Welcome to the new Linn website

[rowlandhills]

Oliver - What about a Wiki type page where people can add information about discontinued kit themselves, and which could include links like that one?

[Jim Collinson Linn Staff]

(2011-10-18 13:57)rowlandhills Wrote:  Oliver - What about a Wiki type page where people can add information about discontinued kit themselves, and which could include links like that one?

You mean like Wikipedia?

Jim

[rowlandhills]

I have a feeling that listing of equipment, with advice on how to set it up and links to manuals etc. falls outside of what Wikipedia regard as meeting their guidelines for content....but I could be wrong!

I do know that there are some Linn wiki sections (I've contributed myself) so this might be a way to maintain the information with less input from you guys!

[pstream]

(2011-10-18 09:01)Jim C Wrote:  Hi There,

We love feedback! No need to worry, it will only have a positive effect on your reputation!

Many thanks for your input,

Jim

Thanks, Jim!

In addition to my ad-hoc feedback yesterday, a few more specific comments that came into my mind when I tried to find my way through the new menu.

Many visitors that come to the website have not yet made up their mind as to whether they would definitely buy a Linn product, they rather want to collect as much product specific information beforehand and therefore would not expect “buying linn “ is the best place to explore first.
I did not visit “buying linn” first because I was afraid being forwarded to an order form or a shop … and was quite surprised when I opened “try linn” and was offered “find a shop” … it might be worth thinking about relocating this item or give it a different name.
It took me a while until I found out product specific info like features etc. are being provided under “buying linn”. Many might give up earlier …

Does a sub-chapter “buying linn” under the equally named main-menu item “buying linn” take the visitor any further on his search for clarity? Keep number of clicks at an absolute minimum.

There is a main-menu item “our systems” and under “buying linn” there is a sub-item “our systems close up”. Would a newcomer understand how both chapters compare to each other and which one leads him closer to what he wants to know?

To my mind a bit too much trial and error or ‘what’s behind the next Advent calendar door’…

No doubt at all there were many good reasons why the website and its menu have been designed like they are. We also know that different minds are evaluating same messages differently. In my view an excellent webpage is that one which picks the visitor up where he/she stands - rather than squeezing him/her into a too complex or highly intellectual corset.

[ToneDeff]

Nice username pstream ........ sounds like the way to golden ears.

[Briain]

(2011-10-18 12:47)oliverh Wrote:  If anyone needs a manual, there's a large collection of old manuals here:

ftp://manual:packet@ftp.linn.co.uk/manual

I'll add the remaining pdfs for the products that have been discontinued in the last couple of years.

Hi

I'd like to make an observation which makes a case for reconsidering the above strategy (and thus making all the information obviously available; even if it's just by including the above FTP link on the main site):

I've often bought used products (older TV's etc), or have been asked to help friends/relatives to get their own older products working properly. I sometimes have to resort to the manufacturer's web site to download the user manual, and when I find one, it's really excellent and I am impressed; I tend to think to myself, 'that's a great company as they make information available about older products'. The reverse of that is when I try to find instructions on something like a TV setup procedure and find the site only has the current (and maybe previous) models. When I come across that, I tend to think the company is crap at customer support for older devices and I make a note not to buy any of their products (nor to recommend them to people who ask me for advice). It's not just me who considers that; many people I know also take that into consideration when deciding on the merits of a company.

To ponder a plausible example that could impact on real sales. Imagine a younger enthusiast buys something like an old LK1 from eBay as their first preamp and accidentally push the record - (or whatever the display lock combination was). If they look on the site and find instructions on such an old product, it would likely impress them (and thus might influence their brand loyalty when they start earning enough money to buy a new Linn system). Of course, the reverse is true if they can't find the product information; they might have a feeling that Linn don't care about owners of older devices and thus it could give them a very slightly less positive impression.

