welterweightUX

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether good user experiences are a privilege or a right when it comes to free sites, apps, and software.

Remember the riptide of criticism that Facebook, a totally free services, got for the “Live Feed” and “News Feed” roll out a few months? Was the vitriol really warranted? There are people who use the site for fluffy, superficial reasons (not to minimize the importance interpersonal connection), so should they be furious when FB rolls out features that are as desirable as a glass of spoiled milk?

I’m going to say…maybe. Maybe they should be mad, but they shouldn’t expect to not be mad.

This blog is new. When I started it, I decided to try out Tumblr, a service I’d never used. Mainly I did this because code’s a foreign tongue to me, and Tumblr seemed really plug and play, which means it’s easier for a dolt like me to customize than  other options, like Wordpress.

Immediately after signing up, I began—slightly—customizing the blog’s overall look and feel. That’s where the frustration started. On the customization screen, there are five tabs you can click though to make different changes to your blog.

Here’s what it looks like:

In the example above, I click on the Appearance tab. Cool. Now, after looking at what’s under that tab, I expect to be able to click on the main part of the screen and have the drop-down disappear. Not so. What next? Maybe there’s a close option somewhere? Nope.

The only way to close one of the options is to click back on the tab name, Appearance. After doing that, the drop-down goes away. Finally.

Who came up with this interaction and why? It’s kludgy, poorly thought out, and not in line with any standards I’ve seen on other sites.

For all of its apparent simplicity (check out how awesomely straightforward their homepage is), Tumblr has quite a few features that are insanely frustrating and weird.

Of course I have options:

• Roar loudly, both publicly and privately, about how crappy these features are (which I guess I’m kind of doing with this post)
• Abandon the site for another service
• Tell myself, “Dude, it’s free. Deal with it.”

Of course, technology is largely self-correcting. If enough wacky things happen on a site, people will abandon it for something of a similar ilk that works better. But when something changes on the new flavor of the month, the cries will rise again. The public will go hoarse with complaints; eye muscle will strain from so much rolling.

People demand good user experiences, but they shouldn’t expect them from sites they use gratis. Free stuff is good, yeah, but think of like someone’s treating you to a meal: You can’t expect truffles—you need to be happy with a burrito.

Burritos can be delicious, too. And filling.