shop.LEGO.com gets makeover

 

  • shop.LEGO.com gets makeover

    Posted by Huw, 12 Oct 2011 12:09. Filed under shop.LEGO.com (General).

    It's been a long time coming, but now at last it looks as if the new web shop platform we've discussed here before has been deployed.

    Check it out and let us know what you think. It certainly looks much nicer, but being Flash-based it's a lot slower than before.

    Unfortunately, several utilities I have for extracting data and images from the site have now been rendered useless and it may take me a while to fix them :(


    49 comments, latest one posted 19 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by Olamisai in Finland, 12 Oct 2011 12:18

It also seems to have broken "sales and deals" as a bookmark.. that used to be set to my homepage, but now it just jumps to the main page. Tried fixing with no luck..

Posted by TrueKnight in United States, 12 Oct 2011 12:21

Hmmm. I won't be able to check until later but wonder how this will look on an iPad 2 (that can't run Flash)?

Posted by Joefish in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 12:34

Yep, hate it already.

It's got one of those stupid huge pop-up menus that appears late and covers up most of what you were looking at if you leave the mouse in the wrong place. So you click on 'Themes' to look for something, and instead of loading the new page you have to wait whilst it chucks up the menu first, then loads the page you want, then because you haven't moved the mouse, covers what it's just loaded with the huge menu again.

The shopping items are tall cards full of empty space that limit the number of items you can see on screen, and they're still too lazy to have the number of items on a row adjust for the browser window width.

Posted by ncbarrett in United States, 12 Oct 2011 12:34


I can see it on my 3DS, so it is not flash.

Posted by Nesquik in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 12:41

Much better - the images on the product pages are much easier to view too! Everything just looks cleaner and more modern.

Pity its all Flash based though :(

Posted by legomaniac in United States, 12 Oct 2011 12:47

Looks simple and kinda like it. Need to be LEGOized :D
Like each theme will have its picture on a 2x2 brick etc.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 12:49

It does use Flash but it degrades nicely and works fine -- maybe even better -- if you view it on an iPad or disable Flash in your browser.

Posted by atkinsar in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 12:49

I like it for two main reasons:

1) You can add stuff your basket without having to view the details first.
2) You can find your VIP points tally quickly, this used to be a nightmare.

Just had a browse on my iPhone and it seems to work fine.

This is a big improvement in my opinion, but it's a shame it's broken your tools Huw!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 12:53

One I can fix fairly easily but I'm not sure if the large images will be where they have been until now, and I probably won't know until new products are added because the links to the existing ones still work.

Posted by Nightshroud99 in Canada, 12 Oct 2011 12:59

It looks pretty slick.

Posted by Matthew in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 12:59

I hate it, full stop.
I liked the old version much much more.... I'm just grateful that they haven't changed PAB. (I've got a Chrome plugin to upload LDD models)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 12 Oct 2011 13:05

*Eyes pop out* O_O GOOD. O_O GRIEF. O_O What an eye-popper of a shop. O_O Even though... http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Life-of-George-21200 They still haven't uploaded all the images. :P

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 12 Oct 2011 13:06

Does the affiliate marketing thing still work, at least? Otherwise... FIX IT QUICK, HUW! :P

Posted by ncbarrett in United States, 12 Oct 2011 13:11

@Alemas: I like the "no image" image. :)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 12 Oct 2011 13:14

Wow, it has side-mounted scrollers, side-mounted tick-boxes to sift through sets, tick-boxes on themes and cathegories to list the selected themes or cathegories... It doesn't even seem to use much Flash: It's used just for the images. It seems to rely on HTML5. Let me check... *Looks at page code* Yup, it does: A comment on the page code mentions HTML5. Now, if only they could do that for LEGO.com... :P

EDIT: The sets even have a "Quick View" thingy. :P

EDIT 2: Ok, I've disabled Flash, and... well, just the image-zooming thing doesn't work. Not even the front-page image is Flash. The site is just fancy HTML5 with a sprinkling of Flash for images. Impressed!

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 12 Oct 2011 13:15

@ncbarrett: Yeah, they do seem to be looking for something. :P The image must be recently-made: It uses the Series 5 Detective.

Posted by brixton in Canada, 12 Oct 2011 13:49

I love the new version of SHOP@home much better. Great job LEGO.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 14:06

^^^ @Alemas, on closer inspection I think you are right. Most of the animations/transitions etc. are jQuery by the looks of it and very little is Flash. If you disable javascript you still get a fairly functional site, so it is indeed a good job.

Now I need to find a way to downoload large images used in the zoom window. Previously they were at a URL that was discovered by someone and while they are still there, time will tell whether new ones will be put in the same place.

