The new site is way to busy, I liked the old design where I could hit the site if the item was even remotely interesting I'd read the description, and either buy it or move on... now i hit the site, have to futz around to get to the description, and am assaulted by so much stuff scattered all over the page that I'm in overload before i even get reading on the description...
This is certainly not an improvement for me at least...

I suppose 6 years as a Wooter is enough for me. Quirky and endearing has given way to loud and annoying.

And run-of-the-mill.

Things change. I'm an old enough knuckledragging net fossil to know that.

I wish you luck with your new data-mining-driven interface, and presumably its matching business plan. Your Big Data statistics probably show my departure won’t cost you a lot (Wooter since 2006, but only 50+ purchases).

Actual fact-based comments:

The new page design has lost the simplicity that I liked, and that differentiated Woot from competitors.

I now browse Woot mostly on my iphone, where the new page is unusable. I'm not going to install a Woot app. I'm also not going to farm out any more of my personal info, so the social networking integration bits are a fail with me.

halperez wrote:And it works for home.woot.com/today and all the other sites. Now what about a script that automatically forwards to the /today page?

Do it yourself. Edit your bookmark properties so the http://www.woot.com/today page is the default location for Woot.

Jessara wrote:Do it yourself. Edit your bookmark properties so the http://www.woot.com/today page is the default location for Woot.

Thanks for the common sense link The beta front page is totally annoying.

1. I agree with the majority opinion of the clutter being a huge turnoff, and have already sent a more expanded version of that comment via beta feedback and it doesn't need more rehashing here.

2. The annoyance factor of Woot Plus does deserve more rehashing, though. They are SO BIG. They really should be banished from the main page and given a new sister site Plus! along with the rest of them. At the very least, if they have to stay, create some kind of dynamic link so if a Plus deal is sold out it will remove itself from the main page and there will be less clutter, at least for a little while.

3. I do like the top navigation bar with popup visuals to the other sites, it lets me quickly see whether there are any products I'd consider before clicking through, and are much easier to make out than the thumbnail versions elsewhere.

4. To everyone wanting to link Amazon Prime shipping, don't hold your breath. Woot has long noted that the real costs of shipping are worked into the sales price, the $5 thing has always been a gimmick. They could just as easily have raised the prices on everything by $5 and offered free shipping, but then the deals don't seem as good. $79/yr Prime membership was surely set by all the actuaries at Amazon working out exactly how many orders people make and what it would take to recoup free shipping, and those numbers didn't include adding free Woot orders in. Also, since Woot seems to be run as a completely independent subsidiary, the Woot Poohbahs would take a hit on their financials if Amazon got all the Prime revenue but Woot had to give free shipping with nothing to show for it. So, don't expect free shipping here. If I'm wrong, my avatar will eat his hat.

5. If anyone hasn't gotten enough Woot redesign hate from this forum, here's the forum discussion from the last big redesign in 2009, Woot 3.0. I wonder how many people there said they were never coming back to woot again but of course slunk back in under cover of night?
http://www.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?postid=2919933

madfrisbee wrote:Hey, I've been here a while (since '06), so you might just dismiss this feedback as maudlin sentimentality or a tendency toward intransigent nostalgia.

Well anyway, here's my take on the redo so far. Much of this echoes others' comments, but maybe the weight of numbers will make a difference.

I like the actual product pages just fine. The writeup on the left with tabs on the right for the different sections of product info - great. I also like the combining shipping, the account info pages, and the fact that the writers are still writing blog posts.

But I very much dislike having to click through to the full writeup and info page. The large sections of space given to secondary sales will possibly increase your revenue, but it's all just noisy noisemakers that make noise. The simplicity is lost.

Also, on the Shirt site, I think you were doing well before to have the Reckoning showing little scrollable thumbnails or some such. This seems to go against my anti-noisemaker sentiment, but I prefer that to the giant chunk of page given to the weekly themed sale.

My advice: reduce the additional-sale sections drastically. It's a question of identity: are you our favorite lovable deal-a-day site or are you Buy.com?

Just needed to be re-said.

The front page could use a good run-over with a Roomba or Dyson.
What a mess.

