Comments on: Rant: Hulu’s “Revolutionary” Interface

By: TheWB.com Opens for a Peek « NewTeeVee

TheWB.com Opens for a Peek « NewTeeVee — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:22:24 +0000

[...] — you can link to and embed episodes and clips of episodes — but the layout is less clean and clear. One excellent addition is the capability to search within video transcripts for specific [...]

By: The WB is Back (in Beta)

The WB is Back (in Beta) — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:58:43 +0000

[...] similar to Hulu – you can link to and embed episodes and clips of episodes – but the layout is less clean and clear. One excellent addition is the capability to search within video transcripts for specific [...]

By: Steve Mitgang

Steve Mitgang — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:32:05 +0000

At nearly 10 times Hulu’s size, I would state with confidence that Veoh’s user interface points to an alternative way to watch and discover great content. You should check our brand new home page.

By: Akshun J

Akshun J — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:34:14 +0000

Ditto to everything already said. Simple and easy is the new revolutionary.

By: mangosteen

mangosteen — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:15:20 +0000

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is make a simple and elegant experience. Functionality bloat is what has made MSWord a nightmare. Web strategists are always trying to figure out how to shoe-horn more widgets into an interface as strategies shift from the day of conception to well past launch.

It is actually a lot easier to make a bloated complicated interface than a simple one. You can always add more crap onto a web page, but getting a dev or marketing manager to agree to let go of his/her "favorite use case' is like pulling teeth.

Hulu seems to be balancing their content and functionality pretty well. The site changes and updates regularly. I wonder if they can make it easier and even more simple. Who really needs all those navigation options.

By: eric mortensen

eric mortensen — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:53:57 +0000

I think Nelson might have hit upon something. Perhaps it's not so much about the design. Maybe it's about the familiarity of the content. Maybe it's the comfort that comes from Hulu's close ties to the old school TV experience. It's hard to get lost or overwhelmed on a page full of shows that have been embedded in popular culture for decades.

It's TV. Don't Browse. Don't Think. Just Watch. There's a lot to be said for that. Airwolf might suck, but you've known that for 24 years. There's comfort in that.

And now I have to get back to watching Hulu's NewsRadio reruns (seriously).

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:10:25 +0000

If you were CBS or ABC, why would you want to sign a deal with Hulu? CBS has its content everywhere and ABC has probably the best quality video I've ever seen on their own site.

Hulu (read: Fox and NBC) takes a huge cut of the ad revenue and would have a disincentive to market content that Fox and NBC don't own.

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:26:07 +0000

It’s elegant, it’s simple, and, holy smokes, it works!
Anybody who’s ever tried to put any kind of business together (how’s that for a sweeping generalization?) knows how big of an accomplishment that is.

By: geraldz

geraldz — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:54:54 +0000

Come on, Liz. The reason it’s so popular: 1. you don’t have to download anything; 2. the video quality is pretty good; 3. it’s free!

By: Stefan Richter

Stefan Richter — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:06:25 +0000

Simple and to the point. Nothing new really is it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle

By: Bill Moore

Bill Moore — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 07:38:44 +0000

Funny, this sounds alot like what people used to say about Google’s simple search page.

By: Sam Frank

Sam Frank — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 07:23:56 +0000

CBS already completely copied Hulu for their HD site:
http://labs.cbs.com/HD_video

Why doesn’t CBS just join with Hulu so they can create a better destination site together?? What is the downside?

By: Nelson Mangrito

Nelson Mangrito — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:18:20 +0000

Hulu is great because it has great content on it, not stupid crap. It even has a few web series on it too, but they are good ones like Satacracy 88 and The All For Nots, so we are given a web site full of junk, hulu right now is the perfect video site, at least until cbs and abc get together and create uluh.com

By: MYTEEV

MYTEEV — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:30:39 +0000

i would agree. if it works, the quality is good and you have enough content, the viewers will come. just wait till the main video sites hook up with the XBOX’s and PS3’s (rumoured NetFlix and PS3) or any home media systems. thats when things will really get intersting.

By: Riff Khan

Riff Khan — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:10:27 +0000

It is clean and content-centric… and yes it works to an extent. But what it lacks is that it is still not easy to share hulu content on social networks. A smaller but a more social site is: weareindia.tv

By: Tim Street

Tim Street — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:56:52 +0000

Not.