As of this morning Amazon has no tabs. There are no tabs at Amazon. Tabs, which have dominated the masthead at Amazon since it's earliest days as a simple retailer of the written word, are gone. They are no more. That is to say, the method of navigation that Amazon single-handily mastered through years of information architectural study and graphic design refinement have been removed from the site.
If you can find a tab in new design at Amazon then consider yourself a living witness to the history of interactive design.
What this means for the world, I am uncertain. What this means for online design, well my friend, that is the Million-dollar question. Tabs have been around since the earliest construct of World Wide Web but it was Amazon who perfected it's use as a navigation scheme for more than a decade, spending hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars (perhaps Millions!) research and design. I can only assume that this decision is the result of careful study by many scientists, designers, and mathematics experts from all over the world. Possibly ending an era of navigation through a secret vote conducted in Geneva, Switzerland.
I can tell you that it will take a while for this to sink in. For so many years the tabs have always been there, starting with a few in the late nineties, multiplying like rabbits during the dawn of this new century, and trimmed to a more manageable and handsome looking group in recent years. Now they are gone, most likely, forever.
Oh, and the hue of blue used across the top has changed too. Amazon says it's "slightly more fetching" but I don't see it.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
Seems like this is being rolled out slowly - I still see the tabs
Ditto, I'm still tab-enabled here.
I remember someone (Jeff Veen, maybe) mentioning in a presentation that Amazon will often roll out UI changes incrementally to a handful of users.
I find their current dropdowns pretty annoying, honestly. And they're hauling out a few dozen more? Hooray, 2002's alive and well.
Then consider yourself a living witness to the history of interactive design. From the read of the document I linked to, they're not going to reverse course. Take screen shots for posterity.
Only three tabs left for me, "amazon.com", "Your amazon.com" & "See all 41 Product Categories".
Still, its certainly a significant design shift for the site.
You're still seeing the old site. Is the hyperlink I added at the end of this post not working?
The link works, it shows screenshots of the new design. But he page itself is still in the old design, i.e., tabs at the top.
Why do I see the new design on my home computer but not at work?
We're still in our testing phase, and you may not see the new design all the time.
I, for one, don't see it yet
Greg: ah, forgot the link when I was reading earlier. I just had a quick look. I guess the new design hasn't rolled out to New Zealand yet :)
Yep, still seeing the old design here-- I grabbed a shot of the post about the new design rolled into the old design.
Well I guess you're all living in or near the wrong, tabified coast.
If you want a blast of nostalgia, take a look at amazon.co.uk, which lags a generation or so behind the current design, I believe. Tabs galore!
They'll have to remove the hover dropdowns soon before everyone has an iPhone for Christmas, or at the latest by 2032 when Microsoft releases Surface SP2 Home Basic, Home Premier, Business, Ultimate, Enterprise, and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
I don't see it yet - can someone who does see if it's using CSS or javascript for the pull-downs? I'm intrigued to see which way they went. Do they have sub-indexes for those without either? Or do they get a nasty huge list?
I still see the tabs as well, and I live in Los Angeles. Maybe it was a premature launch.
I only see it in Safari. I wonder if they're slow-rolling it one browser at a time.
Ugh, yes. the dropdowns. How am I supposed to browse the bajillions of luscious items and make random underwear, books, action figures, DVDs, and hard drive purchases on the fly whilst stuck in traffic if the hovers don't even work on the iPhone?
Shame. Everyone knows that Apple sets the UI precedent for the next few weeks!
*tsk, tsk*
Gee, this isn't exactly pretty. I was only able to see it in Safari, too.
I sort of liked the tabs. Gonna miss 'em. :'(
As long as they don't stick their whole menu system in the footer I'll... er...
Tabs. No tabs. I've always found Amazon confusing to use whatever they do ;)
The rotating product wheel on the homepage is a pretty nice effect. I'm seeing one with computers and two or three "internet tablets." I guess they're pushing them pretty hard, because in a couple of weeks (come ipod time) no one's going to be interested.
Hmm. Wasn't broke. Why fix it?
> I don't see it yet - can someone who does see if it's using CSS or javascript for the pull-downs?
From what I can see a combination of both.
> I only see it in Safari. I wonder if they're slow-rolling it one browser at a time.
Whoa, I hadn't caught that. I don't think I've ever heard of a site being rolled out browser-by-browser, that's a nifty idea. Anyone have Safari for Windows? I'd like to know if it works for both platforms.
@Scott - The 'coverflow' thing has been around for a few months and diplays different items for each person according to their purchase behavior/traffic patterns. I don't have any computers displayed on Amazon when I visit.
Checked the site using Safari for Windows (3.0.3) and still see the old -- read: three tab'd -- version of the site. That said, I still see that version using FF as well, so it may be that I'm not hitting whatever server(s) are hosting the new look.
I guess Jakob Nielsen can't point at Amazon and tell the rest of the world to use tabs any more.
> Whoa, I hadn't caught that. I don't think I've ever heard of a site being rolled out browser-by-browser, that's a nifty idea.
They did it with the last version too: Safari first, then it rolled out from there.
Totally weird... I've looked at it on Safari, Firefox, and IE, all both Mac and PC, and I'm still not seeing the new design implemented....
I'm feeling left out here. ='(
Yes, Amazon rolls out new changes slowly, there are thousands of servers running around the world after all. You might not see what your neighbor sees. Yes, design changes are highly instrumented: if they aren't making as much money with the new design, it'll go away.
But Amazon has like 40 departments of stuff. It's not like the three tab design worked anymore, it was really more like a vestige of an old brand than a functional bit of UI. The new design shows more stuff, shows more ways into the site.
But that bluegreen is gross, so very not Amazony.
Bobby, that can only mean one thing: Amazon has mystics and necromancers on the payroll, controlling the minds of users, preventing most of the free world form seeing the new design.
I think I know how to fix this but I'll need some alligators, rum, a dead chicken, and a lock of Jackob Nielsen's hair.
You'll have a hard time getting the lock of hair you need.
Don't see the new design here in Singapore either. But from the screenshot of the new design, the UI emulates what you'd expect from a physical store - different levels for different goods.
Have you noticed that the new version of IE uses tabs. Does Microsoft using a particular design automatically make it uncool? Is that why Amazon is changing?
They have rolled out a design or two before and backed away based on traffic numbers and sales. They may have done this here.