Unhandled Perception: Windows Live Expo to take on Craigslist

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Windows Live Expo to take on Craigslist

First, what is Windows Live Expo: "Expo is a dynamic social listing service that allows members to find and sell items, discover information, and meet other parties in their area – all for free!"

Very similiar to Craigslist but with a much better layout. Does anyone else think Craigslist is the ugliest site ever? I can't beleive a site that bad looking can become so big. Windows Live Expo has a web 2.0 feel so right there its miles ahead of Craigslist in my book. I know, I know, looks are only a small part of a social listing website but I just can't get by the look of Craigslist to actually use it.

Link:
http://expo.live.com/

6 Comments:

agreed. shocking that craigslist has done so well. i use it all the time because of the volume of listings, but the non-sortable display options, bad search engine, etc. make it a prime target

By Anonymous, at 5:21 PM EST
Actually, I think the reason why CL succeeds for me is that it is stripped down and simple. No CSS, flash, XHTML, java, JS, or fancy schmancy look-different-on-ie-than-firefox issues to deal with. That it's non-sortable actually makes people use it MORE, I think. Unpredictable returns at unpredictable intervals is what hooks people and we shouldn't underestimate the draw of serendipity.

By Anonymous, at 5:24 PM EST
People don't want fat, slow web sites that try to be pretty rather than functional. Craigslist is simple, fast, and gets the job done - just like eBay, Google, and Yahoo.

I'll take a fast, ugly site that adds value over a pretty, fat and buggy site any day.

By Anonymous, at 5:57 PM EST
The prettiest sites aren't always the best. Sure CL is ugly, but hell, so is Ebay, and the reason they do so well is they are fast and to the point. Microsoft just can't understand that - they always have to throw everything, including the kitchen sinck into the design, thinking that the more usability options they offer, the more views they get. Instead, it just becomes overwhelming. Sure the hardcore geeks may look at something like CL and be aghast that it's not so very "Web 2.0", but the actual normal humans who use it every day - they know how to find what they need, and do it quickly. They don't need little pulldowns for sort, and they certainly don't need a site that will certainly require IE 7 to look good. Of course it'll have tons of ActiveX controls, and in Firefox, it'll look like crud.

I'm a techie, but I also have worked in usability - and frankly, Craigslist may not be techie and shiny, but it's gets the job done. And with all the overwhelming crap thrown into computers these days, esp. Windows, people appreciate that simplicity.

By Anonymous, at 8:45 PM EST
The Expo site looks too commercially and that's not Web 2.0 I dont think. Web 2.0 is open, organized, and utilitarian, and web-standard complient. The MS site seems to have less information on the front at first blush.

Also, with Images. MS is on a better track then Google because of sorting their pictures but like Google with Writely would only take a few moments to catch up as Google is already succesful and standard-fast.

Speed and main features are much harder to do then touch-ups.

By Anonymous, at 7:39 AM EST
I don't know but I really like the look of the Craiglist site. The colors are uniform and the borders solid. People are too used of flash.

By Anonymous, at 7:41 AM EST