Foro » Feedback and Ideas

Last.fm is not handling the feedback well, IMHO

 
    • DFA1979 escribió...
    • Moderador
    • 18 Jul 2008, 19:37
    guccininja said:
    A moderator above mentioned that this page is less busy than the past, which is to be taken with a grain of salt. I'm assuming this moderator is not familiar with web-design, or lacks appreciation for art/design. Though I agree this website is too blank (my eyes are hurting from just staring at this little text-box and the vast whiteness around it), this is what happens when you 'clean up' all those icons/gradients and stuff them into slow-loading widgets.

    That would be me. Some people like (like you, I guess) their reflections and like each profile element to have its own little box around it, whereas others prefer a cleaner layout which just gives me the info I want. That's not a lack of appreciation for art/design, or a lack of familiarity with web design, that's just a personal preference. Your preference happens to be different to mine.

    I agree, btw, that the background could do with being a few shades darker, reading large chunks of text is definitely harder on the eyes than it was in the old version.

  • I couldn't have said it better.
    I hope last.fm will read all these posts and take them more seriously.
    And at least give us the option to view the site in it's old style, or something. But I guess they won't :/

  • The new layout is similar to iLike, so yeah, it's a definite pitch to the facebook, myspace, Web2, social networking crowd of which I'm one. And yes, communication from Last.fm is deplorable but I doubt if they actually 'care'. They'll ride out the complaints and write-off any losses as a small price to pay during the process of change. If there's majority acceptance, especially from subscribers, and a general willingness to shell out for playlists, the complaints are going nowhere.

    And I'm glad about it.
    • escribió...
    • Usuario
    • 18 Jul 2008, 19:47
    @ DFA1970 I agree it is a preference. I'm not trying to join the bring-the-old back revolution in order to selfishly get a layout tailored to my preference back (and subsequently impose it on all), I think having the option to do so would be great.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As for what other people posted after me, about websites changing. They do, and I hope that Last.FM doesn't limit itself to this new layout. By allowing people to either choose from a series of layouts (like Livejournal), to editing the position of things (like Gaia personal profiles), they could cater to more users' needs/preferences.

    As for ThomPunkAhead's comment, using Ad Hominens really strips your opinion of credibility. People here are trying to get Last.FM to give them (us) options when it comes to layouts. YES, some people are being whiny and extremely immature (as well as not constructively critical), but there's no point in singling them out by attacking THEM (instead of their arguments).

    • stilnox escribió...
    • Suscriptor
    • 18 Jul 2008, 19:52
    Agreed on all points. The lack of substantial response from Last is bizarre.

    • Ostien escribió...
    • Usuario
    • 18 Jul 2008, 19:57
    I toyed around with the idea of subscribing but after the response by the last.fm team which amounts to a "we know better then you so shut up" I don't think I'll be doing that.

    Last.fm listen to your community and don't condescend them. Thats bad practice and is going to bite you in the ass again.

    This is not a social networking site so don't treat it as such. These new "updates" to the interface just make last.fm look like a myspace or facebook clone. I liked last.fm because it was something different not just the same old bullshit.

    I'll stay for now but seriously if the last.fm team continues to be this arrogant and condescending well then fuck em'

    The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.
    - Thomas Jefferson
  • That would be because Last.fm does not care what their users want now, they just want the money that comes from the myspacewhores.

    Last.fm has sold out.....

    • goldione escribió...
    • Usuario
    • 18 Jul 2008, 20:05
    agree to post #1.

  • I like all of the new features, except for one. Why did it add bands to my library simply because I visited their artist pages and/or posted in their shoutboxes? Also, the thing I don't like is the placement of the shoutboxes. I prefer these things to be on the side, as they are for most other sites that have shoutboxes (isohunt)

  • I'd just like to add my voice to the many others who hate this redesign.

    I'm a professional web designer. I deal with information architecture, interaction design and visual design issues every day. I used to love last.fm for its functionality and ease of use. Now I find it incredibly cumbersome to use in the same ways I used it just last week. I think this redesign is a complete failure, and I'm not just saying that as someone who doesn't like change.

    I've done plenty of redesigns myself and understand that people always approach change with a high degree of skepticism. What is ruined for me here, though, is my overall user experience. Instead of incremental changes and improvements, the site has suddenly completely shifted focus, feel and function.

    Bottom line: I'm not renewing my subscription when the time comes. When I pay for a service and have the rug suddenly pulled out from under me, I stop paying for that service. Sorry boys. It was fun while it lasted.

