INTRODUCING: Updated IMDb.com Title page experience

I worried that the other parts of the site will be upgraded to have the same problematic code base as the homepage and the title pages.

That's what Col implied earlier. ^^

@jeorj_euler Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what's going to happen since they're categorically not altering this new layout. On the one hand, at least it would make the design consistent - at the moment, I'm having to keep adjusting my zoom settings each time I navigate away from the title page which is just one more annoyance on top of everything else - but on the other hand, it's going to make the design consistently bad...

We just can't win with this.

Getting rid of the Quick Links sidebar would be disastrous.

@Paul  The new pages have all of the same information (and more) as the old ones.  Please see the previous answer on the Metascore at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/introducing-updated-imdbcom-title-page-experience/60a40631c1307254c6cc1b0d?commentId=60b342f6774cc4158c8726f2&replyId=60b345abbc0d214097653fb6

(Look under the “+ Add to Watchlist” button near the top right)

Hope this helps

@Col_Needham I honestly hate the fact that we all keep dumping our issues with this redesign specifically at your door, but don't you think that the simple fact that so many IMDb users having issues with locating pieces of information - even if the information is still there - and needing you to highlight their new location is an issue that deserves to be addressed in and of itself?

I know we must all seem from the outside to be a bunch of entitled whiny brats screaming obscenities anonymously from behind a keyboard, especially since we're not paying to use the site, but the fact of the matter is that this update has greatly reduced the site's functionality as a database regarding information about films/TV shows and that has meant that the site is now failing at a substantial part of its brand. Yes, all the information might still be there hidden on the page somewhere but if people repeatedly cannot find it without assistance, that is an objective failure on the part of the designers. Whether you or any of the other higher-ups like it or not, people still tend to use IMDb as an information resource, rather than an entertainment portal. Only now quite a few apparently can't find the actual information without requiring assistance to do so. I still fail to see a reason as to why a happy medium between the database information resource and the entertainment portal elements couldn't have been struck (I know you've already highlighted several of your replies throughout this topic to answer this when I raised it earlier, but to be quite honest they didn't really leave me any the wiser as to why this particular redesign had to be done in this particular way besides "we just wanted to and it makes things easier for us"), especially since the previous layout seemed to sit in that medium anyway.

Reading through this whole thread, it seems as though the vast majority of people commenting here really fundamentally just want any one of three things: an acknowledgement that the update isn't popular, has some fairly major flaws in its design and wasn't desired by a majority of those commenting here; a reassurance that constructive feedback is actually being taken onboard and we're not all just shouting into a vacuum to be later dismissed and told that the update was a "huge success"; and an option for IMDb users to choose which layout they can see similar to Reddit offering the option to revert back to its old layout after its redesign. Is any one of those things really so difficult to even acknowledge..?

@momur  Thanks for the questions. Much of this has been addressed in earlier responses, but we will add more below:

https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/introducing-updated-imdbcom-title-page-experience/60a40631c1307254c6cc1b0d?commentId=60abb5553258dd21c738c969

https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/introducing-updated-imdbcom-title-page-experience/60a40631c1307254c6cc1b0d?commentId=60ae3aea1ab2ba106b0106c3&replyId=60b01b0d06d61711351c9b7c

https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/introducing-updated-imdbcom-title-page-experience/60a40631c1307254c6cc1b0d?commentId=60af6b6f62e27a6596f9b1af&replyId=60b3d09306d61711351cf052

https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/introducing-updated-imdbcom-title-page-experience/60a40631c1307254c6cc1b0d?commentId=60b8e0f8a4586b59556af969&replyId=60c4ec9500ea110e3983c69d

On your points above … the design is new so it is only natural that some people will need help; this was the same in the old design, to some extent it will be the same in any redesign on any site — if you have been accustomed to find something in an old place when it has moved to a new one, then you might not look closely enough to see where it now lives. Reports of this type of thing are useful in helping us consider changes to the design and/or more explicit pointers in the help. On the other hand, such reports could also be bugs in the software (for example, the TV episode running times issue is a bug which needs to be addressed).  We are happy to help people in either case and especially grateful for the problem report if the latter. 

We are reading all of the feedback here and any design is always a work in progress so this is all valid input to future changes. Our previous replies referenced above should hopefully explain why it is not practical for us to offer an option to switch back to an 11 year-old design though, sorry.  

Hope this helps.

LOL!!

@Col_Needham It's one thing to help people to navigate through the changes, but not all of the information is found as you confirmed before.

https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/introducing-updated-imdbcom-title-page-experience/60a40631c1307254c6cc1b0d?commentId=60b5170d94e070428be29f93&replyId=60b794451a5c1c74680f403c

Is it still worth to add localized language plot outlines? When can we expect the traditional check-in with the comments to return to the desktop version? It's not possible to check-in even with the advanced view on mobile browser versions!

