Growing Concerns in the Forums
Greetings Development Community!
I am writing to let the leadership team know that I am seeing some very real concerns in the Forum regarding organization and access.
This week I wrote a post sharing my personal story in an effort to reach others like me, only to find out no such space exists here on 7 Cups. When I voiced my concerns on the following post and volunteered to host the space myself, I was met with further confusion and misinformation which only reinforced the need for change. (It further shows that people are skimming rather than reading.)
This same frustration has been voiced on the Member side as I have been repeatedly informed that they find the current layout of the Forums to be confusing and difficult to access. My understanding is that several communities has been combined into sub-communities and Forum Supporters are now expected to specialize in two or three of these areas as opposed to fulfilling a more generalized role.
https://tinyurl.com/blitheSun94 - I don't expect you to read this entire post, but please scroll to the bottom to view the disclaimer and comment section.
I have been here since 2015 with quite a lengthy break in between. The Forums have always been my home. Upon my return to 7 Cups, I came to find the Forums restructured and disorganized in a way that Members and Listeners alike are visibly confused and frustrated by. I endeavor to help fulfill my role as a Forum supporter, address the concerns I see, promote engagement, and come up with solutions. Let me know what I can do to help.
I will reach out to @CherryMango shortly. I want to draw attention to this reoccurring issue in the meantime. Thank you for your time. 💕
Note: Hope this post is the right spot. If not, feel free to relocate.
@blitheSun94
can I ask what concern you were wanting to address?
@blitheSun94
I welcome you to join our relationship support forum. We are building a community of friends and welcome your experiences with open arms. I am a women who has had similar experiences so I can relate to you to some degree. Thank you for your feedback
@easyMaple3687
Most definitely! I do enjoy that space as well. Thank you.
Personally, I felt that the old forum structure was excessively clunky and was not particularly inviting to me as a user. I've been around a little longer than you have, and almost never engaged with forums for the bulk of my tenure specifically because I found it difficult to navigate within the old UI.
I work professionally in behavioral analysis, user experience design and customer affect advocacy in tech development, and I have a couple of presumptions I can make about why the initial navigation page was updated to reflect this design.
In the earlier exchanges, I saw that you were discussing endo and were concerned about there not being a space for it or similar discussions. Endometriosis is considered a medical disability due to its chronic and profoundly impacting nature, as are a number of other reproductive health concerns, and we certainly did have discussions about these topics at one point. I think it makes sense for it to be bundled under this category, and from what I could tell, most individuals that have started discussions of late on these topics did place them under that tree, likely due to the chronic pain and chronic conditions topics... I know these discussions have happened because I was actively participating in them :) I run a support group for early hysterectomy and surgical menopause patients, and when we first launched it, I was often responding to discussions in the forums as well.
This all being said, however, I would expect that the topic itself would fall under Sexual Health if not under Chronic Conditions. As far as I recall, we used to have the discussions under the Sexual Health branch of the topic tree for the most part, though I do think it calls out the fact that all too often, Sexual Health is interpreted as being about sexual interactions exclusively.
You are correct in the sense that there is no specifically referenced reproductive health discussion area, but I promise that it's not for lack of the topic being raised... I had offered to help guide/write discussions for the topics something like 4-5 years ago, but there was not much traction for allowing that to move forward, though I would very happily help in the development effort to help ensure a comprehensive approach.
I can at least agree that there is a benefit to be found in specifically addressing reproductive health, though I also know that it would likely need to be a restricted topic of sorts, considering the nature of the discussions around the topic and the vulnerability many individuals struggle with when it comes to finding good support and all that.
Regardless, I'm sorry that you've had some issues engaging with the new layout.
I don't engage with the program via my cell phone specifically because I found the app to be a bit... well, a lot... lacking in functional usability. I can admit that I haven't check in on it for a while because I found it frustrating to use when I did try. The website seems to have far better response times, and it looks quite similar to the UI used for other health and wellness programs I've used, so I'm assuming that that's the primary reason for the shift.. and while that may be disruptive for existing users that went through the transition, it has a familiar enough layout that the goal may have been to make things more familiar to competitive programs. I don't mean to be argumentative in saying that I like it more, but I do think more appreciation of it is because of the familiar feel it has for me as compared to another program I use.
On another note, for the FYI, I've written to the community inbox a few times over the years and I don't recall receiving any replies other than the time I contested my profile being banned after I was spam reported by an angry member XD Definitely had much better responses posting to the forum for support and feedback in that respect!
Annnnnd now we have a women’s health forum.
Thank you all so, so much.
✨💕✨💕✨💕✨
