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[–]StillAnAss 125 points126 points ago

Amazon.com has actually had many many changes over the last few years. They're just really good at keeping the changes small and subtle and they listen to feedback and react quickly.

They roll out small test changes to limited customers and revert if it doesn't get the expected result. If you were to compare the actual html from 2 years ago to now there would be lots of changes.

[–]dmazzoni 87 points88 points ago

Marge: You know, Fox turned into a hard core sex channel so gradually, I didn't even notice.

[–]glenbolake 19 points20 points ago

Exactly right. I was surprised to see this post, because I noticed that Amazon's navbar changed it's appearance completely within the past couple weeks. But on the other hand, the changes were small enough that it still felt familiar. It's a great thing.

[–]DoctorSteve[S] 20 points21 points ago

Small unobtrusive changes make a lot more sense than the other sites I and others have mentioned. It also always fits the theme and style Amazon has built over the years.

[–]StillAnAss 17 points18 points ago

I think part of what you're noticing is that people spend a significant amount of time on sites like Facebook so small changes are amplified.

Even though I spend a fair amount of time on Amazon it isn't for hours at a time. I tend to not notice the incremental changes.

[–]Mystitat 1 point2 points ago

Yep! Check the wayback machine. It's drastically different.

[–]retardedsenator 1 point2 points ago

for the past couple of weeks my work computer shows a new updated amazon.com compared to my home computer which is still on the same stuff from last year, at least design wise.

I like the new version much better, less page loads, more stuff happening in the actual frames being interacted with, i dont know how to describe it technically, but i've always hated how many pages you had to go through to add product to the cart.

[–]HalfysReddit 0 points1 point ago

Can't believe this wasn't already posted:

Amazon two years ago today.
Amazon today.

[–]HansEricsson 132 points133 points ago

Nice try, Jeff Bezoz.

Seriously though, I agree with you totally. Their customer service is outstanding, at least always has been for me.

[–]BravoMikeZero 26 points27 points ago

Couldn't agree more with you on the customer services.

Had some problems with my Kindle (great piece of kit as well) and they were very pleasant and professional to speak to.

Used to work in customer services myself and I know that they are doing ti right.

[–]HansEricsson 6 points7 points ago

I've returned so many things- half the time they tell me to just keep whatever they sold. Last year I got a mic for my job, it didn't work correctly, they refunded my money, sent me a new one and told me to just do whatever with the broken one. Also happened with a case of pumpkin that was all dented.

[–]itsableeder 9 points10 points ago

I can't bring myself to buy food from Amazon, mainly because I once got a book with a cockroach squashed inside the cover. That was also the one time I received really poor customer service from them.

[–][deleted] 19 points20 points ago

Would have been cooler to get a live cockroach who was filled with knowledge

[–]mushpuppy 5 points6 points ago

The cockroach of knowledge!

...Unless you just mean it ate the book.

[–]cunninglinguist 10 points11 points ago

Was it Kafka?

[–]InterPunct 1 point2 points ago

Was it Naked Lunch?

[–]CookieDoughCooter 18 points19 points ago

Let me say something candidly.

Amazon Prime kicks ass. I'm sad my free one-year sub is going away soon. I don't like spending money, and I don't like buying a subscription that encourages me to spend money, but the ride's been awesome.

[–]radda 8 points9 points ago

You'll probably get an email soon that gives you Prime for 50% off for the next three years sometime soon.

I highly suggest you take it. Worth every penny.

It does, of course, have a few perks that don't involve spending more money (Prime Video, book lending, etc).

[–]MoltenSlowa 3 points4 points ago

This. So much this. Got an email from them a weekish before my Amazon Student expired offering me 50% off of prime. Didn't even bat an eye before I hit SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY yes on it. Considering the amount that I use Amazon vs going to brick and mortar stores, it pays for itself.

[–]cristiline 4 points5 points ago

Amazon Student now only lasts for six months. :( I shouldn't complain because I'm cheating anyway by using two .edu email addresses, but it still sucks.

[–]mushpuppy 2 points3 points ago

Heck if you called Amazon it probably would renew you for another 6 months.

[–]bobtentpeg 3 points4 points ago

buying a subscription that encourages me to spend money

Yeah, I was like that at first. I realized though, that were I to buy things in-store near me or pay for shipping, I would have probably spent hundreds more than the $75 a year. Plus, some movies, TV shows and free-for-prime kindle books.