The best image URL format I have found so far is, for example, http://cache.lego.com/r/dynamic/is/image/LEGO/10220?$large$, but that is only 800px wide and not 2880px which is the largest they publish. As it's served by the SWF object you can't use Firebug to determine where it comes from.

If anyone can find out, do let me know!

Posted by LEGOSLUG in New Zealand, 12 Oct 2011 14:13

WOW, Huw and everyone else, why do you hate it?
It is the best shop ever now, I had no problems. If you guys have porblems with Flash or Java, just update them and your experiance will be awesome. The Shop is now a lot faster than it used to be (especially the zoom) and Being able to buy without looking at the details is sure to roll the money in for the LEGO Group at christmas.

Am I the only one who likes it?

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 12 Oct 2011 14:17

@Huw: It seems LEGO has finally embraced HTML5... :P Now, will they do an HTML5 conversion for the LEGO.com site, or not? :P DO IT, LEGO!!! :P

EDIT: @Huw: Ahem, the dollar signs cut off the URL... :P

Posted by meccanotwitch in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 14:18

I think its an improvement over the old site and seems easy to use. Adding stuff to the cart isn't as drawn out too.
A positive thumbs up from me.

Posted by iadams in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 14:25

Do they know anything about usability testing? I'll leave aside the issue that all the boxes (e.g. themes on the themes page) are now big and ugly compared to the old elegant ones. Go to the 'Exclusives' page. You can add a Camper Van to your basket with one click, but not a Pudsey Bear. Why not? OK, let's mouse over Pudsey, where the surrounding box highlights - 'excellent, I think, I'll just click for the detail page'. Hahahahaha - fooled you! It's not a button, it just cutely highlights. It does sudden;y show you a 'quick view' button that wasn't there before, or you can click on the *title*, but *not* the set number to actually get the detail page, where finally I can add it to my basket.

When I change themes, my page preferences (sort order, number of items per page) still reset. Why would I not want it to give me the same view I had before?

Lots of space wasted down the side giving me checkboxes for adding extra stuff to the page, but I can't exclude fluff: I don't buy apparel or magnets, why can I add them but not hide them? Does hiding them mean I might buy more? Yes, because that makes it easier to find what I might buy. e.g. Pudsey gets lost among the magnet sets when I sort by price.

I can't believe that a company which sells design (and excellent design at that) could produce such a badly designed site.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 14:41

Calling the shopping cart 'my bag' was not a particularly good idea either. Everyone knows what a 'cart' is even if it's not used locally to describe a shopping trolley (as is the case in the UK) but people have to think now, 'my bag, that must be my cart'.

Clearly they didn't read the definitive book on web usability 'Don't make me think' by Steve Krug before designing it...

Posted by nodnarb162 in United States, 12 Oct 2011 14:43

its ok but there are a couple of things i dont like, first of all it deleted half of my wish list for some reason? :P so now i have to track it all down again, second what happened to the videos for some of the products? you can view a larger image but all of the designer interview things and the zoom and stuff are gone :( . other then that its ok

Posted by mkoesel in United States, 12 Oct 2011 16:14

@nodnarb162 - are you sure it deleted half you wishlist? I thought that at first too, but then noticed that it now divides it accross pages if you have more than 12 or so. You can hit the button to view all, or just page through them.

Posted by sidersdd in United States, 12 Oct 2011 16:30

@Huw - for the images you can specify your width, height, and image format on a URL like this:
http://cache.lego.com/r/dynamic/is/image/LEGO/10220_is?fmt=png&wid=2880&hei=1600

Posted by DarthLuke824 in United Kingdom, 12 Oct 2011 16:33

I'm really not sure! I mean its good and all but the old one is just.....:/ Oh, well every thing needs a update once in a while.

Posted by sidersdd in United States, 12 Oct 2011 16:40

@Huw - there's also an attribute for constraining the size of the image to the size limits specified:

&fit=constrain

This reduces the VW van image from the example above to 2134 x 1600, maintaining the aspect ratio and eliminating the extra whitespace.

Posted by Thomson & Thompson in Canada, 12 Oct 2011 17:00

^^Exactly, but it's a lot slower. And on my birthday, too!

Huw, could you add all the bricktober minifigs, and Pick-a-Brick (11998) in the database, please?

Posted by TooMuchLEGO in United States, 12 Oct 2011 17:20

Looks really nice!

@iadams: Like JK Rowling? I wish her site was easier to navigate.
@ncbarrett: It can't fully load it though.

EDIT: @Alemas: Good find Alemas! Though it's possible somebody's really good at PhotoShop. :P Though... why were you at Eurobricks...? You're 6 years away.

