iGoogle Users Irate About Portal's Changes

bhhenry sends in an InformationWeek report on a recent unannounced change in the iGoogle portal. Quoting: "Google insists that its revised iGoogle personalized home page generates better 'happiness metrics' than the old design, but a vocal group of users isn't happy about the changes." The recent change introduces what Google refers to as "canvas view," which the Official Google Blog claims "... makes iGoogle a more useful homepage and a better platform for developers." Unlike the last major change made to Gmail, there is no option to revert to the old version of iGoogle. iGoogle users are reporting that widgets and themes are broken, Gmail attachments don't work, and valuable screen space is wasted. The Personalizing Google section of Google Groups is full of thousands of complaints about this sudden and unannounced change. Many posters have have stated that they are using the Canadian or UK version of iGoogle or even moving to NetVibes.com to get their preferred layout back. It seems that Google and Yahoo are moving in lockstep in springing forced changes that users hate.

Comments

Don't forget Apple

[Lord Byron II]

Firewire, Y! Profiles, and now iGoogle. What is the world coming to?!? ;-)

Re:Don't forget Apple

[AdmiralXyz]

The world is coming to people bitching and moaning whenever any of their precious stability in life is taken away. Between the new Facebook, the new Flickr, and now iGoogle, I've seen so many people complaining for no other reason than that it's different. Call me naive, but I have faith in these companies that they made these changes for a reason, namely that they did tests and concluded it would improve the user experience, and that the bugs will be worked out in time. (And about the FireWire: people were whining when the iMac didn't have a floppy drive too.)

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Martin Blank]

At least the new Facebook gave a chance to look at it to see if you liked it. Those who wished could express an opinion on it, which may or may not have gotten attention from developers. But the notice and first look kind of thing is nice to have, even if it will eventually be forced on you.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Tawnos]

I'd agree for a lot of things (facebook, flickr), but for google the change really blows. Moving the previously optional tabs from the top to the left creates a huge empty gap on the iGoogle page, reducing the amount of space to work in. The new applications hijack your homepage - I can no longer middle click to open things I want to see later into the background, because they've been AJAX'd (the new hijacked?). Some of the apps I used to use are broken by the change, and I'm not given any option of removing the parts I really don't need.

It used to be that I could aggregate a large amount of relevant information into a small space using iGoogle. Now it's a larger space (due to the extra column of waste) with an interface that's less conducive to picking out those pieces of information I want to expound upon.

I'm sure that I'll eventually get used to it (or move to a different portal), but the change was abrupt and unwelcome, because it broke a fundamental use flow that I'd found quite productive.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[AngryNick]

I deal with a lot of b1tchy user in my job and they complain when you give them a new tool, then they complain when you enhance it with the features that 80% of the users said they wanted, then they moan when you try to take it down before 6:00pm PST on a Friday, and fain death when you replace it 10 years later when an easier to use tool. No wonder I'm always angry.

To me, the new facebook is better, iGoogle's canvas and tab placement is an improvement, and Flickr is still perfectly suited for posting my photos.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[casper75]

I couldn't agree with you more. I really like the new layout of facebook, the new iGoogle layout, and the new flickr layout. But what am I supposed to do, post in forums for all three sites and talk about why the haters are wrong? Not worth the effort... I'll just keep using these sites and those who can't stand the changes can go elsewhere.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[PopeRatzo]

The world is coming to people bitching and moaning whenever any of their precious stability in life is taken away.

And why shouldn't they? There's precious little "stability" in our lives at the moment, and most of us really don't need to wake up to a portal page that has been capriciously redesigned.

Call me naive, but I have faith in these companies...

You are extremely naive, son. The notion that Google "did tests and concluded it would improve the user experience" is belied by the fact that part of the user experience means being comfortable that the layout of the page you view most often is going to look the same tomorrow than it did last night.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[vlm]

The new applications hijack your homepage - I can no longer middle click to open things I want to see later into the background, because they've been AJAX'd (the new hijacked?).

When I was a pre-beta tester (or whatever) a couple months ago, I agree, that was broken. Today, using FF 3.0.3 (along with about 15 extension addons) that works along with right clicking. For example I opened this /. story by right click open in new tab off the slashdot rss applet. That did not work a couple months ago. Maybe noscript is saving me or something?