[–]koviko 0 points1 point ago

I'm still that way. The only thing I pay for other than consumables is my WoW subscription. If I were to start purchasing things often, I'd find that I don't make nearly as much money as I think I do.

[–]bobtentpeg 0 points1 point ago

I graph my textbook expenditures every semester, used books often cost more at my uni book store than "new" or "basically new" on amazon do. This last semester I saved ~$250 using Amazon instead...

I don't buy that much random stuff off amazon (OK, so that 5LB, $8 bag of Haribo gummy bears....) or that often, but when I do, they're fairly expensive things or pretty cheap things.

[–]jplvhp 0 points1 point ago

I got the 1-year free membership too and am now hooked. I renewed it when it expired. Amazon is just too damn convenient and the free shipping really helps. They're usually cheaper than stores and the stuff comes to my door within 2 days. Plus, no tax . . .well, sort of (I live in California).

[–]spitfyre 1 point2 points ago

I just bought a subscription after my free year went away. Well worth $39.

[–]thedragon4453 1 point2 points ago

I bought it. I figure it easily saves me money. Need an HDMI cable? $20 for a generic at the local store. Amazon - $3 and it's here in 2 days, and I can overnight it for $4 more. So i can have the thing tomorrow for less than half of the local store. And I didn't even have to get up from the couch, let alone waste gas to drive to the store.

Especially for accessory type of items, Amazon is often waaayyyyyy cheaper. I just ordered a battery for a coworkers phone, saved them $10 even with overnight shipping. So basically, 7-15 orders per year for stuff you might already buy and you've broken even, everything after is gravy. And you get the convenience, which has it's monetary benefits as well.

plus prime video and all that digital stuff they do.

disclaimer: I don't work for amazon. I just really freaking like prime.

[–]mushpuppy -1 points0 points ago

I don't understand how it is that everyone can get so upvoted for praising Amazon. Whenever I post praising Amazon I get downvoted!

Yeah yeah I'm gonna get downvoted again for praising Amazon. But I love prime; I love Amazon's customer service. Just a few weeks ago in fact it gave me a $300 credit because it mistakenly deleted my order for SWTOR. No lie.

Spend the $79 for Prime. You won't regret it.

These days you get free streaming movies (still very limited selection though), cloud storage--and you can order all kinds of stuff!

I've saved a ton by using Prime over the years.

[–]kornbread435 6 points7 points ago*

While I love being a buyer on the site, I can't stand being a seller. About three weeks ago I decided to sell all of my textbooks from last semester, and for example I sold a psychology book for 34 dollars + their set 3.99 shipping for a total of 38 bucks. To start amazon took their fee off the top of 7 dollars, and after buying packaging, driving to the post office, and paying 7 dollars not 4 to ship it I'll be lucky to pocket 20 dollars out of 38! Then if that's not bad enough, I have to wait 21 days to get paid because I have never sold on their site before. It was a first and last sell for me, I donated the rest of my books to my friends and professors to give away.

Edit: I did ship it media mail, but I added the 5ish to ship plus the 2.20 for the packaging together in this statement. Also, I made right at 22 dollars on the sale after everything not 20. 38.98 - 7.59 amazon fees - 2.20 packaging (it was a larger book) - 5.05 media mail shipping - 2 dollars gas to the post office = 22.14 total. I am sorry if some of you felt that I was misleading on my comment. I didn't do the exact math before and it was from memory, now you have the real numbers hope this helps!

[–]Abyssul 14 points15 points ago

This is the same process for any textbook selling site. I sell on Half.com and it is the same way. They take a portion of the sale and you can only charge $3-4 bucks for shipping. The most I've ever had to pay for shipping was $5. Make sure you use Media mail. It's really cheap if you have your own packaging.

[–]_zarathustra 3 points4 points ago

Yes, save the packaging that your books come in when they get shipped to you.

[–]sermari 7 points8 points ago

They do have a textbook buyback program, where they pay for the shipping label and everything; the only thing is that the money goes onto an amazon gift card, so you have to spend it there. That's what I've been doing with most of my college textbooks.

[–]skymind 7 points8 points ago

Yeah same, its not really bad to get amazon gift cards when that is where I'll buy the next round of textbooks from anyways. Then when I graduate and have no need to purchase text books I get free videogames with all the credit having forgotten that I spent actual cash originally.

[–]MoltenSlowa 5 points6 points ago

Did that this week. Turned a $130 Psychology textbook I never opened into a $75 Amazon gift card, which will go towards coffee, videogames, food, and music.

Necessities.

