Hello John,

Yup, we're really excited with 1.1.0 even though it's just minor updates. We're actually already underway to the "merging" between the "unity" and dashboard view. If you notice one of the 1.0.x release, we pushed in a new "Everyone" filter within the dashboard

I am however still curious as to whether unity view should be kept since I see many users are actually using it?

I guess the question in my mind relates to the concept of having three primary pages that a user can use as a launchpad to the rest of the site.

1) Unity - a sitewide dashboard
2) Dashboard - a personal dashboard
3) My Profile

Each has it's own functionality and purpose. But there are distinct similarities between Unity & Dashboard - particularly once the Unity modules are disabled - then it becomes Dashboard via the everyone link.

At its heart, this is a UX issue. I find having three pages confusing as I keep having to ask myself "which page am I looking at, and why?". It just strikes me that there is an opportunity to take the three to two while retaining all of the functionality.

But, I don't think I necessarily have the right answer either. I'd be interested to hear what the other users and beta testers have to say.

Feedback everyone?

KISS!

I like more the 2 sites. the "user profile stream" and the "all together profile stream". usability is the most important thing and much more important as a lot of functions.. the best is to make all the capabilities to optional, so everyone can choose how extensive the functions of the site will be.

HI there,

I a bit confused. I am planning to use Unity to show off the community to non registered users. Once they registered, they are directed to their Dashboard (news feed). If Unity goes (or combined with Dashboard), what will happen? What will my non-logged in users see when I send them to the new Unity/Dashboard page?

hi, my personal opinion is that ES Unity should be the main page and the "Share whats new.." and the "News Feed" Filter should moved from Dashboard to Unity. i think there is no need for 3 primary pages, or?

Thanks for the input guys, we'll discuss this internally and see what's the best way / idea that we could come up with. I still think that having a unity view is necessary because it's like the "front page blog" listings where all blog posts contributed by all users will be displayed on this single page. Almost identical but we'll see what can be done

I am with Mark. I think it does serve a useful purpose.

one question about unity and privacy. the modules on the left and the stream respect the user settings? so, the public doesnt see my albums (and no thumbnail) and maybe not my avatar (as a part of my profil)?

I don't mind the 3 primary pages at this stage because it provides more flexibility to develop the Unity page in any direction without impacting on profile or dashboard. The dashboard and Unity may be similar at the moment, but I would expect Unity to become different from the dashboard as EasySocial expands and the 'Everyone' filter also provides an excellent UX alternative in the dashboard for all posts.

However I believe the dashboard, as the main member private area, should have access to all features, with the profile reflecting what a user allows to be viewed by other categories apart from himself (Family, Friends and Family, Public etc) and this is not the case at the moment:

Item...........................Dashboard................Profile..............Profile Comment

Album.......................No................................Optional
Blog...........................Default.......................Default.............(Number of posts to display is available)
Calendar..................Default.......................Default
Comments..............No................................Default.............(Widget optional but as comments displayed anyway if off, what does it do?)
Discussions...........No................................Default.............Summary Totals (List detail is optional)
Feed.........................Default........................Default
Friends....................Optional.....................Optional
Notes........................Default.......................Default
Photos......................No................................Optional
Tasks........................Default........................No......................(Tasks are correctly private)
Birthday...................No?*.............................Default..............(*It may be default for dashboard, not sure, but should be)
Achievements.......No.................................Default
Points History........No.................................No.....................(Points history is correctly private)

Dashboard

I would prefer all items above to be either default or optional in the dashboard, which is the main (my default) icon in the top left of the toolbar and my key 'view all items' area in the social section.

It is a real pain not being able to see or work with Albums, Comments, Discussions, Photos, Achievements and Points History from the dashboard, where I would like to easily flick down through a list of everything that is relevant to me.

It means I need to go back and forth in a 2 click - 1 click UX from dashboard to profile, not smooth.

The problem is not about choice of private or public, it is just a painful UX to (for example) have to leave the dashboard to view comments and/or discussions when I do not need to do that for blogs and having Albums, Photos, Achievements and Points History available in the dashboard should be a default.

Profile

The current options (default/optional/no) in the profile list are fine, but it is a 2 click UX process to go from the dashboard to the profile, could one of the following 2 options be put in place:

a) The toolbar Dashboard icon to switch to a Profile icon when I am in the dashboard
b) Put a Profile link in the dashboard area

The My Profile - My Dashboard - My Profile UX should be an easy one click process.

One final thing:

Calendar

I am in complete agreement that the default Calendar viewing option needs as much space as possible and going out of the dashboard to a new page is a way to achieve maximum viewing area.

However it is another UX pain to go out and back to the dashboard area when everything else is in a standard layout where the stream normally appears.

Keep the default Calendar view but include an option in the app before install to view the calendar in the 'stream area' as this would provide a smooth UX when going down the list of apps in the dashboard.

Just a few adjustments to make the UX better in an excellent product!

Nice info here. Thanks guys

I see there's quite a range of thinking from different site operators on how to think about the unity/dashboard/profile page functionality.

Some site operators will want to prevent some or all users from seeing site-wide activity, with 'home' being the user's dashboard once they are logged in (this is the approach taken by Facebook/Quora/Linkedin/Twitter, etc). Others like what Unity does for showing the community what's going on site-wide, and it is a useful marketing tool for the landing page of an active site.

I was going through the site UX and have a sense for what's confusing my users. Once they login, they are redirected to 'Dashboard' - it appears to be a logged in user's homepage. If they navigate anywhere else in the site and want to return to 'Home' they tend to click on the site logo, which redirects to Unity. They then have to hunt around for the 'Dashboard' icon in the toolbar to get back to where they started.

Whatever approach you choose to take, if you eliminate the confusion moving between the three views, it will be a success.

Thanks John, appreciate your insights on this very much

The following summary may be helpful and answer the problem John refers to in his posts and the points other people raised:

Unity

A site wide Visitor Only view to encourage people to join our community. It is possible to 'mash it' in different viewing combinations but it is there as part of site/brand marketing to attract members.

It serves no purpose to people who are logged into the site.

Dashboard

The main view/work area for a member (not available to visitors) and where EVERYTHING (see my post above) should be available for the member to view and adjust personal preferences. It is the centre of the 'spider's web' of member activity and the primary area a member will use.

Profile

The viewing area for content the member wishes people to see (visitors and or other members). It can be very restricted or show content that is very similar to the dashboard, but how much is 'on show' is for the member to decide.

Issue raised by John

The Unity view is to attract new visitors and after registering, when they (or existing members) log in, they are (correctly) taken to their own dashboard.

Job Done.

The Unity view should not appear to a logged in member, but appear to a visitor only. It directs the user to the dashboard at log in, but that is the only time it makes logged in users go there instead of staying on the Unity View.

The current problem is if the user visits any other part of the site and tries to go back to the dashboard by the Unity path, there is no permanent distinction between visitor and logged in user (only at log in) so the Unity View is shown.

Therefore if the Unity switch to dashboard at log in could be applied all the time for members who are logged in it would solve the problem John raised and also the other questions raised by users in the thread.

There may be a better way to do it, but the Dashboard and Profile are only relevant to logged in users with Unity an addition for visitors to attract new members.

My own earlier post

The other questions raised and suggestions made in my earlier post would still apply.

Thanks for the input Richard