You're looking at Less Wrong's discussion board. This includes all posts, including those that haven't been promoted to the front page yet. For more information, see About Less Wrong.

Will_Newsome comments on They Changed It, Now It Sucks - Less Wrong Discussion

-4 Post author: CaveJohnson 23 June 2011 06:03AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (39)

You are viewing a single comment's thread.

Comment author: Will_Newsome 23 June 2011 06:51:13AM *  19 points [-]

I find it very frustrating that I've seen dozens of posts expressing dislike or annoyance at TrikeApps' work, which I'm pretty sure they provided at no cost by the way, and yet I've seen no expressions of thanks. What the fuck. This is partly why basically nobody at SingInst knows anything about what other people think or why, even on critically important subjects. Dismissal and disdain disincentivize all attempts at improvement or communication. The threat of unfair dismissal causes fear of proposing ideas or doing work that others will see, and even when good work is done it's kept quiet. There is something seriously wrong with an organization if accomplishments go unreported and ideas unshared due to negative incentives. (ETA: I should note that this trend isn't entirely pervasive and has been somewhat ameliorated lately as far as I can tell.) Can we please buck that trend here on Less Wrong? Please? It's hard enough to try to make big improvements without that bullshit.

Anyway, thanks, Tricycle! I praise your right action.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 23 June 2011 09:05:32AM 5 points [-]

Thank you to Tricycle from me as well! Despite having some complaints, this redesign is nonetheless a definite step towards the better.

Comment author: I_Disapprove 23 June 2011 02:22:25PM 9 points [-]

I find it very frustrating that I've seen dozens of posts expressing dislike or annoyance at TrikeApps' work, which I'm pretty sure they provided at no cost by the way, and yet I've seen no expressions of thank

I genuinely don't like the new design, and prefer the old one. Why should I express gratitude if I don't feel any? From my perspective, they've put in all their hard work messing up/taking away something I liked just fine.

I don't even know what it is that's supposed to have been "improved". I don't notice any convenient new features. Maybe they're there, but I haven't come across them. All I notice are visual differences such as icons instead of text (where I strongly preferred text), and various bugs. This just looks to me like one of those periodic aesthetically-motivated "revampings" done by people with different aesthetics from mine who undervalue constancy relative to "change" -- like TV shows changing perfectly good theme music for no other reason than they've "had it for a while".

I acknowledge that there were problems before, and that this redesign could have been even worse. But I don't see the need for a new visual look at all -- why not just fix the bugs, and leave the basic appearance alone?

I dislike it enough that I probably won't be participating much anymore. (Needless to say, the account under which this comment is being posted is not the one I usually post under.)

Comment author: wedrifid 23 June 2011 06:16:55PM 1 point [-]

I dislike it enough that I probably won't be participating much anymore. (Needless to say, the account under which this comment is being posted is not the one I usually post under.)

In case anyone wonders, I_Disapprove is not me. The changes are not fundamental enough to deter my participation. And if I was quitting then I don't see why I would care about hiding who I am while doing so. That seems pointless.

Comment author: matt 24 June 2011 01:38:13AM 1 point [-]

I dislike it enough that I probably won't be participating much anymore.

Why are so many assuming that we're not paying any attention to feedback, and that our most recent changes are the last we'll make?

Comment author: matt 24 June 2011 01:36:31AM 2 points [-]

Thank you Will.

Comment author: handoflixue 23 June 2011 06:20:42PM 2 points [-]

which I'm pretty sure they provided at no cost by the way

The original announcement just said "professional designer". For some reason I'd assumed they were paid. I couldn't locate evidence either way, but I didn't look that hard.

That said, this is a geek community, so I think there's a strong culture of "get it fixed first, praise it second". I noticed myself doing the same and was inclined to drop a "thank you, BTW!" comment out there to offset that, so I'm glad to see this thread already doing that :)

Once the delete function is back, I'll consider the design a net positive; until then I'd actually prefer the old version.

Comment author: matt 24 June 2011 01:40:45AM 3 points [-]

TrikeApps paid an external designer, and pays our own staff to make changes. We do this from a budget we make available to SIAI. We have not been paid for this work or any other work we've done for SIAI.

Comment author: wedrifid 23 June 2011 06:22:09PM *  5 points [-]

I find it very frustrating that I've seen dozens of posts expressing dislike or annoyance at TrikeApps' work, which I'm pretty sure they provided at no cost by the way, and yet I've seen no expressions of thanks. What the fuck.

"What the fuck"? The fuck is that you don't thank people for doing things you would prefer that they did not do.

I deny your grasp for moral superiority! Doubly so for the misuse of the "What The Fuck?" phrase. That rhetoric is something I reserve for clearly valid objections that require particular emphasis. Do not defile it so.

Comment author: Will_Newsome 24 June 2011 07:38:34AM 1 point [-]

Upon reflection I agree that this was a poor use of the phrase, and will attempt to keep from defiling it in the future.

Comment author: benelliott 23 June 2011 11:06:12AM 2 points [-]

Thanks from me as well, I like the pictograms.

Comment author: Laoch 23 June 2011 09:08:24AM 2 points [-]

Yes the site is even sexier!

Comment author: atucker 23 June 2011 01:37:12PM 0 points [-]

Thank you Tricycle!

I like the new nesting better, and don't really mind the pictograms. I liked the old map banner, but this also totally goes better with the rest of the site. I'll grow to like it.

The site looks much nicer, and has lots of features that we really should have. The change is definitely for the better.

Comment author: CaveJohnson 23 June 2011 12:01:27PM *  1 point [-]

Good now that that's out of the way, let me say I like the new header, but replacing things like "deleted", "report" ect. with pictogram's was unnecessary. Also the new nesting seems less aesthetically pleasing, though I think that is outweighed by it being easier to follow. Also thumbs up and thumbs down seems to me to have a different implied meaning compared to vote up and vote down.

Maybe I should have taken greater pains to emphasise that the new nesting is better overall.

My only real complaint is the pictograms.

The seemingly different implied meaning of the up and down vote are perhaps a feature, and I was more or less seeking feedback if people agree with this.

BTW Is there another thread where the changes are discussed? Somehow I feel like I've missed a part of the conversation that most of the community hasn't.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 23 June 2011 03:28:03PM 2 points [-]

BTW Is there another thread where the changes are discussed?

Yes.

Comment author: matt 24 June 2011 01:43:59AM 0 points [-]

And previously here, here, here, and here.