[–]bobtentpeg 6 points7 points ago

ps. Always mail books by Media Mail, it'll be ~50-60% the cost of standard shipping with USPS. You can ship a 5 pound book for $4.06.

[–][deleted] ago

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[–]jplvhp 0 points1 point ago

I still get a lot more from Amazon than I do from my school when selling books, even with Amazon fees.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points ago

This is mostly your fault. The book would have been just fine if you wrapped it in paper instead of buying expensive packaging. You could have printed up postage off of the internet for cost instead of driving. Implying that selling on amazon costs 50% is outrageous and misleading.

[–]Saint-Peer 1 point2 points ago

For smaller books, I bought those dollar brown packaging that comes with two. Cost me around $3.50-4 to ship myself, get $3.99 in shipping credit back. 14 days (Every 2 weeks) to get paid. They do they some money off from commission though. I won't get as much money as I expected, but at least I got rid of books collecting dust.

[–]_zarathustra 1 point2 points ago

You should have shipped Media Mail because that's the service you and Amazon agreed upon. You probably shipped it Priority.

[–]inmonkeyness 0 points1 point ago

I just do textbook trade-in for Amazon credit. Then I use that money to keep me in toilet paper and other essentials through their subscribe and save program.

[–]ScopeOfTheFatedSky 1 point2 points ago

Why did you pay 7 bucks to ship? Media mail is usually only 3 or 4.

[–]cognitive-dissonance 0 points1 point ago

I usually buy my own postage through Amazon, then print it off and tape it to the package. All that you need is a scale. There is no need to pay for packaging. I usually have old boxes or envelopes laying around and if I don't it is easy to find businesses throwing all sorts of boxes away. There is no need to drive to the post office. I usually make a profit off of the shipping cost.

[–][deleted] 22 points23 points ago

Does anyone else have a silver interface? I checked my flatmates' Amazon pages and they were all different compared to mine. I can't find a way to change it back. They have all the same features as me, like Amazon Student.

[–]cydriss 9 points10 points ago

they are testing a new design. I have that layout at home and the traditional one at work

[–]jeeebus 11 points12 points ago

It's called split testing. Show two different landing pages and go with the one that has the higher conversion rate.

[–]neoncp 3 points4 points ago

Not to mention multivariate testing, which can affect any number of individual elements on a page.

[–]Section_31 1 point2 points ago

I wonder if doing A/B testing to the same person (different computers so they might not know unless they're logged in) makes any difference in the results.

[–]jplvhp 1 point2 points ago

Thank you. I thought I was loosing my mind when I saw this post.

"Wait a minute, didn't I check Amazon yesterday and it was all different?" Then I went and checked the website. Nope, same old Amazon.

It wasn't until I read your post that I realized I was at home when I saw the other version. I, too, have the old design at work.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points ago

I had it a while back, but it went away.

[–]fedaykin3dfx 2 points3 points ago

Yep, I just got that interface a few days ago. I'd seen it a few weeks ago when my wife was logged in too.

[–]JustinHopewell 1 point2 points ago

I noticed you have a Prime account. Maybe that has something to do with it?

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

I have Amazon Student. That shouldn't matter though because my friends have Student also and they have a different interface.

[–]tomstockmail 0 points1 point ago

I was just on amazon a couple days ago and didn't have it. Went after I saw your post and now I have it. I also have amazon student prime.

[–]IkLms 0 points1 point ago

I have the older version. Also Amazon student prime.

[–]Widdershiny 0 points1 point ago

I got the new one right after I bought a Kindle recently. Not sure if it's related though.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

I just got it today. After seeing this post.

[–]zerstoeren 0 points1 point ago

Glad to know that still exists, I think it's much nice than the current one.

[–]Hiro-of-Shadows 0 points1 point ago

I really wish I had that one. The current design works well and all, but that new interface looks so much cleaner.

[–]MuncherOfSpleens 0 points1 point ago

I see this interface on my desktop, but not my laptop. The IP address and browser version is the same. Very weird…

[–]spitfyre 0 points1 point ago

I just got this design a few days ago, I'm kinda confused by OP's post.

[–]Gbcue 0 points1 point ago

I've got it silver at home, regular at work.

I like the silver better.

[–]Rebelgecko 0 points1 point ago

I have this too. I really prefer the old interface

[–][deleted] ago

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[–]KickapooPonies 1 point2 points ago

I remember when they introduced statuses and then removed the "is". And then adding the Like button!

[–]kog 0 points1 point ago

I'd like to roll back Facebook by like 6-7 years.