    It would probably have been (or would be) a good idea to run a bucket test of the old site and the new one to see which one performs better over a period of time. If the old site was made available again and there was a tangible trend of users migrating back to it and abandoning the redesign I think you'd have pretty authoritative evidence of what many of us already know: The redesign has failed to improve the overall user experience or add value for users of the site.

    I was around when the jump from audioscrobbler.com to last.fm happened and I was totally stoked. This change, on the other hand, is just very, very disappointing.

    Puttin' heads to bed straight out the box, MC's be jumpin' out of shoes and socks.
  • DarthAbraham is wise... good post! :)


    Please leave me recommendations!
    • escribió...
    • Usuario
    • 18 Jul 2008, 20:39
    DarthAbraham said:
    (...)Now I find it incredibly cumbersome to use in the same ways I used it just last week.(...)


    I think that platform redesign was done so(even though we can't quite see it yet) to make it possible to add different types of content and user-made/partner-made applications in the near future, I think that explains the the heaviness of this new website.
    But all in all, I'm not crazy about these changes either...

  • armorxforxsleep, you have no idea how bummed out about this redesign I am. I was such a huge last.fm fanboy up until a couple of days ago. There have been many times in my work where I've actually opened up my last.fm profile and shown people how well implemented the dashboard/profile relationship was and how inspired the friends and neighbors paradigm worked as a source of recommendations--not only of music to listen to, but perhaps more importantly, people to interact with.

    Big redesigns are risky because you're definitely risking the chance that users are going to feel a sense of betrayal. I definitely feel betrayed. My really fun, handy, novel, special tool for meeting like-minded music fans and discovering new music is now completely different. Foreign. Like one day my wife left and I'm suddenly married to her sister I've never met. It's sad.

    It's funny, too, because it was just the other day that I noticed the link to the beta site and got this excited feeling about how cool the new site was going to be. Then I clicked it and my first thought was, "wow ... this is nowhere near ready to launch" ... Oh how wrong I was. I come back a few days later and the old site is completely gone. It's a feeling of loss like that time my bike was stolen. Sure I can get a new bike, but I really liked my old bike. I loved my old bike. And it's never coming back.

    Puttin' heads to bed straight out the box, MC's be jumpin' out of shoes and socks.
  • I am really bummed out about the lack of any organization whatosever, but what really irks me (equally as much as the lack of organization) is how corporate this whole thing looks. It is no longer a cozy, comfortable music community - now it's a true social networking site. I wouldn't be surprised to see company-sponsored user surveys and promotions all across the place. I definitely agree with you about the feeling of betrayal.


    Please leave me recommendations!
  • I agree totally with 1st post
    Its a hideous design and not fit for purpose
    Its ridiculous to have got rid of the top 50 lists and recent weekly charts, that was kinda part of the point

  • Cameigons said:

    I think that platform redesign was done so(even though we can't quite see it yet) to make it possible to add different types of content and user-made/partner-made applications in the near future, I think that explains the the heaviness of this new website.
    But all in all, I'm not crazy about these changes either...


    I'm not even talking about heaviness, per se. I'm mainly annoyed by the number of clicks it takes me to do the same things I did before; the amount of hunting I have to do to find things that used to be very intuitively placed; and even the less efficient visual layout of things like the 'friends currently listening to' feature which is now significantly reduced in prominence and a lot harder to quickly scan.

    I basically just feel like this redesign is seriously ham-fisted and flawed. I hate to make generalizations about other designers, but the results here seem to indicate that the folks running last.fm are pretty out of touch with how active users interact with the site. I've definitely experienced situations myself where people who didn't use a website were in charge of redesigning it. And the results were very similar to this: Degraded user experience/pissed off users.

    Puttin' heads to bed straight out the box, MC's be jumpin' out of shoes and socks.
  • Thank you DarthAbraham

    It is so nice to hear from a Web designer about the problems with the new design.

    Last.fm and their surrogates, mostly DFA1979, have been acting like any and all complaints are from whiny children who know nothing. There ARE real problems. Last.fm DID screw up. It is a shame that their only response is to name-call and ridicule their customers.

    DJ ProFusion
    WorldFusionRadio.com
    • escribió...
    • Usuario
    • 18 Jul 2008, 21:08

    Re: Thank you DarthAbraham

    WorldFusionRadio_com said:
    It is so nice to hear from a Web designer about the problems with the new design.

