The Pinterest regeneration and the importance of user feedback
You may have noticed that the photo-sharing network Pinterest scrapped several features, including mentions and the Find Friends function, after the social network underwent a mass site redesign in March.
Now it appears that there were many users of the social network who weren’t fond of the changes.
In fact, Pinterest has brought back all the axed components following major user criticism.
In case you didn’t notice, here are the features that disappeared in March, only to be reinstated:
Mentions – Akin to Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest allows the reference of users in posts and comments by simply typing @ before the username.
Find Friends – Allows users to view their Twitter and Facebook contacts on Pinterest.
Pinned From – Shows where any pin originated from by citing the user that first posted it.
See It Now – Direct access to a pin or even related pinboards.
Outlining the updates, Pinterest’s product manager Cory Carpenter wrote on the social network’s blog:
“Since we announced our new look, we’ve gotten lots of feedback from our community about things you love, things you miss, and things that could make Pinterest even better.”
“We take these suggestions to heart, but it’s tricky to make them work for everyone. Some people don’t have a lot of pins, for example, so they don’t need boards within boards. We’re listening, though, and we’ll keep looking for ways to organize your stuff on Pinterest.” He continued."
The Pinterest team also used the opportunity to announce new features:
More notifications – Users will now receive increased updates, shown in the top right corner of the page. This includes notifications of new followers, mentions, likes, re-pins and comments.
Better search – Search suggestions will now appear as you type, pointing you in the right direction and saving you valuable seconds of your life.
New pins – While this hasn’t gone live yet, you will soon be alerted when new pins have been added to your home feed.
So what lesson lies in this tale for marketers? Listen to your clients!
Customer service is crucial and can only be improved with customer feedback. So, if you believe that your products, services and even your site design are top-notch, the only way of knowing for sure is to ask them!
What do you think of Pinterest’s new updates and reinstatement of old features?
Let us know with a comment below, or on Facebook or Twitter.
For further crucial guidance on customer service and feedback – or on any marketing topics, contact us today.