We made some changes to the Community

[Kyle_R]

On the evening of March 17th, we made a few changes to the Community. Many of these changes are a result of a survey we launched early last year to get feedback on if the Community was serving your needs appropriately. We received some great feedback, and also had some changes of our own we wanted to implement. Here are a few things you can expect to be changing around the Community soon:

A fresher design will be implemented to more closely match the look and feel of the other areas of Constant Contact.

Navigation will be simplified as well as the number of areas that posts live. Going forward we plan to have:

• One area to get product support. We will be consolidating 5 or more separate support areas into one hub.
• One area to get advice - whether that be on the design of a campaign (previously the “Critique My Campaign” board, advice on your website, or if you just want to ask general marketing advice. The Community should be a place where we can all pool our knowledge on various aspects of marketing. 
• One area where we will be posting blog-type content on all things Constant Contact. If you’ve been a fan of our recent giveaways and sweepstakes, they will be living here.
• The feedback area will be remaining the same, although we hope to be able to consolidate this into a single feedback posting area.
• The Developer Community will largely remain the same for our folks needing support with the API.
  
• We may also continue to experiment with some new and existing private and more focused areas.

On that same topic, the navigation menu will be moving up to the upper right corner of the header:   

- This reduces the need of having to scroll below the fold to find the menu and places it neatly at the top of every page. 

The search bar will also be moving to the top header of every page, with the aim of making searching for content easily accessible no matter where you are on the page.

Reducing some accumulated clutter. These were some areas that included things such as Unread Posts at the bottom of some pages. We want to eliminate certain extras that may have just contributed to busier page layouts so a focus can be put on participating in the Community.

Unrelated to this redesign, but another area of feedback from our survey last year was outdated or old content being found. We’ve been working on a cleanup effort throughout the last year, and will continue to do so. 

Looking Forward we plan to implement some additional changes we hope are non-disruptive. You may see us testing out some features for organizing and labeling content, bubbling up the most relevant/lively topics, showcasing product ideas to vote on, changing our Community ranking system, putting out new and interesting content, and hosting industry related discussions. We feel like the Community has a great opportunity to be more focused on small business owners and marketers to talk with each other, as they could easily share the same struggles, challenges, and milestones.

We look forward to continuing to improve the Community. As always, your feedback is welcomed. Feel free to leave a comment on anything you’d like to see added, big or small.

[PunchCard]

Hey Kyle,  I really appreciate that you are working to improve our work environment.  Two things I would like to ask:  1.) That when I click on Campaigns that the menu bar paint before the rest of the page to eliminate screen "jumping"  2.)  Let's be honest - the "New" interface that was rolled out a few years ago is, and has been since day one, a "disaster".  I have tried to become accustomed to it, but it just has not "taken" with me, and many others it would seem.  I don't know what the programmers were trying to accomplish with the "New" interface, but sometimes one must realize that even the best of intentions does not equal success.  They have failed - miserably - and we have all been paying the price since then.

Thanks for your consideration,

Punchcard

[Kyle_R]

Thanks for the feedback @PunchCard . 

1.) I tested this out and it does look like depending on the page you are trying to load different elements of the page will load at different times. For the Campaigns page I believe we index all of the campaigns to improve the total time it takes to load the page and so you don't have to wait while we try to gather all the campaign info. It looks like the unfortunate side effect of that is that the campaigns load before the top navigation bar. Ultimately a good thing that we can get the page to load more quickly, but I understand what a pain it is to try and click something only to have it "move" on you. I'll pass it along to see if we can do anything.

2.) When referring to the new interface, are you a specific part of the product (email editor, etc.) or just the user interface as a whole? If you have any specific pain points feel free to let me know. If it's something you've already mentioned elsewhere on the Community you're welcome to refer me to your post history, not trying to make you repeat yourself if it's already out there.

[PunchCard]

Hey Kyle,

Thanks for your feedback.

First - the menu bar - a little testing shows that the navigation bar loads first for all the other items except the "Campaigns" and guess what?  Campaigns is the one I use most frequently. Bottom line - whatever it takes - please get it fixed so that the screen does NOT jump. 

Second - Here is my first post on the interface:  "Productivity is the name of my game. The New UI has proven to be a step backwards in my productivity. Too many clicks, scrolls, etc. to get my job done. Not sure what the CC design parameters were, but they did not work out for me on a FAST Windows 10 machine with an SSD and dual monitors. CC - Please consider revision so that navigation is not so user intensive."

Followed up by:  "

Hello,

First, as a fellow programmer - I really do appreciate the long hours and hard work that is necessary to create something that really works for a large number of users.  Your new interface is a failure.

My credentials? I am Network Administrator for a 501.c.3 charitable organization that provides medical care for needy people.  I am Webmaster for 12 domains that actually turn a profit.  I am NOT naming names, unless you (CC Management) contact me privately - you know how - OK?

Let's take a trip down memory lane and consider other ideas that did not make the grade:

Galaxy Note 7 - Truly a crash and burn

Windows Vista - Looked good - at first

Microsoft Zune - Too klutzy to use

Windows ME - Do you remember this one?

MySpace - Crushed by Facebook

Olestra - zero calorie fat substitute

    Going farther back in time:

"New" Coke - an absolute disaster

Sony betamax - technically superior, but trounced by VHS

The Edsel - Yes I am old enough to remember this one.

Bottom line - the folks responsible for all of the above failed products worked hard, used all of their considerable ingenuity, spent tons of cash, and yet they all failed for a variety of reasons.  For each one there was a point in time when stark reality hit them between the eyes, and they were forced to acknowledge that in spite of all of their combined wisdom, effort, and cash - they produced a product that ultimately failed.

I encourage CC to cut your losses, dump the new interface, and revive the previous interface while your folks work on something better.

Respectfully,

PunchCard"

So Kyle - The key issue is productivity.  Kinda like taxes - "Oh it's OK to add an extra penny to Sales Tax - nobody will notice..."  Then before you know it - so many pennies have been added that the tax is prohibitive.  The interface requires way too much navigation, especially for those of us who used the previous one.  New customers have never known anything else, but I do.  And, I have learned to really NOT like it. I am still with CC for one reason, and one only, the integration that CC has between Events and Emails is keeping me with CC.  I would go somewhere else in a heartbeat if I could - primarily because of the lousy interface.

Thanks for your interest and help.

Punchcard