Last.fm is not handling the feedback well, IMHO

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 :/

@ 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).

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'

agree to post #1.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.....

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?

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.

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.