Suggestion Box 'Hot List'
Hi all!
As I've mentioned before, each month I send a Suggestion Box report to the admin team and the ambassadors to communicate everything coming in. This month, and going forward, I've added a 'Hot List' at the beginning with 5 suggestions that I want to make sure we discuss because they have come up several times, are high impact, etc., and each month I will share this list with you guys so that you know what's top of mind! This doesn't mean that we're not discussing the other suggestions, just that we will identify a few each month to draw a little more attention to.
February Hot List and Updates (note: Updated 5/19 with current status)
Connecting with people of your age group - this has come up several times in the suggestion boxes and the forums, and primarily comes in two types of suggestions:
1. Divide listeners by additional age groups so that you can browse listeners for someone closer to your age - NOW LIVE!
2. Create a group support room for 'the older crowd' - this has been suggested with a lot of different age differences, but as a starting spot, @Heather will create a 35+ Room for folks 35 years and older to be able to convene, chat, and support each other through things that might be more unique to their life stage. NOW LIVE!
Messaging when you cannot connect - There are a few of reasons why you might not be able to connect with a listener or member you previously had - they could have deactivated their account, they could have been removed from the community, or they could have blocked you. Regardless of the reason, it's pretty stressful not to be able to connect to someone, and seeing an Error Message instead of a more human response can be upsetting. @Laura will be creating new, friendlier messaging for when this comes up - NOW LIVE!
Topic areas and Listener specialties - Several suggestions have come up around this, including requests for new topic areas and specialties (Sexual Assault, Sexual Issues, and Autism are the most requested), as well as generally working to make the various areas on our site line up better. Overall, this is a much more prolonged process to get this all figured out, but we are in early discussions about how to best do this. Discussions are being had on this one, but because it's a longer term solution, we will not likely see changes to this quickly. It is very much on the radar, though!
Notification sounds - This one again breaks down into two broad types of suggestions, one easy and one more difficult
1. Sounds are too similar - there is a lot of feedback that the sounds for a new message in your conversation and the sounds for a new request sound too similar. @Laura and I are looking at the sound options to replace one or both and make these much clearer
2. Requests for additional notification options - many people have requested new notification options, including being able to differentiate between personal requests and general requests and being able to hear notifications for any new message, not just those in the open conversation. This likely requires more backend work to be possible. It is being looked into, but I expect it to take longer to implement.
Updates to My Impact / My Conversations lists - There are two general types of requests here, as well, both of which are being looked into.
1. Ability to remove people from the list - particularly in the cases of 'ghost' chats or people that you know you will not be connecting with again, there is currently not a way to 'x' out of them to keep the list to people you are actively planning to follow up with. @Laura is reaching out to the development team to understand if this is something that we can fix reasonably easily
2. A similar list for listeners that listeners have connected with to be able to use as a sort of 'friends list', a way for mentors to keep track of mentees, or a way for project teams to keep track of each other. This is likely a pretty significant thing to add, so it will not be in place short term, but is being investigated to understand what work would be required to hopefully get this in one day.
I hope this is helpful! I will update this thread each month with the latest Hot List, as well as any updates to the listed suggestions. And as always, if you have questions about other suggestions, feel free to PM me and I will tell you what I know!
March Hot List
Note: This was the hot list that was sent to ambassadors and admins today, so there are currently no updates, but I will update this thread as I learn more. Updated with status as of 5/19
1. Listener Statuses (Online/Busy/Offline) -
There are ongoing issues with listeners being listed as online but not actually being available to chat. The suggestion breaks down into three potential areas
- Better train new listeners on how to use and change statuses Laura has created a video to introduce listeners to this and other parts of the dashboard that will go into new listener training
- Messaging changed when decline a personal request to remind you to change your status to busy or offline
- Default new listener status to busy or offline rather than online
- Set listener status to Busy or Offline after 30 minutes of inactivity
2. Improving review quality -
Several suggestions have been made on how to improve feedback to listeners that is helpful and constructive, while maintaining a member/guest's right to confidentially report if need be. One suggestion in particular seems to balance this very well:
Change the review form (after star ratings) to have three optional text boxes
- Positive feedback (reviewed by review approvers, then posted to listener profile)
- Constructive criticism (reviewed by review approvers, then shared directly with the listener to learn from)
- Private feedback (not seen by listener, used solely as a reporting mechanism)
This is being explored to understand the time and resources required to put in place
3. New Listener Training
There has been significant discussion around quality, with many pointing to initial new listener training as the best place to approach this problem The requests and ideas are varied, but some central points include making it more robust and lengthy in general, making test questions less intuitive, increasing focus areas on self-care and boundaries, better clarifying advice vs. suggestions, education about where to find additional support, tips, and training, and the potential to add current modules like a modified AL1 to the pre-chat training
This is in progress! We've completed the initial phase of getting feedback and are now on the next phase, changing the questions in the existing training before working to create new training modules on topics that listeners and members felt were not well covered in the current training.
4. Last Active for Listeners
Allow members to see on listener profiles when they were last active (within a range to allow for some degree of privacy) - e.g., Last Active This Week, This Month, etc. to better allow for finding currently active listeners to reach out to
Laura and Krink are looking into this
5. Browse Listeners by Badge
Allow browse listeners filters on badges to better find verified listeners, peer supporters, etc. as needed
Ability to browse listeners with verified listener NOW LIVE!
As a reminder, all suggestions are passed along to the admins and ambassadors, not just those listed in the 'hot list'. If you have a question about a specific suggestion, feel free to PM me directly!
April / May Hot List (moving to every other month to allow more time to complete the prior list)
Because there are still several items from the past couple months in the works, this month's hot list is only three items:
1. Chat Timer
Allow members and listeners to see how long they have been chatting for to better stick to appointments, etc.
2. Training resources
Add relevant forum posts to the end of all trainings and self help guides
3. Compassion heart limit
Either remove the limit of 10 hearts per person per day or switch the reminder to only trigger once, rather than every time you give an additional heart.
As a reminder, all suggestions are passed along to the admins and ambassadors, not just those listed in the 'hot list'. If you have a question about a specific suggestion, feel free to PM me directly!
