7 ms·

Visually pretty, but the grid is completely non-functional. I don't know where to start looking to get at the information I go to Facebook to find. The other pa

by Firehed 14y ago

Visually pretty, but the grid is completely non-functional. I don't know where to start looking to get at the information I go to Facebook to find. The other pages look better, but still seem to be a summation of current design trends rather than any sort of innovative new way to display the information (which is fine, but not interesting to me). I also agree that it looks a lot nicer because of the high-end stock photos. Edit: scrolling down further, there are some other UI refreshes that I do think improve the experience overall - the calendar and photo album views stood out to me. But I think it's important to use ugly people with weird names in your designs to gauge how it will actually look in production! The dark theme on pages, for example, looks very clean with Apple and Adobe as featured, but I imagine will look pretty dreary to stare at all day.

feverishaaron 14y ago
>> but still seem to be a summation of current design trends rather than any sort of innovative new way to display the information >> I also agree that it looks a lot nicer because of the high-end stock photos. Exactly. This looks like a first-year design school project for these, and so many other reasons. This design would fall apart without visually simple photography that tailor fits to the grid. The right way to approach a redesign would be to collect an aggregate of typical facebook photos, and use them as examples.
- csel 14y ago
  Plus, in order to get the real facebook visual representation, try adding post from gaming companies, internet memes and random photos from articles.
brianfryer 14y ago
> Visually pretty, but the grid is completely non-functional Came here to say this. "Eye candy" != easy to use.
- mrharrison 14y ago
  So pinterest is a fail?
  - Firehed 14y ago
    Not inherently; this is just another example of "correlation is not causation". There are plenty of ugly things/websites easy to use, and pretty things that are hard to use. There are also plenty of pretty things easy to use, and ugly things hard to use.
  - devcpp 14y ago
    "!=" as "non-identical sets", not "mutually exclusive sets". This is generally the expected behavior of the "!=" operator in sets.
    - brianfryer 14y ago
      Thanks, devcpp. This is exactly what I meant.
  - oxide 14y ago
    Nice logical fallacy.
    - TeMPOraL 14y ago
      It's not a logical fallacy. People complain about 2-column layout of timeline and 2+-column layout of this "new look", because they have too many columns to follow at the same time, while I have yet to see anyone complaining about 5+-column layout of Pinterest.
      - pessimizer 14y ago
        It's also a logical fallacy to argue against "people" instead of bryanfryer, who said nothing of the sort.
      - bengillies 14y ago
deusebio 14y ago
Exactly. I do like the visual updates but I think the focus wasn't on making it a better experience.
- deusebio 14y ago
  Although, the effort should be applauded none the less. While I don't agree with the execution, it doesn't mean someone shouldn't get any credit for the endeavor.
functionspace 14y ago
True that. It's information architecture fail!
risratorn 14y ago
I always thought the timeline was the worst thing that could happen to the your profile usability wise ... I was just proven wrong.
- newhouseb 14y ago
  What were your issues with timeline usability wise? I think it's great, so genuinely curious.
  - mnicole 14y ago
    As someone that stopped using Facebook shortly after they rolled out the Timeline (ironically after I spent hours setting mine up in Developer mode), I have completely missed posts someone made on my wall, only to have to reply with an apology weeks to months later when I was more thorough. I think my 'timeline' should be representative of photos I've uploaded, posts I've made that I want to highlight and events I went to. My 'wall' should be a straight-forward top-to-bottom feed of stuff I've posted and stuff people are sharing with me.
    - k-mcgrady 14y ago
      Maybe it's the way I've got my Facebook setup but I always get a notification on Facebook when someone posts to my wall, so there is no chance of missing it.
      - Jhsto 14y ago
        For an example, if you are on groups or many people wish you happy birthday, it is very easy to miss a lot of updates. I missed about fifth of them last year and even several distinct posts, which happened to occur same day as I got many notifications.
      - mnicole 14y ago
        I've missed them even with this on, simply because I also wade through/ignore a lot of other notification emails from Facebook (birthdays, events) or just don't check my email during travel/vacation. I've also seen the email, gone to the site and thought the person deleted it before I found it. I'm fine blaming some of this on user error, but I still think it's bad design.
wildmXranat 14y ago
>But I think it's important to use ugly people with weird names in your designs to gauge how it will actually look in production! I .. I'm not sure if you're serious, but that is either smart, insulting or both. It's true that cleavage and nice smiles were there, but noting it as a non-production look, - that's a bit bleak. The design looks great. I can't wait to hear my friends opinions as I don't use Facebook on regular basis.
- jmduke 14y ago
  My friends aren't overwhelmingly ugly, but they certainly don't take production-quality pictures. Judging a social app's beauty by the stock photos is like judging the fit of a shirt by how it looks on the model.
  - catshirt 14y ago
    this is not a fair analogy. if a model chooses to wear a shirt that fit poorly, then you are allowed to question the model's ability to dress themselves. likewise, if Facebook chooses to saturate their pages with images they know are generally poorly shot, you are allowed to question Facebook's ability to dress itself.
    - cookiecaper 14y ago
      but facebook doesn't choose what photos get uploaded. They simply provide the platform for it and the content is up to the users. Most users take photos with camera phones, not DSLRs.
      - anthemcg 14y ago
        But to be fair, when you present your designs for the consideration of stock holders ( which this probably is) its important to make it look its best and since Facebook users technically can upload awesome DSLR style photos and it makes the design look far better, I forgive him and understand that this kind of presentation is more nessesary than really representing what it will look like.
ricardobeat 14y ago
Exactly my thoughts. It's funny it ends with "lets focus on a functional and engaging user experience" - that's exactly what Facebook does right now. In terms of graphic design, it's a huge improvement, not so for usability/ux. The timeline is chaotic. Small type. Navigation/content areas undefined, too much layering.
huskyr 14y ago
http://informationarchitects.net/blog/ias-2006-facebook-designs-redesigned/ http://informationarchitects.net/blog/ias-2006-facebook-desi... Here's an earlier (2006!) redesign by Information Architects (iA). I think this is a lot cleaner and solves the information overload problem better.
- christensen_emc 14y ago
  Now this is awesome. No room for ads though, so I doubt anything like it will ever happen.
  - pabloPXL 14y ago
    Right column, top.
mromanuk 14y ago
totally agree, this has nothing to do with the function of facebook. The designers should follow more Dieter Rams 10 principle and less Design trends :)
methodin 14y ago
Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I never go to facebook to find specific information, it's more of just a perusal of crap to waste time. In the regard I believe a grid would be an adequate design to move to as it's more apt to visually scanning items which is typically what I do now. The only caveat I can see is that items in a straight line lend the eye to snapping back to the original position. Not sure if a staggered setup would fix that issue or if slight archs would help.
lominming 14y ago
I agree that with the grid view, you have no idea where to look at. The calendar view also stood out.
JungleGymSam 14y ago
You go to Facebook to find information?
davecyen 14y ago
This navigation and grid layout looks ironically similar to the new and redesigned MySpace. When screenshots of the new MySpace were first revealed, there was lots of hype and praise for the new and aesthetically sharp designs. But now that users are able to access and use the product, haven't heard much more besides the usability being poor and product being an example of feature overkill. I would predict a similar result if Facebook were to implement this
johnny_reilly 14y ago
"I think it's important to use ugly people with weird names in your designs to gauge how it will actually look in production" Both funny to read and true as well!

