Mouth
Well-known member
The XF2 mobile experience is terrible, when compared to what we can expect and receive today. For development purposes, the mobile use scenario needs to considered the primary audience, both now and for the future. The mobile experience is 50% workflow (how your primary users interact and engage with your content) and 50% presentation (the look 'n' feel of the content itself). Without strength in both areas, the mobile experience translates to loss of visitors and members.
For the purposes of this post, /xenforo.com/community/ is the home or canonical starting point. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S7E with Chrome browser. Since I'm well versed with XenForo, I've sought out the observations of; i) my wife (W) with many years of end-user weekly usage of community discussion sites (forums and social) and is almost entirely a mobile user of the internet these days, and ii) my daughter (D) whom is internet savvy, socially engaged through snapchat, instagram, and what Facebook is (not yet a user, but seen and read plenty of times) etc, but very minimal experience exposure to community discussion sites. Together, they represent examples of my sites target userbase - mature audience that is experienced with community discussion sites, younger audience more experienced with social media and just getting started with community discussion sites.
1. Landing Page ( xenforo.com/community/ )
(D): What am I looking at? What is this website all about? I see sections with headings, do I need to got into these to find stuff? Far too much scrolling, if I have to flick more than twice, it's all too hard. What is New Posts highlighted at the top, what does that mean? Oh, I've scrolled all the way to the bottom and it looks like the content is here. (Latest Posts/Resources)
(W): It's very busy and bland, really two colours only. What's in the hamburger menu? Hmm, I guess What's New is where I would go to find the content, or I scroll down from here to a forum that interests me. Lightning bolt means latest activity? Never seen that used anywhere before, thus not natural that I'd look there.
2. New Posts (tapped What's New button at top of the home page)
(D): I was expecting content here, it's just a list of headings? At least I don't have to scroll anywhere near as much as the home page. There's a lot of wasted space at the top - that should be done much better. So I should tap on What's New on that top highlighted line now? What are posts Dad? Just these headings? (Explains difference between topics and posts). So shouldn't it be New Topics instead of New Posts then? Confused. Scrolls down, clicks on a random topic
(W): Yeah, agree, lots of wasted space in the top 1/3rd. Those avatars are too small, thus quite meaningless, should just remove them. What is the second line immediately below the topic titles, is that the section it's in? Not much point to that, not what I'd generally do here, should remove it so it's less busy. Those text lines below are too small and hard to read anyway. The username and number of replies is probably only interesting. That scroll bar (carousel) at the top is quite confusing, very prominent, but not sure how or why I'd use it, what's the intention for me to use it?. Scrolls down and clicks on a topic that looks interesting
3. Thread display ( /community/threads/example.1/ )
(D): So here's the content, that took a while to get to it. Why wasn't it on the front or 2nd page? Yeah, I like this. No wasted space at the top, and straight into it. They should integrate the little image and author name into the post at lot more, like wrap the text around it. That would also really help show the difference between the posts, as it's a bit hard to tell. (Taps device hardware back button, back to New Posts, taps another thread. It happens to be a Resource thread). That weird line (carousal) is back again at the top - why? The top half the screen is taken up by heading, some really small text difficult to read, and that funny line. The text is the bottom half - why so far down? Not impressed, taps back button and doesn't bother staying here with it like this
(W): Good idea (daughter), wrap the text content around the avatar and username would be much better and differentiate them much easier. Floating up arrow is good, but why the down? Why would I want to skip to the bottom? (Swipes a few times to the bottom). Is there more? Don't they just load and appear when I get to the bottom? Oh, now I see the page numbers and next. They're really small, why are they so hard to see and tap. Surely they should be much bigger and easier, isn't that most people should do? The Share icons are a nice touch, well represented. But, why are they bigger and more prevalent than the page numbers and next page actions?
4. Exploring through Threads and Posts
They, (W) and (D), spend a few minutes exploring, switching back and forth between New Posts page and Thread Display page. Both always use the device back button. Never use the lightning bolt icon in the site header, never use the floating down icon, paging numbers and next button are regularly mentioned as needing to be much better and easier to interact with. Both agree the footer at the bottom is wasteful and detracting and why/what would they use it for?, (W) suggests it should either be a tap to expand/reveal section or only shown on the top/home pages and not constantly repeated in the deeper content pages.
5. Wanting to explore and see all new posts together
(D) asks how she can just see a listing of the new posts - the text/content - like Facebook/Twitter/Snapchat all do it. I explain there's no functionality for this, and she looks at me like I'm a freak. Huh? WTF? Why???? is her response. You mean I have to constantly switch back and forth between the page with headings, and click them to see all it's text? Why not just combine them all together - that's what everything else I use does.
(W) discovers the Latest Activity page, off screen, via the horizontal scroll bar at the top of Thread Display page. Why isn't this the default? It's much better and easier to use. Shame it only shows part of the text though. (Shows it to (D), who says Yeah that starting to get better, wants to take phone from Mum and have a play with it). See, if this page automatically loaded the next content when I got to the bottom, that would be great. (D) agrees, yeah this starting to look more like what I'd expect and am used to. How did you get to it Mum, show me. Wow, why is it so hidden?
