Audible wish list redesign

Catlady · 05-12-2016, 12:28 AM

Audible's changed the look of the wish list, making it less user-friendly--at least that's my opinion. I've already e-mailed Audible, saying since it wasn't broke, why'd you try to fix it? I don't know why they think it's an advantage to make it more difficult to get basic information about a title in the wish list.

rjcchan · 05-12-2016, 02:34 PM

I agree. They also seem to be meddling with the Library format.

pwalker8 · 05-13-2016, 09:56 AM

Hum, for the wish list, the difference that I see is they remove the ability to select the number of items on the page. I suspect they are trying to make it look for like the Amazon kindle page. Yea, I don't really like it either. I guess the marketers think that if you limit the number of items on a page, then people are more likely to buy more stuff.

It seems to be getting more like Amazon in that the junk and stuff they are trying to push is crowding out the stuff that I'm actually interested in. For me, having to wade through page after page of stuff I have zero interest in simple makes me give up without buying anything.

Catlady · 05-13-2016, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Hum, for the wish list, the difference that I see is they remove the ability to select the number of items on the page. I suspect they are trying to make it look for like the Amazon kindle page. Yea, I don't really like it either. I guess the marketers think that if you limit the number of items on a page, then people are more likely to buy more stuff.

I don't care about limiting the number of items as much as I care about not being able to hover over the image to get the full listing. I tend to add items to the wish list that catch my fancy at the moment; then when I am seriously looking for something to buy, I don't remember details--I don't want to click through each time. I'm more likely to buy several books at one time if I don't have to keep leaving the page.

pwalker8 · 05-13-2016, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

I don't care about limiting the number of items as much as I care about not being able to hover over the image to get the full listing. I tend to add items to the wish list that catch my fancy at the moment; then when I am seriously looking for something to buy, I don't remember details--I don't want to click through each time. I'm more likely to buy several books at one time if I don't have to keep leaving the page.

Can't say that I ever used the hover over the image feature, but I do use the wishlist the same way you do. If I see a book that I might be interested in, I just right click and add to my wishlist, then when I'm buying a book by a favorite author, I pull up my wishlist and grab a couple as well. If I buy the first of a series, I'll go ahead and put the rest of the series on my wishlist. Buying books on multiple pages from the wishlist is a royal pain. It's much easier to buy multiple books on the same page.

Catlady · 05-21-2016, 07:53 AM

In case you haven't noticed ... the wish list has reverted to the previous format. Yay! I guess mine wasn't the only negative feedback Audible got!

rnbwpnt · 05-21-2016, 08:54 PM

I registered just for this thread.

I just spent two hours in chat with Audible about this. IMO the new format for the library is a complete and unmitigated disaster.

I have a library of over 5,400 (not a typo) titles in my collection. This means that the scripting garbage they've now installed and the complete inability to quickly scan titles completely breaks. Here are the complaints I listed for the Audible support people (I escalated, was promised a callback, and I told them if I don't have it reverted for at least my accounts at Monday 8am, I'll be calling corporate):

* You are unable to sort Z-A.
* You are unable to browse more than 20 items at a time.
* When you click Load More, doing so is incredibly slow.
* Sorting doesn't work if you are looking only at a category.
* You can't simply display a list of titles and scan them visually.
* You can't restrict displays to certain letters, for example, authors whose names begin only with J. To see J authors, I would have to "Load More" hundreds of times to get all the way to those authors.
* Loading that many books with that much scripting will eventually crash the browser.

The solution they offered was that I should try in Firefox, instead of the browsers I'd already tried (Chrome, Opera, Edge). With FF, I actually got the old library format, but the representative couldn't assure me that the new format would not be rolled out from under my feet while I'm actively using the site, so I could be screwed at any moment.

I've also sent a series of tweets @audible_com on the issue, and if I don't have my resolution, I'll be on the horn to corporate first thing Monday morning.

If you can't tell, I am incredibly angry at this.

pwalker8 · 05-22-2016, 01:15 PM

I thought that by now, we would have digital stores that could be individually customization, allowing people to easily find books (audio and ebooks) that were likely interesting to them. Unfortunately, I seem to have under estimated the drive to push people towards books the companies want to sell, rather than the books that I want to buy.

I'm not nearly in your category, only around 700 audiobooks, but I find it increasingly more and more frustrating to find audiobooks that I'm interested in. Way too much paging through page after page of authors I've never heard of and never want to hear of again, trying to find the authors that I am acttually interested in.

