Yahoo! TV Blog Fest

December 3rd, 2006

Last week Yahoo! redesigned their Yahoo! TV web site. I commented on it saying it looked decent enough, but not really a destination for me. I also had some problems with the videos. Well, it seems the old users like the old style better and are having a field day commenting on the Yahoo! blog. TechCrunch brought my attention to this.

I’m interested in how the user’s ability to comment, while at first seeming like a fun after thought, or at worst a nuisance, could actually be used to create a better product. In the past, a corporation would release a product and if it failed, managers would stand around scratching their heads wondering why, maybe basing the eventuality on some market reasons (not likely any fault of their own). But now, a company can get first hand feedback right away from the dedicated users – if they’re open to it.

The hope is that Yahoo! takes the negative comments seriously and doesn’t dismiss them just based on the old excuses (people who are negative are always more vocal, the people who don’t comment really love it).

I’m not too hopeful reading the first comment from “Sal”, the Yahoo! voice on the blog. He comes up with several points that when summed up, speak of corporate bureaucracy:

1. People worked really hard on this, so cut them a break.
2. All your complaints are being forwarded to different departments in Yahoo!.
3. We really care about you guys.

An irate user would react to these points in these ways:

1. So what? The site either works or it doesn’t. The amount of time you spent working on it is irrelavant to me.
2. That means any fix will be months in coming and doesn’t make me feel any better.
3. Really? Then why did you replace a working site with one that is harder to use?

None of these points answer most of the real questions which boil down to:

1. Why did you change the site?
2. Can we get the old site back?
3. Why should we keep using Yahoo! TV?

All in all though, I do commend Yahoo! for having a blog that allows for this discussion and keeping the negative comments up.

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