[–]DoctorSteve[S] -2 points-1 points ago

Aside from how the image isn't wide enough, that version was pretty good. Could use some tweaking looks wise but things are easy to find.

[–]scy1192 76 points77 points ago

I disagree. I feel that most site redesigns are for the best (no, Gawker, I'm not talking about you) but people are so resistant to change that they end up hating any amount of redesign. I like Newegg's newer site. It's not easier, or harder, but it looks cleaner. I like Facebook's changes (except defaulting to Top stories instead of Most Recent) and having the chat sidebar when before it would just be whitespace. I like Google's cleaner look, too.

[–]knipil 22 points23 points ago

Peoples conservatism and arrogance never ceases to amaze me. Whenever Facebook or another site makes a change to their design, you'll see complaints everywhere. Same goes for any application or site that has any kind of user base that makes a change. Don't people realize that these companies usually invest a lot of money into trying different options, deploy them selectively (A/B testing), ask for user feedback and then pick the superior option. Yet people seem to think that they are smarter than all the collected empirical evidence, and the 25 engineers and UI interaction designers with a Stanford diplomas that built the damn thing, for that sake.

Usually it takes less than ten minutes to learn to navigate in the new interface. People should stop whining and realize that all change isn't for the worse.

[–]V3rtigo 6 points7 points ago

I've worked for companies like this, and I've been one of these people making changes and collecting data. You underestimate the sheer stupidity of many management teams to make the right decision and not just draw their preferred conclusion.

We had a girl come in for a test once. She was a knockout with a low cut shirt. Even the girls were too busy looking at the overhead cam to notice anything she had said. Her feedback was still somehow included. Evidence is only as good as the people giving and taking it.

[–]genuinenarcissist 1 point2 points ago

... Wait. Are you saying that her opinion was worth less because she was wearing a low cut shirt? Because if you did mean it like that, what you just said is incredibly sexist. And also just very judgmental in general.

[–]Fratitude 0 points1 point ago

No dumbass he's saying her opinion was perfectly worthwhile but it wasn't taken into consideration because his coworkers were too busy staring at her rack.

[–]tmhrtly 1 point2 points ago

The only issue I have with facebook's changes is that they do so many of them which completely mess around with how you use the site. They may be better, but if it takes me a month to get used to the changes and then another 3 or 4 months later they're out of date (replaced by another new feature, like Timeline), it just gets infuriating. However I do like Timeline, looks nice and works pretty well.

[–]MetricSuperstar 0 points1 point ago

Timeline confuses me. I think that is always going to be an option feature though. For me, it makes everything look too much like a blog. I actually think the current profile layout is my favourite yet. I disliked all the App Spam in previous layouts.

[–]SJ_Zero 0 points1 point ago

To be fair, in the case of Facebook, they should be spending the money on dealing with their connectivity issues instead of another site redesign.

[–]alinot 2 points3 points ago

I've liked most of facebook's changes too, but the chat changes are super annoying IMO. You can no longer 'pop out' the chat and the sidebar doesn't contain any of the few people that I actually chat with, contrary to how it is supposed to work. It would be nice of FB to offer some 'advanced options' for people who are inclined to use them.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

Install socialfixer!

[–]sgtbutterscotch 1 point2 points ago

Google owns youtube and it seems like whenever they make a visual change, they also make it less intuitive to use and sometimes they just randomly get rid of a useful feature.

[–]YAOMTC 1 point2 points ago

And the new user pages still don't show the RSS feeds.

[–]lennort 1 point2 points ago

While this is true, you've got to be careful how you roll out the changes. If at all possible, make them slowly over time. Give users time to adapt to the new layout before completely changing it again.

I still hate the sidebar. Why do I need to see a list of friends who aren't online when I'm trying to find someone to chat with?

[–]Section_31 0 points1 point ago

Agree, but I still can't can't figure out FB timeline.

[–][deleted] ago

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[–]rm999 8 points9 points ago

Those aren't interface issues per se, they could be limits of the database. I'm guessing amazon does a lot of caching and doesn't want to give all 20 million (or whatever) users custom views on all their 5 million (or whatever) products and thousands of categories.

[–][deleted] ago

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[–]DoctorSteve[S] -3 points-2 points ago

Try narrowing your search, or assume the best and most accurate results are at the front because they are. You'd be getting headphone jacks and stuff with such a broad term. Last night I bought bluetooth headphones from Amazon and had zero problem finding a variety of options without being overwhelmed.