If Amazon could ever come up with a a watchlist that actually worked, i.e. send me an email whenever an author on my watchlist comes out with a new ebook (or audiobook in this case), I would be one happy camper.

I know that Amazon has a watch list, but I've never once gotten an email from them and I've had authors on my watch list for years. Most of those authors have had new ebooks and audio books come out during that time period. I've had more success with author alerts. I've come to the conclusion that the marketing types don't want people to actually use watch lists, kind of like how supermarkets shuffle things around every so often so you have to go through the whole store to find what you are looking for, in the hope that you will buy more stuff on impulse.

Catlady · 05-23-2016, 04:23 PM

I never saw a new format for the library, only for the wish list, and that new format was short-lived. For me, everything is back the way it was.

I would love for Audible to implement a watch list so I would know when my go-to authors have new books out, and when backlist books are digitized.

FizzyWater · 05-23-2016, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

I would love for Audible to implement a watch list so I would know when my go-to authors have new books out, and when backlist books are digitized.

melmac · 05-25-2016, 11:46 AM

My library has a totally new look. Visually I don't mind it but functionally it seems broken the search doesn't seem to work at all

melmac · 05-25-2016, 11:53 AM

Ok to follow that up the search is only partially broken. If I enter Kevin and hit the magnifying icon it comes up with no results, but if i enter Kevin and wait a moment then their auto complete suggestion of Kevin Hearne appears select that and the search brings up his books which is what I was looking for.

Catlady · 08-19-2016, 01:47 PM

Noticed that Audible has changed the Library setup--I believe this is the way the Wish List looked when they tried changing it before reverting. I've already sent a complaint. Why do they persist in changing things that aren't broken and making them less useful?

FizzyWater · 08-19-2016, 04:58 PM

I'm not noticing a difference at mine. What are you seeing?

Catlady · 08-19-2016, 07:19 PM

Different font, slightly different layout. The "Downloaded" indication is under the title. You can't hover over the book image with your mouse to see the complete info on the book; if you click the image, the file starts streaming (this is what I most dislike, not being able to hover to get all the details). In order to download, you have to click on expand, then click on download (to PC) or deliver (to device), so an extra step there. I am pretty sure it is the same layout they tried with the wish list previously.

It's a cleaner looking page, I suppose--more white space--but not more useful in any way. You have to click through to the product page to read the full book summary and details. It's just annoying.

They've also made the book images smaller, for no apparent reason--they've got the space for the larger images.

P.S. Well, that was quick. My Library at Audible has now reverted to the previous setup. I would almost think I'd imagined it, except I did get an e-mail in response to my complaint, extolling the virtues of the changes.

05-12-2016, 12:28 AM	#1
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,345 Karma: 52398889 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Audible wish list redesign Audible's changed the look of the wish list, making it less user-friendly--at least that's my opinion. I've already e-mailed Audible, saying since it wasn't broke, why'd you try to fix it? I don't know why they think it's an advantage to make it more difficult to get basic information about a title in the wish list.

08-19-2016, 07:19 PM	#15
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,345 Karma: 52398889 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Different font, slightly different layout. The "Downloaded" indication is under the title. You can't hover over the book image with your mouse to see the complete info on the book; if you click the image, the file starts streaming (this is what I most dislike, not being able to hover to get all the details). In order to download, you have to click on expand, then click on download (to PC) or deliver (to device), so an extra step there. I am pretty sure it is the same layout they tried with the wish list previously. It's a cleaner looking page, I suppose--more white space--but not more useful in any way. You have to click through to the product page to read the full book summary and details. It's just annoying. They've also made the book images smaller, for no apparent reason--they've got the space for the larger images. P.S. Well, that was quick. My Library at Audible has now reverted to the previous setup. I would almost think I'd imagined it, except I did get an e-mail in response to my complaint, extolling the virtues of the changes. Last edited by Catlady; 08-19-2016 at 09:11 PM. Reason: P.S.

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05-12-2016, 02:34 PM	#2
rjcchan Zealot Posts: 118 Karma: 176306 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: none	I agree. They also seem to be meddling with the Library format.

