Profile Page Design - Complete List of Feedback

[gregorykennedy]

We have put together a new post which details out of all the specific feedback on the new profile we have received in all of our previous posts. We did this to let everyone know that we are listening to you, and that this is what we have heard. The following list is not intended to make any judgments on the items listed. We are not saying that these things can or will be changed; similarly, we are not saying that they cannot or will not be changed. We are publishing it to you so that you can know we've heard you on the individual concerns you have pointed out to us. The items are also not listed according to any ranking. So don't be concerned that the thing you're most concerned about is listed at the bottom, as that does not at all mean we consider that item to be the least important.

Once we are confident that we have gathered all the feedback, and we have discussed it internally, we will come back to this community with a proposal for changes to the new profile.

While we've made every attempt to list as much as possible, please comment if we've missed a major point of concern for you. Thank you!

Concerns have been expressed about:

• The amount of whitespace in the overall layout. Seen as unbalanced, visually unappealing.
• The horizontal rules. They break up the page unnecessarily, give a very 'blocky' look to the page.
• The placement of the Bio section. Not given enough prominence, should be moved higher or other steps taken to remove other info to result in it being higher.
• The full page width as the page is expanded. It should have some maximum setting to prevent big whitespace and other issues at really large widths.
• General call for more customization controlled by the user. Ability to drag components around the screen and place where the user prefers. Possibly allow user style sheets to be applied.
• Text size in top section. Seen as being too small in relation to prominence/placement. Tiny text might be OK if the information were at the bottom, but hard to read when presented as first thing.
• More ability to hide certain information. Possibly hide stats block as a whole, hide parts of the stats block, 'blur' the last updated field to not be literal date/time stamp (instead, updated in last week, updated two weeks ago, etc). Have last updated reflect viewer's access level. (see opposite viewpoint in next section)
• To move stats block to the bottom of the page. More similar to old profile, not as prominent. (see opposite viewpoint in next section)
• Tags and Memories listing in Stats block. Why so prominent. Concern over viewers seeing total of tags, even if they can't view the tags themselves.
• V-gift section. Too prominent, should be lower on page.
• Screen readers. Does not work with many, works with a few apparently.
• Underlining of links in the Friends/Comms/Feeds section. Bring this back -- too hard to read without underlining, can't process the usernames as easily.
• Feeds section. Should be disappear if no feeds are listed.
• Basic Info section. Put it lower on the page, or in place of the stats block. No ability to remove it entirely since 'Name' field is always listed, could Name field be added to another section so this is possible. Integrate portions in other locations possibly.
• Collapse setting. Setting should not stick from page to page. Should affect user's profile page only. (see opposite viewpoint in next section.)
• Ad placement/type. Different type of ads might lead to other design possibilities opening up. A landscape/wide/horizontal ad would fit the page better than the square blocky ad, improving flow.
• Heads and sub-headings. They appear redundant in sections like Interests.
• First 'row' of profile. Looks/behaves oddly with that middle column of data.
• The text added to the row of buttons. Text is redundant, some buttons should be added/removed. Icons themselves shoudl be self-explanatory, negating need for the text. (see opposite viewpoint in next section)
• Communities and feeds listing. Should be able to be collapsed 'together', no need to be separate main-level sections.
• Over 500 total friends/comms/feeds watched. Second page list should allow you to view just friends, just comms or just feeds. Grouping all of them together is too hard to process, can't find what you're looking for, etc.
• Various font color or other page element color changes suggested. Make heading text darker, non-white background, certain text larger, etc.
• Schools section. Too prominent.
• Sub-information in sections. Info in sections should be slightly indented under the main heading. More visually appealing, less blocky.

Items where opposite 'positive' viewpoints expressed:

• Collapse setting should remain as it is. Very helpful for permanently 'banning' a section you never care about.
• Stats should stay at the top. Many users use them all the time to judge activity levels before friending or adding to comms.
• If Stats are moved, that might be OK, but don't remove or alter them at all -- they were there before, no reason to remove or change them now.
• Various 'edit/modify' links are very helpful, provide direct access more obviously.
• Text added to buttons is helpful, makes it easier to quickly find what you want.
• The horizontal rules. Help organize information into separate groups.
• Underlining of links in the Friends/Comms/Feeds section.  Links in the profile looked neater without the blue underline.
• Removal of indentation under the friends is more visually appealing on the page as whole.