Specific Suggestions

[Jacob]

The new site is much better than the old one. If I am not mistaken, this is build on vBulletin, very flexibel and reliable technology. You may want to replace the standard vBulletin buttons though with custom buttons in 'lunch club' design. In general, I think a website/interaction designer should look at the site to give it its finishing touch. The confusion that some visitors are mentioning could be a result of too many different colors, menu's, and fonts on the pages. The confusion could be solved with a few minor changes.

I don't see how a huge list with all members sorted in alfabetical order with real names and pictures is useful to the club. I think this raises privacy concerns with some members and will scare people off. Also this list makes the Members part look like a dating site, which is an impression of the lunchclub that Jared and many others want to avoid. I think you should be able to find personal profiles in two ways: through a list of people visiting a certain event and through a 'seach' box, based on real names.

My last suggestion is to change the order of the 'sub clubs'. I don't like all those niche discussions. I rather see a few general topics that are actually used a lot, but we discussed that before. I understand how you want to try expanding to other cities and sub clubs. However, this is the future and it is not certain yet if this will be successful. I think the discussion / subclub page should start with what is already there and working: the new york lunchclub and their general discussion topics. A new visitor will be confused by topics about SF, LA, Boston, Washington and London (where's new york?) with no discussion content, followed by a few specific discussion forums, which are also not really active yet. It gives the impression that The Lunchclub is one of those many community websites that are not really used: an online ghosttown.

Hope this was useful,
Grtz, Jacob

[Jared]

HI Jacob! Thanks for all the great insight! Here are my replies:

The new site is much better than the old one. If I am not mistaken, this is build on vBulletin, very flexibel and reliable technology.

---I am glad you like it better. I sure do! Yes, correct - we are using vBulletin, in case anyone was interested. We are able to make it do whatever we want - that just takes time and resources. But we are working hard to develop it to the utmost extent.

You may want to replace the standard vBulletin buttons though with custom buttons in 'lunch club' design. In general, I think a website/interaction designer should look at the site to give it its finishing touch. The confusion that some visitors are mentioning could be a result of too many different colors, menu's, and fonts on the pages. The confusion could be solved with a few minor changes.

---Most definitely. In fact, we have a slew of changes lined up that I think will simplify the interface quite abit. We're also going to make a landing page when you first go to thelunchclub.net that will be a very simple explanation of the club and a login prompt. Just to keep it simple for first timers.

I don't see how a huge list with all members sorted in alfabetical order with real names and pictures is useful to the club. I think this raises privacy concerns with some members and will scare people off. Also this list makes the Members part look like a dating site, which is an impression of the lunchclub that Jared and many others want to avoid. I think you should be able to find personal profiles in two ways: through a list of people visiting a certain event and through a 'seach' box, based on real names.

---Well, if you recall the Search page on the last site, that provided essentially the same function. We thought it would be nice to be able to search for members by interest, and that sort of thing. Anyway, it's not really in the way, is it?

My last suggestion is to change the order of the 'sub clubs'. I don't like all those niche discussions. I rather see a few general topics that are actually used a lot, but we discussed that before. I understand how you want to try expanding to other cities and sub clubs. However, this is the future and it is not certain yet if this will be successful.

---I moved the cities down to the bottom of the sub clubs page. I will work on consolidating some of the categories. I think the sub clubs that do not get any traffic will be eliminated in time. The idea is that people will attend gatherings for the sub-clubs and use the forums to keep up the dialogue. Lets give them some time to take root!

Hope this was useful,

---It certainly was! Thank you Jacob!

[ciprianna77]

One comment to touch on what Jacob said and that's the fact that other's can send "private" emails to people, which is cool. But, what if you receive one of these and it's too late to block that person from sending future emails?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that someone has already sent me an email about some moneymaking "opportunity" and since I turned them down, is now accusing me of sending them a virus attachment. I've saved the correspondence to forward to my local police as well as the FCC, but I'd like to know how I can prevent this from happening in the future. I don't want anybody to be able to send me emails, whether they're private or not. If someone wants to get in touch with me, they can post a response to something that I've posted. If I want them to have my personal email address, then I'll give it to them. Any suggestions???
Thanks,
Ciprianna


HI Jacob! Thanks for all the great insight! Here are my replies:

The new site is much better than the old one. If I am not mistaken, this is build on vBulletin, very flexibel and reliable technology.

---I am glad you like it better. I sure do! Yes, correct - we are using vBulletin, in case anyone was interested. We are able to make it do whatever we want - that just takes time and resources. But we are working hard to develop it to the utmost extent.

You may want to replace the standard vBulletin buttons though with custom buttons in 'lunch club' design. In general, I think a website/interaction designer should look at the site to give it its finishing touch. The confusion that some visitors are mentioning could be a result of too many different colors, menu's, and fonts on the pages. The confusion could be solved with a few minor changes.

---Most definitely. In fact, we have a slew of changes lined up that I think will simplify the interface quite abit. We're also going to make a landing page when you first go to thelunchclub.net that will be a very simple explanation of the club and a login prompt. Just to keep it simple for first timers.

I don't see how a huge list with all members sorted in alfabetical order with real names and pictures is useful to the club. I think this raises privacy concerns with some members and will scare people off. Also this list makes the Members part look like a dating site, which is an impression of the lunchclub that Jared and many others want to avoid. I think you should be able to find personal profiles in two ways: through a list of people visiting a certain event and through a 'seach' box, based on real names.

---Well, if you recall the Search page on the last site, that provided essentially the same function. We thought it would be nice to be able to search for members by interest, and that sort of thing. Anyway, it's not really in the way, is it?

My last suggestion is to change the order of the 'sub clubs'. I don't like all those niche discussions. I rather see a few general topics that are actually used a lot, but we discussed that before. I understand how you want to try expanding to other cities and sub clubs. However, this is the future and it is not certain yet if this will be successful.

---I moved the cities down to the bottom of the sub clubs page. I will work on consolidating some of the categories. I think the sub clubs that do not get any traffic will be eliminated in time. The idea is that people will attend gatherings for the sub-clubs and use the forums to keep up the dialogue. Lets give them some time to take root!

Hope this was useful,

---It certainly was! Thank you Jacob!

[Jared]

Sure - go to Inbox & Options. Clicl Edit Options. Scroll down to Messaging and Notification. You can change all your mail options there. Have a look!

[Sweet Aimee]

I think it is true about having too much information up.... for some reason I didn't want my last name to be up. It seems like everyone has access to me....you know, like on friendster so many people you never want to see again find you and ask you to be their friend, it's too weird and too obligatory. Honestly, I just wanted to post to see if my title would go up. This website is so much fun to play with. I love that I can write in colors and add faces. I'm a simple kinda gal. Excellent Job Jared. I hope to see you soon!