05-13-2016, 09:56 AM	#3
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,195 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	Hum, for the wish list, the difference that I see is they remove the ability to select the number of items on the page. I suspect they are trying to make it look for like the Amazon kindle page. Yea, I don't really like it either. I guess the marketers think that if you limit the number of items on a page, then people are more likely to buy more stuff. It seems to be getting more like Amazon in that the junk and stuff they are trying to push is crowding out the stuff that I'm actually interested in. For me, having to wade through page after page of stuff I have zero interest in simple makes me give up without buying anything.

05-21-2016, 07:53 AM	#6
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,345 Karma: 52398889 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	In case you haven't noticed ... the wish list has reverted to the previous format. Yay! I guess mine wasn't the only negative feedback Audible got!

05-21-2016, 08:54 PM	#7
rnbwpnt Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2016 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I registered just for this thread. I just spent two hours in chat with Audible about this. IMO the new format for the library is a complete and unmitigated disaster. I have a library of over 5,400 (not a typo) titles in my collection. This means that the scripting garbage they've now installed and the complete inability to quickly scan titles completely breaks. Here are the complaints I listed for the Audible support people (I escalated, was promised a callback, and I told them if I don't have it reverted for at least my accounts at Monday 8am, I'll be calling corporate): * You are unable to sort Z-A. * You are unable to browse more than 20 items at a time. * When you click Load More, doing so is incredibly slow. * Sorting doesn't work if you are looking only at a category. * You can't simply display a list of titles and scan them visually. * You can't restrict displays to certain letters, for example, authors whose names begin only with J. To see J authors, I would have to "Load More" hundreds of times to get all the way to those authors. * Loading that many books with that much scripting will eventually crash the browser. The solution they offered was that I should try in Firefox, instead of the browsers I'd already tried (Chrome, Opera, Edge). With FF, I actually got the old library format, but the representative couldn't assure me that the new format would not be rolled out from under my feet while I'm actively using the site, so I could be screwed at any moment. I've also sent a series of tweets @audible_com on the issue, and if I don't have my resolution, I'll be on the horn to corporate first thing Monday morning. If you can't tell, I am incredibly angry at this.

05-22-2016, 01:15 PM	#8
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,195 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	I thought that by now, we would have digital stores that could be individually customization, allowing people to easily find books (audio and ebooks) that were likely interesting to them. Unfortunately, I seem to have under estimated the drive to push people towards books the companies want to sell, rather than the books that I want to buy. I'm not nearly in your category, only around 700 audiobooks, but I find it increasingly more and more frustrating to find audiobooks that I'm interested in. Way too much paging through page after page of authors I've never heard of and never want to hear of again, trying to find the authors that I am acttually interested in. If Amazon could ever come up with a a watchlist that actually worked, i.e. send me an email whenever an author on my watchlist comes out with a new ebook (or audiobook in this case), I would be one happy camper. I know that Amazon has a watch list, but I've never once gotten an email from them and I've had authors on my watch list for years. Most of those authors have had new ebooks and audio books come out during that time period. I've had more success with author alerts. I've come to the conclusion that the marketing types don't want people to actually use watch lists, kind of like how supermarkets shuffle things around every so often so you have to go through the whole store to find what you are looking for, in the hope that you will buy more stuff on impulse.

05-23-2016, 04:23 PM	#9
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,345 Karma: 52398889 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	I never saw a new format for the library, only for the wish list, and that new format was short-lived. For me, everything is back the way it was. I would love for Audible to implement a watch list so I would know when my go-to authors have new books out, and when backlist books are digitized.

05-25-2016, 11:46 AM	#11
melmac Wizard Posts: 1,399 Karma: 5573651 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Perth AU Device: Sony PRS650, Sony T3	My library has a totally new look. Visually I don't mind it but functionally it seems broken the search doesn't seem to work at all

05-25-2016, 11:53 AM	#12
melmac Wizard Posts: 1,399 Karma: 5573651 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Perth AU Device: Sony PRS650, Sony T3	Ok to follow that up the search is only partially broken. If I enter Kevin and hit the magnifying icon it comes up with no results, but if i enter Kevin and wait a moment then their auto complete suggestion of Kevin Hearne appears select that and the search brings up his books which is what I was looking for.

08-19-2016, 01:47 PM	#13
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,345 Karma: 52398889 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Noticed that Audible has changed the Library setup--I believe this is the way the Wish List looked when they tried changing it before reverting. I've already sent a complaint. Why do they persist in changing things that aren't broken and making them less useful?

08-19-2016, 04:58 PM	#14
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	I'm not noticing a difference at mine. What are you seeing?

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