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Posted on November 2, 2009 | tags

 

Tech: Snap judgment: Threadsy isn’t ready for prime time. Hold off.

threadsy

How it could be a contender, but so isn't yet. In a lot of ways, Threadsy wants to be the central point for Facebook, Twitter AND your e-mail. If someone pulls it off, they rule the market. Well, we just got a beta invite. And well, here's our initial thoughts: Threadsy is a smart idea undone by myriad technical problems and interface flaws which we feel undermine its usefulness. And if Threadsy wants people to use it, they need to fix these problems:

Too much broken
The private beta signup process was broken when we tried it. So was the front page. When it started working again, and we got to a menu to input our various accounts. Our GMail account didn’t take at first and gave an error. The Twitter login doesn’t use the password-protecting API. And Facebook Connect, which was buried within the interface, would keep dropping. Not to be harsh, but: Even for a beta, these flaws are too obvious and too disruptive. Too much control
Threadsy asks for too much access. You feel OK with giving Threadsy your passwords at first, but then you realize you’ve given away the keys to a drunken teenager playing chicken. It decides which Twitter account you’re logged into on the Twitter Web site. Even if you log into a different Twitter account, it changes it back. Other similar services – HootSuite, Seesmic Web – don’t need to do this. Why should we hand Threadsy the keys? We’re not sure. Too much blend
The biggest problem with the service? Everything looks the same. The visual cues, including faint quote boxes and service-signifying icons away from where your eye is drawn, aren’t loud enough and get lost within hundreds of rows. We like how it pulls icons, but don’t like the fact that e-mail doesn’t have a threading option. That seems essential. If Threadsy wants to be a mixed-media inbox, the design needs to be more adaptive. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • Permalink


 
 
  • Scott here from threadsy. Just want to let everyone here know we're working hard to fix issues, add features, and iterate as quickly as possible. Today we had a temporary issue with sign up which we've fixed, apologies. Regarding some of the issues mentioned above, we're working on twitter Oauth support which will fix the twitter related issues you experienced. Facebook disconnecting is another known issue which we're working to resolve. Thread/conversation support is on our roadmap. Regarding the design, our testing has shown that the service icons are less important than other items, hence their placement. BTW, we are constantly revising our UI and design and have a lot of plans for improvements. Any other feedback welcome at http://getsatisfaction.com/threadsy
  • Thanks for writing back. I want to make it clear that although this is negative, we're looking in terms of what it has versus what it needs.

    More than anything, we want to emphasize that many of these things can be cleaned up and improved, but right now, we're taking a wait and see approach to see what's next.

    Most important should be Oauth; you're asking for a lot of users' information, and you should be careful with it.

    And the icons aren't necessarily the issue, it's more about having things differentiate more. You read straight down and there's little to make Twitter comments look different from e-mails. Adding color might help a little.

    Either way, we'll be keeping an eye out. We don't think it's ready for prime time yet, but we could see it being useful with more tweaks. Thanks again!
  • i have to agree with you. i was really excited to use threadsy...for the first five minutes. then i actually tried to use it. aside from the bugs, it is just really confusing and i can't ever really figure out what is what. maybe its just too much to ask for one tool that brings all your information together in a tool that is easy-to-use with a clean user interface.
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