As if this is isn’t an already stressful season, Facebook has decided to change its user interface YET again. We had a learning curve the last time they did it. With this latest “upgrade”, they’ve clearly lost their minds.
Facebook. What have you done! Let’s explore.
If I wanted to update my status, or add a link, photo or video, that main task was front and center and easy to use. Underneath that, in the wide center column, it was easy to scan what I linked to or comments I made on other Facebook pages of my “friends”.
Underneath the logo was a quick “this is who I am” introduction so that someone wasn’t forced to hunt around looking for it. With the upgrade before this latest one, certain “social” items were suddenly pulled and hidden from the front view. This helped with keeping things a bit more private but also took away some of the “fun”. Because Facebook made so many blunders regarding privacy and security, a huge portion of Facebook users yanked off a lot of their personal information or fudged it so that Facebook couldn’t make its own Wiki pages from our data. Again, Facebook removed the “fun” part when they started to treat members as data, not people.
Clearly some persons in power at Facebook need to discover their old happy place because this new design is boring. Now, there is no status. In place of it is now information culled from the profile data. There is no editing it other than to get rid of the information altogether. I don’t mind the information being on my Facebook page but I hate where they moved it to. I much preferred to have a say in what information could be seen first. That choice no longer exists.
I’m not comfortable with some of the way things appear. For example, who cares if I’m married? It’s listed twice, both times linked to my husband’s page. Who cares where I went to college? That was a VERY long time ago. It’s not important to me and has little to do with my current profession. Who cares where I came from or how old I am? This information was perfectly fine where it WAS. I can’t think of a logical, user-driven reason for having this information thrown in the most important real estate on the page.
It’s followed up with photos from your albums. Again, you can’t control what pictures they put there. So if there is a picture that you’d prefer be in an album but not on your Facebook homepage, too bad. They stick up 5 pictures and you have to pray you look good in all of them. You also have to hope that anyone who tags you in a photo doesn’t pick a dumb one. There’s a picture of a “Good and Plenty” pillow (I think) tagged to me by my daughter who knows my favorite candy. It now appears on my top 5 photos. Oh boy.
I’m not sure the Wall means anything anymore. They removed some links we may have gotten used to using. They have link labels that don’t describe what’s behind the door. (Notes, on my Facebook, are not notes. It’s links to my web site posts. I’d love for a little accuracy.)
I’m not switching over my various Facebook sites now that I know what the new design looks like and how it performs. I suppose, like everything else Facebook, it will eventually be forced on us.
What the heck kind of usability-user experience thinking is that?
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I pretty much agree with you that there was a net loss in user experience, and I completely hate the “info barf” at the top of your profile page.
However, you actually can remove the photos from the “slide show” at the top. Mouse over them, click the X that appears. It only removes them from that display, not from wherever they really live, but you can at least clean that up.
Thanks Kat!
I didn’t mouse over them but have just checked and indeed, you’re correct. I still don’t like anything that’s a mystery. Nothing on any website should have a hidden activator. We already have to mouse over text to see what’s a link or not, since designers dislike underlined text. And we’ve been required to mouse over more and more images on sites to see it does anything (links, enlarges). This is poor UX. We’re not mind readers 
So I went in and removed some pics. This also means that anyone who doesn’t check their FB on a regular basis could be tagged in an unflattering way and not know that tagged picture is now on their profile page. Foo.
If you have visited someone else profile who is not your friend then you would have understand the changes in better way as it show detail information rather then normal updates and shorter bio info. The new profile page contain your personal information in more organized way then it was before. check some profiles who are not in your friend list & you will understand what i mean to say, also check it with the older profile which was more messy.
You know Facebook is messing up when you mention that people are mad about the new look and someone says, “Yes, I heard about it on the news this morning.”
Personally, I’m terrified of being switched over to the new interface!!! It looks TERRIBLE. Why are people’s videos under their photos now? That makes sense. [blank stare] I think they should have released the “This sucks” button with this new FB version.
But Kim!
You are missing the additional opportunities for FaceBook to further segment and cross tie user data inherent to the new format…plus another kick at resetting privacy settings to default…
And several delightful legal ‘hacks’ that allow one to market directly to users…one of which is via those five images that you do not control…
You really need to stop thinking of FaceBook as a social centre. It is a data acquisition, mining, and marketing industry. Social Media, where the users pave the streets with gold…
But then
iamlost
I guess, this is part of the usual reactions in facebook’s makeover. For sure, Facebook knows that users could easily adapt with these changes. Of course, there will be resistance at first.
I somehow agree with iamlost. Facebook users nowadays have a different purpose aside from socializing.
I somehow agree with iamlost. Facebook users nowadays have a different purpose aside from socializing.