Smartsheet Update of ~ 2/13/18
Please keep in mind that when you change color schemes, not everyone is seeing the same thing. You gave us the option to use our own colors and logos. When you grayed out or lightened up the tab names, you made it much more difficult for me to see them. Overall the update needs more work than if you would have left things alone. I know there are more serious programming issues that need to be resolved than just changing a bunch of colors.
Comments
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The only thing I dislike about Smartsheet after using it several hours per day for over four years now is that they make updates that change the functionality of things that have been working fine for me and my team resulting in my having to revise things. A year or two ago it was how the comments worked and more recently is was how the LOOKUP() function works. I'm not personally impacted by the color changes that much but I see others are. Also, I've noticed that the filter/share bar stays there all the time even when there are no filters, a small thing but annoying.
I've been using Excel for decades and I have never run into a similar change that broke something that was working fine before the update. With over a million users it is time for Smartsheet to stop doing that!
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I agree. My tabs look like yours. It was the one item I quickly noticed and did not like. Also the blues on my sheets changed, but those I can live with...
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There is too much blue now and the blue itself changed in the paint/font buckets and doesn't look as crisp as it used to. I have to change a bunch of stuff to make it more readable now. I don't need bright blue folders either. I hate when marketing gets bored and thinks they have to play with colors and whatnot.
The also moved the sharing from tab to button. I now have to re-write instructions so people can find it.
The change also sends notifications that are unnecessary because they are from a template, which I posted in a different thread.
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Totally agree with everyone! Smartsheet used to be take the approach of not changing things if they weren't broken and leaving the user interface clean and uncluttered. Seems like that philosophy has changed, which lessens my long-time affection for the product. We've been users since 2011. This is the first update that's caused us to complain about the change rather than asking for more.
Susan
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Here here!
'Improvements' that are pushed out to the UI, when done at the expense of the user - who must now make changes to accommodate the unnecessary visual/functional changes, are a really bad thing and should be avoided.
Many examples, but keeping this one short.
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At the Smartsheet conference last September, we heard from the Smartsheet leadership that they had got the message from it's users.....
"Dont Cock it up guys, we love what you do and please don't make changes like some other solutions have, that have incurred the "disappointment" of their users".
I see changes coming that will not be welcome by many users and certainly haven't been requested by me.
Just because Google and Microsoft put their tool bars at the top it doesn't mean Smartsheet has to.... be different, be better!
Speaking personally, I love what you do, delighted that you are launching on the Stock exchange which validates your work up to now and recognises how valuable Smartsheet has been for it's users so far.
Please think very carefully about the changes you plan because they need to be welcomed enthusiastically ...... and I am not sensing that is the case from colleagues and our hundreds of clients.
Hope you don't mind honest opinion?
RichardR
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Richard,
Could not agree more with your sentiments about the new look and feel that's coming our way.
Just because everyone else does something does not mean it's good. Just because users "expect" to find the ribbon, doesn't mean it's good. How many of us despise the fact that the ribbon eats up content space? Commands should be unobtrusive and content should be king. Companies who think their software commands are more important than their users' content have lost touch -- or aren't brave or original enough to think outside the box. After all, someone had to come up with the terrible ribbon interface to begin with, right? Maybe it's time to have a little more creativity in the UX department.
I responded to the email with the sneak preview and received a somewhat dismissive reply from Smartsheet. "You'll like it better than you think" -- sounds like what our parents told us about bad tasting medicine.
Maybe it will be better than we think, but the sneak peaks aren't reassuring. Thanks for voicing your thoughts, Richard.
susan
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I couldn't agree more with recent comments on this topic. Smartsheet is obviously thinking they are making it easier for new users but it's at the expense of their million current users who know where everything is. Most frequent computer users use a combination of products that have menus either on the side or across the top and easily switch back and forth without problems. I wouldn't mind if they gave you a choice of using the old UI vs the new. The day they switch over, a million users will be trying to figure out how to do the things they have been routinely doing for days, weeks, months and years. If anyone has documented processes for their users using screenshots those will have to be updated. I don't understand why the UX experts at Smartsheet think they are helping us longtime users!
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I can't help but wonder who are the "users" that their announcement said they were taking their feedback from? ...and 'listening to'. Anyone out there even get to participate in testing or feedback on the new look??? Honestly, anyone??
Time after time their top contributors and heavy users put in their feedback to the system, and most frequently the UI changes hack off every single one of them. I personally spent weeks developing a user manual and training videos for my company that month by month become increasingly obsolete as Smartsheet keeps fixing what isn't broken - all the while ignoring the problems that have been persisting for years.
Can we please fix the problems before we push forward with more FLUFF?
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I have taken a user survey or two over the years and complained bitterly about changing things that aren't broken. Totally ignored...
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Richard,
Rant on to your heart's content, with little fear of offending them. I don't think that they mind your honest opinion... because I just don't think that they're reading it any more.
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Four months in and I still don't like the UX change.
The best I can say is that it isn't noticeable ... until I want to see how many rows are being showed in the current filters or until I look at the prime monitor real estate and wonder when those amazing new features will dazzle me.
Craig
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Agree with you Craig. I've had several users ask me for help with things that were never an issue in the past. And, others have remarked about the waste of space.
susan
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Thank you Craig for refreshing this topic. I have had numerous people in our organization comment that they liked the previous layout better and that they are still struggling (I am too) to find where things are.
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