9Rules Broke the Rules
May 26, 2008
So It’s been a while since I wrote anything I felt was applicable to whoring to 9rules, and so when I did go back to their site I had the shock of finding out that 9rules had changed. Drastically changed. At first I didn’t even know what I was looking at. Things had changed so drastically, I didn’t know where to start.
What happened?
First of all, they went through a drastic re-design which I am, for the most part, a fan of. The problem with this is that they changed it all so much I was utterly lost as to where to go. A better Idea could have been to have a transitional layout to let people get used to things before making a final switch. Not a requirement, and it’s possible that they did indeed do this. Like I said, it had been a while since the last time I went.
The second part was that I couldn’t figure out how to access my zone. All that hard work of mine, and I couldn’t access it. I still can’t figure out how the heck to get to it from the 9rules site. The amount of user info that’s left on 9rules is my username, email, and password; none of which can be changed from the 9rules website.
As it turns out, the entire “community” portion of 9rules has been completely removed. If you want to change your information, whore your wares, or do anything the old 9rules did, you now have to go to Chawlk.com. That is, in essence, where most of 9rules went. It’s still in a transitional stage, so the site isn’t totally finished, but it has everything the older 9rules had, with an updated look.
All of the user-submitted content, voting, friending, point-usage, and anything else that they used to offer has been moved off site, leaving only approved posters rolling up to 9rules.
So where’s the rule-breaking?
I had no idea any of this had happened. Granted, I’m not a regular member, so I had no idea this was coming. That shouldn’t of happened though. At the very least some sort of press release, newsletter, or cursory email should have been sent out telling everyone that they were going through a complete site reformation. I, as a member – and on some level a customer/consumer – should have been notified that these changes were occurring.
On a side-note, they also break a couple design rules by forcing me to go to another website to change my information. This wouldn’t be so bad (OpenID floats to mind) except for the fact that there is absolutely no mention of this other site, and I had to go digging around to get the link. My old bookmark to my profile actually redirects me to the new site, which in and of itself is a jarring experience. Redirecting people without telling them is a no-no!
So what do I think about it all?
So what do I have to say about the new 9rules, even after all my pseudo-bitching? I like it. I like that 9rules now features premium content, complete with posted site submission dates and a review process. Sure that screws me from posting my little posts on their site (Chawlk still allows it though, so all is not lost) but I’m glad that I can’t. At least now I know that 9rules will feed me with information from reliable sources. I’ve already found a couple of contributors that I want to add to my ever-growing RSS store on Google Reader.
Chawlk on the other hand needs a little work. I’m aware that It’s in a transition stage, so anything I say now may not apply in a month. First off, I love the “Chawlk is…” at the top of the page, though the refresh button really isn’t needed for that. The User page is the same as it was on the old 9rules, which makes me a little sad. Sure it’s neat that they have a Twitter, Last.fm, website RSS, and Flickr feed hookup, but it makes for a rather convoluted looking page.
Have a look at mine: It’s just too busy. Everything is so big, that once you start pumping in content it gets bulky and too much for me to bother looking through. A possible option for them could be to separate the last.fm and website rss combination. put the last.fm on the left beneath the Twitter box, and possibly move the Flickr over to the side as well. I don’t know what the Flickr section looks like because I haven’t really used Flickr, not have I tied Chawlk to my Flickr account. The end result is an empty section that never finishes loading.
I’d also suggest making things a little smaller. You don’t need each RSS entry to be an inch tall. That’s just a waste of space, and actually helps detract from clarity. It’d be nice if they allowed you the ability to hook into other social networks such as FriendFeed and Pownce.
Ending thoughts
The new 9rules is a great improvement, as far as I’m concerned. Stripped out all of the crap and just left the lean, delicious high-quality content. Accessing your user info is a bitch, and a friendly link in the user window would be a great asset.
The newly-formed Chawlk needs some work. As it is everything that 9rules discarded, I can’t help but feel that that’s exactly what it is: discarded. It feels lower on the quality scale, and I hope it doesn’t continue that way, otherwise the whole thing will probably go belly-up. I’m reserving saying to much about it as it’s still being worked on at this point. It needs work, I’ll leave it at that
Categories: Design Reviews Technology
Tagged under: 9rules, chawlk, Design, review, Technology, user experience