by Firehed 14y ago

feverishaaron 14y ago

>> but still seem to be a summation of current design trends rather than any sort of innovative new way to display the information >> I also agree that it looks a lot nicer because of the high-end stock photos. Exactly. This looks like a first-year design school project for these, and so many other reasons. This design would fall apart without visually simple photography that tailor fits to the grid. The right way to approach a redesign would be to collect an aggregate of typical facebook photos, and use them as examples.

csel 14y ago
Plus, in order to get the real facebook visual representation, try adding post from gaming companies, internet memes and random photos from articles.

brianfryer 14y ago

> Visually pretty, but the grid is completely non-functional Came here to say this. "Eye candy" != easy to use.

mrharrison 14y ago
So pinterest is a fail?
- Firehed 14y ago
  Not inherently; this is just another example of "correlation is not causation". There are plenty of ugly things/websites easy to use, and pretty things that are hard to use. There are also plenty of pretty things easy to use, and ugly things hard to use.
- devcpp 14y ago
  "!=" as "non-identical sets", not "mutually exclusive sets". This is generally the expected behavior of the "!=" operator in sets.
  - brianfryer 14y ago
    Thanks, devcpp. This is exactly what I meant.
- oxide 14y ago
  Nice logical fallacy.
  - TeMPOraL 14y ago
    It's not a logical fallacy. People complain about 2-column layout of timeline and 2+-column layout of this "new look", because they have too many columns to follow at the same time, while I have yet to see anyone complaining about 5+-column layout of Pinterest.
    - pessimizer 14y ago
      It's also a logical fallacy to argue against "people" instead of bryanfryer, who said nothing of the sort.
    - bengillies 14y ago

deusebio 14y ago

Exactly. I do like the visual updates but I think the focus wasn't on making it a better experience.

deusebio 14y ago
Although, the effort should be applauded none the less. While I don't agree with the execution, it doesn't mean someone shouldn't get any credit for the endeavor.

