6 ms·

Nice theory, but I think Dustin's conclusions are wrong. I got to use this alternative design on my second Facebook account that I used for app development, wh

by akamaka 13y ago

Nice theory, but I think Dustin's conclusions are wrong. I got to use this alternative design on my second Facebook account that I used for app development, while my personal account didn't have it enabled. I really disliked like the new sidebar design. The concept was similar to what GMail has done lately, with text links replaced by only graphical icons. I found it really difficult to remember what each icon linked to, and I'd have to go through and hover over each icon one by one. My theory (which I think has as much evidence to back it up as Dustin's) is that if the feed performed better in this design, it was because the poorly designed menu made it more difficult to navigate the rest of the site!

colmvp 13y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people (including myself) just need the feed. I personally preferred the clean approach because outside of Events, I never need the left navigation. Now it obnoxiously takes up a segment of the page and the main content in the center feels tight especially with the bigger typography.
- Geee 13y ago
  On the contrary, I don't need the feed at all. I use just the messaging features. I never post on the feed and everything I share is in the private or group messages.
  - gumby 13y ago
    If you don't need the feed you don't even need the web browser since the message system is bog standard jabber. I do my FB messaging through Messages on my Mac and the FB Messages app on my phone. Works great.
    - batiudrami 13y ago
      Bog standard Jabber except for the changes they make - group messaging, 'seen' notifications, in line attachments, 'stickers' are all proprietary stuff which a standard jabber client doesn't support, unfortunately. Their Facebook Messenger for Windows client was discontinued earlier this month unfortuntaely, so I'm back using Trillian and boy do I miss the group messaging feature.
      - klapinat0r 13y ago
        (genuine question, I don't use FB chat) How is group messaging different from MUC[1]? The naming group messaging sounds alike, but I don't know the internals of FBs feature. in line attachments is also possible[2] - I assume you mean sending files, embedding photos in messages and such? As for seen and stickers I don't know of a XMPP equivalent, but I am curious as to why MUC wasn't used instead of proprietary group messaging. [1]: XEP-0045, http://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0045.html http://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0045.html [2]: html and/or XEP-0231, http://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0231.html http://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0231.html
  - dsernst 13y ago
    Recently I installed this "Kill the News Feed" Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kill-news-feed/hjobfcedfgohjkaieocljfcppjbkglfd https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kill-news-feed/hjo... Now I waste way less time. Maybe you'll like it :-)
duaneb 13y ago
I already never leave my feed—and all they've done by streamlining it is make ads a full third of the screen. Ads for me, a 22 year old, to bulk up, grow my hair back, certain for any male over 55 to like.
- chrisdevereux 13y ago
  If you want to be really depressed about what the future holds for us, try setting your age to 90. I tried that for a while and ended up with ads for 'discreet catheters' and funeral finance.
- pyrocat 13y ago
  So your complaint is that the ads don't know more about you?
  - duaneb 13y ago
    That's part of it. The other part is that the content is so obviously secondary to serving ads and trying to get you to interact in a valuable way (to them). It's a miserable experience.
epistasis 13y ago
>text links replaced by only graphical icons This is a terribly pernicious trend in all sorts of software, not just GMail. I really hope that the fad dies out soon, because it's preventing me form effectively using software that otherwise may have been great.
- Kluny 13y ago
  It's like they realize that reading English is kind of tough, so they give you a whole new language to learn, which doesn't help at all.
  - debt 13y ago
    I think it's done to more easily deal with internationalization. Instead of making the design fit the translated text, just remove the text altogether and stick with just the icons.
    - techtalsky 13y ago
      Well "mystery mean navigation" refers to something specifically where there's little chance of understanding what the icons refer to without rolling over them, much like "mystery meat" in your fridge that you can't remember what it is without opening the tupperware.
    - MichaelGG 13y ago
      For accessibility, they still need the text. So only hassle saved is the minor one of designing a bit larger to fit languages that need more pixels.
- duaneb 13y ago
  > fad You realize that iconography predates all civilization, right?
  - blockross 13y ago
    True, but don't confuse iconography with brand marketing.
selectout 13y ago
It wasn't stuck at just the icons, it let you expand to see words as well. It was much better in my opinion and I rarely had it at the collapsed state like his screenshot shows.
- epistasis 13y ago
  I haven't seen this UI, so I'm commenting out of ignorance for Facebook's particular revisions, but anything that requires the user to take an action before seeing the options is going to severely limit the number of users that take the options. In fact, many will never see those options. Click-to-reveal and hover-to-reveal require manual dexterity, a curiosity to see what's behind a link, and time to discover and parse the new visual information. Making these cognitive demands, particularly on sites where users relax, is going to reduce engagement.

by akamaka 13y ago

colmvp 13y ago

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people (including myself) just need the feed. I personally preferred the clean approach because outside of Events, I never need the left navigation. Now it obnoxiously takes up a segment of the page and the main content in the center feels tight especially with the bigger typography.