[–]Itkovan 5 points6 points ago

Naw he's right, Amazon metadata and search tools are crap. I find what I want with google or others first and then paste the model number into Amazon. Even then I have to double check that number as Amazon's search will sometimes bring up an approximate match (yes even with model number) which is not good enough.

It's a testament to their customer service that I use and still highly recommend them.

[–]rm999 0 points1 point ago

I don't think their search is meant to be exact or comprehensive, it's designed by default to present what they think you are most likely to buy, which is the most useful metric for both the user and them. The sidebar gives you useful options like category, company, and price; with these options and precise searches, I find it rare that amazon isn't showing me what I want on the first page.

[–]Itkovan 0 points1 point ago

When I search for an exact model number that model is what I want to buy, not something similar.

[–]chaud 0 points1 point ago

Narrowing your search is a joke. Newegg's redesign is mostly okay and their filtering is amazing. Try and buy computer parts on Amazon, their filtering and search are useless. (To top it all off you get duplicate listings of one part as well)

[–]DoctorSteve[S] -2 points-1 points ago

You're not researching parts on either site. You go to them to buy. I use a variety of sites to buy anything. I don't understand your argument.

[–]develdevil 0 points1 point ago

You bring up a good point, but, unfortunately, it does not apply to Amazon. Their platform runs many other retail sites that have advanced search options, including endless.com, which has a very dynamic search feature that they utilize for their main browsing functionality.

[–]V3rtigo 2 points3 points ago

Yup. They need to dump tagging. That was one of their bigger changes and users just didn't understand it. Now it just clutters the site. They should've had vendors do tagging for them.

As for sort, why can't I sort on total price? Why do unavailable new items sort to the beginning instead of using the used price?

Also, it's been 10 years and they still can't figure out how to remove duplicate items. Argh.

[–]radda 2 points3 points ago

When I sort by price can I choose not to include prices from dodgy-ass Marketplace sellers I know nothing about?

Click 'Prime Offers Only'. Voila, only products shipped by Amazon.

[–]JPGambler 1 point2 points ago

Yep. It's a sad day when eBay has better search flexibility than Amazon.

[–]pointui 1 point2 points ago*

The confusing part is when you do a search at first, it doesn't show any filters on the left, which I always thought was confusing. But once you click a department on the left, you can then filter.

Search of headphones is 150,000 results. I clicked the Audio Headphones department (vs say studio/recording headphones) and now it's 14,083 results. After, the most important filter to you might be "Seller > Amazon.com" which gives 2,876 results. Then filter by price from say $0 to $100 so it's under $100. Then I sort by "Popularity" or "Best Rating". You can filter down even more by features, style, or rating and that should narrow your selection quite a bit.

Yea, but I don't understand why they don't show you filters from the first search. I figure it can't be that important that you have to necessarily click a department first, but maybe they're all separate databases? They should convert the departments to tags somehow? I probably make it sound easy but I'm not a programmer.

[–]dontgoatsemebro 0 points1 point ago

That really is frustrating because most items will be found in different departments, so now what?

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points ago

I just went to Amazon.com today and the layout has changed a lot...just since yesterday... Is this an irony post?

[–]DoctorSteve[S] -1 points0 points ago

I was on it like seven hours ago and nothing was different. It's what prompted this post.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points ago

A friend of mine said he got the new site months ago. I think they're either beta-ing it or rolling it out ever-so-gradually.

[–]chakrakhan 9 points10 points ago

Amazon's interface is a cluttered, confusing marketing clusterfuck. The item pages aren't bad, but they're packed with so much and it's all layered horizontally. Furthermore, if you aren't a regular user, it's difficult to find the login interface. Amazon has really neat features, but they throw most of them onto the front page after 10 side-scrolling lists of offers. It's not even clear how to access many features like Listmania from the front page.

I love Amazon, and even the item pages themselves aren't too bad. I'm not even sure how they should change the layout, and I know part of me would miss the old one if they did. But I can't honestly say that I find the interface simple or easy to navigate. To quote Steve Yegge's infamous Google+ rant, "beyond any shred of doubt ... nobody can understand that frigging website [Amazon]."

[–]Itkovan 3 points4 points ago

What they're missing is metadata tools and clear separate of the horizontal sections. Why? Because the first is a monumental undertaking for a company the size of Amazon especially considering all the third party sellers, and the second is because they don't want people to skip over sections. If it's all jumbled together they have to look around.

As warm and fuzzy as their customer service is Amazon is still a business. Their Certified Clusterfuck Interface™ works well enough to make oodles of money with, so I don't blame them for not changing. Still sucks though.

