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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: March 12, 2003 Revamped Macromedia site irks customers (CNET) -- "A redesign of software maker Macromedia's main Web site is attracting criticism from customers because it doesn't work with some browsers, including Apple Computer's much-hyped Safari." (Comments: Thanks Flash.)
Reader Comments...
Does Macromedia not understand its own good product, or is Flash a true kludge that pundits are stumping to turn into a useful product?
Slow, badly coded, printer-hostile, generally very poor. Why didn't they just produce a solid HTML site with great big Flash movies for animation and some nifty interactive features? Painstakingly using Flash to create things HTML handles fine just makes them look stupid. Overall, it's a really great example of how not to use Macromedia's products.
Two more great examples of what not to do: www.marshillchurch.org
In fairness to Macromedia on the Safari Flash issue -- Safari is still _beta_ and if you follow the blog of the Safari developers, they were already working on issues of Flash being very slow. (This apparently is a Safari problem, not a Flash problem.) That said, it wouldn't have been hard for Macromedia add a small "here's why you're having a problem" disclaimer for Safari users -- and/or publically mentioning the issue when they launched. One of those issues where user experience intersects with wider issues of customer satisfaction, brand experience, etc. Posted by: George Olsen on March 13, 2003 05:14 PM
Hi, we've got the first round of changes incorporated, as well as analysis of the initial feedback: If you've got a take on these new changes then submitting them directly to the web team there would be great, thanks. Posted by: John Dowdell on March 13, 2003 07:26 PM
So the relaunch is a 'beta 1' now?
Aha, good to see a HTML/Flash hybrid approach for Beta 2, that works far better, and I'm sure any remaining compatibility issues will get ironed out. It's also good to see a company learn something, particularly about using its own products (even if it's something the rest of us discovered years ago) (I know, I'm being harsh!). How about structural markup and better use of CSS (print style sheet, no inline style) for Beta 3?
On their previous site, macromedia posted several articles to tell how much they care about usability, how they contracted with Jakob Nielsen to enhance usability of flash creations... All these beautiful intentions seems to be left away. By doing a so poorly usable site, macromedia is destroying flash credibility (the small remaining credibility) as a possible UI design enhancer tool. Posted by: vincent on March 14, 2003 10:15 AM
Hi Timo, Vincent, did you actually read the material I linked to? Besides the ongoing usability testing there were five formal rounds before public viewing, led by people like Jakob Nielsen. The actual feedback statistics were very strong in some areas, and not so strong in some areas where we took a bigger gamble. I realize that this is an attractive thread to hang a public stance upon, and so there's no actual obligation to consider the source evidence before posting, but please do read that material, it's interesting! 8) Posted by: John Dowdell on March 14, 2003 05:56 PM
The material is interesting, I just find it hard to believe that MM had to test on millions of users before recognising the glaring speed and usability problems in the design (which clearly weren't recognised from all the time and money spent with/on Jakob N). The whole point of experience is that you don't test everything from scratch for each site, you use your expertise to try to get most of the way there in the first place and refine via testing. Beta 1 showed either extreme naivety or inexperience, which is a bit alarming from a company that produces professional web development tools and had the resources available for extensive testing. Posted by: Matt Round on March 15, 2003 04:05 AM
[Joke] Nielsen (to himself): Ah... $20K per day for so many months. I've made enough. Time to take a nap, I think. Guess I'll postpone the "Flash rocks baby!" article for a while. (to waiting butler): Where's that damn masseuse? [/Joke] What kind of profile did you have for users being tested? Perhaps you should get "we'll rip 'em a new one" Webworders like me, Mac, Matt, Lydia, Timo, etc. in on the thing. ;) Posted by: MadMan on March 15, 2003 05:31 AM
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