Comments on: An Interview with Paulien Strijland of Yahoo! User Experience Design

By: webcam

webcam — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 06:15:58 +0000

Hey

I agree with what you’re saying. Thanks for sharing the info with us.

By: z

Thu, 28 Oct 2004 14:20:25 +0000

I might have been seen a bit harsh on my earlier comment. But rest assured, i am YET to see one innovative unique UI on Yahoo Search properties across the web.

If only Yahoo! weild it’s tremendous power to look forward rather than looking (and ashamed copying of Google).

Add something NEW to the table than just making yet-another google!!

By: rafa

rafa — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 09:15:24 +0000

1. Why have you put those big buttons on Yahoo mail? Do you think people have problems to recognize buttons.
Best

By: Chobe

Chobe — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 05:13:47 +0000

Hi Paulien,

I have met Jeff, though long ago and briefly. But from that small encounter and from watching him at conferences and reading about him in the press, I think he is one of the smartest persons in this space and a great asset to Yahoo. And I also believe that Yahoo has enormous talent, such as you, in the interface design and user experience team. But I am still disappointed to see Yahoo just copy Google on recent products, specifically search and local.

Looking forward to your team proving me wrong and keeping the space strong with good competition.

By: Blake Engel

Blake Engel — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 05:09:57 +0000

As a former UED team member at Yahoo!, I will also attest to the unparalleled might of Yahoo!’s interaction designers. I can personally assure you that each and every product they crank out the door would look and behave much different if UED hadn’t touched it. And I’m certain that those products would be significantly less “user friendly” without UED involvement. Each piece of functionality, each screen, each form is carefully planned to be easy to learn, ease to use repeatedly, and consistent in presentation across a single (large) application, and across one of the biggest networks of interactive products on the planet.

And yes, search.yahoo.com sure looks like Google. I would agree that I would have liked to see something new and in some way better than Google’s approach. If this decision was driven by user feedback if they’d be more likely to use Yahoo! “if it just looked more like Google,” well then, that’s not a very strong argument.

By: Paulien

Paulien — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 01:30:43 +0000

I dont know if Chobe has ever met Jeff but, as a current employee, I can tell you hes one of the most visionary and inspiring individuals Ive ever worked forand Ive worked with some impressive folks.

When it comes to interface design and user experience, Google has influenced the way a lot of people view search on the web and we cant ignore that. But the fact is, I think we do it better and its my personal charter to move Yahoo! toward even more strategic and innovative design thats fresh and user friendly.

If youre skeptical about Yahoo!s ability to innovate and evolve to reflect the needs of our users, take a look at the Wayback Machine at http://web.archive.org/web/*/yahoo.com and youll see that weve never stopped.

By: Guillaume

Guillaume — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 18:47:03 +0000

So what ? Yahoo acknowledges that Google’s homepage is good? Is it a crime to make something similar ??? Don’t you see it’s even done on purpose, like a tribute to the competitor.
Why do you think they listed a link to the Google blog on this website…I mean, they were partners for a long time, it’s not like we can compare their relation to Microsoft VS Google. Yahoo is far from having any pretensions, they’re just ambitious…Unlike Microsoft it’s not like they are doing so many press releases about their Search engine or promise for future technologies…the only place is this site, not CNET, not EWeek, not Neowin…
And I believe it is by acknowledging competitors’ work that you actually open your mind and better technologies…Just my opinion

By: werty

werty — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 17:31:40 +0000

If anyone is wondering about the comments on Yahoo! stole some UED from Google, just look at the http://search.yahoo.com. it is google, with a Yahoo! logo and customizable tabs.

-Wertrose
http://www.wertrose.com/
A modern Day Ben Franklin

By: Guillaume

Guillaume — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 17:18:47 +0000

Well, I have always find yahoo extremy modest in their approach…maybe is it just a modest feature promotion….
Compare for example Yahoo mail Plus offer to Hotmail Plus…any smart user would rush to Yahoo Mail Plus…and it’s the same price…
There are tons of features Yahoo provides and that people a not aware of…why does MSN make you pay for intellisync when Yahoo give it for free? Why would you wait MSN Hotmail to stabilize their buggy webmail upgrade that is being undertook since last August when it only took one week for yahoo to upgrade their software ? WHy would MSN premium subscribers get a messenger cluttered with ads when free Yahoo users get a launchcast radio integration and a built in address book? Why do you wanna pay some photo storage service when Yahoo give you unlimited JPEG storage? Why would you pay MSN to get 30MB of file storage when Yahoo give them to you for free? Have you ever tried to compare yahoo toolbar to the stupid MSN Toolbar? And being a Microsoft MSN MVP and beta tester, I know what I’m talking about…Yahoo puts the user in the first place or at least does not show you the marketings revenue for such or such feature
As for Yahoo been user friendly I have to say I have never seen a service so much user friendly than Yahoo. The My Yahoo page customization, the webmail customization, the toolbar customization, the messenger customization…NO other services give you a smuch , even paid services. Try to browse MSN Network and compare it with Yahoo! it’s astonishing.
There is one thing thought I owul like Yahoo to think of : being FULLY compatible with firefox especially their launchcast website that I use a lot…Also Yahoo Plus hompage does not display under Opera browser, at least last time I tried…

By: Natasha Robinson

Natasha Robinson — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 13:28:05 +0000

I have to agree that that I’ve never considered Yahoo particular user friendly. I’ve been using it so long because was my first email account (userid:natashatr) and now my first rss reader. Did I mention how much I love Launchcast?

I do like the new (beta)interface better including the new My Yahoo. But do most people even know that most of the things Yahoo offers are even there? I just realized this week that the notepad (using the Beta view)could be used from the main screen.

Natasha Robinson
Real Estate Logic
putting Logic in Real Estate.
http://www.realestatelogic.net