And so my favourite RSS reader has redesigned itself. While I've admittedly only spent a short while looking around at the new site and the new features, I thought I'd share some of my first impressions:

1. The interface is still my biggest complaint with this site; now more so since they've increased the default font size with no way for me to change it. I don't care about their logo or their great big tabs. I don't want them taking up big chunks of my screen because, put simply, I want to get in there, get my information, and get back out in the most optimized (time, and space) way possible. Interfaces should exist to enable the user to see what they need and then get the heck out of their way while they do it. I'm not getting that with this redesign. If anything, it's more in my way now than before. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'll happily pay to get these features. I'd pay for the service itself now, as it stands. But please, let me minimize the stuff you think I should see so I can concentrate on what I want to see.

2. All of my unread items from before the redesign (and there were a ton of 'em) are now lost. Only new items since the redesign are shown as new items. That's a bad thing to do to your user. If this was absolutely necessary - and I could see how it might be, depending on what backend changes happened as well - then for god's sake warn me at least a couple of days before so I can get in there and catch up on my reading before I lose everything.

3. If you go in to change an option, and hit save, your options disappear and you're returned to the "home page" for your feeds. Hm. When I'm editing my options, and hit save, can we assume that I perhaps want to keep looking through the other option pages? Particularly when there are new options to look at? Must we return the user back to the beginning with no notice that their options have been saved, and no way to continue through the other options?

4. Option to change the posting length in your feeds: headlines only, short summaries, or entire post. As most of you know, this option is a biggie with me, so kudos to Bloglines for making it easier to get what I want, when I want it.

5. "Mark Unread". Hallelujah, brother.

6. Email subscription management. You know, I was really hoping that they'd make this entire thing easier with a new release, and it may be on the books for future releases, but I was disappointed to see that it is still just as confusing an interface as before. This could so easily be cleaned up and turned into a really powerful feature for Bloglines, but it always seems like a (still handy) afterthought, with little consideration given to its interface.

7. Did I mention the enormous font? Yes? Apparently I did already. But it really deserves two mentions. Please, please don't make me scroll even more than I already do to get to my information.

There are a number of other new features or interface tweaks. The ability to have your own Bloglines blog is one of them, which I didn't check out, admittedly, because I have too darn many blogs as it is. But it's a nice feature for newbies, depending on how it's carried out.

Overall, the interface just feels like someone has been struggling with it. When you work with interfaces for many years, it becomes clear when you come across one that feels like the designer is struggling and trying to do smart things but just not making it happen. Too close to the project, really.

I understand all too well the challenges here - web sites that need to behave like software, as opposed to something nice and transactional like a shopping cart system, is hellish to play with, particularly as new features get added. I know. I lived in one for four years at Masterfile.

But I'll stand by what I said. The interface needs real help to go to the next level. IMHO.

Now, all this said (and I do realize that it's not the most glowing review), I still love Bloglines, will continue to use it for some time to come. However, I would give my eyeteeth and perhaps a pinkie finger to get a paid version where I can have the interface I'm craving. And the font size. But I digress. :)

Update: One of our readers kindly pointed out that Bloglines duly knows about the font thing, and is planning on adding controls soon. Whew. Thanks, Stacey, for pointing this out!

Update, part deux: They have now restored the font sizing ability and the original font settings for each user, which means yay! I can read Bloglines without wincing again! They also seem to have restored the unread items from before the redesign; there was a sizable jump in unreads when I logged back in tonight, so I have to assume it was either a temporary glitch or an error that they fixed based on user feedback. Kudos to Bloglines for being so responsive with this - it's one of the reasons I love them, and I also know from experience how hard it can be to launch something shiny and new only to watch user after user complain about it. The fact that they've been quick, and responsive, goes a long way toward keeping their customers happy.

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