For years I removed or disabled flash to avoid stupid graphic designer mistakes and only recently added flash to watch videos, with the protection of adblock and noscript and friends. Will I now have to find a way to disable ajax to work around stupid designs?

Re:Don't forget Apple

[jcnnghm]

Majority of people still resistant to change. News at 11!

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Kugrian]

The world is coming to people bitching and moaning whenever any of their precious stability in life is taken away. Between the new Facebook, the new Flickr, and now iGoogle, I've seen so many people complaining for no other reason than that it's different.

If you don't like a newer version of a downloaded program, you stick with the old one. If you don't like a newer version of a webpage, then you (usually) have to go out of your way to change it back. Or just switch services.

When /. changed to the D2 system, I just switched it back. Easy peasy. There's an option to do it in the settings. Changing iGoogle back means either changing your locale or setting a javascript var or using a Greasemonkey script. Though fairly easy, it's still a hack.

I'm all for change, but where possible, why not provide the version of the app before the change? Stick a 'This older version of $x is unsupported. Use at your own risk' if you want.

The Ars story about the switch put across the point that the new canvas view makes it a much more attractive proposition for advertising. Sure, there are many other values, but with the amount of people complaining (the main issue being the screen-hogging sidebar) if Google doesn't provide a realistic fix for this 'feature', it's just going to look as if they care more about revenue than customers. True or not, it doesn't make Google look as shiny as before.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Tawnos]

Asynchronous Java and XML - so instead of just having http links that one can click, there are javascript callbacks that retrieve updated page content without reloading the whole page. While this is nice when you only intend to browse within the single page, or when there are small bits of page that can be updated without needing an entirely new page, it breaks functionality in cases where you intend to get completely new pages.

To your sibling (vlm): I mean for things like weather (can no longer middle click as it just brings you back to the ig page), gmail (only one email at a time, no more opening a bunch in tabs), calendar (can't open upcoming appointments with middle click), etc. These used to be standard links, but have been replaced with ajax callbacks that load up the respective iGoogle page.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[SanityInAnarchy]

A nit: It turns out you don't know what AJAX is. It's Asynchronous Javascript and XML. Javascript is significantly different than Java.

so instead of just having http links that one can click, there are javascript callbacks that retrieve updated page content without reloading the whole page.

It's actually not all or nothing. Progressive enhancement means that you can treat it as either a hyperlink or a button to trigger JavaScript.

Example: When you reply to my comment, if you've got tabbed browsing turned on, you should be able to middle-click on the "Reply to This" button and open it in a new tab. Or you can simply click on it, and it will expand inside this page, which I find much quicker and more useful.

It's also not just hyperlinks. Example: I recently discovered Gmail's keyboard shortcuts. (Press ? in Gmail for a cheat sheet.) Even if these were real hyperlinks, I'm guessing you're still going to need Javascript to bind those hotkeys.

it breaks functionality in cases where you intend to get completely new pages.

It sucks when that happens, but that's not the AJAX itself. That's when people decide to not provide both options -- or use clever tricks like hash-links. Take Gmail -- your current location is appended to the URL, so if you want to open something in a new tab, it will reload all of Gmail -- and then go to exactly where you wanted.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[cp.tar]

The world is coming to people bitching and moaning whenever any of their precious stability in life is taken away. Between the new Facebook, the new Flickr, and now iGoogle, I've seen so many people complaining for no other reason than that it's different. Call me naive, but I have faith in these companies that they made these changes for a reason, namely that they did tests and concluded it would improve the user experience, and that the bugs will be worked out in time. (And about the FireWire: people were whining when the iMac didn't have a floppy drive too.)

Ditto.
I remember being swamped with invitations to various Facebook groups bemoaning the loss of "Old Facebook", which I remember being a horrible mess. Then again, I log into Facebook only once a week.

As for iGoogle, I don't know what the fuss is all about. Really.
So the tabs have moved to the left. Big fucking deal. I recently did that in Firefox, too; Tree Style Tab is a great extension for surfing on a widescreen.
Oh, yes, the Clock looks a bit less serious, and the Gmail applet has been improved significantly.

Maybe it's because I've used so many different interfaces that I really don't mind small changes like these; maybe if they changed keyboard shortcuts I'd throw a hissy fit, but likely not even then.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[arrenlex]

The world is coming to people bitching and moaning whenever any of their precious stability in life is taken away.

