If 10 Billion People Become ‘Fans’ of this Post, Central Desktop Will Bring Back the Old UI
February 24, 2010
Well, actually, they won’t. And they shouldn’t.
Right off the bat, I’ll tell you that I wish the Interface-lift had been put on hold to address some of the functionality issues that I think merit more focus than a new UI. Like the ability to edit databases in bulk, like in SharePoint’s ‘Data sheet view.’ Or creating real relational databases, not just the fancy hyperlinks they currently masquerade as ‘Database Relations.’ Or more robust, granular user permissions. Those would help me, personally, more than the new UI will.
But I don’t work there, so I don’t get any say in it. And that’s fine.
I understand that no SAAS will ever give me 100% of the functionality that I need. I realize that the only way to get everything ‘my way’ is to build my own. I don’t possess the skill set or the capital to make that happen, though. I do know that when it came time to re-evaluate Central Desktop, I looked at several other options, and to merely keep the level of integration we have achieved with our Central Desktop implementation, we would have to cobble together at least three other applications. Sure, we would have gained a few nice bits of functionality from each of those separate platforms. But at what cost? (pun intended)
It’s not surprising to see the backlash against the new interface. I’m sure I’ve participated in a similar fashion before. So if you find yourself among those who have a strong, adverse reaction to change, here’s a suggestion: Before you head to the forum and start a Facebook fan page to get the old interface back, spend a little time with the new one and see how it works, and how you can work with it. Last week, I mentioned the potential gains of shunning the user forum to find out where that darned “Delete” button is located, and it applies just as much (if not more) now than it did then.
There are two types of problems you might encounter during this transition period:
- Oh crap, email notifications don’t go out anymore when I comment on a file; and
- Oh crap, I didn’t find the logout link on my first glance.
Type 1 is CD’s problem.
Central Desktop can and should fix that for you. They are probably still busy tracking them down right now. There were are a lot of bugs with this release. There will always be bugs in any release. There is no way to test for every single problem that might potentially occur. But the support team has been all over getting bugs fixed. I do wish (as others in the forums have mentioned) that a list of know bugs was presented, and estimated completion times and priorities of the bugs would have been more readily communicated to the users. Though I do know that all of the bugs I submitted via the help ticket system were answered and tracked, just not where everyone could see them.
Type 2 is your problem.
I won’t rehash what I wrote last week, but just go out there and start clicking buttons until you find the one that does what you want. Besides, what’s more important to you: that the underlying system works, or that every style element of the new UI is exactly where you want it? You all chose the system, right? So why waste the support team’s time by clogging up the forum with your personal gripe about fonts and locations of logout links; instead spend some time getting to know the site. If you find a real bug, then report it. Properly. And wait. Patiently. If you think that you have an idea that might make the platform a little better, write a feature request. And wait. Patiently. We’re definitely not going to see CD 2.1 until 2.o is stable.
I’m optimistic about the new design; but I’m going to actually get a few weeks of use under my belt before I decide whether or not the sky is falling.
Besides, I just want to be there when 3.0 rolls out and everyone who ‘hated’ 2.o begs to have that interface back. (I bet they’ll also complain that IE 7 isn’t supported…)