Most of the criticizing people here are using the desktop/browser version and don't want to wait endlessly for the loading of content, don't want to click and scroll endlessly to find what they're looking for, wait for more pages to load - all things one didn't need to do before the changes!

Also, what is extremely nervy, is that the Android app loses connection to the title you looked up, so if you wanted to check-in at the end of the movie, the app resetted to the landing page! So you have to push the search button, wait for the search site to load, click into the search field and type the title again and then wait for the title page to load again... which is approximately 2-3 minutes of extra time! That's time to lose interest.

And that waiting is happening to all the pages with the new layout in the desktop/browser version too! I mean, what is a new layout worth if everybody is using the advanced view or change to another database? Visually I have no complaints against the new design, but functionally this is a step back to the beginnings of the internet! It disturbs the workflow, especially in times when the count of movies and series is increasing! Sometimes I tend to think I'm back on a 14.400bps modem...

So please do something before more people stop using your site! It would be a loss for everyone.

@Col_Needham Wow, he says it's uncool that you keep responding to selective posts with statements of where information is, and you reply with a plethora of links he can go find the information to his concerns.....

Seems exceptionally tone deaf.

@samofnine  Thanks for the comments; you wrote:

Is it still worth to add localized language plot outlines?

Yes, the localized plot outlines will be returning soon; they were only an experiment on the old pages but they will be properly supported on the new pages. 

When can we expect the traditional check-in with the comments to return to the desktop version?

You can still check-in without comments by adding the title to your check-in list from the list menu, however, check-in with comments is not yet supported, sorry.  The model implementation of lists at IMDb is on our iOS app and it does at least already support adding notes to check-ins.  The website and Android app are currently behind on list support, but should eventually catch-up to iOS, however, we cannot commit to a specific launch date at this stage, sorry. 

So please do something before more people stop using your site! It would be a loss for everyone.

In terms of comments from everybody, please remember that IMDb is used by over 200 million people per month, so you are seeing (expected) negative feedback from a relatively small number of people.  One of the main purposes of the design and technology refresh is to make IMDb more accessible to an even larger worldwide audience.  Some of what we are doing here will only become clear once everything is on the new technology; this is very early days even though IMDb is over 30 years old. 

We are genuinely sorry that many of the people commenting here are not giving the design more of a chance, however, we need to keep moving IMDb forwards. Please do not let the negativity expressed by others spoil your own enjoyment of IMDb. 

Hope this helps. 

@Col_Needham 

99.9% of that 200 million have no idea where and to whom they can complain, and even if they did, they know that it would be futile to do so since for the past 30+ years, IMDB has never reverted to any of their previous design or provided their users with the option of using the old or new design similar to what Reddit did for their users.

I usually adapt to changes even when they are sudden and drastic, however, I tried giving this design a chance every day since it was released and I cringed every single time I visited a film or series, which is why I only use “reference view”; and although that view also has problems, at least it is more tolerable than that abomination of a new design.

@delmedia @linux_lad 

99.9% of that 200 million have no idea where and to whom they can complain

I also think the reason that it's a "relatively small" number of people are commenting is because you have successfully buried the link to get here. It took me a long time to find these forums,  but I was determined to be heard on this. I bet if a feedback on the new site link were as prominent as the "learn more" link, the numbers would skyrocket. 

These are actually some really good points. It took me far longer than it should have to find this forum - granted, a lot of it was probably because I'm not used to navigating IMDb as a site outside of looking up film/actor pages, but a substantial amount of time was spent simply going round in circles on the actual IMDb website. The 'Help' page does contain a link to the forum but it occurred to me at the time that it would make more sense for the General Support option to be one of the first things you see on a 'Help' page as opposed to being at the bottom (personally, I'm sensing something of a pattern here). And to be honest, I wasn't even sure queries and issues concerning the redesign technically came under the umbrella of General Support as opposed to one of the other help options higher on the page. As I've kept saying, I'm only so-so when it comes to techsavviness (if that's even a word) so I'm fully willing to admit that my lack of speed in locating these forums was likely largely down to my general failings at navigating websites that don't clearly indicate exactly what each and every link on the page is intended for. But I equally can't help wondering how many others with the same or even lower tech abilities as me might have just as many issues and concerns but simply gave up looking for the correct place to raise them. Of course there's no way of measuring something like this but making it any harder for people to give feedback and ask questions/raise concerns than clearly and unmistakably presenting them with the option to do so does also seem a tad "off"...

@Col_Needham If you naively believe that everybody who has a negative response to this mess will take the time to complain, then I can understand why you believe people who have told you it is necessary to self-destruct your site. 

It might be wiser to judge by the percentage of positive vs negative responses.  Not just assume that only the disgruntled will comment.

