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Non-Tech : Datek Brokerage $9.95 a trade -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Laura Lallone who wrote (6582)	2/2/1998 3:32:00 PM
From: Edwin Slonim	Respond to of 16892

The new site is great! Graphics are only downloaded once and then cached, so there is no speed impact. HOWEVER, I would really like a way to reduce the screen space wasted by the big black bar across the top and the pull down menus. I tried to open the quote frame in a separate window but you responded that "something is wrong". Could you add an option to remove or reduce in size the bar? Edwin

To: Laura Lallone who wrote (6582)	2/2/1998 11:18:00 PM
From: Jon Tara	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16892

The new interface is Datek's "new Coke". Take a lesson from history, and stick with the classic. If you MUST have this fluff (going after the "My Discount Broker" crowd? :) ) please, please, please keep the old interface as well. At least you have solved the "too many new customers" problem. The gratuitous use of Java (not Javascript, which is OK) on the home page means that may new surfers who may be checking-out Datek for the first time will simply give up while they are waiting and check out other brokers. (A good web page design rule - NEVER, EVER use Java on a home page! Not if you dont' want to scare people away!) The other good thing is that now that you have these fluffy new pages, maybe us pragmatics out here can convince you to take the logo and other unnecessary decorations off of the "old" trading pages. You've got the fluff for the "wow" crowd, now give those of us who want to trade exactly what we need to trade and no more. Since you probably AREN'T going to do away with the fancy new order page, a couple of suggestions. (And, an admission from me that perhaps there is a place for each type of interface...) 1. Please launch the Bigcharts, Newsalert, and Thompson links into a separate window! Most of us want to keep the quotes/order window there all the time. This would also make it very convenient to put the news, chart, etc. out of the way temporarly while concentrating on a trade. Frames can be nice, but you're still thinking linearly (one thing a a time) and traders do NOT think linearly! If you want to REALLY get fancy, consider using layers with tabs and/or pullout windows. 2. OK, you really want to go crazy with frames? Put the trade window in it's own frame! This is the ONE THING that a trader always wants to have handy! Don't let it go away when selecting some other option (see above) and don't make us scroll to get to it. (I think most of us would rather scroll the quotes than to have to scroll down to enter an order.) (But, again, a pullout window using layers would be just fine.) 3. You want to REALLY, REALLY go crazy with layers? (Frames really ARE passe' you want flash, you gotta do layers...) Give us multiple order-entry tabs so that we can keep, say 5 orders ready to go. Personally, I'll stick with orders7. One final thought: lose the Dilbert Ticker. You are only confusing potential new customers, and giving them the wrong idea.