10.20.2008
Michael Cummings
Dream In Pictures
Embracing Change and Moving Forward
Discussion of inevitable change on and within social networks like Flickr
I was going through my alt.photography google groups this morning and I came across a post from a concerned Flickr user who didn’t understand what happened with his homepage. Flickr just released its new dashboard user interface to all users on the 16th of this month and it seems to be scaring a lot of people.
Want to know the truly scary thing?
All of these people are so scared of change that they are willing to give up the Flickr social network that allows them to share their work because they don’t understand the impact and benefits. This has happened several times with Facebook during their new user interface roll outs, but rarely will people say they will stop using the service all together if they cant go back to the old one.
If you don’t take the opportunity to use the new profiles when they are in testing phases and allow you to suggest changes, I find it hard to feel sorry for you when you are forced to switch over. I spent the last couple of months using the new profile and I immediately saw the benefit. On top of all of this, the majority of people do not see that the changes that are being made are not based on the usage of themselves alone. Flickr for instance takes usage data from everyone on their system and can use this data to develop functionality that makes the majority of users lives easier on their networks. If there is a change that absolutely seems pointless to you, you might want to take a second and think about how it could be useful to you.
Many will be surprised to find that functions like the new photo stream with comments is a more efficient way of keeping track of the conversations that are going on around your images and those of your friends, and random people you’ve commented on. Before the change over I was unable to easily follow streams of conversations, but with the new functionality I am able to quickly and easily find new comments about my photos, and those I’ve commented on. To think of it in a more socially beneficial way, imagine that you have a photo that is generating a lot of comments. The people who have commented on that image will likely have your photo floating around in their photo stream module for quite a while until the discussion starts to fizzle out allowing them to see quickly the discussion and giving them the ability to contribute even further.
Another function that I love is the new Explore module. Now I can see some of the most stunning pictures on the website quickly and easily, and when one of my photos makes it onto explore I can guarantee that even more people will see my images that before. Its a win/win for everybody with that one. The groups module is also a great way of getting a preview of some of the newest activities in your groups. If you wanted to do this before you would have to go to three different pages and then just hope that there was some new material to look at.
I want to point out for those of you who still don’t like the changes, that everything is not perfect, but they are working hard on making the site more useful to the majority of users and I feel that they are doing a really damn good job.
If you are adverse to change, you should realize the movement of the web towards more social based applications. Stop throwing around the terms web2.0 as if they are new words that you’ve just learned yesterday, and realize that Flickr has been a 2.0 application since its inception. Just because someone makes a change to their interface does not equal the apocalypse, and even if it was you should find a way to take its weaknesses and make them your strengths. If you’re a professional photographer and you do not see how Flickr can benefit your business then you obviously have got no idea that your are on a trail where people are leaving you behind….
October 20th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I’m with you… sometimes UI changes can be negative, but often they are in response to actual usage data or requests… the new Flickr homepage is very cool IMO.
October 20th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I agree, the new way they have handled recent activity is far superior. The best part for me is that it combines recent comments on my photos with recent comments I’ve made on other people’s photos, in one stream.
Another nice addition is the groups panel. Not only is it nice to have updated thumbs of my pools, or groups I belong to, but it makes it easier to navigate to these groups.
Overall, I concur with Michael, the new flickr interface is an improvement. It takes leaps in facilitating further community building and conversation.
October 21st, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Services like these have a unique advantage over packaged software that you can change on the fly and migrate new, small changes to production. Then, why is it these services spring new versions on users all at once like it was a boxed program? They aren’t taking advantage of the medium if they are just flipping switches on rollout date. It’s too much all at once. I don’t think I really saw that much user acceptance in the new Facebook before it launched.
The tech-savvy see it as “new, shiny”, but the average user just sees the frustration of relearning. I’m convinced that’s the primary difference between the techie and the non-techie. It boils down to Know Your Audience… and, more critically, don’t assume YOU are your audience. In businesses of huge potential and big ego, that last one’s a hard one sometimes.
Consider how Microsoft Office jumped from 2005 to 2008, and then compare the smooth transition of Google Docs over time.
(In a related note for the Gamers, a new and VERY different version of the Xbox 360 system interface is rolling out on Nov 19. I wonder how those who aren’t human blog spiders will react…)
October 21st, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Jason,
I completely agree with you, but I didn’t put it quite the same way. As far as the gamer thing is concerned, I haven’t logged into my 360 in like two months so its understandable that I would be one of those that would be ‘confused’ but I see things in a slightly different way.
When companies make drastic changes I feel it is for two reasons.
1)Glitz factor. It is true that people buy things that look fresh and new, and it is possible that changing will gain them far more customers than they will lose because of each persons investments in the product. I have invested far too much of my time into Flickr to switch services. I do use other services such as SmugMug’s professional services as well, but it doesn’t replace the community that I have built up on Flickr.
2)Usage statistics. As I stated before, companies track usage and make sure that changes they make are for the good of the whole community. Yes it is going to piss off some individuals, but the truth of the matter is that the changes reflect an overall shift in the usage of these sites. Everyone hated certain things about the Facebook interface changes such as the mini feed, but now its something everyone has come to rely on for quick summary of information that has been going on in their friends lives.
I am not sure I agree with the fact that companies are just flipping switches. All of the major changes that I have experienced in any of my networks including Facebook, Flickr, DeviantArt, Smugmug, and more have all given me the option of trying out the beta version of the new changes. Every time I check it out and look for benefits over the older versions, and every time I see the benefit in them. Yes, I thought the mini feed was invasive at first, until I learned how to prune what data could be sent out over the feed.
This Techie/Non-Techie issue is a problem though. I understand where my grandmother could be very confused and I do agree that companies to need to try to make things easier to transition into. The benefit with growing up with all this technology is apparent when you talk with your older family members, and even when you talk to some middle school kids. My friend Carissa has a little boy who is very young and can jump on the computer and do just about anything he wants. So you are right about the fact that relearning for some people is a hassle, where it is just inherently obvious how much more efficient something is the new way.
Any more opinions?