At this point, I ask them to Register and see what they think ...
6. Registration (/community/register/)
(W): I like the FB, Twitter, G integration. Why is my DoB needed (enters a fake one!). Not bad, size should be larger, and that Register button is a bit hidden in the bottom right. It should be much bigger and use the yellow highlight colour. Shouldn't it say Submit or something too, I'm already at the Register function. Maybe it's small and a bit hidden, because it starts the Register process again?. Oh, now I'm not sure what will happen when I tap it. Will I lose everything I've already typed in?
(D): Cool that I can use my Twitter or Google (OffTopic: asks Mum & Dad again why we won't let her have Facebook yet
) account. Entry boxes text is too small, and why so wide? The box could be beside the label and save me scrolling up and down while entering stuff in. Agree Mum, that Register button is too small and should be Submit.
Now logged in, and exploring as a logged-in user. I ask them to write/contribute something.
7. Post Thread
(W): That yellow button at the top is good. Easy to find/understand. The pop-up of sections is good. That entry box is yucky, the device keyboard appears and the page scrolls, all I see is the entry box and the keyboard. Those icons are far too small, and I have no idea what most are - some are familiar from Word etc. Picking a smilie is really hard, they're too small and my finger tapping is about the size of two of them. Dictating to Android microphone and having the text appear in the box is great, glad is supports that, I use this all the time for SMS/WhatsApp and Google searches etc.
(M); Yeah, agree Mum, so rare for me to type I just speak to Siri too. Glad it supports that like Snapchat does. Urggh, those emoties are sooo hard. Why can't they be easy like Snapchat and Instagram.
Hehe ... my (W)'s test thread above was moved to a different forum, so she still picked the wrong one despite studying the Node listing and thinking she had picked an appropriate one.
8. Resource Threads
(W): Yuck! The top half of the page has so much wasted space. They must do that better. I see the point of that horizontal line (carousal) at the top now. Yuck, that's not the way to do this. A tap menu/button would be better, and assist with wasted space removal.
(D): No more Dad, haven't I given you enough already? I doubt I'd use it, it's just so much easier with Instagram and Snapchat. Don't make me, how about I do the dishes instead?
Overall thoughts?
(W): No, I'm not attracted to it. It certainly wasn't good and easy to use. Too many confusing areas, small sizes where I'd usually interact, and not consistent with the way I use other sites and apps on my mobile. Nah, I'd look elsewhere for the content that the sites has.
... I cannot disagree with them on any of that feedback.
For the purposes of this post, /xenforo.com/community/ is the home or canonical starting point. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S7E with Chrome browser. Since I'm well versed with XenForo, I've sought out the observations of; i) my wife (W) with many years of end-user weekly usage of community discussion sites (forums and social) and is almost entirely a mobile user of the internet these days, and ii) my daughter (D) whom is internet savvy, socially engaged through snapchat, instagram, and what Facebook is (not yet a user, but seen and read plenty of times) etc, but very minimal experience exposure to community discussion sites. Together, they represent examples of my sites target userbase - mature audience that is experienced with community discussion sites, younger audience more experienced with social media and just getting started with community discussion sites.
1. Landing Page ( xenforo.com/community/ )
(D): What am I looking at? What is this website all about? I see sections with headings, do I need to got into these to find stuff? Far too much scrolling, if I have to flick more than twice, it's all too hard. What is New Posts highlighted at the top, what does that mean? Oh, I've scrolled all the way to the bottom and it looks like the content is here. (Latest Posts/Resources)
(W): It's very busy and bland, really two colours only. What's in the hamburger menu? Hmm, I guess What's New is where I would go to find the content, or I scroll down from here to a forum that interests me. Lightning bolt means latest activity? Never seen that used anywhere before, thus not natural that I'd look there.