[–]btdubs 4 points5 points ago

Seriously. I basically stopped visiting imdb when they redesigned. They have a checkbox for reverting to the old design but for some reason it doesn't work for me.

[–]weffey 11 points12 points ago

... yet IMDB is owned by Amazon.

[–]DoctorSteve[S] 2 points3 points ago

I forgot IMDB, I hate that new layout.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]btdubs 1 point2 points ago

Thanks, that worked!

[–]feedthai 1 point2 points ago

Millions of visitors daily and thousands of rounds of a/b testing is how they got to that look. They attempted a new redesign last year and quickly changed back.

[–]lionson76 2 points3 points ago

Did they actually launch it? I don't use Amazon that much, but I knew they were testing a new design last fall and then didn't hear anything about it since.

[–]kttmrt 2 points3 points ago

I think I remember seeing that skin briefly last year. I liked it.

[–]mynamesafad 5 points6 points ago

Thats what I currently have when I go to Amazon. I thought everyone had it? I got it within the last week

[–]Fantasysage 3 points4 points ago

Amazon rolls out the skin to different people to test them.

[–]joeltb 0 points1 point ago

I don't see how that is possible. I am logged into my home computer under my amzn account and I get the old interface. I pull up amazon.com on my work laptop and get the new interface even after logging into my amzn account. Weird.

[–]-JuJu- 0 points1 point ago

It's probably based on IP addresses, not Amazon accounts.

[–]Rebelgecko 0 points1 point ago

I get it in Chrome but not Firefox on the same computer with the same account

[–]feedthai 0 points1 point ago

I saw it briefly. Perhaps it was because I was logged in recently and they rolled it out as a test. It was aesthetically pleasing, but not any easier to find what you're looking for.

[–]Fantasysage 0 points1 point ago

That is what mine looks like right now.

[–]meowmix4jo 0 points1 point ago

They're still testing it. I've got it ~4 times in the past 6 months or so for ~3 days at a time.

[–]weffey 0 points1 point ago

I still have the new design. I think mmine switched around the same time the Fire launched.

[–]dudley-von-red-pants 2 points3 points ago

It can be frustrating to have to relearn how to use a site you became comfortable with, especially when you can't see any improvement.

Amazon DOES have excellent customer service. Also I love that customer reviews are available easily. Not that other sites don't have this, but I would never buy something I haven't used/seen before without reading the customer reviews and the reputation of Amazon makes me confident that their reviews will be accurate.

[–]nerdmeister 2 points3 points ago

interface is good, but i just want the ability to sort by price and have it actually sort by the purchase prices.

[–]bomber991 0 points1 point ago

Needs way more upvotes.

[–]DisConform 0 points1 point ago

I was getting this version on my home lap top a few months back. It was not as user friendly. Hope they stay with the current design.

[–]baultista 1 point2 points ago

Facebook has made some bad usability changes. I still dislike the integration of the chat system into the message system. If I see someone online I want to send an IM-style chat message, whereas if they are not online I want to be able to send an e-mail style message.

One of the silliest things they did was to set the default message inbox to show messages that they deem as important. Other messages like event updates, certain group updates, messages from friends you don't often contact, or even messages from strangers would get filtered out of your "priority inbox" without you knowing. I won a contest for a $20 gift certificate in June but didn't see the message until November because I, like so many others, didn't know about this behaviour.

Facebook has some very talented engineers, a strong research division, and decent design team, but sometimes I wonder if their Product Development & Management team has any clue as to what they're doing.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]fearandloathing_inc 1 point2 points ago

I agree. I often wish for that feature as well.

[–]psilocybinmushrooms 7 points8 points ago

Facebook, arrgh. I'm dreading the day they make timeline compulsory.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]thathonkey 0 points1 point ago

yes that is why its bad. signs point to intentionally making it difficult to read to stimulate the brain in such a way to make it less likely to scan over ads

[–]faceplain 2 points3 points ago

...I liek timeline

[–]kroneland 2 points3 points ago

I HATE TIMELIIIINE! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

[–]CookieDoughCooter -2 points-1 points ago

It's not already? I thought it went mandatory on December 31 (I canceled my FB days before then because I hated Timeline so much).

[–]lefferts 3 points4 points ago

Nope, still hasn't kicked in yet for me.

[–]P2000Camaro 4 points5 points ago

You forgot Youtube. I cannot stand Youtube's new layout.

[–]Hiro-of-Shadows 9 points10 points ago

Seriously? I think it looks fantastic.

