[arekp]

Yes, the interface became a little complicated. The previous version was more accessible for a casual user, for example the following article about the website was received pretty enthusiastically (retweeted about 1000 times) http://gigazine.net/news/20121012-5000-best-movies/

I guess the right way to fix it is to hide some features and add a tutorial.

[wmeredith]

I love the functionality, I wouldn't change anything there. I would just try and clean up the interface a bit. Bring some consistency to alignments, add some hierarchy to the controls with font weights, sizing colors etc... Normal UX stuff.

Honestly, it may not be a priority for you. I was NOT trying to bash. I just thought it was funny that the interface was drawing praise.

As a UX Specialist at my agency, I see interfaces like this all the time (I'm usually being paid to fix them). We call this aesthetic "engineers designing". Don't take it too hard, I'm sure my PHP looks like designers engineering :)

So after I used the site, my first thought was, "That's awesome, but it's definitely painful to interact with; engineers designing." Then I pop to the comments and the first one is about how much they like the interface. Excellent HN moment for me there.

[arekp]

Yea, that Excel-table-like design probably breaks all design rules. It surprises me most when I occasionally see design professionals complementing it. I am rather a backend programmer and I have no illusions.

But even the Hacker News audience does not have enough geekiness to understand my previous attempt at a movie recommender system: http://5000best.com/movie-galaxy/