It is 2022 and this Local Guide Connect platform looks like 2005. By updating this platform to more modern UX friendly interface, I think the interactions would be much smoother and easier. Is there any planned massive update coming soon?
2 Likes
Hello @AkSakei
Please may I ask, What part of connect is hard for you to Navigate? Please ask questions and hopefully you’ll be answered and assisted.
Having said that there is no massive update coming on as far I know. If there is, it will be officially announced to us here.
Cheers
2 Likes
Hi @AkSakei
I’m not sure to exactly understand the meaning of “looks like 2005”. Can you kindly provide an example of a 2005 platform?
Connect was born in 2016 as a standard forum, with lists of posts with text only, divided by categories, and without any preview of the images.
The actual Connect is a transformation of the original one, to add a visual preview of the contents through thumbnails and the use of labels to categorise the posts.
You are welcome to suggest an improvement, by writing a post in Idea exchange , detailing the suggested changes
1 Like
@ErmesT hi, 2005 is based on the arrival of Facebook. I think people started using around that time, and comparing the easiness of interaction and content creation on the platform.
Here is an example (i have nothing against this post or the person. this is just an example and there are so many similar ones).
https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Lady-s-kitchen/td-p/3433183
The content itself could be great, but the platform does not help making it look attractive. The different ratio of pictures already make it look bad and that discourage me to continue reading. Not many people are familiar with the idea of image size or ratio, where the platform could automatically help assist making it look better.
Another thing is that the “Reply” or “Comment” button takes a very long time to load. The loading speed of such function certainly does not feel like it is 2022.
This thread ( https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/UPDATED-Known-issue-RESOLVED-Unpublished-reviews-and-photos-on/m-p/3430367#M1273408 ) has more than 300 pages and it is so slow to move from one page to another and it takes patience to figure out what is really going on because you do not wanna go through this slow loading speed with so many pages. You could display 100 comments in 1 page instead of just 8 to 10 comment, which would be easier and faster to see what is going on as well.
Most of them are easy and obvious fix, but I just wanted to know how long they will keep this platform like this.
1 Like
Thanks for the feedback, @AkSakei
Well, we would not probably have this conversation in Facebook, @AkSakei , because it is not designed for long conversation and debate. Also the standardization of the pictures have pro and cons, because there is a lot of difference between a post with all the pictures grouped together, and a web page where you can use the pictures in your story, adding them where needed.
I personally, as you can see in my posts, like more the second option, because it gives me the possibility to write nice and interesting articles, while the text editor of most of the social media channels do not give you any option for a visual editing of your contents.
Of course, to create here a great post you need some extra skills (not too much, honestly) but I do not see this as a negative aspect. On the contrary, it can be a way to improve and to learn for many people, and to see that there are ways to create better contents, outside of the flattered world of many social media.
In any case, I think you should write your idea in idea exchange, writing some example about how it should be the new connect in your mind
3 Likes
@ErmesT i was just going though the government website to apply for my visa, and I did not feel anything wrong, which is probably because I have zero expectation for the government website to be good or fast. The page loading speed on this platform is actually as slow as the government one, but you guys are Google, so I have some expectations.
I believe this platform is supposed to be designed to facilitate the interactions, but like I mentioned before, it needs to be updated or rather better optimized at least. Is the manager of Local Guides Connect aware of this? Are they trying to fix this or they think it is good enough? I want to know because I honestly have no idea and it is possible that I am just extreme. However, I feel it is also possible that whoever managing this platform may not be aware of this.