“For something that was supposed to improve the mobile experience, this is an utter fail.”
I’ve seen this statement made in this thread many times but I never saw any official explanation as to why CC decided to switch to a new format. Has anyone else? Was “improved mobile experience” officially given by CC as the reason or has this just been the assumption?
It was given as a reason. There were others.
Agree with @austinmshauri . Its in the very first post.
If the user status, number of posts, replies and discussions are featured so prominently in each post, why not hyperlink the replies, discussions and posts? Instead, if I want to see where else a user posted, I need to click on their name and the choose a hyperlinked option. And why do the options of REPLIES ACTIVITY THREADS REPLIES ACTIVITY THREADS REPLIES ACTIVITY THREADS REPLIES ACTIVITY THREADS have never ending scrolling?
I know this is what we had to do before but if you are trying to improve functionality, why not make this step easier?
So the Save Draft button exists when creating a new thread but not when posting a comment? That seems like a simple addition, no?
I could be 100% wrong on this but I think it saves the draft automatically. I was doing a post and looked up something and couldn’t find my way back to the post. I went into drafts and it was there.
I also think the Top Poster lists are silly. Although I guess I wouldn’t worry so much if you are on one - I just saw Roger Dooley listed as top poster of the month and he has only replied to one three (this one) in two years so who knows if any of those lists are correct.
@Knowsstuff It does automatically save but you don’t know when it is going to save it. I typed a reply and when I changed pages only a little bit of it had saved (I was kind of testing out how long it takes to save at the time.)
Really, darker font will go a long way towards placating people, and it’s a very easy change to make.
I need a save draft button. I often read the last post, start a reply, then need to go back and check the original post info or another page, to quote. I now have to sit and wait and even that doesn’t always suffice. Yes, part or all gets cut off. Once in a while, I get a “draft saved” popup, but not consistent for the tablet and cell.
Apparently, different ease and problems, depending on Iphone or Android. And this was announced as making mobile easier.
Also, I do not have vast white space on the cell. But the continued complaint was the too-bright white, the glare. Mine is better with the blue light filter activated (a cell or tablet setting.)
But I refuse, absolutely refuse, to blame this on “senior eyes.” This is a fast paced forum, more business than light pleasure reading or Readers Digest. Sure, in general reading, a proposal, some academic writing, there is psychology behind large margins or white space.
That’s not what CC is about. It’s zeroing in, being able to locate what you need, and respond.
LOL, 75 posts a day in Community and Fourm issues! That’s awesome. I’m guessing that 99% of those posts are from this thread. Thanks, @Data10
aaarugh.
I’m really not using the forums anymore…1,200 reasons listed in the thread above…but I decided that I would place an important post in the GA Tech forum on a new huge scholarship fund for OOS students (The largest single scholarship endowment fund in Georgia Tech’s history) which could really change the equation…so I go to post and I literally cannot find the landing page for that school…and, yes, one of the helpful mods will jump and in assist but, dang it, that really shouldn’t have to be the way.
anyway, back to ignoring.
I am a Senior User Experience Designer for my profession, so I feel a little qualified to respond to your recent changes. One of the things I liked about your previous site was the easy and intuitive UX. The UI sometime seemed a little cluttered, but after reading many comments from your users, I think you guys missed the mark. I am also struggling with finding things (we all know that users shouldn’t have to hunt for their content…because they won’t!), the display of the text (the font chosen is sleek and trendy, but have to say it fails the UX test IMO for scannability and readability then factor the SIZE of the font plus the added linespacing…which is not consistent?? as I type this message on my MacBook Pro, the linespacing is changing with each line entered…???) and the lack of allowing users to find the content they follow (Forums are completely MISSING - like College Majors??? they’re still there, but buried under College Admissions and Search). I have to agree with several others. Give your users a choice. I appreciate wanting a responsive, consistent user experience. I do that for a living. But make sure that it works well for all platforms. Not just mobile. Speaking of mobile, when I log in on mobile, the list of forums is SO FAR DOWN it requires four swipes to access it (on my device). FOUR?? Hmm… that pretty much fails every usability test I’ve ever given. By the way, you’ve probably used several of the sites or software I’ve done UX for. So, I promise…I do know of what I speak. Please bring in a real UX person (or team) to assess the damage and help you guys fix what really wasn’t that broken before. Yes, you could have used a better mobile experience…but this ain’t it.
By the way, another strong aspect of what is wrong with the redesign - it’s too much WORK for the user. That, in and of itself, is a fail for UX.
From this thread OP…
So yes. The intent was to improve the mobile usage, and provide consistency across devices.
I did look at the Reddit thread where CC users introduce themselves. I don’t see how CC members could stay together in Reddit, because there is no equivalent for Parent Cafe. There are just random questions in Reddit in the Applying to College subreddit (I think that’s the correct terminologyo). No real sense of community there. Or is there?
As someone who has fallen down the Reddit-hole in the past – I have to say that I think using Reddit as some sort of substitute is a very bad idea. Perhaps an option for people who are already consistent Reddit users… but I’d urge caution for newbies. (And I won’t be going over for college-related discussion)
I wonder if there is a drop off in usage of this site
I have two friends who have stopped using the site. All three of us have teenagers bound for college in the next 3 years and had all started using CC within the past year - posting fairly regularly (I was the one who posted the least among us). I’m the last one still checking in since all three of us were so disappointed with the changes to the site. I haven’t posted anything new to any thread but this one and I guess my days are numbered as well. I had been hoping to see some revisions once the “fresh” look was up and running but it seems as if this format is here to stay. I have to say I’m sad about it - thought I’d found a great resource for practical advice. I was only interested in the Forums and ease of use was key. What a bummer.
@bopper Yeah there’s a user that posted some analytics showing a drop off. But there seems to be new users driving up artificial traffic on the forums.