[–]alinot 1 point2 points ago

I've had to unsubscribe from quite a few channels because the new feed gets completely dominated by people who upload a lot of content. I liked it better when each channel was given its own category instead of everything being thrown in together.

Looks pleasant, though.

[–]Hiro-of-Shadows 0 points1 point ago

I suppose that one aspect of it was quite nice about the old one, luckily I don't subscribe to that many channels.

[–]P2000Camaro 1 point2 points ago

Really? I guess to each is own, I just think it looks cluttered, and I really liked the old subscriptions layout. It showed several of their newly uploaded vids instead of just one, and laid them out nicely. I just don't like it personally.lol

[–]Bel-Shamharoth 2 points3 points ago

I dislike the extra click I have to make to switch resolutions. It used to be that I could just click the button, and each click would cycle through the available resolutions. Now I have to pop-up a menu, and then select the desired resolution. It sounds small, but I consider it a step back.

[–]NueDumaz 0 points1 point ago

It's like a store where you know where everything is.
Scrambling the layout like some stores/websites do is just an insult.

[–]levishand 0 points1 point ago

Congrats on your new Amazon.com internship! You just passed the first trial.

[–]imjustjk 1 point2 points ago

Amazon has gone through drastic changes through the years. Your reaction is really just an indication of the good job they've done testing and rolling out changes incrementally. They actually test changes quite a lot and often. Any ecommerce site, esp of their magnitude, would be dumb not to be continually testing changes to their UI; no site is ever fully optimized and small changes that improve conversion rates even just a fraction of a percent would have dramatic affect on their bottom lines, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

[–]kindall 0 points1 point ago

Amazon has been making small changes almost continuously since day one. However, it never rolls them out to everyone without testing them first on small groups of customers. It also helps that they have a really simple and really good metric for usability that matches well with customer's goals: revenue.

[–]n1nj4_v5_p1r4t3 0 points1 point ago*

I agree. Changing sites reallllly fucks them up. Thats one reason I like reddit. all text

[–]somethinlike 0 points1 point ago

Newegg shot itself in the foot? It's the exact same design as Amazon. Open eyes like this @_@

[–]DoctorSteve[S] -1 points0 points ago

It has an ugly layout now, three tabs with the front tab being near useless. Information is hidden or just not available and reviews are cluttered to the side.

The old Newegg was awesome. The new one is painful.

[–]Xonero 0 points1 point ago

I've always liked Amazon's interface as well. I'm not a person who minds change at all. It may take me a little while to get used to a big change, but if it's really for the better, I don't mind it. Just so many places don't seem to make changes for the better. Google being a pretty big offender. Youtube's layout has just gotten out of control. It's a war zone. The new Google style is a bit silly. Hovering or clicking and clicking again to get to what you were able to before with one click. Not a massive problem, just silly.

[–]gimpwiz 0 points1 point ago

I find their interface intuitive. I find everything I need immediately, if they have it. Who could ask for more?

[–]DoctorSteve[S] 0 points1 point ago

And it's great on phones.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

You forgot the biggest offender of all, motherfucking youtube.

[–]DoctorSteve[S] 0 points1 point ago

I forgot a lot of sites.

[–]expert02 0 points1 point ago

They lose points for making it hard to report items in the wrong category with a bad description. Also, why do I have to choose a category to sort products?

[–]botena 0 points1 point ago

I couldn't agree more. Thought I must be the only one.

[–]kolossal 0 points1 point ago

Tbh, I don't even remember how FB looked like 4 years ago. Sure, people bitch about the site redesign all the time, but then they all forget about it and move on.

[–]brandonkiel27 0 points1 point ago

Amazon is the shit, and I agree.. But didnt they kind of change it a little bit? I noticed stuff looks a litttle different.. maybe its just graphics becuase I think everything is still the same navigation wise

[–]JavaLSU 1 point2 points ago

Holy shit! Talk about timing

Amazon is currently testing their redesign.

[–]DoctorSteve[S] -2 points-1 points ago

I'm sure it won't be that drastic. The Android Amazon App Store could use some help, for phones at least.

[–]JavaLSU 1 point2 points ago

If you've got chrome/safari you can see it for yourself. It really isn't too much different. But you can't deny the hilarious timing of your post.

[–]TheHalf 0 points1 point ago

I'll give you what you want.

[–]flyingtiger188 1 point2 points ago

I agree. Hated pandora when they changed their layout. Not that I really disliked the new layout but in changing they did something that removed the ability to skip a song by simply reloading the page without having it count against your skip limit.

