Where Have All the Posters Gone????? - Page 2

Rachb · ‎10-07-2012

I personally think it is indeed the new format. It's not very user friendly. As someone who relies heavily on her iPhone, the new format is very difficult to navigate and use, both in full site mode and mobile mode. I was previously a pretty active reader and poster. Now, not so much. It's sad because I really like and valued the online community. But it's more time consuming and awkward to navigate.

Rachb · ‎10-07-2012

I just sent this email to QVC. Doubt it will help.

To whom it may concern: I hope you will reconsider the changes that you have recently implemented on the forums. As someone who would read the threads, and actively participate in conversations, throughout the day, every day, I must say that the recent changes have added no value, and in fact, have been detrimental. Participation is down. Enthusiasm is down. It is difficult to navigate and to find certain things that were easily identifiable previously. It is difficult to log in. It is difficult to post. One word: awkward. And it’s not just “we’ll all get used to it once we adapt to the new format” kind of awkward. It is awkward. Period. Many others have expressed their disappointment and frustration. And it is obvious that some have just left. I, myself, now check in once a day and barely add any posts or replies. This is not the community we were all used to. We were a part of a group that provided each other with all sorts of information. We looked forward to conversing every day….to laugh, to learn, to gain valuable information. In a sense, we were friends. But now the site has become very user-unfriendly…..and those friendships have been broken. And now, with the lack of communication between friends, which is one of QVC’s main source of referrals, I would suspect that sales might go down. For example, if someone had mentioned an amazing product or item that they purchased from the Q, I’d seriously consider buying it. But now that participation is down, there isn’t so much of that referral going on. Also, as someone who relies heavily on her mobile device, the new format is very difficult to navigate and use, both in full site mode and mobile mode, whereas previously, it was a piece of cake. It actually was very similar to the desktop user experience. I realize that I am just one person, but this topic actually came up in one of the forums, and has had high participation in the last day or so, so I am clearly not alone. It is important to listen to your audience. I hope to see changes for the better going forward, as the recent changes seem like a step back. Thank you.

Vivian · ‎03-11-2010

I have gone through all the iterations of these boards from the very beginning. This is by far the worst that QVC has ever foisted upon us. It is an ugly mess.

SparklyTiara · ‎08-16-2012

I won't speculate as to why there seems to be less activity, but I will say that I have noticed that, too. A lot of the same topics day-to-day and fewer responses. We've seen more than a few people post that they'll not be back, and it looks like that's taken effect. In the Q's defense, there's always an adjustment period after rolling out something new, and a lot of people didn't want to give them a chance if adjustments didn't happen ASAP. The new Community is less than 2 weeks old. Change takes time.

It is less interesting, though, seeing new posts less frequently. There's certainly a different feel to the Community, which is that it's less of a "community," and that's unfortunate. The old Beauty Banter "atmosphere" has not yet transferred to this Beauty forum. Hopefully it will over time.

@Rachb, well written letter. Calmly and rationally explained, which is the right way to do it.

missy1 · ‎03-10-2010

censorship mainly

jackthebear · ‎03-11-2010

between the horrible format (have never seen a board configured like this) and the censorship people have stopped reading and posting.

I don't really think it has much effect on sales as the % of the overall audience here is miniscule compared to the overall audience, but it was fun

shiloh 81 · ‎09-03-2010

@Rachb wrote:
I personally think it is indeed the new format. It's not very user friendly. As someone who relies heavily on her iPhone, the new format is very difficult to navigate and use, both in full site mode and mobile mode. I was previously a pretty active reader and poster. Now, not so much. It's sad because I really like and valued the online community. But it's more time consuming and awkward to navigate.

I agree with you 100% I do not own a computer. Only my Droid cell phone and these forums are very hard to navigate. It's very slow from page to page. I'm always switching from mobile to full site. It's just a pain.

TY · ‎03-10-2010

I looked at the page source and the software for running these boards is by Lithium so I did a bit of googling and Lithium does design and I presume run communities for companies. I presume that QVC did little customizing before they launched it and so it's still a work in progress.

I do appreciate that they've added a handbag forum and sub-forums under the My Favorite Brand subforum. It's also summer when traffic goes down. It's hard to say how many visitors they've lost but I guess their metrics will likely show a downturn in traffic.

RawkinFoodie · ‎06-24-2011

I've definitely noticed a decrease in activity. I'm more of a reader than a poster, but I try to post when I can. My biggest beef was not having the subforums. I'm sure that initially turned a lot of people off. Now that we have them back I'm sure those folks don't even know about it.

I can understand how users of cell phones or iPads would still be frustrated. It seems that Q is working on issues. It would be nice if they would send out a mass e-mail to inform the community of any improvements made since the switch. That would help bring some of the lost souls back. There was a good amount of information to be had here.