I'd agree for a lot of things (facebook, flickr), but for google the change really blows.

It's funny how that works -- while changes don't affect you personally or you don't mind them, the people who are upset are "bitching" and "moaning" about it. Yet, suddenly, when you are ticked off about a change, it's suddenly "abrupt and unwelcome" and you "don't agree" complaining about it is bitching.

I'm not a conservative, but I respect that part of the conservative ideology. Is this thing being changed for a good reason, or is it being changed for the sake of putting up something new? Even if this change doesn't affect me, if people start changing things for the sake of change, maybe the next one will affect me, or the next.

Almost no one is really bitching and moaning about these changes -- they all have legitimate complaints, and so will you when something you like changes. Don't call them names; put yourself in their shoes.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Anonymous Coward]

I might as well point out that I've been on the new iGoogle since very early 2008.

And Google announced, over a year ago, that these changes will be happening. Just because something wasn't reported, doesn't make it fact.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[ezzzD55J]

A nit: It turns out you don't know what AJAX is.

He does in the sense that actually matters, as opposed to what the J in AJAX stands for.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[david@ecsd.com]

Asynchronous Javascript and XML.

Ba-zing. You sure showed him!

Re:Don't forget Apple

[owlnation]

While some of that is true, there's one important difference here. Gmail does NOT work properly with the new interface. It doesn't load the links for attachments and a few other features. It's broken. Change is one thing, but broken is quite different.

I'm one who has now switched to the .co.uk interface, Gmail is useless for me in the .com one. I only found out about the .co.uk one by reading this article (thanks, submitter).

Aside from that, the tabs on the left hand side is, indeed, stupid. It does totally waste space, as well as being disconcerting -- browser tabs at top, gmail tabs at side. It's better on a widescreen, but on my laptop it's just a waste. There's no point in using this any more.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[aaron.axvig]

Remember the good old days when people used applications installed on their own computers where they had control over changes to them?

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Merusdraconis]

You should use my copy of Firefox: for some reason on my laptop I don't see these changes, but on my desktop I do.

I like the changes. I want to get it consistent. I'm baffled as to why one computer gets the changes while the other with the same browser does not.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Thrip]

Call me naive, but I have faith in these companies that they made these changes for a reason, namely that they did tests and concluded it would improve the user experience

Two words: New Coke

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Flentil]

I think you might be missing the point, that being the point of this article. You are forcing changes on people who were happy doing things as they were. Maybe if you would stop doing that, they'd stop complaining so much.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Flentil]

As for iGoogle, I don't know what the fuss is all about. Really. So the tabs have moved to the left. Big fucking deal.

Yes, it is a big deal, forcing a change from a 3 column layout to four, with the new column being useless and taking up space that was previously used for other things. It's clearly a downgrade if you like your homepage to work as an at-a-glance page of quick links and info. So now you know.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Tawnos]

In my defense, I have both facebook and flickr pages. The facebook changes were a necessity once it moved from the simple layout to one where content could be added. Prior to those changes, the place was getting so cluttered that it wasn't even worth trying to put a quick message on the wall or e-stalk a person when you needed to get ahold of them.

Google's changes don't come as the result of new features being added that need their own space to grow. Moreover, their previous model of having boxes that can be dragged where desired was quite useful. Even if new features were added, they could easily fit into the box model used previously. It seems like the changes were for change's sake, not for the betterment of the product. As I said in my initial post, though, only time will tell how I feel about this once I've adapted.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[fermion]

it is worse than that. Google is providing ad support free-to-the-user services, and when those services are not perfect, the users cry like they matter. A single user on a free service is not worth that much. a single user that complains all the time has negative worth. The best thing to happen is that such a user goes away. Free services usually have plenty of new people signing up.

Now, if a user wishes to pay a fee and become a customer, then there may be a basis to say that the service is not up to par. But until that point, the advertisers are the customers, and dsign decisions are a compromise between giving advertisers what they want and making the service barely tolerable to the user so they won't move to a competing free service.

It is really sad. Even people who should know better, like NYT columnist, think that Google has some responsibility to the free users, and that the free user apps are suitable for critical business use. I fear for the world when I hear such naive statements.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[NVW55V]

This Adblock Plus rule will remove the new left tab: google.com#TD(class=leftborder)

Re:Don't forget Apple

[FooGoo]

Never rely on other people, companies or things for your stability. Your stability is your responsibility and no one else's. Everything changes if you can't deal with that it's no one else's problem or responsibility but your own. If your happiness is defined by the UI of a website you have serious problems. It's meaningless...does the sun going down make you feel insecure? How about running water....does that make you unstable? When the wind blows do you get panicky?