[–]DoctorSteve[S] -1 points0 points ago

While kind of exploit-y, this is a good example of a real reason someone would be disliking a UI change. It's not always "I hate change." I feel most people have real reasons for disliking UI change that's not it taking them out of their comfort zone. And I think there's a strong argument to be made that UI change should never take you out of your comfort zone.

[–]Ledatru -1 points0 points ago

Facebook's changes are good

[–]Compeau 0 points1 point ago

I was annoyed when they went away from having every product category tabbed at the top of the page. It was necessary, and the current interface is probably better, but it still took me a while to get used to the change.

[–]i_know_im_late_sorry 1 point2 points ago

amazon is awesome. not a huge deal, but a pleasant surprise.

[–]SirLuciousLeftFoot 0 points1 point ago

A big problem with engineers is that they say hey, "this is a great idea because its cool" and want to push out a product or website without doing any market research as to whether or not consumers actually want it. Case in point: Google. You can tell engineers run the show there.

[–]napalm_beach 0 points1 point ago

Okay, I'll be the contrarian. I'm a Prime member and buy a ton of stuff from Amazon, and IMHO it's time for a sweeping site re-design. They have stuffed too many features and options into the old layout and I find it confusing and not easy to navigate.

[–]zLightspeed 0 points1 point ago

I ordered a Logitech G110 gaming keyboard from them (About £50) and paid for express delivery. Didn't arrive after a few days so they refunded my shipping and sent me another keyboard. They both arrive the next day. Sold one, got 50 for it... so free keyboard!

[–]Oryx 0 points1 point ago

I would say the same thing about Reddit. I love the simplicity and longevity of the interface.

[–]Waterwoo 0 points1 point ago

In all fairness, Amazon's UI is not that great.. If it was a new site I wasn't familiar with, I would hope that the current version isn't what they put out.

But, since we are all very familiar and comfortable with it now, it works just fine.

[–]illepic 1 point2 points ago

Amazon's design is not simple or easy to navigate. It is only familiar.

[–]AmazonPR 0 points1 point ago

Thanks

[–]solzhen 0 points1 point ago

Craigslist

[–]douglasr007 0 points1 point ago

Amazon did have a brand new interface a couple months ago that was much better than the current one. The coloring went from gold to silver. They reverted it back for absolutely no reason and it pisses me off.

[–]t6x 0 points1 point ago

Amazon has changed their interface. its very drastic. I enjoy it though.

[–]DoctorSteve[S] 0 points1 point ago

It looks good, though I'd rather not have a drop down on the left. A button to click to bring a menu down permanently until a page refresh would be better.

[–]t6x 1 point2 points ago

Yeah, I cant stand when things automatically close when your mouse drifts away. Its a constant fight with some.

[–]StupidDogCoffee 1 point2 points ago

Amazon rocks.

Wanna buy a thing? Amazon probably has that thing. With a bajillion user reviews and probably at the lowest price around. +1 for free super saver shipping.

I hate to sound like an Amazon fanboy, but goddamn. That company knows how to sell me stuff.

What's not to love?

[–]knowsguy 0 points1 point ago

As a full-time Marketplace Merchant on Amazon, it's one of my favorite things about it. Changes are added often, but always unobtrusively.

[–]ElevatedApe 0 points1 point ago

My real life friends hate me when I talk about shit like this.

[–]Scotty_Knows 0 points1 point ago

Totally agree. I've been going to Amazon for ages, mostly to look up reviews on CD's and different music. Nothing has ever changed; that is very rare on the internet today. Props to Amazon for sticking with what works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[–]Spytap -2 points-1 points ago

...says the guy on Reddit.

[–]-JuJu- 0 points1 point ago

Reddit may not look nice, but it's pretty easy to use.

[–]Spytap 1 point2 points ago

I don't disagree. I actually like the interface now, but like almost everyone, it took me a while to see past the interface when I first started lurking.

[–]ZuP 0 points1 point ago

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

[–]fearandloathing_inc 0 points1 point ago

And your sentence is a salad tossed at elves.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]DoctorSteve[S] 1 point2 points ago

What an obnoxious comment. Amazon has made many changes and is constantly introducing new products or features or options.

[–]Duct0r_ 2 points3 points ago

ಠ_ಠ There's nothing to change or fix with their design. People know it, and it's been working fine all these years.

[–]kttmrt 1 point2 points ago

Just because its old, doesn't mean its bad and needs to be fixed.