It’s not that MySpace is ugly (it is), it’s that the conventions aren’t clear

I left a comment earlier today on AllFacebook, where Nick posted about MySpace’s plans to include a newsfeed and multiple profiles. At the end of the comment, I added that even with all the new features:

I’m still not going anywhere near MySpace until they remove the ugly stick.

After I wrote that I thought about it for a few minutes, because that’s really kind of an odd thing to say. I’m not going to use the site because it’s too ugly, even if it has great features? Admittedly, I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to web site looks, but hey, Facebook isn’t exactly the Mona Lisa either.

So why am I OK with Facebook? Why would I keep using it even if MySpace had a better feature set?

I think the answer is conventions. Allow me to draw on my inexcusably extensive knowledge of video games for an analogy: over the years, Real Time Strategy games like Warcraft, Command & Conquer, and Age of Empires have defined a certain basic interface and a certain basic set of commands that remains essentially intact in any RTS that you find on the shelves of GameStop today.

If I went out and picked up a copy of Supreme Commander (another RTS), I’d have reasonably little trouble figuring out how to do basic things like build units, group units, create buildings, select resources, or move the screen around the map. This is because there are established conventions for how these things are done.

It’s like speaking the same language in different states. You may not know what you’ll find in Idaho, but you’re pretty sure it’ll be speaking to you in English.

On MySpace I don’t feel like the navigational conventions are as clear. They’re there, of course, but every time I log in it feels like I’m wading through the early nineties. Every Facebook page has a consistent and obvious set of navigation, or navigational conventions. This is a language that is really easy to learn, which I think has been a strong factor in Facebook’s success with people over 14 years old.

After a certain age, new languages are harder to learn. Why make it harder?

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