Help us improve The Hub

Thanks, David. That's immensely helpful. Several members have commented on the navigation. It's a priority for improvement.

LINKS IN EMAILS

Will look at that link issue you mention in the emails that The Hub sends out when something new is added to the site and try and simplify it down from three links to one.

RED FAKE NAVIGATION BAR AT THE TOP

That is confusing, isn't it. We did have links behind them, but the navigation options we had sitting behind the links were a bit overwhelming, according to the feedback we had. So, we are rejigging them.

OVERALL NAVIGATION ISSUE: EMERGENCE

There is a broader navigation issue, which is that in The Hub, members create links that grow horizontally across The Hub. It's a structured versus unstructured thing, to some extent. A pattern of connections within the Hub will emerge through usage - the principle of emergence. Strong links will forge across some areas; weaker ones across others.

And traffic (people moving around The Hub to talk to other people and interact with each other's content) will create a network of links. This is a bit demanding on the user as The Hub is only ten weeks old (opened from Beta testing end September), so there aren't many 'cut' trails yet: it's like cutting your way through long grass and creating trails that other users then follow. But, as pathways open up, the 'shape' of The Hub becomes clearer. And it becomes easier to find things and people.

CONTENT AND CREATOR ARE ALWAYS LINKED 

I guess we have been trying not to force a shape, but at the same time signpost where people can go eg to create a special interest group or join one or ask an expert or post a Group Coach problem or connect with a member. New navigation links in the red bar at the top, plus a series of navigation tips we are working on should help that, as we haven't got the balance right yet.

I was demonstrating The Hub to a big American organization interested in having an in-house version, last week, when they said "If you are reading a comment from someone on your post and that person says 'Private message me and we can take the conversation offline' for private information exchange, how, exactly, do you do that?" I explained that the content and the content creator are always visibly connected in The Hub. You can always see their head and name next to the content. So, just click on the head or name to go to their page, where you can leave them messages four different ways.

That kind of community interaction is a form of navigation that we probably need to make explicit with a series of navigation tips: you reach people by clicking on their heads, which takes you to their page, etc.

NAVIGATION IMPROVEMENT TIMETABLE 

We'll put some changes in by end of December, then ask the community if it's any better in early Jan. We're still not happy with the Member Search, for example, which is why we've supplemented with an extra Google search bar at the top of each page (that searches within The Hub) to help people navigate.  We should have improved that by January, too.

Thanks again, David, for helping shape that. Any other navigation comments very welcome, as it is an area that needs work. The Architect.