functionspace 14y ago

True that. It's information architecture fail!

risratorn 14y ago

I always thought the timeline was the worst thing that could happen to the your profile usability wise ... I was just proven wrong.

newhouseb 14y ago
What were your issues with timeline usability wise? I think it's great, so genuinely curious.
- mnicole 14y ago
  As someone that stopped using Facebook shortly after they rolled out the Timeline (ironically after I spent hours setting mine up in Developer mode), I have completely missed posts someone made on my wall, only to have to reply with an apology weeks to months later when I was more thorough. I think my 'timeline' should be representative of photos I've uploaded, posts I've made that I want to highlight and events I went to. My 'wall' should be a straight-forward top-to-bottom feed of stuff I've posted and stuff people are sharing with me.
  - k-mcgrady 14y ago
    Maybe it's the way I've got my Facebook setup but I always get a notification on Facebook when someone posts to my wall, so there is no chance of missing it.
    - Jhsto 14y ago
      For an example, if you are on groups or many people wish you happy birthday, it is very easy to miss a lot of updates. I missed about fifth of them last year and even several distinct posts, which happened to occur same day as I got many notifications.
    - mnicole 14y ago
      I've missed them even with this on, simply because I also wade through/ignore a lot of other notification emails from Facebook (birthdays, events) or just don't check my email during travel/vacation. I've also seen the email, gone to the site and thought the person deleted it before I found it. I'm fine blaming some of this on user error, but I still think it's bad design.

wildmXranat 14y ago

>But I think it's important to use ugly people with weird names in your designs to gauge how it will actually look in production! I .. I'm not sure if you're serious, but that is either smart, insulting or both. It's true that cleavage and nice smiles were there, but noting it as a non-production look, - that's a bit bleak. The design looks great. I can't wait to hear my friends opinions as I don't use Facebook on regular basis.

jmduke 14y ago
My friends aren't overwhelmingly ugly, but they certainly don't take production-quality pictures. Judging a social app's beauty by the stock photos is like judging the fit of a shirt by how it looks on the model.
- catshirt 14y ago
  this is not a fair analogy. if a model chooses to wear a shirt that fit poorly, then you are allowed to question the model's ability to dress themselves. likewise, if Facebook chooses to saturate their pages with images they know are generally poorly shot, you are allowed to question Facebook's ability to dress itself.
  - cookiecaper 14y ago
    but facebook doesn't choose what photos get uploaded. They simply provide the platform for it and the content is up to the users. Most users take photos with camera phones, not DSLRs.
    - anthemcg 14y ago
      But to be fair, when you present your designs for the consideration of stock holders ( which this probably is) its important to make it look its best and since Facebook users technically can upload awesome DSLR style photos and it makes the design look far better, I forgive him and understand that this kind of presentation is more nessesary than really representing what it will look like.

ricardobeat 14y ago

Exactly my thoughts. It's funny it ends with "lets focus on a functional and engaging user experience" - that's exactly what Facebook does right now. In terms of graphic design, it's a huge improvement, not so for usability/ux. The timeline is chaotic. Small type. Navigation/content areas undefined, too much layering.

huskyr 14y ago

http://informationarchitects.net/blog/ias-2006-facebook-designs-redesigned/ http://informationarchitects.net/blog/ias-2006-facebook-desi... Here's an earlier (2006!) redesign by Information Architects (iA). I think this is a lot cleaner and solves the information overload problem better.

christensen_emc 14y ago
Now this is awesome. No room for ads though, so I doubt anything like it will ever happen.
- pabloPXL 14y ago
  Right column, top.

mromanuk 14y ago

totally agree, this has nothing to do with the function of facebook. The designers should follow more Dieter Rams 10 principle and less Design trends :)

methodin 14y ago

Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I never go to facebook to find specific information, it's more of just a perusal of crap to waste time. In the regard I believe a grid would be an adequate design to move to as it's more apt to visually scanning items which is typically what I do now. The only caveat I can see is that items in a straight line lend the eye to snapping back to the original position. Not sure if a staggered setup would fix that issue or if slight archs would help.

lominming 14y ago

I agree that with the grid view, you have no idea where to look at. The calendar view also stood out.

JungleGymSam 14y ago

You go to Facebook to find information?

davecyen 14y ago

This navigation and grid layout looks ironically similar to the new and redesigned MySpace. When screenshots of the new MySpace were first revealed, there was lots of hype and praise for the new and aesthetically sharp designs. But now that users are able to access and use the product, haven't heard much more besides the usability being poor and product being an example of feature overkill. I would predict a similar result if Facebook were to implement this

johnny_reilly 14y ago

"I think it's important to use ugly people with weird names in your designs to gauge how it will actually look in production" Both funny to read and true as well!