Too bad I can't see the pictures of my purchases from 22 June 2005 and earlier. Guess the server crashed. I like the preview of the woot! home! kids! etc. tabs. That's pretty cool. The functions I remember are still here, just in different locations. It's like Easter all over again. Whoever coined "Stuff you bought" should get the plain-speak award; much better than "purchase history". Better use of space on the account page, and a nice breakout of "settings" vrs "stuff you bought". The surveys smack a lot of Amazon, the leader in custom-tailored emails to make you buy more stuff, but the instant feedback in the form of statistics makes up for the blatant research chutzpah. Is there a reason why we can't have a purchase total line in terms of total woots, total items, price totals (amount spent) total days belonging to woot, loyalty ranking, purchase ranking, dollar ranking, etc? I'm sure the marketing geniuses have a few more ideas.

How do you see all the posts from someone? I'm trying to find an old post of mine but can't find that button that lets me see all posts made by me.

Posted this via feedback:

"Boo, front page. The text overlaps the picture with a white background, the I Want One button overlaps the sharing buttons, the lack of the full write-up, and the confusing wootplus brand name thing being way too big.

Once you click "Read More", though, I like that product page layout, with the writeup and the product choices, and the pictures on the side. **That** page should be the first thing you see when you go to woot.com. The frontpage lacks that woot simplicity that I've come to know and love.

The CB thing at the top right is annoying to. I hate opt-out advertising, especially when it's covering something important like my login. I can definitely see myself trying to login and accidentally clicking on the advertising rather than on the tiny red X to make the advertising go away. And don't think that will make me buy something. No, it will make whatever CB is anathema to me.

I do like the green bar with the links to the different woots that stays at the top of your page, but I don't like the drop-down when you hover over with your mouse. I absolutely hate those things. Please, please, make it so we have to click on them.

I also like the combined "stuff you bought". Very convenient having it all there on one page."

One thing, I'm scared to see how this is going to look on my phone. Regular woot was a bit much for my phone's browser, so I can't imagine what this will do to my poor phone.

Hey, was that a shark we just jumped?

Don't like the new Woot. Used to be able to use keywords to search sellout items. Woot, if you make it impossible to do this, or difficult, you just lost me.

rmeden wrote:Isn't fitting on a 1024x768 screen w/o a horizontal scroll bar in Web Design 101???

+1 QUALITY POST. Can I get an "Amen!"

Not much to say, me no like.

Too much busy, too much selling

I'm trying to find positives here...umm, i like being forced to login? No...I like that the font is set to like 24? No...umm...the actual product page IS nice, umm...
Sorry, back to negatives, dump the sharing crap, the only way to share is through a link on YOUR page? People can't share it on their own? How hard is it to email WOOT.COM?
WootPLUS is just ugly.

In short, I reiterate, ME. NO. LIKE.
ok?

I agree with the majority of posts on here in that the new site is cluttered. I also wanted to point out that with all the new extensions of Woot (home, kids, shirt, wine, sellout) that I can't really figure out where the original Woot fits in anymore.

On the topic of the beta site design, I thought that this was applicable:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lveo81woWl1qcq8vao1_1280.jpg

I posted an initial response just to capture my initial reaction in the forums. I cannot find it, but these are my thoughts on redesign after using it a couple days:

Obviously that top nav bar with the rollover previews is the best upgrade, which you have to keep. Very, very good improvement. Thank you for that, very much.

When viewing the forums, there is no option as to how many pages we want to view at once, and no option to view the whole conversation. One page at a time, then a click to advance to the next page. Maybe this is because you only have one ad on that page and you want to jack up your displays. Put more ads on the right of the forum pages, we don’t really mind. But consider the ability to load 5 pages at a time, or the whole conversation please. Yes, I know they are frequently 20, 100, or more pages. I have Verizon fios, a Dell 30” monitor, and a beatly computer. Bring it on. Alternatively, adopt new tech and when I reach the bottom, automatically load another page for me right there and extend the page on the fly. Please do not make me click endlessly.

Add a search feature to each forum topic so that I can find my comments, my friends comments, or someone who said something I liked. (UPDATE: FOUND IT! Easy not to notice it though.)

None of us really care about ads. Add them, we do not care. BUT, if you do keep them, have them load last on the page, please. Nothing annoys us more than ads that load first, slowing down our visit. There was a time I could spend 25 seconds on woot! a day and see everything the day offered, and even checkout and buy what I wanted in another 20 seconds. Are those days are behind us?