Geee 13y ago
On the contrary, I don't need the feed at all. I use just the messaging features. I never post on the feed and everything I share is in the private or group messages.
- gumby 13y ago
  If you don't need the feed you don't even need the web browser since the message system is bog standard jabber. I do my FB messaging through Messages on my Mac and the FB Messages app on my phone. Works great.
  - batiudrami 13y ago
    Bog standard Jabber except for the changes they make - group messaging, 'seen' notifications, in line attachments, 'stickers' are all proprietary stuff which a standard jabber client doesn't support, unfortunately. Their Facebook Messenger for Windows client was discontinued earlier this month unfortuntaely, so I'm back using Trillian and boy do I miss the group messaging feature.
    - klapinat0r 13y ago
      (genuine question, I don't use FB chat) How is group messaging different from MUC[1]? The naming group messaging sounds alike, but I don't know the internals of FBs feature. in line attachments is also possible[2] - I assume you mean sending files, embedding photos in messages and such? As for seen and stickers I don't know of a XMPP equivalent, but I am curious as to why MUC wasn't used instead of proprietary group messaging. [1]: XEP-0045, http://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0045.html http://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0045.html [2]: html and/or XEP-0231, http://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0231.html http://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0231.html
- dsernst 13y ago
  Recently I installed this "Kill the News Feed" Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kill-news-feed/hjobfcedfgohjkaieocljfcppjbkglfd https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kill-news-feed/hjo... Now I waste way less time. Maybe you'll like it :-)

duaneb 13y ago

I already never leave my feed—and all they've done by streamlining it is make ads a full third of the screen. Ads for me, a 22 year old, to bulk up, grow my hair back, certain for any male over 55 to like.

chrisdevereux 13y ago
If you want to be really depressed about what the future holds for us, try setting your age to 90. I tried that for a while and ended up with ads for 'discreet catheters' and funeral finance.
pyrocat 13y ago
So your complaint is that the ads don't know more about you?
- duaneb 13y ago
  That's part of it. The other part is that the content is so obviously secondary to serving ads and trying to get you to interact in a valuable way (to them). It's a miserable experience.

epistasis 13y ago

>text links replaced by only graphical icons This is a terribly pernicious trend in all sorts of software, not just GMail. I really hope that the fad dies out soon, because it's preventing me form effectively using software that otherwise may have been great.

Kluny 13y ago
It's like they realize that reading English is kind of tough, so they give you a whole new language to learn, which doesn't help at all.
- debt 13y ago
  I think it's done to more easily deal with internationalization. Instead of making the design fit the translated text, just remove the text altogether and stick with just the icons.
  - techtalsky 13y ago
    Well "mystery mean navigation" refers to something specifically where there's little chance of understanding what the icons refer to without rolling over them, much like "mystery meat" in your fridge that you can't remember what it is without opening the tupperware.
  - MichaelGG 13y ago
    For accessibility, they still need the text. So only hassle saved is the minor one of designing a bit larger to fit languages that need more pixels.
duaneb 13y ago
> fad You realize that iconography predates all civilization, right?
- blockross 13y ago
  True, but don't confuse iconography with brand marketing.

selectout 13y ago

It wasn't stuck at just the icons, it let you expand to see words as well. It was much better in my opinion and I rarely had it at the collapsed state like his screenshot shows.

epistasis 13y ago
I haven't seen this UI, so I'm commenting out of ignorance for Facebook's particular revisions, but anything that requires the user to take an action before seeing the options is going to severely limit the number of users that take the options. In fact, many will never see those options. Click-to-reveal and hover-to-reveal require manual dexterity, a curiosity to see what's behind a link, and time to discover and parse the new visual information. Making these cognitive demands, particularly on sites where users relax, is going to reduce engagement.