The active area extends significantly beyond the actual written words, but there’s no boundary. The subcategories pop up without clicking on the main category, so if your mouse pointer inadvertantly strays into, eg, “Accessories” en route from “Support” to “Troubleshooting”, you loose your target link.

Also, the Accessories category is inconsistent…. On the main Zune site, there are three subcategories, but once you hit the rebranded PriceGrabber page, a fourth category is magically added.

“I bet nobody was given the role of loving this site, cherishing it and calling it their baby. Everyone did their bit in their cubicle, someone else glued it together, then they all moved onto something else.”

I think that a huge part of MS’s problems in terms of design is that they hire design contractors – by the thousands – who just come in an pump stuff out. It’s like an assembly line. You sit in an overcrowded cubicle space, fully aware that as an orange badge (e.g., contractor), you are relegated to a much less valued position than a blue badge (e.g., permanent employee). And these aren’t just junior design positions that they contract out; I have a friend on contract who’s a lead designer for zune.net.

I have heard that Apple does not hire their designers this way. Nor does Amazon. Contractors really have no reason to be vested in the success of a product, nor are they elevated enough in the hierarchy for their opinions to make much difference.

Funny thing is, though, MS has half a building (if not more) dedicated to usability labs. Apparently, they weren’t put to good use in the development of this site.