Sometimes changing the UI is not a good thing
Some of the new web 2.0 introductions that lead to serious web UI changes are not the best thing that people can do for their site. There are ways of getting around a site that people get very used to, and any form of UI change needs to take that into account. People are creatures of habit, and if you get all radical with your web UI design, it might not garner the acceptance that people are thinking that it should. Folks like things sometimes just the way they are, and if they are functionally ok, there is no reason to change it at all.
Some recent changes at a web site I really like have pretty well ruined any kind of experience that I used to enjoy, and it has now been over two weeks since I last went back there. A lot of folks who go there are reporting that traffic is down from the last UI change, and general user acceptance has dwindled down to almost nothing. With traffic down, the people who use the site hating the new UI, and general discontent amongst the proletariat, maybe this change was not such a good idea.
If you are busy building out a web site, the one thing to remember is that if you are totally involved in the UI, run it through some tests first and see if people will like them. Nothing can kill a web site quicker than poor UI design that makes the web site harder, all in the name of “being web 2.0”.
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