Nothing is more important to me than patronizing good old André and his website, but with the new YYE shopping format/ makeover, I will be doing my shopping and yoyo browsing elsewhere, where there is not so much discomfort. I will more than likely still continue to make my purchases at YYE in an effort to support it, but it looks like the days of checking out yoyos at YYE are over due to it’s new “unfamiliarity”. The cliche comes to mind- “If it is not broken, don’t fix it.” The old shopping format was perfect and novel, and in my opinion, it now feels broken to me.
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I haven’t bought a yoyo since the change but regardless of change, I’ll continue to gladly support Yoyoexpert whether if it’s online or at a contest booth. I really like how the shop has been set up.
The new format reflects a lot of comments from users as to what they’d like to see. I know change is difficult for some and I didn’t really see anything wrong with the original site myself, but I don’t own it or make the decisions. It’s still number 1 with me.
I like the style of the new website but when I go onto new releases there are a few missing that were there before the change, for example, the one drop Kuntosh is now no longer on the new releases list. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m using mobile or something but it’s kinda bad when there are just missing yoyos.
Merely growing pains. I trust the good people at YoyoExpert 
It would be more useful if you said what your problem was with the new format instead of just saying “unfamiliarity”. If your only problem with it is that it’s different then I think you are being a bit silly.
I personally prefer the new format, it looks far sleeker and better laid out. There will likely be some small problems with certain aspects, but with feedback those can probably get ironed out. Feedback is the keyword there though.
The new format is a welcome and LONG overdue upgrade. I’m sure André is still tweaking and fixing things but it’s about time he had a store that could be used easily on mobile.
Great job, André!
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I hear ya Larry! You have been a LONG TIME supporter (and believe me I do appreciate it very much & getting that kind of feedback from you is important!)
So to start - I really held off any kind of re-design for as long as I could. The previous website I built back in 2009. (A year or so after we had originally launched when we came up with our current logo, etc). It was built using what was standard methods for building web pages at the time - but SO MUCH has changed since 2009 and unfortunately a redesign was required. As someone mentioned making web pages responsive has become an important aspect with so many types of devices and screen sizes viewing things. I held off on this for a long time as I have personally never liked ‘mobile’ websites - I always thought it was a built for ‘BlackBerry thing’ and that everyone who had Android or iPhone/iPad would pinch and zoom and prefer normal full sites (so over time as people got better phones the need would go away). However last year Google made the decision and actively penalize websites that don’t conform to mobile layouts - and with that mobile layout design has improved and evolved too. So I’m ‘learning’ to appreciate it and how to make it better to use while on a phone (but still great on a computer which is where I personally still do most of my internet surfing).
Along with that our previous shopping cart system while still ‘solid’ - was missing a lot of the features we needed in order to evolve and deliver the best and most streamlined experience possible. We have a lot of really awesome stuff in the works and I am REALLY excited - so I hope you can hang in there and we can prove ourselves!
Further - I would definitely love to get your feedback (feel free to do it here or you can just send me an email or PM directly if you want to be a little more critical which I am more than happy to get that kind of feedback on). Design is one of those things where it is definitely hard to please everyone! And I seriously understand trying to get used to a ‘new’ layout - its tough but we will continue to try and make things feel as familiar as possible.
Also - I should note - we had a deadline we had to hit because of changes with our previous shopping cart software - and there will be a lot of changes over the next week, month (and realistically for the next couple of months) as we find issues and fix them and just strive to make this the best experience it can be. Hence the initial soft launch here before we really announce it. (It also got caught in between two big weekends for me - San Francisco/BAC last weekend and this morning we landed in Denver Colorado for the ASTRA Toy Fair!) So please know - still lots of improvements to come. ;D
Thanks for reading Larry!
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Aha - fixed - Thank you!
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I like the new format. And I can see that they have taken some advice and are trying to please the users. I am sure there will need to have a change or two before all bugs are worked out. But I for one offer a “Bravo” to André and the staff here.
I do see one thing that seems odd that I would like to point out. On the purchase page, right when you click on it, a list appears and quickly goes away. This makes you have to then click on a banner to bring back up the menu/list that was there to begin with. This seems to be a bit bothersome. I made a purchase today, and other than what I just mentioned, it all ran smoothly. Oh, and I had to sign back in. No biggie. lol.
Good Job YYE!!!
Well Said! And…
I’m sure he will continue to shop here because YYE has the BEST selection by far.
I think the original format was really a more archetypal form.
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. The good news is, the first time, when I went to the new releases page, and the reason for my original complaint was, for some strange reason, my phone would only display one new release per page. I thought that this was the new design, and had no idea my phone was being wacked-out. Anyway, now that I have seen the new finished product on my desktop and my tablet, and on a working smartphone, it doesn’t seem like something I cannot get used too, although I do sort of hate change, and I am going to miss the old shopping format. And YES, I sure can be a “silly” goose from time to time! Haha.The bottom line is, I should have known better than to think that good old André did not have a sufficient handle on his new design. Sorry about making a fuss about nothing!
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That was my first thought as well, finally I can browse the site on my phone. As I don’t have the internet at home, only my iPhone, having a site that is designed for mobile is essential.
Pros: I really like the ability to search by style. I’ve always wanted to compare 4a or 2a yoyos.
Cons (sort of, but not really): Initially, I couldn’t figure out how to find yoyos from a particular company. Then I realized that it’s a 2 step process. I pick the style (Like 1A) and then the companies are listed down the side. So I looked for a couple of the newer companies like Amplified Return Tops and 2Sick. Neither were available.
At first this looks like a problem. But I think what’s happening is that YYE fixed one of my pet peeves about the old site. It was always frustrating to go look for a particular yoyo and find out that it’s not in stock. Or that there are 12 colors available and only one of them is actually in stock. I’m betting that the new site is only showing yoyos which are available. That’s actually a really nice feature.
I’m a software developer who works with major web sites. I’ve help develop an online banking system for one of America’s largest banks. I’ve done billing systems for health care companies. I’m currently working for the not-for-profit company which handles California’s electrical grid. It’s always a challenge when a new design comes out. But give it a couple weeks and I’m sure we’ll all be as at ease with the new design as we were with the old design.
And you have to admit, the new design looks a lot more professional.
There is also “Brands” at the top. That will allow you to see everything from each brand.
My main issue with the new site is that they took away the ability to see how many of the selected yoyo is in stock. This was very useful information to have-- it allowed me to plan out the timing of my purchase decisions and manage my spending better. Are there plans to bring this functionality back?
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Well THAT’S useful! Thank you. I didn’t even notice that.
We will most likely have the ability to add it in the future. Many people have requested that feature so we are looking into it.
One thing threw me through a curve just now - the magic “Your order has shipped” email which made way into my promotions folder (gmail). Not sure if there’s a way for me to tell Gmail to put it in the main folder or not. I can get used to checking the promotions folder as well, just threw me off for a second
Other than that I do like how the “order shipped” page has everything all contained for us.