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How should FlyerTalk improve its mobile experience?

Old Nov 10, 2016, 5:14 pm
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Last edit by: SkiAdcock
IB is asking for input but evidently doesn't want input since it won't make its survey available to all FTers, despite repeated requests to do so or at minimum do a site-wide announcement. However, 'hopefully' it will pay attention to comments on this thread. But no guarantee since it says to do the survey which it doesn't make available to everyone. However, please post - just in case.
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How should FlyerTalk improve its mobile experience?

Old Oct 26, 2016, 7:56 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by sxc
Colour differentiation and more UI texture makes it more usable and obvious what you can "do" in the mobile skin
Depending on the colour choices, colour differentiation can be perhaps the worst choice in any UI. Depending on which research you read, anywhere from 10% to 50% of all males have some degree of colour deficiency. Almost all UI designers have perfect or near perfect colour vision, so they really have no idea how to deal with such a large demographic.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 7:31 am
  #17  
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Originally Posted by IBobi
Here is what is going to happen.

I will leave this thread (unstuck) as-is. Anyone who finds it and wishes to comment, may.

For the rest, we are sampling a big group of FTers and they will see a site notice when they log into FT, and they will have the opportunity to fill out a detailed survey (through SurveyGizmo).

I would recommend that if you see the survey, you ignore this thread. The survey is the better way to provide input if you get it (it will go out today).

Paul
Why sample a big group of FTers - that makes it sound as though you're limiting the sample. Why wouldn't you want all FTers to have access to the survey to provide input? Granted you're not going to get all FTers to respond, but you're not going to get all of the sample to respond either.

I also hope you're not implying that unless info is provided in the survey (for those that actually see it) that the information provided in this thread won't be considered as well.

Make the survey available to all FTers & do a site-wide announcement on it.

Cheers.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 10:51 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by toomanybooks
I always shift to "full site." Utterly despise the mobile interface.

Also despise how the system switches me back to mobile interface from full site every few days.
+1

I use it on my iPad and it's annoying when it reverts to mobile and I have to switch back to full site.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 2:16 pm
  #19  
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Originally Posted by toomanybooks
I mostly use FT on my 5.5" iPhone screen. Am on daily.

I always shift to "full site." Utterly despise the mobile interface.

Also despise how the system switches me back to mobile interface from full site every few days.
While it is somewhat useful to know that some users really dislike the mobile skin, we kind of already know this; the purpose of this thread is to determine exactly why, and how it could be improved or replaced. More detail is always appreciated
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 7:39 pm
  #20  
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Originally Posted by IBobi
While it is somewhat useful to know that some users really dislike the mobile skin, we kind of already know this; the purpose of this thread is to determine exactly why, and how it could be improved or replaced. More detail is always appreciated
Which is why I said:

"Why sample a big group of FTers - that makes it sound as though you're limiting the sample. Why wouldn't you want all FTers to have access to the survey to provide input? Granted you're not going to get all FTers to respond, but you're not going to get all of the sample to respond either.

I also hope you're not implying that unless info is provided in the survey (for those that actually see it) that the information provided in this thread won't be considered as well.

Make the survey available to all FTers & do a site-wide announcement on it."

Cheers.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 9:15 pm
  #21  
 
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Block phishing I am very frequently getting malware or virus messages from this site on my phone.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 10:09 pm
  #22  
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I did fill out the survey also, but my top 3 feature requests for the mobile site:

- one page forward/backward links or buttons (tapping and manually entering a page number is a poor substitute)
- a way to see thread wikis
- report-post button

Originally Posted by United747
Infinite scroll is what bothers me. Couldn't think of the name!
Infinite scroll is one of the worst ideas ever invented*. It is a blessing in disguise that the FT mobile version is non-infinite but only scrolls at most one page in each direction.

*it works great if you have infinite bandwidth, infinite CPU and infinite memory and there are never network interruptions and people click or tap exactly where they mean to. In the real world:

- oops, was there a network hiccup? the scrolling engine is now dead and there's no UI element that lets you reload just the segment it was in the middle of downloading. No recourse but to reload the page. Hope you weren't too far down, or that you enjoy scrolling and loading everything else above it!

