Facebook Makes New Profile Design...Mandatory? Posted By Jarret on Saturday, 13th of September, 2008 at 11:43 PM   

I've been following the new Facebook designs closely, hoping beyond hope that they might come to their senses and readjust their thinking. Presently, they're a site expounding an insincere democracy, but nonetheless is operating autocratically. This is regretable because any business-minded individual knows full well that running the site as a democracy would be ludicris, so why give the impression of a democracy? I would not be upset, personally, if Facebook recognized the extreme level of dissent regarding their redesign and considered ways to adapt the functionality of the new design, which is in and of itself unnecessary and pointless beyond it just being fun for a development team to work on, then they would certainly have provided a blueprint to other companies in responsiveness and humility. This is not to be the case.

Instead, those who do not approve of the new design, people who have written feedback, started anti-new-design groups, and updated their status to the world expressing their negative opinions, will not be listened to. They have been granted a means by which to be heard by an organization that has no intention of listening. As a business owner and developer, I'm not denying that Facebook has a right to assert their own vision on their webspace. As a developer, however, who takes on a customer service role within my organization, I am appalled that users would be given the means to communicate when their opinions count for nothing.

Facebook isn't going to lose users over the redesign, that's certainly a fact. As upset as I am that I cannot return to the old profile (meaning the link that once let you do it has been summarily removed), I will continue to use the service for the sake of my 25k Fire-EMS users who depend on me. That's the greatest tragedy. You may be suprised to know I have a degree in history. Looking back at every great revolution in thought and opinion in human history, the difference has always become apparent only in volition. This is hardly as momentous, but it's an opportunity for a great deal of people to force a change that they care about. Sure, we're not saying the earth rotates around the sun, or that life does not autogenerate from decaying meat, but we are in some small way reasserting that those in control have a psuedo-contract with the people whom they serve, and I think that's at least worth considering.

So really what does this all mean? It means that developers are being given a very bad example. Here at Solvo Media, if you told us you didn't like the direction we were taking your business' branding or content management, we would listen to you. As a service provider we feel we have a responsibilty to do so. We're not here to make policy, we're here to carry it out, because we have the means to do so. I firmly believe that this is the only sincere approach to doing business, and I welcome the opportunity to serve you in this capacity.

Dear Facebook: Seriously?! Posted By Jarret on Wednesday, 23rd of July, 2008 at 11:35 AM   

I'll admit I'm so befuddled right now that I don't know exactly where to be begin.

Have any Facebook users out there bothered to take the new redesign for a spin? If you have, then perhaps you've discovered that it's fairly atrocious, at least to me. I've been drawing and sketching long enough to understand how the human eye works, and I can't help but feel that something has gone horribly wrong in the minds of the designers at Facebook. I'm not talking functionality here because ostensibly the functionality has not changed at all, but rather the organization and display of functional elements on the page. If I would have to describe it to someone who has never seen it, I would say that despite the table-like order, the sprawling expanse of nothingness on the page, combined with varying shades of gray over a white background with little or no bounding boxes or even definitive lines to separate content, is insanely chaotic on a new user.

Like anything else users will eventually get used to this new design, and I think that's what upsets me most. It's not like Facebook is some small-time website that attracts only a small niche market. Facebook is one of the most prolific websites on the planet, probably second only to Google. This means that anything Facebook does has the potential to set a precedent, be it in features or design, and I'm terrified that this style of liberated, unrestricted page elements, where one thing ends and another begins without much in the way of separation, would be a most dangerous trend. I personally find it tiring just trying to figure out how the content is divided.

If I was lead the designer with Facebook I would argue that this redesign looks like it is the 50-55% complete version of the current, well defined design.

I'll have to play with it more to truly get inside it and see if I can eventually wrap my head around it, but I did want to at least broadcast my initial reactions before I bottled it all back up.

Welcome to Solvo Media Posted By Adam on Monday, 21st of July, 2008 at 08:14 PM   

Welcome to Solvo Media! I am your humble designer, Adam. I hope you enjoy the look of our new site.

We're pretty excited around here, for a few reasons. We have some diverse creative projects that will be unveiled very shortly. I am also to announce that Solvo Media is now my full time occupation. To say I've been looking forward to this day is an understatement. With all of my energy devoted to playing Photoshop Hero, I'm very happy to work 1,000 hours a week. Since my time at the wonderful co-op design shop CD&C, and though my employment in educational publishing, I've been designing stuff in all the extra hours I could find. Designing for Solvo Media is now my priority number one, and I hope you'll be impressed with what you find here.

We thank you for visiting us here, and hope you enjoy our work. Please visit often, and we look forward to doing business with you!

If you'd like to say hi, drop us a line at info@solvomedia.com, or find me at adam@solvomedia.com. Thanks again.