Posted by itsaturkey in United States, 12 Oct 2011 17:26

Ugh, I really don't like it. It's so big and complicated, and I have to scroll down so much. I'm glad everyone else is enjoying it :)

EDIT: Forget what I said, I really like it now. Finding the theme is more annoying, but I can finally zoom! And I like the little switch things that determine the price etc.

Posted by Grahame in New Zealand, 12 Oct 2011 17:40

Please keep your comments on-topic. This news article is about the makeover of shop.lego.com

Posted by LukeSkywalker in Ireland, 12 Oct 2011 17:57

I think the new site is a bit of a mess to be honest, but maybe I'll get used to it and/or figure out how to navigate it properly. I don't like this "hovering over something accidentally and then a window appears and blocks what you were looking at" thing, at all. And the images of the sets seem to be a bit odd, with some of them showing zoomed-in sections of the set instead of the regular wide view (e.g. when I look at the Star Wars sets, the image for the Super Star Destroyer is a close-up of part of the hull, seems a bit weird). But I do like how the mascot for the Shop (the guy standing against the red brick) has the series 6 pajama-kid's hairpiece, little preview of the upcoming line of minifigures right there. ;)

Posted by grogall in Germany, 12 Oct 2011 18:45

Huw, I will send you an e-mail on how to extract the images its actually a lot easier then you might think!

Posted by legowerba in United States, 12 Oct 2011 19:04

I do not like it. I do not like having to click on a picture to get a clear picture. When I first looked at an item I though my glasses were dirty but then I saw that as you roll the mouse over the picture it gives the rolling picture on the right. I want to be able to just see what the item is without it being slightly blurry it gives me a real headache.
I do not like how I have to now be concerned with where my mouse is in relation to the screen. If my mouse rolls over to the picture I lose the info on the right. The web page is too busy. I do not want or need the "narrow your selections" column. I will be letting Lego know about my displeasure.

Posted by LegoCity578 in United States, 12 Oct 2011 19:07

I don't like it. :( Looks very cluttered and there is so much random stuff on there. The old layout was much more easy to the eye.

Posted by legos in United States, 12 Oct 2011 20:31

It stinks because it takes FOREVER to load when you click on themes. Huw, you should give all these comments on how bad Lego shop is. The old site was even better!

Posted by Hello_World! in United States, 12 Oct 2011 21:13

I'm not at all exited about the new layout. One strange thing I've found is that when I'm logged in on my Lego account instead of showing "Add to bag" it says "Add to wish list".

Posted by lego_nutt in United Kingdom, 13 Oct 2011 01:25

i like my VIP points tally, but VERY slow, and maybe it is just me, but image of the lego man on brick is actually on top of the links to take me to the different locations. assuming teething problems, but tried navigating to the exclusives, and currently not that impressed.

Posted by spency13 in United States, 13 Oct 2011 01:26

I actually kinda like it! And, amazingly, I could view it on my iPad!!

Posted by Be-Burger in Israel, 13 Oct 2011 03:15

Its pretty good, but I don't remember the old one well enough to compare.

:P

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 13 Oct 2011 05:27

@grogall, excellent, thanks!

Posted by Doctor Leg O'Brick in United Kingdom, 13 Oct 2011 06:09

Its OK, I think it still needs work but a great start. Its great to see that the little note with Knights Kingdom, Galidor and a ton of other 2000/2006 themes trade marks have gone. Not everything works for me because my computer was made in the stone age, loading LDD kills it too. Maybe that LEGO mini figure who looks like he works for LEGO at the top of the page will be made into a real figure. One can hope...

Posted by LukeSkywalker in Ireland, 13 Oct 2011 07:51

^@Doctor Leg O'Brick his hairpiece will feature in the next minifig series. ;)

Posted by nodnarb162 in United States, 13 Oct 2011 08:59

@mkoesel, yeah im sure half of it is gone. i had some of the pirates sets on it and it took all of them off, the list was at 17 and when i looked at it it only had 10

and another annoying thing ive notticed is that while viewing products some of them dont really have pictures until you click them (the pet shop is one), so if your not familliar with lego and your vewing their page how are you going to know what your actually looking at?

Posted by Gandalf1 in United States, 13 Oct 2011 09:19

I mostly like it, because it just looks better, but it is sort of random and weird that they're calling it "my bag" instead of just "my cart" how it is on other websites.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 13 Oct 2011 14:26

Curious thing: This update came exactly a year after the LEGO.com one of last year. XD At this rate, we'll get the new Message Boards in 2012. XD

EDIT: It took 'em two years to make ths site: http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=413

Posted by ncbarrett in United States, 13 Oct 2011 15:49

Maybe they are calling it "my bag" since there are no carts in LEGO stores?

Posted by Thomson & Thompson in Canada, 13 Oct 2011 17:00

^LOL! That's funny.

Commenting has ended on this article.