- oops, did you accidentally tap a link when you meant to scroll up/down? Now your web browser is on a different page and when you click the back button you get to reload everything again

- oh, sorry, your mobile phone has limited memory/CPU? enjoy your web browser slowing to a crawl while it tries to keep all the text, images (animated GIFs?), flash plugins, etc. (more a rant about Facebook than FT )

it's some hellish pinnacle achievement of form over function. /rant over.
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Old Oct 28, 2016, 7:52 pm
  #23  
 
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You really need a dedicated app. Hire one off Fivvr if you need to.

At the very least tapatalk integration.
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Old Nov 1, 2016, 5:51 am
  #24  
 
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Pls make an app!!!

In as much or as little detail as you care to give, please answer:[list][*]How often do you visit FT on a *mobile* device each week?
Whenever I get the newsletter
[*]What "desktop" should be added to the mobile skin, if any?
None
[*]What's the biggest challenge with using FT on your phone?
Tiny font of the email & margin width doesn't shrink!!
[*]How would you improve the FT mobile experience?
Make it like the IMDB app: lists of things, can contribute, not terribly sophisticated but gets the job done. Then I would check back more often rather than just passively wait for the newsletter (and sometimes give up reading it due to -- see my above complaint)
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Old Nov 1, 2016, 6:49 am
  #25  
 
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I have to admit that my visits to FT have plummeted since the app was switched off.

The mobile site is woeful and in an age were apps are the norm, I'm not sure why FT is dragging it's feet over it. Hell, if it's a $$ issue I'm sure you could crowd source it in no time.
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Old Nov 1, 2016, 8:29 am
  #26  
 
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I read FT at least daily, alsways using my iPad. I never use the "mobile" site and switch back to full site whenever it randomly appears. The full sirpte has its flaws too, but at least I can navigate to what I need. Mobile is confusing, antiintuitive and klunky. It takes longer to navigate than the full site.
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Old Nov 1, 2016, 9:38 am
  #27  
 
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- I visit between 2 and 20 times a week (depending on how busy I am). About 95% on my 5.5 smartphone.

- generally I agree with the others here who think the desktop site is better - even on a tiny screen. But I wish I could have the best of both worlds, which is obviously what youre hoping to deliver.

- One short-term solution would be to allow us to set a preference (for mobile or desktop version) that sticks.

- my biggest challenge is having to log back in too frequently

- My second biggest challenge is getting to know the other members: Id like the ability to see profile info for each contributor (title, join date, location, programs, posts, etc.) Im fine putting that info beyond a click rather than just in the lefthand column, but you dont even show it on the new page that comes up for Member Profile. But the best solution would be putting it in a popup that I can quickly clear and stay in the middle of a thread.

I love the highlighting for OP, but on very large, merged threads its not as helpful. Is there a way to have multiple OPs on the very large long threads?

- Infinite scroll has its advantages and disadvantages. Im fine with how youre currently implementing it. Maybe just tweak so it doesnt back up quite so far if I scroll up after navigating to the last page?

- if all these features are easier on a app, Im fine with that. But in my experience, an app usually is worse, and takes more effort to manage compared with a mobile website. And Ill bet you dont want to invest more time an energy just to have an app for apps sake.
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Old Nov 1, 2016, 12:03 pm
  #28  
 
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I don't use mobile, so can't offer anything. What I would ask, though, is that if (when) any changes are made there is sufficient testing done to be sure the regular website isn't adversely affected. I really don't think that would be an issue here, but I've seen too many websites that are optimized for mobile and thus degrade the experience for regular computer users.
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Old Nov 1, 2016, 1:31 pm
  #29  
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I actually don't hate the mobile site. Infinite scroll is convenient when you want to read and not click to load the next page. Perhaps there's a way to deal with the complaints/problems with infinite scroll without removing the feature (yep, I said feature! After all, it does make it easier to read when you can just keep scrolling).

Seconding wiki. And adding left/right arrows for single page forward/backward maybe.

Also, wish I could see more detail about posters, at least their post count or something. That sometimes provides context for their posts.

On another note, related to mobile.. why doesn't TalkMail play well with mobile? The way it's formatted is fixed so it's impossible to read without zooming and panning all over on a phone.
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Old Nov 1, 2016, 1:43 pm
  #30  
 
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The FlyerTalk Newsletter I receive is rendered in the tiniest font ever. Even with readers and turning my phone sideways, I cannot read the font without pinching and scrolling. I don't know if this site can be rendered in HTML3 and CSS3 but that would maybe be a constructive step to take.

Thank you for asking about this topic, BTW. It demonstrates you care about who accesses the site and how, although Google Analytics should be able to provide that to the site administrator.
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