House Rules Reminders
House Rules Reminders: Enhancing User Experience and Responsible Use
In today's digital age, it's essential for online platforms to strike a balance between being welcoming and clear about their rules. At WhatDoTheyKnow, we strive to create a friendly and inclusive environment while ensuring that users understand our expectations. In this article, we'll explore the importance of house rules reminders and how we can implement them to enhance user experience and promote responsible use.
The Current State of House Rules
Currently, we rely on users proactively navigating to the house rules to learn about them. We link to them from the sign-up form and the website footer, but this approach may not be enough to ensure that users are aware of our rules. While we want to be as friendly and welcoming as possible, we also need to be clear about the kind of use we don't want to see.
Introducing the Welcome Interstitial
To address this issue, we're introducing a new welcome interstitial page that will be displayed after a user confirms their email. This page will provide a brief introductory text about the purpose of WhatDoTheyKnow and our house rules. We'll use a custom layout that removes navigation elements, so the only option is to scroll past the content to continue.
The welcome interstitial page will be designed to be friendly and welcoming, more like an induction to a club rather than a nightclub bouncer. We'll use a single "Continue to WhatDoTheyKnow" call-to-action at the end of the house rules, which will take the user onwards to the location stored in the PostRedirect. To help users absorb the rules, we can disable this call-to-action with an artificial "loading" UI for a few seconds.
Design Considerations
When designing the welcome interstitial page, we should keep in mind that we may later wish to make this a multi-step process. For example, we could render the house rules in step 1, a cut-down version of /learn in step 2, and then a donation ask in step 3. However, we shouldn't go to great pains to build for this at this stage.
Batch Beginner Interstitial
Batch is a powerful tool that has seen great use, but we've also seen some less great use. To address this, we'll introduce a batch beginner interstitial that will be displayed after a user makes their first few batches. This page will remind them of what good use looks like and that Pro users are still bound by our house rules.
For the first three batches a user makes, we'll render an extra step after they click "or start a batch request" to initiate the new batch process. We'll give them some batch-specific tips and our general house rules. We'll keep the tips fairly succinct and limited to around five key points to avoid overwhelming users.
Reusability and Customization
Ideally, we'd build these house rules reminders into Alaveteli, as encouraging responsible use isn't an issue that WhatDoTheyKnow will face. However, the House Rules help page isn't a default or required page, so this would be a WhatDoTheyKnow customization.
We might start implementing at a theme level and if it's looking like there's a good generic version, we could ship with Alaveteli and then pull that into core, leaving our inclusion of the house rules as theme overrides. This isn't worth spending loads of time on, though, so we'll focus on getting a good version working for WhatDoTheyKnow.
Conclusion
House rules reminders are an essential aspect of creating a positive user experience and promoting responsible use on online platforms. By introducing a welcome interstitial page and a batch beginner interstitial, we can ensure that users are aware of our rules and expectations. By keeping the design friendly and welcoming, we can create a positive experience for users while also encouraging responsible use.
Future Development
In the future, we can consider making the house rules reminders a multi-step process, incorporating them into Alaveteli, and customizing the theme to include the house rules. However, for now, we'll focus on getting a good version working for WhatDoTheyKnow.
Benefits of House Rules Reminders
House rules reminders offer several benefits, including:
- Improved user experience: By providing clear and concise information about our rules and expectations, we can create a positive experience for users.
- Increased responsible use: By reminding users of our rules and expectations, we can encourage responsible use and reduce the risk of misuse.
- Enhanced brand reputation: By being clear and transparent about our rules and expectations, we can enhance our brand reputation and build trust with users.
Best Practices for Implementing House Rules Reminders
When implementing house rules reminders, we should follow best practices, including:
- Keep it simple and concise: We should keep the language simple and concise, avoiding jargon and technical terms.
- Use clear and consistent formatting: We should use clear and consistent formatting, including headings, subheadings, and bullet points.
- Make it accessible: We should make the house rules reminders accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
- Test and iterate: We should test and iterate on the house rules reminders to ensure they are effective and user-friendly.
By following these best practices and implementing house rules reminders, we can create a positive user experience, promote responsible use, and enhance our brand reputation.
House Rules Reminders: Frequently Asked Questions
In our previous article, we explored the importance of house rules reminders and how we can implement them to enhance user experience and promote responsible use. In this article, we'll answer some frequently asked questions about house rules reminders.
Q: Why are house rules reminders important?
A: House rules reminders are essential for creating a positive user experience and promoting responsible use on online platforms. By reminding users of our rules and expectations, we can encourage responsible use and reduce the risk of misuse.
Q: What are some best practices for implementing house rules reminders?
A: Some best practices for implementing house rules reminders include:
- Keeping it simple and concise: We should keep the language simple and concise, avoiding jargon and technical terms.
- Using clear and consistent formatting: We should use clear and consistent formatting, including headings, subheadings, and bullet points.
- Making it accessible: We should make the house rules reminders accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
- Testing and iterating: We should test and iterate on the house rules reminders to ensure they are effective and user-friendly.
Q: How can we make house rules reminders user-friendly?
A: We can make house rules reminders user-friendly by:
- Using clear and concise language: We should use language that is easy to understand and avoid jargon and technical terms.
- Providing examples: We should provide examples of what good use looks like and what constitutes misuse.
- Making it easy to find: We should make it easy for users to find the house rules reminders, such as by linking to them from the sign-up form and the website footer.
- Providing a clear call-to-action: We should provide a clear call-to-action, such as a "Continue to WhatDoTheyKnow" button, to encourage users to continue using the platform.
Q: Can we customize the house rules reminders for different user groups?
A: Yes, we can customize the house rules reminders for different user groups. For example, we can provide different versions of the house rules reminders for:
- New users: We can provide a version of the house rules reminders that is specifically designed for new users, such as a welcome interstitial page.
- Pro users: We can provide a version of the house rules reminders that is specifically designed for Pro users, such as a batch beginner interstitial.
- Users with disabilities: We can provide a version of the house rules reminders that is specifically designed for users with disabilities, such as a version that is accessible via screen reader.
Q: How can we measure the effectiveness of house rules reminders?
A: We can measure the effectiveness of house rules reminders by:
- Tracking user engagement: We can track user engagement with the house rules reminders, such as by monitoring the number of users who view the reminders and the number of users who continue to use the platform after viewing the reminders.
- Conducting user surveys: We can conduct user surveys to gather feedback on the house rules reminders and identify areas for improvement.
- Analyzing user behavior: We can analyze user behavior to identify patterns and trends that may indicate whether the house rules reminders are effective.
Q: Can we integrate rules reminders with other features on the platform?
A: Yes, we can integrate house rules reminders with other features on the platform. For example, we can:
- Link to the house rules reminders from the sign-up form: We can link to the house rules reminders from the sign-up form to ensure that new users are aware of our rules and expectations.
- Display the house rules reminders in the website footer: We can display the house rules reminders in the website footer to make it easy for users to find them.
- Provide a clear call-to-action: We can provide a clear call-to-action, such as a "Continue to WhatDoTheyKnow" button, to encourage users to continue using the platform.
By answering these frequently asked questions, we can better understand the importance of house rules reminders and how we can implement them to enhance user experience and promote responsible use.