Quote from: mrFinpgh on April 12, 2017, 10:02 PM

...

In an ideal world, though, they are iterating throughout this process and getting feedback.
...
-Adam

I understand spiral development and agile development.
However There was a working web site, and now it sounds like it is a non working one.

Theoretically it may be better, and theoretically it could have been tested on multiple devices before rolling it out.

Agreed.  That's why I'm saying that many of these issues could have and probably should have been identified prior to a complete changeover.  @Gregor is speaking to this better than I did. 

"whoever gain much info from the previous website" ?

I'll wager a lot of people !

The abrasive selector
Jigsaw blade selector
EKAT
Owner's manuals
Supplemental manuals


.......to name a few.


Whether we like it or not , in today's world - a comprehensive and easy to navigate website is pretty much mandatory for a manufacturer.  It even needs to work with a smartphone and tablet as well as full sized computer.

I concede that the Ft website contains relevant information. But you'll agree there are other ways to get the information: FOG, dealers, web, paper catalogues...
Of course a manufacturer ought to have an easy-to-navigate, informative website. They screwed up. It will be fixed. Eventually.
In the meantime, i hope the FOG will have less consumerism and more information. Amen.

Quote from: yetihunter on April 12, 2017, 09:20 PM

I'm not fuming, but the lack of redirects was a first world burden the last few nights.
I tried to navigate the website but gave up and googled "Festool Supplemental Manuals" instead of "(insert tool) supplemental manual" and got what I needed straight from Rick Christopherson.

There are a lot of redirects already set up. If you have specific examples, we'll get them added.

I would, but I just checked and they're already fixed.
AWESOME!

...
In this modern global environment a company that can't manage a website or run a phone in the US raises serious concerns about its ability to actually make things properly.
...

+1 

Why so angry?

Anyway, sites developed to be responsive to different platforms will be the norm if they aren't already. Complaining about that is pretty pointless, because the times they are a changin'. I will say though that perhaps the buttons and images are slightly too big even for that purpose. Perhaps shoot for three/six across vs two/four.

I have been a (graphic + communication) designer for almost four decades and even learned to hand code websites in the early nineties, when the WWW was in its infancy, because I needed arguments when the programmers en tech guys tried to no-no my design choices and ideas. I have tried my best to keep up to date with new tech and software until I quit working, so I think I have some insight and useful (?) comments…

Yes, the Festool sites needed major upgrades. They surely needed better cross platform compatibility. Hence the 'modern responsive' design, that is ubiquitous (alas), with its modularity, low information density, simple design and coarse typography. But for a mainstream business conformity is an easier choice than a more innovative approach. Let's just say that the design is not bad.

Yes, rolling out a new site is a risk. But it has to happen eventually. Removing a bandaid comes to mind. Just do it quickly, the pain will fade sooner.

What has made this roll over painful is that apparently the back end appears to have been underestimated, eg the way the data have been organised and can be accessed. In the course of years and years of adding data mistakes are made. Databases differ in the way data are 'boxed' and described. When one tries to have data from all kinds of sources to fit into one model there will be glitches. And I think in this case the number of glitches was far greater than everyone expected & far more manpower had to be allocated to fix things.

If Festool had acknowledged that, the furore would have been far less than what has happened.

And then there is the design and usability aspect of the new sites. Responsive design is a fairly new branch of web design. It still needs to find its way. It needs to develop, like all other forms of communication design have. I am not a big fan, because as a designer I dislike the limitations it has. But just remember that it took over 200 years for newspapers to 'discover' the concept of the headline. Or the way the first websites looked, compared to nowadays. Thankfully things move really fast in the 21-st century.

It may take  a while for us to get used to the new, but we surely will.