Acknowledge, adapt, and move.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[Kevin72594]

If anyone ever thought that Google cared more about its customers than about revenue they are quite gullible. A companies job is to maximize its shareholders wealth last time I checked. Caring about customers may be a part of that, but only so far as it will increase their profits. If Google loses enough users that their ad revenue or whatever goes down because of this, then they will be forced to change back.

Re:Don't forget Apple

[SlowMovingTarget]

Hmmm. That's why there's no AdBlock plug-in for Chrome.

I quite like it.

[AndGodSed]

I don't really use iGoogle because I found the previous interface clunky - so unless I am not seeing what others are I think I will hence use iGoogle more often...

Re:I quite like it.

[WolverineOfLove]

I agree. While I can understand that some people may dislike it, I think it's a fine and justifiable change.

I also understand why offering a reversion option is not always feasible.

Finally, of course large, unannounced changes will break some widgets. But within a week or two, I'm sure the majority of things will be working again.

In other words: settle down, chill out. Change happens.

Re:I quite like it.

[Flentil]

The stuff that I find really bizarre is people who whine about screen "real estate". I mean, the top third of the screen is dedicated to a one-line text box.

Yes exactly, so further reduction of the already limited usable screen space is NOT desirable. Or to go with your way of thinking, you are already paying taxes on your income, why should you care if they take 20% more?

i am so angry

[Anonymous Coward]

i need something trivial and pointless to bitch about, minor layout changes in websites are infuriating

People hate change...

[Dutch Gun]

...news at 11.

Welcome to the future of cloud computing. This is what it means to give up control of your software for the convenience of a net-based service.

google.com/ig

[ThePhilips]

I would be one of those unhappy about the change - tabs migrated from top to the left side (*). It added nothing new to the page while added something (occupying precious screen space) what I do not like.

Overall the change is bad. It is bad mostly because it is not optional. I spent half of an hour to try to put my tabs where they were before, but found no such option.

And since most of the Web sites are still not wide screen compatible, resizing my window wider is really annoying: on other sides I start to see more of the empty side bars. And it's not that on google.com/ig the space is occupied by something I need...

It's not the end of the world, but the change is bad.

(*) Also I think left-handed people would have preferred the tabs on right side of page. But you can't move them, you can't remove them.

Re:google.com/ig

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Convention for tab metaphor is horizontal arrangement, not vertical. The new layout is counterintuitive.

2. Buttons that appear similar to OS UI 'minimize' and 'maximize' controls should do just that -- open and shut the collapsible frames. Now they open up a list of options, one of which is 'minimize'. That's an extra step just to perform a simple function.

3. Tell people before you make a change like that! I assumed it was something I, the user, did wrong. I spent about an hour trying different themes and browsers to try to get back the old layout before bothering one of my poor friends who works at google, who of course had no idea they changed it either.

Re:google.com/ig

[hey!]

Well, actually it did add something: the widgets on each tab can be listed, tree style, by clicking on the "+" next to the tab name, which shows why the tabs were moved to the left.

So, it's not a pointless exercise by any means. As you point out, if you don't have many widgets to manage, then it's a waste of space. The flip side is that the more widgets you have to manage, the better this layout is relative to the old one.

The change was a bit disorienting, for a few seconds at least until I realized that I was still on the portal rather than in some changed version of gmail.

With respect to resizing after you visit some kind of wide format unfriendly site -- well, maybe that's a problem, but I'm not sure it's iGoogle's. The format works fine for working with portal widgets, maybe not so good when you launch a site that is designed for 800x600 displays.

Re:google.com/ig

[rvandam]

Warning: shameless plug. You can fix it with this style: http://userstyles.org/styles/11351 Usable with firefox and either Stylish or Greasemonkey plugins

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

the change was announced

[speedtux]

Google was even asking for beta testers.

I think the new iGoogle has some problems, but it's generally better than the old one. I don't think Google should have switched over yet.

Daily Mash

[David Gerard]

I commend the wisdom of the Daily Mash on this topic: Carnage As Facebook Moves Everything Slightly To The Left.

