4 ms·

Don't use facebook, but when I hear about things like this I am baffled. Haven't any of these engineers taken human factors courses? One of my brothers works fo

by dbul 18y ago

Don't use facebook, but when I hear about things like this I am baffled. Haven't any of these engineers taken human factors courses? One of my brothers works for Honda, and I asked him about the ergonomics of car design. His response: at Honda, it is imperative that you design for 95% of the population. It looks like facebook did the exact opposite.

fortes 18y ago
It's not that they designed for 6% of their users, it's just that a large portion of the users don't like the change for some reason -- some is the fact that there was any change at all, and the rest are probably real design issues.
- dbul 18y ago
  My comment shouldn't be taken literally. The point is that even if the poll is "worthless" or grossly inaccurate (it is a poll after all, not a scientific study), there is clearly discontent among the users. I've heard people in real life, seen twitter comments, and read blog posts about how people are threatening to either ban facebook or check it less frequently. But guess what: it doesn't matter. People will still use Twitter which is the whole reason facebook made this move to begin with, and I would be surprised if facebook retreated. Facebook used to be the new time consuming activity on the Internet and now Twitter is. Who knows, maybe Heyzap or thesixtyone will be the new ones.
  - swombat 18y ago
    Facebook users have complained about every change from the notification feeds onwards...
    - dbul 18y ago
      Notable complaints: beacon, ToS, this. Beacon was a terrible idea. They shouldn't have backed down from the ToS because it would have blown over. 'this' remains to be seen.
      - unalone 18y ago
        This isn't notable. There are always redesign changes. This is just the first major redesign happening at a time when the tech world thinks hating Facebook is fashionable, so it's echoing more.
      - electromagnetic 18y ago
        I had no problem with the ToS, 'this' I have a problem with, the feel is awkward and now it feels a lot more awkward and cluttered. I think facebook's main problem is that they could gradually make changes, piece by piece and no one would ever really notice. Yet they change the entire home page and you get reactions like this because the feel is drastically different.
    - vjt 18y ago
      Maybe because the average human is inherently lazy and doesn't want to re-learn how to use the new UI? Or maybe because the average human is pleased when something does never change? Or, maybe, because the average human loves being a whiner? :)
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
  - mseebach 18y ago
    To cite another grossly biased and unscientific metric: last time facebook changed their design, I was flooded with invitations to join groups protesting it ("1 mio strong against", "Say no to" and so on). This time around, not one. At least my 300 friends don't care enough to invite me to join them in a protest.
dasil003 18y ago
First of all, Facebook is not just engineers. Believe me, they have plenty of interfacers designers, and they are masters of UI. Very very few sites have the kind of depth and subtlety that Facebook has built in its recent iterations. What the users say about their opinion of the new design is completely irrelevant. Users who are used to something will always resist change that removes something they are used to. The proof will be in the usage statistics. Eventually Facebook will saturate the market and at that point they may end up with more to gain by maintaining some level of familiarity. But for now I think they are making the right moves to increase engagement, and I believe the numbers will bear me out.
- dbul 18y ago
  I hope that bet is right. Even so, there must be a way to avoid this kind of response. Sometimes debate to get into the news is good, but I think in this case it would make more sense to have the response be "Facebook releases awesome interface!" Apple was able to do it with the iPhone and while there were people who didn't like the pseudo keyboard, the raves far outweighed the complaints.
  - dasil003 18y ago
    The iphone was a new product, that's the difference. The only thing comparable in the Apple world is the release of OS X. At the time there was A LOT of complaint, much of it extremely well-reasoned. Diehards clung to OS 9 for years for pure interface reasons. Of course Apple didn't take quite as big a public opinion hit as Facebook due to the technical benefits and the horrible obsolescence of OS 9. Does Facebook need to avoid this backlash? Only if people actually stop using it, which seems unlikely.

by dbul 18y ago

fortes 18y ago

It's not that they designed for 6% of their users, it's just that a large portion of the users don't like the change for some reason -- some is the fact that there was any change at all, and the rest are probably real design issues.

dbul 18y ago
My comment shouldn't be taken literally. The point is that even if the poll is "worthless" or grossly inaccurate (it is a poll after all, not a scientific study), there is clearly discontent among the users. I've heard people in real life, seen twitter comments, and read blog posts about how people are threatening to either ban facebook or check it less frequently. But guess what: it doesn't matter. People will still use Twitter which is the whole reason facebook made this move to begin with, and I would be surprised if facebook retreated. Facebook used to be the new time consuming activity on the Internet and now Twitter is. Who knows, maybe Heyzap or thesixtyone will be the new ones.
- swombat 18y ago
  Facebook users have complained about every change from the notification feeds onwards...
  - dbul 18y ago
    Notable complaints: beacon, ToS, this. Beacon was a terrible idea. They shouldn't have backed down from the ToS because it would have blown over. 'this' remains to be seen.
    - unalone 18y ago
      This isn't notable. There are always redesign changes. This is just the first major redesign happening at a time when the tech world thinks hating Facebook is fashionable, so it's echoing more.
    - electromagnetic 18y ago
      I had no problem with the ToS, 'this' I have a problem with, the feel is awkward and now it feels a lot more awkward and cluttered. I think facebook's main problem is that they could gradually make changes, piece by piece and no one would ever really notice. Yet they change the entire home page and you get reactions like this because the feel is drastically different.
  - vjt 18y ago
    Maybe because the average human is inherently lazy and doesn't want to re-learn how to use the new UI? Or maybe because the average human is pleased when something does never change? Or, maybe, because the average human loves being a whiner? :)
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- mseebach 18y ago
  To cite another grossly biased and unscientific metric: last time facebook changed their design, I was flooded with invitations to join groups protesting it ("1 mio strong against", "Say no to" and so on). This time around, not one. At least my 300 friends don't care enough to invite me to join them in a protest.

dasil003 18y ago

First of all, Facebook is not just engineers. Believe me, they have plenty of interfacers designers, and they are masters of UI. Very very few sites have the kind of depth and subtlety that Facebook has built in its recent iterations. What the users say about their opinion of the new design is completely irrelevant. Users who are used to something will always resist change that removes something they are used to. The proof will be in the usage statistics. Eventually Facebook will saturate the market and at that point they may end up with more to gain by maintaining some level of familiarity. But for now I think they are making the right moves to increase engagement, and I believe the numbers will bear me out.

dbul 18y ago
I hope that bet is right. Even so, there must be a way to avoid this kind of response. Sometimes debate to get into the news is good, but I think in this case it would make more sense to have the response be "Facebook releases awesome interface!" Apple was able to do it with the iPhone and while there were people who didn't like the pseudo keyboard, the raves far outweighed the complaints.
- dasil003 18y ago
  The iphone was a new product, that's the difference. The only thing comparable in the Apple world is the release of OS X. At the time there was A LOT of complaint, much of it extremely well-reasoned. Diehards clung to OS 9 for years for pure interface reasons. Of course Apple didn't take quite as big a public opinion hit as Facebook due to the technical benefits and the horrible obsolescence of OS 9. Does Facebook need to avoid this backlash? Only if people actually stop using it, which seems unlikely.