Feedback from non-GCA cachers about this listing service

Discussion about the Geocaching Australia web site
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MavEtJu
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Location: Caringbah
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Feedback from non-GCA cachers about this listing service

Post by MavEtJu » 24 July 17 12:35 pm

Greetings,

Yesterday I had a chat with a couple of experienced but non-GCA cachers who had been interested in the past but didn't continue on the GCA path.

The first issue was the lack of a mobile phone app. Well that was easy to resolve, as two of them had Android phones and suggested them mtrax's app. Resolved :-)

The next issue was the "Search for a Geocache (Home or Current Location)". I sat them down on my laptop and they had to show the things they tried and what they expected. When you click on the map, you get the map. Excellent. When you enter coordinates, you get a list. There is no way to go directly back to the map for these coordinates. The difference was experienced as confusing, they were expecting to get the map here too. The suggestion of being able to go from the list to the map was rejected, stating that the front page suggested a map and not a list.

The "Search for a geocache" issue. Opposite that they expected a map at the previous one, they were happy to get a list here as this was a search form (name, location, code, postal code). They would really like to have the ability to see the map with the results after having searched and seen the list. One person said she couldn't search again on the page with the search output, she had to go back to the previous page so she couldn't see anymore what she wanted to refine her search for.

As the last thing, the constant repeating of the string "Search for a Geocache" was experienced as confusing:

=============== Search for a Geocache ===============
Search for a Geocache | Search for a Geocache | Search for a Geocache | Search for a Geocache
Locality | Geocache Name | Postcode | Code / Waypoint

Because the string "Search for a Geocache" is already in the title, the repeating of it in the search boxes isn't needed.

=============== Search for a Geocache ===============
By Locality | By Geocache Name | By Postcode | By Code / Waypoint


The leader board was seen as "not interested as I will never get so many caches in a month" and gallery was seen as "I like that".

I hope this feedback helps on improving the usage of the site.

Edwin

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caughtatwork
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Re: Feedback from non-GCA cachers about this listing service

Post by caughtatwork » 24 July 17 2:58 pm

Search for a Geocache (Home or Current Location) box on the home page has been added to the development list to allow the map query string to be updated.
http://wiki.geocaching.com.au/wiki/Geoc ... ughtatwork

Maps from search lists is not functionally available. If search criteria is required a My Query should be used which can be mapped.

The wording "Search for a Geocache" are standard search boxes which may be employed on pages that do not have the same heading. Removing the title is not currently in line with the reusability of those functions.

The front page changes depending on who is logged in. As you were demonstrating with what appears to be your account you are showing them an experience as though they are an experienced user of the site. A less experienced user will see fewer functions specifically to avoid confusion. If the individual does not have enough finds, then they may not even see the leaderboard. If someone is not interested in something then they are not obiged to use it. It appears "below the fold" for this very reason. Comments of "not interested" without a suggestion for improvement are sumarily ignored as enhancement opportunities.

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