User Centered

This website is poorly designed to unnecessarily confuse and exclude users. As a result, I can't tell you what riffs.com is exactly. I'm going with the assumption that they are a secret society*

37signals posted about this site called Riffs with not much more information other than that it is like e-pinions. Curiousity got the best of me...so I clicked through to find out more only to run straight into the "your browser isn't supported" page (w Opera 8.5 and 9TP1).

Now- ok, sure...we could talk about that issue right there all by itself, and thanks for not even letting me try my luck at entering. But anyway- what I thought was most interesting, (or broken) is that the entire site is unaccessable but still show as if it was. I can't even click on the about link!

Surely I don't need cutting edge web technology** in order to read about who and what you are? If you truly can't show me anything at all, then why don't you present a more useful page instead. Perhaps one without all these carrots dangling that I can't reach. How about removing all the links and saying: "Look, get a new browser.. you can't do anything here until you use a browser that we test with."

Why not tell me what it is you offer that would compel me to navigate anywhere with Internet Explorer?



*ok- so I know it's kinda like e-pinions. But if you're going to tell me the Templar Knights and secret societies didn't have opinions, then I'm going to call shenanigans on you!
**not to imply Opera is not cutting edge web technology.. because I believe it is. But this is generally speaking (from the viewpoint of the developer)