Recently, I went to a department store to buy a sport coat. After finding one I liked, I left it hanging on the rack while I went to look for my wife to get her opinion. When we got back, I walked over to the rack where the sport coat had been only to discover that the rack contained pants! I thought I was going nuts. I knew I had the correct clothing rack. I looked around and spotted a clerk diligently moving clothes from one rack to another like some kind of deranged pack rat. When I asked her why on earth she was doing that, she explained that it was store policy to rearrange the inventory to give the appearance of fluidity (or something like that). When I told her about my missing sport coat, she told me to look over there, across the room. Sure enough, my lost coat was where the pants used to be.
Tag! Youre It!
This same type of practice goes on all the time on IBMs Web site. I cant begin to count the times Ive found something interesting on IBMs Web site, only to discover that the page is no longer there the next time I visit. Whats worse, the page I used to get to the general area has changed. I cant find anything! Is this supposed to be good for business?
Case in point: I used to use the online technical manuals on IBMs Web site all the time. Not anymore. Im tired of playing hide-and-seek with IBM. They keep hiding their Web pages, and I keep playing their game by clicking on link after link, trying to find them again. I used to find the manuals by clicking on the SUPPORT menu option from the AS/400 home page (www.as400.ibm.com). Now, every time IBM moves the online manuals, the only way I can find them is by using the search feature, which brings up a list of about 35 items for me to sort through. If I search the wrong area of the Web site, I have to start over. What a pain!
Currently, the online technical manuals are at the AS/400 Information Starting Point (publib.boulder.ibm.com/html/ as400/onlinelib.htm). Warning: Dont go to this site hoping to find the Redbooks that used to be grouped with the manuals. Theyve also been moved. Theyre now on submenu Redbooks Home at as400bks.rochester.ibm.com/pubs/html/ redbooks/. Whats really annoying is that between the time I originally wrote this and the time it went to the printer, the links to these pages had changed again! Geez! Whether these URLs will still be accurate by the time you read this is anybodys guess.
Must Have Been a Rocket Scientist
IBMs Web site design was obviously the brainchild of a person who has never had to use these links on a regular basis. Trying to navigate IBMs Web site is akin to walking through an M.C. Escher painting. What a mess! The stairs go every direction but dont lead anywhere.
This is outrageous! If I wrote software like this, the users would kill me! Imagine designing a data entry screen, training your users to navigate it, letting them get comfortable with it, and then, without warning, moving all the fields around so that its no longer even remotely recognizable. How long do you think youd keep your job if you did that? What makes IBM think anyone appreciates this dynamic approach to Web site design?
Dont get me wrong; I like an exciting Web site as much as the next guy. After all, who likes to see the same thing every time they visit their favorite URL? If the view isnt interesting and doesnt contain rotating, dynamic content, you probably wont visit it very often. But how often will you visit a Web site where you cant find the same thing two days in a row? Whos got time to look for the same information over and over? This isnt productive. This is criminal. When IBM wastes my time by making me hunt for information, its equivalent to sticking me up at gunpoint and snatching my wallet.
NOW HEAR THIS!
So heres a message for you, IBM:
STOP SCREWING AROUND WITH YOUR WEB SITE ON MY TIME! If you want to experiment, do it on a server in-house. Dont try something new on the live Web site, decide you dont like it, and then arbitrarily change it. You are not improving customer relations. On the other hand, if your intent is to annoy, beyond belief, your Web site visitors, youre doing a fine job.
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