Have we lost the ability to click our woot! name and view all of our past and current comments and site interactions? Seriously?

I hate having to click "Read More" to learn about the one deal I care about... ( I mean if you can slop up two-to-three ads on the homepage, can’t we get a freakin’ model number? Seesh. I'm getting over the fact that old woot! is long dead and 6 feet under, but have we so abandoned one deal a day that we now have to click "Read More" to learn ANYTHING of merit about the one thing you're primarily shilling? Damn.

On a much more minor note, one that I can really, really live with, I highly preferred the list of "Discuss this Deal" as opposed to the scrolling one at a time side-slider. But I'll get over it...just feels sellout-ty.

The reckoning no longer having real estate on shirt woot! is very sad. But…I will get over it too. I just will just buy fewer shirts from the reckoning. Sad-face.

Somehow the “I Want One” button has become obnoxious. Before it was awesome. I now don't want to click it. It makes it harder to support you guys now. Just saying.

The name and the concept of woot!plus is not something I particularly like. If you really like, make it it’s own woot! like you did for home, shirt, deals, sellout, wine, etc. If we want to buy a ton of crap, let us, otherwise give me back my hilarious long form product description, my product specs, my reckoning, etc.

I really am grateful for all the solid deals and steals that old woot! brought me, the fun of the derby voting, the occasionally decent shirts you enabled designers to sell me, and being part of the genesis of deals woot! from a worthless feature to something that is worth a couple minutes every day.

Best wishes with the new beta future.

Why? Too busy. Woot is dead.

Sharkemperor wrote:Why? Too busy. Woot is dead.

x1000

This site was awesome due to it's simplicity. This is too social network like and cluttered. What made this site awesome was the ease of just seeing the details of the deals. I don't like it.

Busy, cluttered, I don't like it. I do not like the feeling I get when I see all the crap on screen.

I generally quickly leave a website that is so cluttered. woot! has turned into one of those.

It was good while it lasted.

Do not like.... too much over the top. Visual array out of bounds.

Jessara wrote:Do it yourself. Edit your bookmark properties so the http://www.woot.com/today page is the default location for Woot.

Oh! Mutating Goodness! You are such a genius! I'll bet you're the first one to figure that out!
^
| sarcasm.

That's the first thing I did for the woot page. But now when I go from www.woot.com to home.woot.com, I either need a script to ignore the "bad" page or I need to have a second, then a third, up to a sixth bookmark in my toolbar. Now you see why the script might make some sense?

Whatever hapened to one day one deal? That is what made you stand out. Now this site is cluttered like any other marketing site.
WHY would you completely go away from what made you so successful in the first place. Then you geniuses will wonder what happened and why you failed.

AAAAAaaaaahhhhh!!!! You used to be the cool friend who hipped me to a quiet bargain while telling me a story. Don't know what you are now, other than ob-nox-ious. Used car salesmen don't come off so pushy and desperate.

Unbookmark...color me gone.

Hey Woot, I have a great idea. Once you are finished with your "Cram as much as we can on your screen" scheme with the new redesign, please make a little link in the upper right or left corner for those of us who prefer "Woot! Classic". This link can be for those of us who prefer to enjoy the simple things life (or Woot) has to offer, rather than the congested hustle and bustle of urban chaos that has become your homepage. It will also benefit the many who have commented here about viewing the site on net-books and other lower resolution screen devices. The increased website clutter that seems to be running rampant across the internet worries me as it is becoming more and more frustrating, especially for older people who are bombarded with the chaos.

On a side note, I'm further worried that this "redesign" will make my mobile apps, (i.e. Woot Watcher) no longer function, although I am sure the app developer will find a way to fix it pretty quickly.

EDIT: I just jumped to the today page mentioned by Jessara and others in the above comments, and that would make a much better home page than the current one. Slightly less cluttered, full item description, and useful info. I will be modifying my Woot bookmark to take me there rather than to www.woot.com

dpk3062 wrote:Agreed. Woot was simple, Woot was fun. Now it's just another online store.

Concur - No like at all - old woot was fast and simple - one choice per day. New Woot is becoming tiring. Now it is like Work to shop here.