2. New Posts (tapped What's New button at top of the home page)
(D): I was expecting content here, it's just a list of headings? At least I don't have to scroll anywhere near as much as the home page. There's a lot of wasted space at the top - that should be done much better. So I should tap on What's New on that top highlighted line now? What are posts Dad? Just these headings? (Explains difference between topics and posts). So shouldn't it be New Topics instead of New Posts then? Confused. Scrolls down, clicks on a random topic
(W): Yeah, agree, lots of wasted space in the top 1/3rd. Those avatars are too small, thus quite meaningless, should just remove them. What is the second line immediately below the topic titles, is that the section it's in? Not much point to that, not what I'd generally do here, should remove it so it's less busy. Those text lines below are too small and hard to read anyway. The username and number of replies is probably only interesting. That scroll bar (carousel) at the top is quite confusing, very prominent, but not sure how or why I'd use it, what's the intention for me to use it?. Scrolls down and clicks on a topic that looks interesting
3. Thread display ( /community/threads/example.1/ )
(D): So here's the content, that took a while to get to it. Why wasn't it on the front or 2nd page? Yeah, I like this. No wasted space at the top, and straight into it. They should integrate the little image and author name into the post at lot more, like wrap the text around it. That would also really help show the difference between the posts, as it's a bit hard to tell. (Taps device hardware back button, back to New Posts, taps another thread. It happens to be a Resource thread). That weird line (carousal) is back again at the top - why? The top half the screen is taken up by heading, some really small text difficult to read, and that funny line. The text is the bottom half - why so far down? Not impressed, taps back button and doesn't bother staying here with it like this
(W): Good idea (daughter), wrap the text content around the avatar and username would be much better and differentiate them much easier. Floating up arrow is good, but why the down? Why would I want to skip to the bottom? (Swipes a few times to the bottom). Is there more? Don't they just load and appear when I get to the bottom? Oh, now I see the page numbers and next. They're really small, why are they so hard to see and tap. Surely they should be much bigger and easier, isn't that most people should do? The Share icons are a nice touch, well represented. But, why are they bigger and more prevalent than the page numbers and next page actions?
4. Exploring through Threads and Posts
They, (W) and (D), spend a few minutes exploring, switching back and forth between New Posts page and Thread Display page. Both always use the device back button. Never use the lightning bolt icon in the site header, never use the floating down icon, paging numbers and next button are regularly mentioned as needing to be much better and easier to interact with. Both agree the footer at the bottom is wasteful and detracting and why/what would they use it for?, (W) suggests it should either be a tap to expand/reveal section or only shown on the top/home pages and not constantly repeated in the deeper content pages.
5. Wanting to explore and see all new posts together
(D) asks how she can just see a listing of the new posts - the text/content - like Facebook/Twitter/Snapchat all do it. I explain there's no functionality for this, and she looks at me like I'm a freak. Huh? WTF? Why???? is her response. You mean I have to constantly switch back and forth between the page with headings, and click them to see all it's text? Why not just combine them all together - that's what everything else I use does.
(W) discovers the Latest Activity page, off screen, via the horizontal scroll bar at the top of Thread Display page. Why isn't this the default? It's much better and easier to use. Shame it only shows part of the text though. (Shows it to (D), who says Yeah that starting to get better, wants to take phone from Mum and have a play with it). See, if this page automatically loaded the next content when I got to the bottom, that would be great. (D) agrees, yeah this starting to look more like what I'd expect and am used to. How did you get to it Mum, show me. Wow, why is it so hidden?
At this point, I ask them to Register and see what they think ...
6. Registration (/community/register/)
(W): I like the FB, Twitter, G integration. Why is my DoB needed (enters a fake one!). Not bad, size should be larger, and that Register button is a bit hidden in the bottom right. It should be much bigger and use the yellow highlight colour. Shouldn't it say Submit or something too, I'm already at the Register function. Maybe it's small and a bit hidden, because it starts the Register process again?. Oh, now I'm not sure what will happen when I tap it. Will I lose everything I've already typed in?
(D): Cool that I can use my Twitter or Google (OffTopic: asks Mum & Dad again why we won't let her have Facebook yet
) account. Entry boxes text is too small, and why so wide? The box could be beside the label and save me scrolling up and down while entering stuff in. Agree Mum, that Register button is too small and should be Submit.Now logged in, and exploring as a logged-in user. I ask them to write/contribute something.
7. Post Thread
(W): That yellow button at the top is good. Easy to find/understand. The pop-up of sections is good. That entry box is yucky, the device keyboard appears and the page scrolls, all I see is the entry box and the keyboard. Those icons are far too small, and I have no idea what most are - some are familiar from Word etc. Picking a smilie is really hard, they're too small and my finger tapping is about the size of two of them. Dictating to Android microphone and having the text appear in the box is great, glad is supports that, I use this all the time for SMS/WhatsApp and Google searches etc.
(M); Yeah, agree Mum, so rare for me to type I just speak to Siri too. Glad it supports that like Snapchat does. Urggh, those emoties are sooo hard. Why can't they be easy like Snapchat and Instagram.
Hehe ... my (W)'s test thread above was moved to a different forum, so she still picked the wrong one despite studying the Node listing and thinking she had picked an appropriate one.
8. Resource Threads
(W): Yuck! The top half of the page has so much wasted space. They must do that better. I see the point of that horizontal line (carousal) at the top now. Yuck, that's not the way to do this. A tap menu/button would be better, and assist with wasted space removal.
(D): No more Dad, haven't I given you enough already? I doubt I'd use it, it's just so much easier with Instagram and Snapchat. Don't make me, how about I do the dishes instead?
Overall thoughts?
(W): No, I'm not attracted to it. It certainly wasn't good and easy to use. Too many confusing areas, small sizes where I'd usually interact, and not consistent with the way I use other sites and apps on my mobile. Nah, I'd look elsewhere for the content that the sites has.
... I cannot disagree with them on any of that feedback.