I like the new iGoogle

[anoneironaut]

I like the new iGoogle. People always complain about these kind of changes instead of just letting it sit for a while!

Don't forget Mechanics.

[Ostracus]

"I'll just keep using these sites and those who can't stand the changes can go elsewhere."

Or start using Greasemonkey.

Re:Don't forget Mechanics.

[Joe Tie.]

Exactly. It was what, a day, before someone wrote a greasemonkey script to fix this?

Why Gmail Gadget With No Hide Preview?

[Comatose51]

Anyone know why they took "hide preview" away from the Gmail gadget? On the Gmail gadget's blog, almost all the comments are complains about this change. I've stopped using it because of this. It might now seem so important at first glance but I think a lot of us use iGoogle as our homepage and leave our browser on it. I don't want someone passing by to glance at my email. When I click and go to Gmail, there's only a brief period when someone can pass by and see it. Knowing this, I would only check my email when I have some measure of privacy. However little that privacy is, it's better than none. I'm not trying to guard against intruders or determined snoopers. I just don't want innocent glances reading my email.

Terrible

[rm999]

They have rendered my homepage almost entirely useless in one fell swoop, to the point that I am actively looking for something new (meanwhile I have to use the UK site: www.google.co.uk)

The worst part? They are doing this with developers in mind more than users. Some Google article I was reading discussed advertising and developer freedom instead of user experience, with a couple of vague mentions of "happier users." I don't want to sound like Marx or anything, but this switch was to make the powerful minority happy instead of the masses. I would be pissed if they snuck ads onto my widgets - I already click on plenty of search and text ads!

The ironic thing is this is one of their only truly "beta" products, and it's one of the few not labeled so.

To get your old iGoogle layout back

[RichPowers]

Log-in to iGoogle through www.google.co.uk and enjoy...at least until Google forces the new layout on UK users.

The new sidebar, weather gadget, and Gmail preview take up too much space, even on my 24'' monitor.

GreaseMonkey to the rescue!

[Manfre]

I'm not a fan of the change because I do not use the tabs. Instead of complaining, I created a greasemonkey script to remove the tabs.

Yes, but it's an easy fix

[lotekppc]

Assuming that you are running a browser that works with greasemonkey, you just need to install Rockmaster's iGoogle Sidebar Collapse - http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/30414 And you can make it go away or come back whenever you want it.

Why different for different computers?

[Lucky75]

Ok, so I have 2 computers, one running Linux and the other XP. How is it that one of them is the old format and one is the new format, when they are both logged into the same account? Is it only targeted towards linux? I spoofed the headers on linux to appear like Vista, but it's still the new layout.

Re:stop whining, it's free

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

It's a free service. You get what you pay for.

It's ad-supported, you are paying for it.

BREAKING

[Goaway]

People hate change, news at eleven.

Use Greasemonkey (at least on Firefox)

[dubz]

I've been using iGoogle since forever. I switched to the new developer's sandbox as soon as they made it available for users. I didn't really like it that much. I used it for some time, realized I didn't need some of the new functionality, and just modified an available Greasemonkey (Firefox) script to get a hybrid layout with the best of both worlds. Now that the new version is live, and many users are complaining, I guess some will take similar action.

Easy fix

[amirulbahr]

Go to http://www.google.com.au/ig For now anyway...

Protopage.com

[Malggi]

I switched to protopage.com It took about half an hour to setup, but it works pretty good. It might be a good substitute for anybody looking for something that's like the old iGoogle.

Re:Wasted Screen Space

[klausner]

Gah!!! This Stylish script does more damage to the UI than the canvas
"upgrade". Use <a href="http://userstyles.org/styles/11351">
http://userstyles.org/styles/11351</a> for a simple fix of the
horizontal tabs.

Google Goes wrong way

[Kineel]

There was a LONG LONG LONG thread on the Google discussion groups about this new interface when they forced many users into the Beta version. Of the hundreds of people who took the time to post, I don't think I read a single person who was happy with the change.

Many of us found a way to opt out of the experiment, much to our delight.

So apparently Google took all of those complaints (about 99% against the change, maybe 99.99%) and decided it was a good change because nobody threatened violence. Well, a couple did but the Google reps discounted them as fringe users.

So where is everyone moving too now that Google has decided that UI means User Interference.