Facebook Focuses on Simplicity, Again

If you ever tried using the privacy settings on Facebook, you'll remember how painful it was. There were six options allowing you to share with “Everyone”, “Friends of Friends and Networks”, “Friends and Networks”, “Friends of Friends”, “Friends”, or a custom group. How confusing is that?

With all the attention Google+ received for its simplified circles, Facebook decided to take it a step further and simplify even more. Now (the new privacy setting should be available to all of you by now) you have three options, you can share with "Everyone", "Friends" and custom. Short, simple and useful. I'm sure a lot of people will say that there are not enough options, but in reality Facebook has made the right choice.

From a user perspective, this change covers all my needs. What I care about is what I share with people that know me and those that don't. On top of that, they have allowed for the option of creating smaller specific lists so I can share with them even more personal opinions. What else do you need?

It makes me very happy to see that companies are now focusing on creating a simpler web experience for their users. With all the clutter, noise and options, simplicity can be something that makes you stand out and satisfy your customer needs.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Don't Steal from my Basket

Imagine this, it is sale season and you are at a popular fashion retail shop. You pick up a basket and you start finding bargains and putting them in. Then a few minutes before you go to the till, someone comes and takes something from your basket. How would you feel?
A couple of weeks ago, Elena (our creative head) experienced this online. She was shopping from the online shop of one of the mainstream fashion brands. She had added some items to the basket and continued browsing. When she was done she decided to check out. To her surprise, some items had disappeared from her basket and where not available in the shop any more. Apparently this online shop allocates the items to whoever checks out first and not who put it in the basket first. This is completely opposite to how we are used to shop.
It would make sense to have some timer of validity of the items in the basket, but in this case there wasn't. The system was basically removing items from the baskets if a new user purchased that item. The experience was ruined. The user was left frustrated and will probably think twice before shopping online from them. After all who could guarrante that their entire basket will not disappear next time.
When designing online experiences it is crucial to keep in mind what people are used to and what the real world experience is. Taking items from a person's basket is unacceptable in a shop so why allow it online?

Posted by Harry Mylonadis