    Last.fm and their surrogates, mostly DFA1979, have been acting like any and all complaints are from whiny children who know nothing. There ARE real problems. Last.fm DID screw up. It is a shame that their only response is to name-call and ridicule their customers.


    It's a shame you need to name-call and ridicule last.fm because you don't agree with them.....

  • sarahdreams said:
    Its ridiculous to have got rid of the top 50 lists and recent weekly charts, that was kinda part of the point


    You can find them but they're hidden behind click after click aftert click after click after click after click

  • Re: Re: Thank you DarthAbraham

    Ginfress said:
    It's a shame you need to name-call and ridicule last.fm because you don't agree with them.....


    By all means, tell me what you deem to be name-calling or ridicule aside from saying honestly that I think they were wrong - which is hardly a minority sentiment. If you honestly read my post, you would see that my statements were quite neutral and accommodating. Unless you believe no one has a right to a negative opinion about the new site design?

    DJ ProFusion
    WorldFusionRadio.com
  • Re: Re: Thank you DarthAbraham

    Ginfress said:
    WorldFusionRadio_com said:
    It is so nice to hear from a Web designer about the problems with the new design.

    Last.fm and their surrogates, mostly DFA1979, have been acting like any and all complaints are from whiny children who know nothing. There ARE real problems. Last.fm DID screw up. It is a shame that their only response is to name-call and ridicule their customers.


    It's a shame you need to name-call and ridicule last.fm because you don't agree with them.....


    It's a shame that you resort to petty playground-debate tactics like this that contribute nothing to the conversation and are not helpful or constructive in any way shape or form. Especially when the dude didn't ridicule or name-call anybody. We're subscribers, so I think we're more than justified in being pissed about a product we care enough to pay for being ruined.

    Puttin' heads to bed straight out the box, MC's be jumpin' out of shoes and socks.
    • escribió...
    • Usuario
    • 18 Jul 2008, 21:17

    Re: Re: Re: Thank you DarthAbraham

    WorldFusionRadio_com said:
    Ginfress said:
    It's a shame you need to name-call and ridicule last.fm because you don't agree with them.....


    By all means, tell me what you deem to be name-calling or ridicule aside from saying honestly that I think they were wrong - which is hardly a minority sentiment. If you honestly read my post, you would see that my statements were quite neutral and accommodating. Unless you believe no one has a right to a negative opinion about the new site design?


    You and the rest of the group, which avatar you show, are sounding like those on a world of warcraft forum whining their favourite class has been nerfed. Not really something the developers should worry about.

    • escribió...
    • Usuario
    • 18 Jul 2008, 21:18

    Re: Re: Re: Thank you DarthAbraham

    DarthAbraham said:
    Ginfress said:
    WorldFusionRadio_com said:
    It is so nice to hear from a Web designer about the problems with the new design.

    Last.fm and their surrogates, mostly DFA1979, have been acting like any and all complaints are from whiny children who know nothing. There ARE real problems. Last.fm DID screw up. It is a shame that their only response is to name-call and ridicule their customers.


    It's a shame you need to name-call and ridicule last.fm because you don't agree with them.....


    It's a shame that you resort to petty playground-debate tactics like this that contribute nothing to the conversation and are not helpful or constructive in any way shape or form. Especially when the dude didn't ridicule or name-call anybody. We're subscribers, so I think we're more than justified in being pissed about a product we care enough to pay for being ruined.


    ---> points at delete account.

    /waves goodbye!

    • Porieux escribió...
    • Suscriptor
    • 18 Jul 2008, 21:19
    See the problem with telling people they are just rejecting "change" and they will "get used to it" implies that you think good (even useable) design is something that is nothing more than an aesthetic preference, when actually nothing could be further from the truth.

    If the site was designed professionally and this was just an issue of rendering styles, then this point would be valid.

    Otherwise, people who represent this site who are saying "you will get used to it" either can't tell the difference between a usable site and a non-usable one, or they are being disingenuous.

    Either way is bad news.

    • rdbram824 escribió...
    • Usuario
    • 18 Jul 2008, 21:19
    very well worded post, and supported argument responses.

    i think they'd be nuts at this point to not listen to everyone. many subscribers are threatening to stop paying, and many people have already deleted their accounts. sure, when myspace changed their style it was weird, but they gave and still have the option to switch back to the old, giving nobody a reason to leave.

    in the mean time, i definitely support this group. the numbers are what's going to help make change:

    http://www.last.fm/group/Bring+back+the+old+Last.fm

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