I guess 30 years was a good run.  Nothing lasts forever.

@tv_6ed65i969yx75 It's kind of like that old adage about how you apparently make up your mind whether you like someone or not within 5 seconds of meeting them. I sincerely doubt it's really fundamentally any different with websites. At least for myself, I know that if I don't like how a site is laid out within about 5 seconds of seeing it, I make up my mind that it's probably not a good site and tend to avoid it in the future. If there's information on that site that I actually want to access (such as with IMDb), I'll give it a bit more of a chance but not much. As it is, it's now been 7 days since the new layout was forced on me and while I used to use the site daily for several hours at a time, my usage of the site has cut down by more than half over the past week. Largely due to the new layout. Speaking purely for myself (though I'm sure others here share the same sentiments), I'm just not willing to bend over backwards to excuse poor design and difficult navigation on a new layout just for the sake of "giving it a chance". Life is too short and, to be brutally frank, I have other options for getting a large amount of the information that I want. After a certain point, "give it a chance" is no longer a viable excuse; after 7 days, I've reached that point. I've given it a chance, it's failed that chance. Plain and simple.

The one good thing this update has done is that it's encouraged me to begin creating a database of my own collection of films/TV shows since I'm now sure that even with my limited skills, I could at least create something where it's easy to just see the information I want...

@delmedia

@Col_Needham I really tried to gave it a chance, but it always slowed me way down on checking or searching for things. When I want to copy a name I always automatically land on that name's page, what I don't want!

And it's a database first, so it should show data and not trailers and pictures. Of course, they are part of the database, but you should not spoil everybody with them! Just let the user decide if he/she wants to see them! The empty cubes on the right are perfect for that solution!

As I noticed for some time now, is, that with some TV episodes one hasn't checked in yet, there is a season cover on the episode page and no trailer. The text is on the right to the poster. This should be in general! Trailers have a thumbnail picture, which is shown when you set autoplay off or the video stops. That often contains spoilers as well. So please lose the trailers on the title pages! It also slows down everything.

Also, the landing page is too slow on loading because of the mass of pictures and scripts loading. I now need another landing page bookmark because it takes nearly half a minute before I can put in text into the search field!

@Brandenburg3rdAgain

Captain Kirk of Star Trek Original Series  ... Looking at the New View

CaptainKirk
Joined Thu, Jul 8, 2021 
https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/users/60e7890155bc2d278b532479

.

@Brandenburg3rdAgain 

Jeff Bezos 
founded Amazon.com
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1757263/

  
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2660888/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2660888/reference

Jeff Bezos ... Starfleet Official

Jeff Bezos in Star Trek Beyond (2016)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2660888/mediaviewer/rm1668026112/

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTU0ODhmMzYtMWY3Mi00NjY0LWEyOTItYTVlODIyNTk1NmM2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjk3NTUyOTc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg

- - -

See  more about Jeff Bezos 

https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/introducing-updated-imdbcom-title-page-experience/60a40631c1307254c6cc1b0d?commentId=60e37e2ea80b9421431ec58d

.

"Downgraded" is FAR too kind a word. It's been outright ruined.

Oh great, now I'm getting an email for every d*mn like and reply here. How on earth can I shut off this stream of interruptions? Clicking "unfollow" up top didn't do it.

@nikg Click on your profile pic next to the notification bell, go to 'Profile Settings', click on the 'Notification' tab, uncheck all the boxes regarding email notifications, and then click 'Save Preferences'.

@rickygold Please see -> https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/introducing-updated-imdbcom-title-page-experience/60a40631c1307254c6cc1b0d?commentId=60a94c2393de84003be61bf0&replyId=60a9eb7ffad48e7959855522 

Note that we are looking at ensuring the release date is always present in the same position if the title has yet to release specifically in your country. At the moment it is only displayed at the top if the title has not yet released anywhere in the world. 

You can access all of the release dates by clicking the year under the title at the top of the page or via the “Release dates” option on the “All Topics” menu in the upper right of the page. 

Hope this helps. 

@rickygold

No. They can't bring back the month and day of the title release dates unless it requires us to add at least 10 extra clicks to navigate to that information. They instead want to make the user's experience as timely, manipulative and bad as possible in an effort to make even more money from us, as if writing the content we add and the advertisement money they get is not enough. Next month they plan on coming to your home and taking the fresh vegetables and proteins out of your refrigerator. It's OK though as we users don't know what is best for us and/or what we want anyway.  

@stychy  We are not responsible for third party plugins, sorry.  You should be able to contact the author of this plugin and have them update it to work on our new pages. 

@BarnOwl

They don't care. Not that they should have to care that much,.. but to be THIS horrifically opposed to all long time users, when they've done something so detrimental, is an abomination. They should have cared at least an inch.