6 ms·

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.
- jmduke 14y ago
  Not the above user, but the two column format was definitely jarring. I've since then gotten used to it -- and grown to appreciate it -- but it definitely took a lot of adjusting.
- bensw 14y ago
  The information being broken into two columns is quite annoying; it's like searching for an item in a supermarket looking on both sides of the aisle
- progrock 14y ago
  There feels like two Facebook designs, the timeline, and other user pages. I hate the timeline, as I can't track two columns, and probably wouldn't like a grid also for the same reason. I logged in to Facebook a minute a go just out of curiousity, and struggle to actually find my homepage, first I get badgered by Facebook, I then accidentally stumble upon my Timeline (which I hate), I then click the Facebook logo to go to a homepage, which happens to be a feed - or rather what I deem my own homepage. Confused! And it happens every time.
- pbreit 14y ago
  Scanning two columns is not easy at all. The right column has some fixed elements but it also has regular newsfeed elements scattered around. It's really a terrible design.
  - acchow 14y ago
    Agreed. I'm kind of surprised the linked prototype didn't pick up on this. "Two columns is hard to follow. Let's do 3!"
- DanBC 14y ago
  Not so much the timeline, but the constantly changing "Sort:[most recent / top stories]" setting is frustrating. I really only ever want that to be on most recent. My other problem with Facebook interface is that I just don't know where to go to "do stuff" - eg: if I want to unlike a company page. There's a bunch of little icons in the top blue bar (10 clickable things in that bar), and then there is the list down the LHS, and the almost hidden follow / report this post button. I do like the fact that it's being refined; I notice the occasional difference. And the new privacy announcements were clear enough. I guess I don't use FB like most people use FB. I only have less than 50 friends and I don't like a bunch of products or companies.
- risratorn 14y ago
  The fact that it's not easily scannable, when looking at someone's profile I'd much rather prefer it to be a top-to-bottom list of updates (status, photos, video's, likes, ...) instead of a timeline with boxes scattered left and right mixed with other nonsense like places, friends, ... As an archive it's great, you can exactly see what someone liked/posted in previous months, but it's not a feed, and that's what I would like someone's profile to be, a feed of his activity.
- TeMPOraL 14y ago
  Everyone points out two-column layout as problematic to read. I however don't have any issue with it. It's not in any way more difficult for me to scan, and it also looks aesthetically appealing (sans photo cropping errors from time to time). Recent popularity of Pinterest (5+ columns) would suggest that it's also a non-issue for many people.

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.
jmduke 14y ago
Not the above user, but the two column format was definitely jarring. I've since then gotten used to it -- and grown to appreciate it -- but it definitely took a lot of adjusting.
bensw 14y ago
The information being broken into two columns is quite annoying; it's like searching for an item in a supermarket looking on both sides of the aisle
progrock 14y ago
There feels like two Facebook designs, the timeline, and other user pages. I hate the timeline, as I can't track two columns, and probably wouldn't like a grid also for the same reason. I logged in to Facebook a minute a go just out of curiousity, and struggle to actually find my homepage, first I get badgered by Facebook, I then accidentally stumble upon my Timeline (which I hate), I then click the Facebook logo to go to a homepage, which happens to be a feed - or rather what I deem my own homepage. Confused! And it happens every time.
pbreit 14y ago
Scanning two columns is not easy at all. The right column has some fixed elements but it also has regular newsfeed elements scattered around. It's really a terrible design.
- acchow 14y ago
  Agreed. I'm kind of surprised the linked prototype didn't pick up on this. "Two columns is hard to follow. Let's do 3!"
DanBC 14y ago
Not so much the timeline, but the constantly changing "Sort:[most recent / top stories]" setting is frustrating. I really only ever want that to be on most recent. My other problem with Facebook interface is that I just don't know where to go to "do stuff" - eg: if I want to unlike a company page. There's a bunch of little icons in the top blue bar (10 clickable things in that bar), and then there is the list down the LHS, and the almost hidden follow / report this post button. I do like the fact that it's being refined; I notice the occasional difference. And the new privacy announcements were clear enough. I guess I don't use FB like most people use FB. I only have less than 50 friends and I don't like a bunch of products or companies.
risratorn 14y ago
The fact that it's not easily scannable, when looking at someone's profile I'd much rather prefer it to be a top-to-bottom list of updates (status, photos, video's, likes, ...) instead of a timeline with boxes scattered left and right mixed with other nonsense like places, friends, ... As an archive it's great, you can exactly see what someone liked/posted in previous months, but it's not a feed, and that's what I would like someone's profile to be, a feed of his activity.
TeMPOraL 14y ago
Everyone points out two-column layout as problematic to read. I however don't have any issue with it. It's not in any way more difficult for me to scan, and it also looks aesthetically appealing (sans photo cropping errors from time to time). Recent popularity of Pinterest (5+ columns) would suggest that it's also a non-issue for many people.