I only allow javascrapt to execute from trusted sources. Previously I had added woot to my trusted list. Things worked ok either way, but checking out was much, much better. Now the images for The Reckoning won't even load unless I add...I don't know? cloudfront? quantserve? Basically, you've turned an occasional shirt customer into a "Only if I notice it on that day" customer...and that's assuming there's not something even more devious and heinous hidden inside of the checkout process.

Sure looks like some corporate flunky is in charge now. Instead of good ideas, they trolled the web for the worst of the worst. It won't be long until the blinking widgets and annoying little windows that slide over the screen content until you dismiss 'em appear.
Overwhelmingly bright (Google)
"Intuitive" UI that is a mystery to anyone but the programmer (Apple)
Shove as many ads as possible on the main page and hide the useful stuff (too many companies to name).

Woot - you lost your mojo and your "hip" score just took a nose-dive.

Add me to the list of people who don't like the new look.

Rather than rehash everything I will say there is not one thing I see in the new look that I like better than the previous look except the ability to see the various Woot! sites at the top of the page.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE go back to how it looked before.

This is the worst site redesign EVER. Sellout Woot now has only one product. The other Woots are like any other daily sale site. Like newspapers in the days of old, I'd get up in the morning and read the humorous Woot descriptions and then buy. Like newspapers, the Woot guys screwed up BIG time. Now Woot is just a mess. The descriptions are relegated to a small corner where I can "READ MORE". As a big company they now won't listen to all the feedback (doubt if anyone even reads the posts) and go back to the old site design. Like New Coke we don't want a New Woot. IT WAS YOUR UNIQUENESS THAT MADE YOU UNIQUE! I can go anywhere for deals, I thought I needed Woot, now it's messy genericness makes me realize I don't.

Once i click on the "read more" link, I actually like the page. If I want Sellout, Home, Kids, Shirt or Pants.Woot I will click a link. But, please clear it off of my homepage. It is to busy and makes me feel like i walked by the cosmetics counter at Macy's, with everyone shoving their product in my face.

So, woot, old buddy... you're saying we're NOT going to fit the new page to the screen? Just want to get that straight.

I'll be over at chainlove.com

They don't sell Dyson products.

P.S. How is it that Amazon fits my screen and woot doesn't? Maybe get a few tips from Daddy??

Anyone notice that some items have expedited shipping options now? That's something for which the community has been clamoring for years. Kudos on that, at least

Thank you for posting this. I can now be in denial about the changes... for now

Jessara wrote: Edit your bookmark properties so the http://www.woot.com/today page is the default location for Woot.

You saw Netflix self-destruct and you want to also. Way to go. You are well on your way!!!!!

I just closed the account. They do not care about all the whimpering. Just close the accounts. That is the only thing these buffoons might understand. Maybee if enough people close they might wake up and bring the old woot back.

Just put things back the way they were. It wasn't broken. There's no need to "fix" or improve anything. I'm always stumped by companies that feel the need to offer "new and improved" versions of a well made, popular product. It shows they are out of touch with their customer base. Just think about New Coke when you decide to make changes.

I fear change and your change has made me frightful. Due to the nature of my cubicle job, I have no place to "flight" to in my "fight or flight" emotional response to fear and have lashed out at the next cubicle over, causing an extreme situation here at the office cubicle.

On top of that I haven't had a drink in days and you have been sold out of these CamelBak Hydration Packs for a few days now and I am starting to weaken from dehydration.

Please don't make me die stuck in this horrible cubicle, revert back to the woot I know and love!

I like the white and green with the tabs too.

The pages are too busy, very much like 1saleaday and I dont go there because it looks tacky which is why I come here daily.

You have added way too many clicks too. Instead of seeing comments on the right now I see one and have to keep on clicking through to see what wooters are saying about the product. I also now have to click Read More to read about the product, I dont want to do that crap I just want to read about it. Its very 1999 where websites thought it was cool that people had to click 100 times to get somewhere, not anymore. A huge step backwards.

In an nutshell tidy the page up or youll make people bored and they wont come back. I know I want. It doesnt matter how good the products and service have been (which the both have been great), if the browsing experience is bad I wont be back.

I like the tabs at the top, allowing a quick switch to the various galaxies of the Wootiverse.

Unfortunately, I hate just about everything else you've done here. There's too much stuff to process, too many places to click, you've made it work to check out the deals.

It was nice while it lasted, I guess.