Today we’re releasing a new and improved Lists of Bests and a redesigned All Consuming. Exciting news as these two sites work so well together. When you mark items off a Lists of Bests list it automatically records your consumption and worth it/not worth it rating over on All Consuming, and vice versa. Two great sites that work great together.
If you already have a 43 account, then you’re good to go. This is part of our one-site-fits-all approach to building an infinitely cascading network of networking sites (or something like that). So, go check ‘em out and let us know what you think.
P.S. The BBC’s 50 Things To Eat Before You Die is strangely popular. Click “add to my lists” and get started.
18 responses so far ↓
Glen Engel-Cox // March 10, 2006 at 3:38 pm |
Hmm, I’m still getting the “leave your email here” notice for letting us know when you guys were going to release List of Bests. DNS switch problem?
Josh Petersen // March 10, 2006 at 4:28 pm |
Sorry for the trouble Glen – all should be good now. Half our team is down in Austin for SXSW so we are making things up here on our own.
Jay // March 11, 2006 at 5:26 pm |
The All Consuming site redesign looks great, but I can’t find the option to add tags to something. If it already has a tag, I can add another, but if I add something I’m consuming, it looks like there isn’t an option to add a tag for it. Am I missing something?
David // March 12, 2006 at 9:59 am |
Love it! It’s cool.
nofi // March 13, 2006 at 5:25 am |
I find the new layout very unattractive. I’m all for progress through redesigns, but I don’t think the new look helps at all. I’d like to be able to keep the clean-lines of the old style sheet without these new pseudo-retro kitsch and grunge-y graphics.
david mikula // March 15, 2006 at 8:09 am |
$10 says allconsuming is going to receive much less traffic after the redesign; or people will be spending less time on it.
I definitely think you guys could have done much better.
nofi // March 15, 2006 at 1:32 pm |
Take a cue from 37signals and go back to your less-is-better design; the new best-of list functionality are a nice addition, but the new graphics are embarassing.
Josh+Petersen // March 15, 2006 at 4:16 pm |
We understand not everyone loves the new design, but the compliments have been 20:1 compared to the haters.
We take a cue from our pals at 37S (they designed 43 Things for us) when it comes to building products that people feel stongly about and that we are passionate about. You wouldn’t believe how many people thought (or still think) 43 Things was the stupidest idea they have ever heard of. Whatever. We don’t follow try to appeal to the fanboys – and we didn’t want our new sites to look like every other pastel colored rounded corner halo effect web2.0 knock off. So if that is what you are looking for, sorry!
If you are embarassed by the web site you don’t have to use it!
Chuq // March 15, 2006 at 7:24 pm |
I thought 43 Things was the stupidest idea I’d ever heard of, but I suppose that I hadn’t even given it a chance. Now, as I guess is pretty obvious, I’m addicted and I love the site. I now think the idea is incredibly original and the site has matured so much since the “olden” (yeah like a year ago) days.
I’m continually impressed with the advancements and additions to the site.
A few other points that I’d like to make really quickly:
* The integration of all the sites is awesome
* I don’t like the new design of allconsuming, but I think I’ll get used to it.
* Variety is nice (see above).
* Keep up the good work Robot-coop.
Josh Petersen // March 15, 2006 at 7:59 pm |
Thanks Chuq! Your post makes me think about all the changes in the last year on our sites.
I’m sure the same will happen with All Consuming over the next 12 months. I don’t want to sound like I think we’ve nailed the site design – it is still a work in progress – but pretty much whenever we try something new, you can pretty much count on a chorus of folks asking to leave it as it was.
Of course the “old” all consuming was “new” a few months ago – the orignal site was 4 years old – and lots of people complained about those changes when they happened. We do listen to folks and when people can point out what isn’t working for them, we are eager to fix it – but when people say make it look like it use to or just in general slag the design- well listening to that sort of criticism is just a recipe for “design by committee”, letting people who got comfortable with a certain look dictate the design. I think it’s better to have a vision for the site and move forward. If folks don’t want to come along for the ride – the internet is full of other options.
