The Less Wrong Q&A is the most horribly designed… thing I’ve ever seen.
I don’t understand why these are videos. They don’t offer diagrams or anything useful to see. As a visual it’s just an utterly boring face speaking to us. Eliezer’s voice isn’t particularly charismatic. So why can’t he just type his responses, which would be both easier for him to edit, and for us to browse though?
Even if the video format served some purpose, the fact it’s broken up in multiple videos, means that I can’t even have the voice sound in the background while I’m eating or browsing articles or doing something else—since it stops every couple minutes, and I then have to go back to click the next one (actually process is “go back to the page of the videos, click the link indicating the question, read the question, go back to the page of videos, click next video to start”) Repeat the above 30 times. It’s broken up in 30 videos. Thirty! What the hell.
Worse yet, the questions aren’t even above the videos. They are just linked to. And the links don’t even go to a page where all the questions are grouped together, they go to different pages for each question. Which means that if you’re looking to find the video that answers a particular question, you need click 30 links, then check the video that interests you, then go through all links again to find the next interesting video.
In short: screw that. I got bored after the third video or so, and quit the whole deal. What process of rationality determined all the above design choices? I’m asking that seriously. Whoever designed the thing, please justify these damned choices to us.
since it stops every couple minutes, and I then have to go back to click the
next one
Here’s a playlist of the
videos*. Start with
one and the rest will auto-play. It’s been a while since I watched them, but I
think he repeats or at least summarizes the question at the beginning of each
answer.
* Except for question 5⁄30, the one that was too big for
YouTube.
The Less Wrong Q&A is the most horribly designed… thing I’ve ever seen.
I don’t understand why these are videos. They don’t offer diagrams or anything useful to see. As a visual it’s just an utterly boring face speaking to us. Eliezer’s voice isn’t particularly charismatic. So why can’t he just type his responses, which would be both easier for him to edit, and for us to browse though?
Even if the video format served some purpose, the fact it’s broken up in multiple videos, means that I can’t even have the voice sound in the background while I’m eating or browsing articles or doing something else—since it stops every couple minutes, and I then have to go back to click the next one (actually process is “go back to the page of the videos, click the link indicating the question, read the question, go back to the page of videos, click next video to start”) Repeat the above 30 times. It’s broken up in 30 videos. Thirty! What the hell.
Worse yet, the questions aren’t even above the videos. They are just linked to. And the links don’t even go to a page where all the questions are grouped together, they go to different pages for each question. Which means that if you’re looking to find the video that answers a particular question, you need click 30 links, then check the video that interests you, then go through all links again to find the next interesting video.
In short: screw that. I got bored after the third video or so, and quit the whole deal. What process of rationality determined all the above design choices? I’m asking that seriously. Whoever designed the thing, please justify these damned choices to us.
I believe that was more of an Eliezer AMA that used the words “Less Wrong” in the title, rather than an LW “FAQ” or something.
Here’s a playlist of the videos*. Start with one and the rest will auto-play. It’s been a while since I watched them, but I think he repeats or at least summarizes the question at the beginning of each answer.
* Except for question 5⁄30, the one that was too big for YouTube.
I plan on transcribing all those video answers soon (within the next few days).