Tuesday, September 16, 2008

What all is wrong with the new facebook

Michael Arrington's post got me all fired up to write this.
Sure change is good. I welcome it, but ONLY if it makes my life easier, and in this case specifically, if it makes for easier networking/connecting with my friends.

So here are some things that I've been trying to figure out about the new facebook and jeez, are they annoying.

Sample 1
Lets say I want to use one of the application (Give Gift) to use on one of my friends.
Oh guess what? I can't cancel it!!???! Where is the goddamn cancel button? sure I found a workaround. You click on the 'write post' and the box disappears, but is that how Facebook had intended it?



Sample 2
So I played around some more and found out that some apps .. ahem.. DID have a 'x' on the top right. I was delighted! Ahh, an option to cancel right?
Wrong. What that 'x' does is prompts you to remove the application! Sweet stuff! I bet the developers are delighted!


This is enough for me to get the old facebook back. Sure bring on the new stuff, but at least test for basic functionality before you make it mandatory.

Puja Madan : most likely to stick to the old facebook till its around

4 comments:

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Unknown said...

hmmm u know tabs are the most loved ui component by ui developers and the most misunderstood ui component by users...

this is a classic case...tabs dont have cancel coz they mean u can move between them...its not a pop up which prevents u to do anything else till u attend to it....

hence the confusion....u clicked on gifts tab which is a facebook app and hence can not be uninstalled...so u saw no 'x' there..the other app was a non facebook and can can be uninstalled so the 'x'

i know u will say that none of it is intutive and what matters is how users use it....but i am going to side with facebook on this one :)

pujamadan said...

Heya Anuj,
Good to have you back :)
Thanks for the info. Its useful though I have to admit that the old facebook DID let me cancel, so lets just say that they spoilt me first and are now expecting me to learn stuff about tabs from experts like you. I think usability needs to be 'idiot-proof' - it should be self-explanatory... And since they are "upgrading" things should be even easier to understand and navigate.
Anyway, my feeling is this debate will continue for a while. Lets enjoy the ride :)

Cheers!