Niklas // March 16, 2006 at 6:43 am |
The only thing I’m really missing off Allconsuming.net is to see a list of the stuff I currently am consuming. As I rummage through a lot of music, I quickly lose track of what’s to tick off.
Or does such a view already exist?
nofi // March 16, 2006 at 6:54 am |
I doubt I’m alone in thinking the new pink and cyan (some might say pastel) backgrounds, the retro-kitsch-y graphic headlines and other added rough-edged clutter don’t offer an improvement in accessibility, usability and functionality.
Who am I to be critical? I’m hardly a ‘fanboy’, having been a happy user of All Consuming since before it was affiliated with Robot Co-op — back when users had to enter a lot of the data ourselves and the server often wouldn’t connect for days. I’ve given All Consuming a good share of link and data equity over the years while recommending it over the banal ugliness of other mega-sites.
I’m just a professional, goal-directed designer/developer who felt the need to comment on what I consider a visual misstep. You can view it as FREE, user-centered feedback, or tell me (and others) to like it or lump it; your choice.
Don’t get me wrong: I am excited about the added functionality of these inter-related sites. I for one have never doubted the usefulness and inventiveness of 43Things/Places/People and All Consuming. They’re a great accomplishment. I think if you compare them all, one now sticks out like a sore thumb.
Josh+Petersen // March 16, 2006 at 10:38 am |
So No Fi- Are you just saying you don’t like how it looks? What would you say to someone who does? That just gets into opinion – not really anything about usability or function. Arguing about looks is mostly just a waste of time. People have different opinions.
From working with 37 Signals, I could tell you that how something looks isn’t really very important to them. They care about how an app works and if people know how to use it. If you are telling us something doesn’t work for you – let us know what it is. Personally – I’m not a huge fan of the colored brush stroke stuff. It doesn’t add a lot, in my opinion – so I’m open to junking that. But that’s a specific feature. Just railing against the whole aesthetic isn’t really constructive. I hear you that you don’t like it – but I’ve got way more compliments about it than I’ve got comments like yours.
You are also missing all the clutter that the redesign took away. The site had grown up over a long time with a lot of odd links added and apended. While the new look is different, the site has actually been simplified by removing features that weren’t important and trying to make the purpose of the site more obvious.
nofi // March 16, 2006 at 1:14 pm |
I agree arguing about looks comes down to a matter of taste, but the converse to your stance is also true: what were the reasons for *changing* the look and feel? What functional purpose do the new color palette and visual elements serve? Why a brush-stroke graphic and noisy-edges over the previous style? To me, All Consuming is now the odd-one-out amongst the 43Things/Places/People collective.
I agree about the importance of interaction design above aesthetics, but in the end the user experiences all these simultaneously; how it works and looks ARE interconnected. What the site means to me as a user has been altered by these changes.
I like using All Consuming enough to want to decry what I see as arbitrary changes in style. No matter: to quell any bad feelings, I’ll get out of your hair and let you get back to it. Cheers,
Al bundy // March 16, 2006 at 6:20 pm |
WTH is up with the silly makeup at all consuming….kindly convert back to the old style. ALSO the first impressions of listofbest site design is pretty lame as well..honestly..what were you guys thinking??????????????????
titilayo // March 17, 2006 at 11:01 am |
One things I miss about All Consuming: the option to mark something as “wishy-washy” rather than “worth consuming” or “not worth consuming”. Sometimes things are neither here nor there and the “wishy-washy” option was perfect for that. Can you bring that back, or is it still there and I just can’t find it?
vex // March 21, 2006 at 10:49 am |
Erm, I’m not going to criticise or praise the new design, I just want to know what kind of font are you using on AllConsuming? It looks *awful* on my screen, and I don’t know why. See screenshot here: http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/9004/allconsuming1rq.png
And here’s how I see 43Things, nothing weird there:
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/7738/43things4wo.png
There’s something wrong, obviously, I just wish I knew how to fix it.
Michiel // March 25, 2006 at 6:03 pm |
the renewed lists of Bests is AWESOME!
The adding of items to lists is really easy, only the moving of items up and down in the list could be a lit easier; some drag’ndrop dhtml-y action is definitely called for instead of four awkward buttons per row and a brutal refresh.
Aside from that: I love it!