If is isn't broken, why fix it?
I have been using Family Search for many years and have spent many enjoyable hours doing family history work there. I have often felt that this site is one of the great miracles of our day and those who developed it were geniuses. The old site was clean, nice to look at, well laid out, and easy to understand and navigate. Count me firmly in the “If it is not broken, why are we fixing it?” category.
To be fair, I have given the new site a few days to see if it would grow on me or become less jarring over time. Unfortunately, that has not happened yet.
Here are the biggest concerns I have with the new changes:
Research Help Section
- On the old version, the icon for record hints was bright and noticeable. On the new version, the icon style and color are muted and do not stand out. This is the main overall problem I have with the new look – nothing is distinct and stands out from anything else.
- When you click on a record hint it opens up in a side bar and shifts everything else on the page. While it is nice to be able to see the information available, it stays open and requires the additional, previously unnecessary step of clicking the X in the upper corner in order to close out. This is the #1 biggest annoyance I have seen so far with the new site.
Search Records Section
- On the old version, there were full complete icons for each related site, which made it easy to distinguish and understand what each was for. Now there is just a small thumbnail icon and plain text with the name of the linked site. These are then separated by huge amounts of white space. Again, nothing stands out. Nothing catches the eye.
Vitals Section
- I liked that on the old version there was an icon indicating that a place was standardized. This is now gone. It would also be nice if there was some indication that the date was standardized, but this didn’t exist on the old site either.
- “Reason This Information Is Correct” – there is white space between each line of text that makes it look like each line is a new paragraph, even if it is a continuation from the previous line.
Family Members Section
- When a person has multiple spouses, there is not a clear distinction between where one ends and the other begins. There is only a thin, grey, barely noticeable line against all-white background.
- On putting the Marriage date between vs below debate – when the date is between the husband and wife it is clearly understood that it applies to both spouses. When it is below it could be wrongly interpreted as something that just belongs to the wife. It also creates an awkward gap between parents and children.
- Previously when you clicked on the ID of an individual it asked if you wanted to copy the ID directly above where you clicked. You had to click a second time to actually copy, but the notice was right were you clicked. Now, it only requires one click, but the “ID Copied” shows up in the upper left corner of the screen, often far away from where you click so it may not be noticed. It would be much better if it appeared where you are clicking.
Other
- When you scroll down on the screen the header will change to a thin bar with the name, dates and ID of the individual you are looking at. On the old site, the font for the name was larger, bold, and different from the dates and ID, making it stand out. Now the font is the same for all items. Again, nothing is distinct, making it harder to pick out the important parts.
In all fairness, there are some improvements that I do like:
- In the Family Members section, the highlighting of the individual you are looking at in both the Spouse and Children side and the Parents and Siblings side is nice.
- The “My Layout Settings” feature is nice
Comments
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> I liked that on the old version there was an icon indicating that a place was standardized.
(Once again, with feeling:) No, there was not. That is not what that dratted map pin icon means.
On both the old page and the new, if there is no data problem alert, then the place and date are standardized. Period, end of story.
The map pin simply indicates that the display text and the database label happen to match. This is often undesirable; see Gordon's eloquent illustrations here: https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/133396/map-dots-and-calendar-markings#latest
(Search Records section) Now there is just a small thumbnail icon and plain text.
Which is a great improvement, in my opinion: it looks professional and is easy to use, compared to the amateurish mishmash of the old version. (Now, granted, I almost never use those links and have that section closed by default.)
In the Family Members section, the highlighting of the individual you are looking at in both the Spouse and Children side and the Parents and Siblings side is nice.
Whereas I still can't get used to the error-highlighting on female profiles. Or sorry, no, that particular occurrence of red is not actually an error. I just haven't figured out how I'm supposed to tell that.
Goes to show: de gustibus non disputandum.
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@Steven J Hiatt Thank you for taking the time to try the new person page and give details. I believe we'll be able to resolve some of the issues described as we continue to make updates.
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