet isnt it amazing the speed at which you can move when you are free from any constraints and dont have to worry about any backend stuff or frameworks... just bolt something on the front and boom.