Keep it simple

[vanhelds]

eBid, please keep it simple. Keep a nice, clean interface, that loads quickly. Do not go for maximum features - concentrate on ease of use. And avoid change for the sake of it.

[JudesNiceThings]

Couldn't agree more!!

A 'Complicated' home page puts newbies off!

[bestassets]

It must be a difficult call for the guys that run the site.

There's always a danger if you ask people what they want then they all want different things ( some obviously opposing opinions on the same features )

The recent polls illustrate this.

I agree that the priority is to to retain the essentials, like easy understandable navigation, availabilty of site, performance etc.

I know that when I 1st joined eBid I was attracted by some of the already superior features to other sites (specificaly listing options) but as I came to use it for real there were a couple of things I missed from the previous site. Having said that, they aren't essential, and I find workarounds. It would be nice if they are introduced somehere along the line, but not a the expense of the "essentials"

Just because another site has a feature, it doesn't mean eBid have to copy it. Sometimes, with a bit of thought ( and inspiration) it can be improved on !

eBid haven't the same resources, so compromise is necessary? Making things overcomplicated requires more maintenance, both for eBid and it's users.

The home page is a bit "busy." It has to attract new business and concentrate on that. Personally I hardly ever go there now so if others are like me, then it's not worth including content aimed at experienced users ?

Sorry, just filling some time till I can upload the photos. Think I'll hang fire on my suggestion for an improvement on image handling

Tony

[vanhelds]

It is all about design. That is the way it is with any user interface. At least 90% of the solution to any problem is coming up with the right design. The rest is easy.

An important aspect of design is strict adherence to standards. There are not many official guidelines for web sites, but there are best practices.

For instance, eBay makes heavy use of client-side Javascript, for its navigation. This is unorthodox, and I find it both slow and confusing. Reliance on this strategy could be caused by a super-abundance of features, which again us down ro design.