Even ignoring the above arguments, I feel that it would be a great shame to loose that older product information from the site (particularly when it's already up there on a FTP server) so why not just put that link to the FTP site on the new web pages (call it 'historic product manuals' or something similar to that) as that would keep them all available, but not incur lots of work (and thus any cost) from having to keep any HTML links updated to these older documents.

Just my thought for the day!
Bri

[davidking]

Just my thought for the day!
Bri

[/quote]

And a very good one.

[rowlandhills]

Indeed. An even better idea for about another ten minutes work would be to have a page headed "Discontinued Product User Manuals" which explicitly names each product and is a hyperlink to its manual. That way, Google will index it and people will be able to find it when they look!

[oliverh Linn Staff]

(2011-10-19 13:59)Briain Wrote:  

(2011-10-18 12:47)oliverh Wrote:  If anyone needs a manual, there's a large collection of old manuals here:

ftp://manual:packet@ftp.linn.co.uk/manual

I'll add the remaining pdfs for the products that have been discontinued in the last couple of years.

Hi

I'd like to make an observation which makes a case for reconsidering the above strategy (and thus making all the information obviously available; even if it's just by including the above FTP link on the main site):

I've often bought used products (older TV's etc), or have been asked to help friends/relatives to get their own older products working properly. I sometimes have to resort to the manufacturer's web site to download the user manual, and when I find one, it's really excellent and I am impressed; I tend to think to myself, 'that's a great company as they make information available about older products'. The reverse of that is when I try to find instructions on something like a TV setup procedure and find the site only has the current (and maybe previous) models. When I come across that, I tend to think the company is crap at customer support for older devices and I make a note not to buy any of their products (nor to recommend them to people who ask me for advice). It's not just me who considers that; many people I know also take that into consideration when deciding on the merits of a company.

To ponder a plausible example that could impact on real sales. Imagine a younger enthusiast buys something like an old LK1 from eBay as their first preamp and accidentally push the record - (or whatever the display lock combination was). If they look on the site and find instructions on such an old product, it would likely impress them (and thus might influence their brand loyalty when they start earning enough money to buy a new Linn system). Of course, the reverse is true if they can't find the product information; they might have a feeling that Linn don't care about owners of older devices and thus it could give them a very slightly less positive impression.

Even ignoring the above arguments, I feel that it would be a great shame to loose that older product information from the site (particularly when it's already up there on a FTP server) so why not just put that link to the FTP site on the new web pages (call it 'historic product manuals' or something similar to that) as that would keep them all available, but not incur lots of work (and thus any cost) from having to keep any HTML links updated to these older documents.

Just my thought for the day!
Bri

I completely agree with your comments about information on 'legacy' products - I think it's important to always keep valuable documents, manuals, troubleshooting - everything you need to keep getting the best out of your product - online and available to owners, new and old alike.

I still have an old Sony laptop where they give you a dedicated service tag which gives you access to a custom page for your product, where all documents, drivers, technical notices etc. are collected in one place. It's incredibly useful and it contributes to my generally positive opinion of Sony i.e. my personal experience of Sony supporting my purchase is good.

The context for the 'old-school' ftp link was to provide an interim solution to the issue of these pdfs being available online - it wasn't meant as a 'this is how we intend to treat all legacy products in future'. The archive section on the old site wasn't particularly great either (it was simply a hack of the existing product section) and I'd much rather we created a lasting product archive that collected everything related to a product - technical specs, manuals, how-to's, software releases, upgrade info, user reviews etc. - all in one place. Imagine logging in to your Linn account online and all documents, software and upgrade info has been collected together for you (obviously based on you indicating that you own these products).

Anyway, ideal solution aside - in the short term, the document picker under the Support section will be connected and turned on, and this will give quick access to the mass of pdfs available for products, old and new.

They do say a society [company] is judged by how they treat their elderly [products]

[oliverh Linn Staff]

Gilad has just published a new blog on 'Why we've simplifed the website' which might be interesting to anyone who's been following or debating the online changes:

http://blogs.linn.co.uk/giladt/2011/10/w...ebsite.php