Not user friendly

[Jeff]

I'm sorry but this site is too complicated for me to use. The terminology is not well defined -- author profiles and regular profiles are not distinct enough to tell where i am in the site. there's no indication of how to catalog a book. i've done it twice but have to research 20 minutes every time i want to upload a book. the word "add" is used to mean "add a version of a book" and "catalog a book". it's just frustrating and I don't have the time to read a how to manual. goodbye goodreads

[Scott]

It is difficult to imagine how you could not notice you are looking at an author profile, especially now that they've added that prominent badge.

[Sandi]

I agree that the old wording on the now called "Want to Read" button was a lot clearer, especially to people new to the site. It used to say "add to my books" and did exactly what it said. It was a lot more user friendly.

Author profiles look quite different from regular user profiles though, but maybe you were looking at an author who doesn't (yet) participate in the GR author program? Their profile would be a regular user profile.

[Sandra]

Perhaps this is a comment better suited for the Feedback group? It's not like any librarians have any influence on how the site looks or functions.

[Jeff]

thanks for your replies. i think i was a bit heated. but the bottom line is i'm extremely busy and can't learn how to run the site. i complain because i want to be a part of goodreads, but it's too time consuming to learn it. ...and i don't see any feedback or contact button anywhere, indicative of the site's design philosophy: you have to really spend time on goodreads to know how to use it. /rant

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Feedback Group

[Robin]

Jeff wrote: "I'm sorry but this site is too complicated for me to use. The terminology is not well defined -- author profiles and regular profiles are not distinct enough to tell where i am in the site."

The layout for an author profile is completely different than a regular user profile. Unless you mean a Goodreads author profile versus an author profile in which the author is not a GR member? If that's what you mean, your own terminology is not well defined enough either.

As for feedback or help, there is a group clearly designated Goodreads Feedback - if you found this group, you shouldn't have any problems finding that one. Additionally, at the bottom of every page it says "about us, advertise, author program" etc. The last one should say "help". And if that doesn't help, there is a link to "Contact" on the help page. All pretty obviously displayed, if you ask me.

[Lobstergirl]

In fairness....many, many people (not just Jeff) have stated that the site is not intuitive, things are hard to find, have asked for a site map or a how-to or something similar. And Otis has replied multiple times that he doesn't want a site map because he wants the site to be intuitive. So we go around in a circle. (I'm not criticizing Otis for having that opinion, I'm just saying.)

And criticizing Jeff for using unclear terminology - when he's trying to talk about a website whose own terminology he doesn't fully understand - is not exactly fair.

[Lobstergirl]

And the terminology does change from place to place within Goodreads. I'm a longtime user and I find this to be true.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I'm sort of with Robin on this. How does a person find the Librarian's group, but not the Feedback group, the Help file, or the Contact form?

[rivka, Former Moderator]

This thread has served its purpose. Closing.