MINI USA Owners Lounge Updated

In case you missed the memo, the OL has undergone a HUGE transformation.
Most of you already know that I (along with Gabe) have never been a huge fan of the Owners Lounge. Before the update, the text was too small for me to read, the navigation was less than great and the message boards lacked any kind of organization.
With the update, I think it’s just as bad, but it has some really cool new features that don’t work.
Maybe it’s because I’m on a Mac running Firefox (even though I had the same problem with Safari), but I got the feeling it was still in beta. And, if this is even possible, it’s harder to read now than it was before!
On my Macbook, this is what it looks like. The images were made smaller to duplicate the effect. From the FAQ page.
Did I mention the errors?
I realize my eyesight is worse than most of you, but am I the only one that has a hard time reading this? After spending 15 minutes there, I had the making of a really great headache and serious eye crossing.
Besides that, like I mentioned above, some of the features appear to not work. I say appear because I haven’t been able to check running Windows. Honestly, I don’t think I should have to.
The navigation is still wonky. The controls are counterintuitive and there still isn’t any kind of organization on the message boards.
Nice try MINIUSA, really. I can tell there are improvements over the old version of the software and they look like they have the potential to be cool. It is just that in my opinion, the overall usability is so poor as to not encourage me to get back in there anytime soon.
Make it work for the Mac, increase the font size, kill the bold white text on a black background and work on the navigation a bit and get back to me. I’ll try it again then.
11 Comments
OR….Just go to NAM or the like
Thanks for letting me know what is going on at the OL DB! God knows I am not going to venture over to that minefield of a webpage to look for myself! 🙂
What a damn shame. I really thought by now they’d have fixed this embarrassment to the brand, but it still looks the same (or worse) as it did when I got my first MINI nearly three years ago, and it certainly doesn’t work any better.
Still not impressed.
I couldn’t tell that anything was different, except that I got an email telling me it was new. I’m on a Mac with Safari and it’s barely readable. You’re not alone, DB. I didn’t notice the errors because I logged off too soon – nothing new to check out.
What I enjoyed about the update was the “new” Ask the Manager section, complete with answers about the … 2007 models.
My favorite part of the OL, both old and new, is that I can read a page or two and then look at a white wall, and <strong>still</strong> see the text. 🙂
The thing is just a joke, for me anyway on my Mac. Haven’t been there in two years.
I’m a technical editor/proofreader and I can’t see it either. I’m used to reading 4-6 point type, but the OL site is painful. I won’t waste my time or eyes on something that is illegible and has errors. I wonder if they’d like to employ my services to correct it. For a brand that prides itself on quality, this is sad.
Hey don’t complain!! At least you guys HAVE an OL!! In Canada we don’t have anything like it! 🙁