Re:Ask HN: How do big web sites roll out new versions?
by dcurtis on Sunday December 28, 2008 @08:53PM
(#412442)
More info is here, linked from the above article: http://www.uie.com/articles/death_of_relaunch/
Look under the title "eBay.com: Satisfying their Users with Gradual Evolution"
http://www.cennydd.co.uk/2008/can-we-avoid-redesign-backlash...
"In a nutshell, a meaningless background was removed from a seller page. Pandemonium. After strong resistance the background was reinstated, to everyone’s satisfaction. In fact, the rebellious users were so placated that they failed to notice the designers slowly adjusting the background’s hex values over the next few months. The background got lighter and lighter until one day—pop!—it was gone."