Bad Move SD !

Question

It is obvious this new SD site is driven by economics, Unfortunately, it will drive people away. The old SD site was very warm and friendly. The new SD is like being a stranger on facebook. This SD change will cause many friends to drift apart. It is very sad to me, like a best friend leaving.

              Marshall

Marshall, I agree. It´s a pity that people always feel the need to screw with something when it´s perfectly fine just as it is - 005faa61, Feb 4, 2012

Answer 1

I always like the change since the change itself is healthy. also I found many improvements in the new SD that weren't in the old one.

That is a great attitude to have. I like the pic. :) - Nicole-B, Feb 4, 2012

Answer 2

I won't leave but I prefer the classic.

SH, you are actually a "classic" around here. You are sometimes "silent" for periods of time, but you are always here. I'm glad you're sticking around. :) - Nicole-B, Feb 4, 2012

Answer 3

My two penneth:

I am not against change - in fact, quite the opposite, I try to embrace it.

There are some features of this new version that are good. I particularly like the new dictionary format.

Some of the format, such as smaller icons, repositioned buttons etc, ok I don't particularly like but in time they will not become a problem. Also, at least the designers seem to have listened to my concerns about there being too much 'white space' in the beta version.

Two things in particular though, totally dismay me:

1. How can a learning site - especially one that claims to be the best in the word - have soooooooooooo many errors in the learning material?? To me it actually beggars belief that these type of errors can be made. But then the astonishing thing is --- after being told about them numerous times - the new site is still released with so many errors remaining!!! It's like a kick in the teeth to the few native speakers we have here, especially taking into account the amount of time they spend teaching and mentoring the rest of us..

2. The new design is NOT an improvement on the old. If it was I would have no problems embracing the changes. The colour and font schemes (although improved from the beta version) are still very poor and not at all pleasing on the eye. The old design looked neat and professional. This new design looks as if it has been thrown together by 1st term web design students. It is terrible.

However, now the good news.................Lazarus is back so who cares lol ---- he could send his posts by carrier pigeon and I would eagerly wait to read them

YES! The new quizzes *really* need to be read over and corrected. And the new design is hurting my head.. And I'm fairly young and with no eye trouble. I hate plain white pages. The color #ffffcc is much better. Close, but not bright like plain white. - Jadey7, Feb 4, 2012

Answer 4

Hang in there Marshall. Sometimes difficult times (even if it is just a site changing ) help friends to pull together. That is what I'm hoping for!!!!

Answer 5

As a "newbie" on SD I'm also dismayed by the changes and hope it doesn't drive away too many of fluent Spanish speakers who are so helpful to fledglings like me.

Frank

Yes, we must do everything we can to encourage our precious and few Spanish natives to stay!!!!! - Nicole-B, Feb 4, 2012

Answer 6

When we started upgrading our DOS accounting product in 1987 (that ran on 128kb of RAM) we always heard complaints because people didn't like the changes. Yet how would we have added functionality? How would we have increased data capacity or new data types? How would we have leaped to the Windows or Mac worlds? How would we have competed with constantly evolving software that could then put us out of business if we stagnated?

It was hard to involve the end users in the process but we finally figured out how to do that. The funny thing was that we had about 20 loyal power users who would get the Alpha and Beta and give us some significant testing on copies of their real data. It really worked and I think that core of users was always very happy with us because we were responding to their requests and test results. It helped improve the final product.

That being said the rest of the user base would sometimes not be all that thrilled with the new product. There is no such thing as "everybody is happy" but at least if you give people a chance to participate they can't really blame you for changes they don't like if they refuse to participate. There should be a well defined window of time where they can participate, and then the window shuts, and that is it - no más. At some point you have to shut that phase down and not allow any more input or you're never going to finish.

But it can work. Maybe it would be helpful to think about it for the next time?

Just let us coplain a little while. It is human nature with radical change. - 0043ad50, Feb 4, 2012

People here have been "evicted" from their old home site and forcibly relocated. It wasn't their idea - some were very comfortable in the old place with its slightly seedy furniture and faded but familiar wallpaper. Getting acclimated will take a while! - ajaks, Feb 4, 2012

I agree somewhat with what you said... But when *no one* is happy, the "You can't please everybody" argument really doesn't make any sense at all. - Jadey7, Feb 4, 2012

Answer 7

Please find my thread on compilation of feedback and problems here, please add any thoughts or ideas there, thanks.

Answer 8

Any change needs time to be accepted , we got used to the old SD , now we're gonna get used to the new one

Answer 9

Thanks Marshal and everybody for your thoughts, please add to this thread for feedback, and find this thread for solutions on some issues.

besos