Reply to: Websites that SUCK!

[dozer]

As you may have noticed, due to a technical issue we have taken the Member Centre section of our new website offline. We are currently working to identify the cause of the issue and in the meantime we have rolled back to the old version - you can access this either via www.bethere.co.uk or directly at https://avatar.bethere.co.uk/memberhome.do.

We expect to have a timeline for the new Member Centre fix by early next week however we will not be re-releasing it until we're confident that it's fixed and have tested it thoroughly. In the meantime we will continue to update the forum http://be.beunlimited.co.uk/rp//224/...95334016420271 with information as it comes to hand.

[DaveB]

In fairness to the chap, he does mention having a check box. I have had too many nosey parkers peering over my shoulder to feel comfortable with clear text being the default though.

Fair point, in true CUK style I didnt bother reading the whole article, just enough to get the gist of it and be able to come back here and pontificate with apparent authority

[Sysman]

From a usabilty perspective, no, he's not off his rocker at all. Masking passwords does impact usability.

In fact he does make some good points about not bothering to mask passwords, in many cases there is no real need for it.

A good half way house solution would be to offer a check box on the page to allow the user to enable/disable masking according to the situation.

In fairness to the chap, he does mention having a check box. I have had too many nosey parkers peering over my shoulder to feel comfortable with clear text being the default though.

[cojak]

El Reg has just picked up on it...

[DaveB]

But is he also off his rocker?

Personally speaking I prefer no display at all for passwords, not even asterisks, though will admit they are useful on a mobile phone.

From a usabilty perspective, no, he's not off his rocker at all. Masking passwords does impact usability.

In fact he does make some good points about not bothering to mask passwords, in many cases there is no real need for it.

A good half way house solution would be to offer a check box on the page to allow the user to enable/disable masking according to the situation.

[Sysman]

Nielsen is a usability consultant, not a design consultant. Nobody has ever suggested useit.com is an example of good graphic design, but it is an example of good usability design.

But is he also off his rocker?

Personally speaking I prefer no display at all for passwords, not even asterisks, though will admit they are useful on a mobile phone.

[NickFitz]

Ignoring everything Nielsen says is usually a good sign in a web designer. useit.com is a bleedin mess but somehow is pushed as a design classic.

Nielsen is a usability consultant, not a design consultant. Nobody has ever suggested useit.com is an example of good graphic design, but it is an example of good usability design.

Ignoring everything Nielsen says is usually a sign that your graphic designer is an ignorant fool who will try to treat the web as if it's the same medium as print. The usual result is an unusable mess, but at least it looks nice as long as you don't want to actually do anything beyond gaze at it.

[minestrone]

Which one? He's written several.

Whichever it is, they've ignored everything Nielsen says in there

Ignoring everything Nielsen says is usually a good sign in a web designer. useit.com is a bleedin mess but somehow is pushed as a design classic.

I ain't going to take design tips of a man who has a hippie monk hairdo.

They have used the text over image message but hidden their message in text as I went on to say.

[DaveB]

Going through the Be* forum, it looks like almost all feedback has been negative and several express their concern that the service may decline and looking for alternatives - it has crossed my mind too.

The agency is 'Dave' (http://www.dave.biz). Definitely one to avoid.

I'd just like to make it clear, it's nothing to do with me!

Honest!

[NickFitz]

Someone has read Jakob Nielsen's book.

Which one? He's written several.

Whichever it is, they've ignored everything Nielsen says in there

[HairyArsedBloke]

Going through the Be* forum, it looks like almost all feedback has been negative and several express their concern that the service may decline and looking for alternatives - it has crossed my mind too.

The agency is 'Dave' (http://www.dave.biz). Definitely one to avoid.

[chef]

I got that email too

"View email in HTML

http://be.beunlimited.co.uk/rp//224/...071AD052C95E35


Yes, that's right, we've got a new look and feel. Check it out at

http://be.beunlimited.co.uk/rp//224/...0F02F84589E156

and give us your feedback via the forum (details below).

What and why?

When BE launched in September 2005 the idea was to revolutionise the UK broadband market. We certainly did that and in the process many like minded people joined us in that revolution.

Since then we have seen the dawn of Web 2.0 and Social Media, and to be frank we haven't done much about it. In particular the one area that hasn't changed much has been our website, so we've taken the liberty to make it much better.

We've involved some of you in this change and have created a straight forward identity that over time will evolve, change and adapt with input from all sorts of people (and machines).

BE wants to get out of the way and give you the opportunity to carry on with creating the new, continue defining the internet. So from now on it's for both of us to "create the new" across the web.

You may see some minor updates to our t's and c's, but don't worry we'll be sending another email with details of the changes soon.


More stuff to do

Check out our new website at

http://be.beunlimited.co.uk/rp//224/...438E18BE7CD7A9

and sign in to your account using your existing details. It's packed with tons more stuff. We've even created new ways for you to contact us such as live chatting with call centre agents and we've now got a pretty cool 'Got a Question' function to help you solve some of your day to day broadband queries.

Just to let you know, we've been so busy with the website that some of our emails are still the old brand, they'll all be done soonish but in the meantime please bear with the retro pink asterisk.

We really hope you enjoy, but we also know it's not perfect and would love to get your comments, so if you have anything you'd like to raise please go to the Forum, Be Discussion, New Brand Comments.

http://be.beunlimited.co.uk/rp//224/...C23C293B010928


Thanks

Everyone @ BE"

[Peoplesoft bloke]

If you do, do make sure you include your Avatar and member name with the comment "... and if I think the image you are portraying is poor... "

and a link to his blog to show how to do things more tastefully?

[RichardCranium]

This site is so bad that I am now worried about there service and thinking about looking for another provider.

If you do, do make sure you include your Avatar and member name with the comment "... and if I think the image you are portraying is poor... "

[HairyArsedBloke]

As a matter of interest, where did this start? I can't find reference to it on Webpagesthatsuck.com - where did you get the info OP?

Be are my ISP. I'm very happy with them. This afternoon they sent me (and everyone else) an e-mail announcing there new website design.

This site is so bad that I am now worried about there service and thinking about looking for another provider. For the future of the company they have to pull it.