LDS: Add filter on Temple Reserved list for gender

JaneSmith2600

There are a lot of difficulties in using the Temple reservation list. I believe one thing that would help me is the ability to use all the current filtering options, but add an option to view only males or only females.

Thanks for considering!

Sheryl Neal Slaughter

Miss Jessie

you can filter your list with several different criteria including sex

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/how-can-i-sort-my-family-names-list

JaneSmith2600

Thanks for the response!

I have been unable to find a way to FILTER (not sort) by sex.

What I want to do is apply all the current filters (specific ordinance, not yet printed, etc.) and then filter for only females or only males.

Then, I want to sort them by name.

Currently, unable to filter by sex unless I'm missing something.

V Norton

What you need to do is Sort by "Sex" and then click the "Descending" arrow to move from male to female names on the MENu: it's confusing--especially when you are looking for female names--since "Male" is the default.

As a Family History Consultant, I get many calls from people who struggle unnecessarily with the Filter Menu to perform common tasks. I wish the top level of the Filter Menu could be simplified and optimized for the most common use scenarios with a "More" or "Advanced" button for the less-used options. As a former interface designer, I know these menus should have been tested with FIRST-TIME users doing the MOST COMMON tasks in the design/prototype phase.

Here's what people want:

SIMPLIFY/OPTIMIZE FILTER MENU--GIVE US "ORDINANCE READY" ON STEROIDS

Currently, many members cannot use the Filter Menu to perform their most common tasks: such as finding 5 female initiatories that are ready for temple work--and haven't yet been printed. Often I receive frantic calls from temple-bound people who can't use the Filter menu to perform this task.

THE "AUNT MABEL" CHALLENGE

Every developer on this team should be required sit down one-on-one ASAP with an "Aunt Mabel" and watch her try to use this filter to find 5 female ordinances that are "ready" to take to the temple.

ORDINANCE READY: NEEDS A "MORE" OPTION

You would probably tell her to use "Ordinance Ready" rather than the Filter Menu for this task. This might work if there were a "More" button to display the next set of 5 initiatories (similar to seeing more seat options on a theater site). Or if she could print 5 initiatories for her husband using "Ordinance Ready." Aunt Mabel wants to take her husband and sister to the temple. But all she can see in "Ordinance Ready." are the 5 names she has already printed for her sister. She needs more initiatories. So she has no choice but to enter the Filter Menu maze.

FILTER MENU: FIRST CHOICE SHOULD BE [] FEMALE [] MALE

Back to the Filter Menu. The 1st and most important option for temple-bound members is [ ] Female or [ ] Male. Clicking a box is far easier for people than figuring out the "Sex" sort--which defaults to "Male" requiring women to "Descend" to "Female." This "Ascending/Descending" jargon is confusing/insulting when up/down arrows are the industry standard. (Also why is the default set to "Male" when "Female' is first alphabetically and most members are female?) At any rate, Aunt Mabel will generally stall at the initial point of figuring out how to sort to female/only results. (Also she also doesn't give a fig about whether she should "sort" or "filter"--the program should handle those distinctions behind the scenes.)

If you are still wedded to the "Sex" approach, then it would still be better to:

* Label it "Gender"

* Eliminate "Ascending" and "Descending" and just use up/down arrows.

Where is Aunt Mabel now? She chose "Sex" and now sees pages of irrelevant male results (on a long temple list). She totally misses the concept that she needs to "Descend" to see female names--and instead pages through the irrelevant male results to reach female results. (She would have been better off to page through the mixed results without using the menu.)

SECOND PRIORITY: FINDING "READY" ORDINANCES (Here, initiatory)

After the "Sex" sort (and paging through all the irrelevant male results) Aunt Mabel wants to reach female initiatories "ready" for the temple (meaning baptisms/initiatories are done). She (and most members) would prefer to see names that aren't yet printed, that come first from her reservation list and second from the list she has shared with the temple (as she might reclaim them if B/C are done).

So she clicks on "Initiatories." Now the program shows her the list sorted by "Initiatory" (but NOT by the "ready" initiatories). Also the displayed results now don't show the ordinance state: she can't see if the baptisms/confirmations are done. She selects 5 female initiatories and tries to Print. Only now does she discover that the B/Cs aren't done, so these initiatories aren't really "ready."

She goes back and fiddles further with the menu trying to isolate the "ready" female initiatories. Finally in desperation she calls her tech savvy niece or family history consultant (who also can't figure out how to use the menu to accomplish this simple task). Time's up! So she cancels her temple reservation and resolves to return and tackle the Filter Menu at some time in the future.

THE BEST FILTER MENU IS ONE OPTIMIZED FOR ACTUAL USE SCENARIOS

In short, there are far too many options on the top level of the Filter Menu, which means members are forced to navigate a gauntlet of confusing options that actually create a barrier to performing the most common tasks. We would rather see a "fast track" menu at the top that allowed you to select a gender and "ready" ordinance: one optimized for this most common user task: finding a name to take to the temple. All the less-useful filters/sorts should appear in a "More" or "Advanced" menu so they don't provide a barrier to the most common tasks.

ALLOW TOGGLE OPTIONS ON THE LIST ITSELF (First v. last name, female v. male face, etc.)

In addition it would be nice if members could also sort results from within their list, for instance:

* Click the female graphic to sort to just female results.

* Click a column head to toggle results alphabetically by first name/last name

* Click the "i" in the ordinance graphic to sort to initiatories only.

HOW MANY MEMBERS ARE STRUGGLING?

As a consultant, I get calls from many members who can't complete their simple desired tasks using the Filter Menu. As a designer, It makes me incredibly sad to know that millions of members are struggling needlessly with this menu--and that thousands of consultants are wasting their valuable time dealing with interface issues when they could be helping members with research.

The Filter Menu needs to be simplified and optimized for the most common use scenarios! The less-used filters should be placed in a "More" or "Advanced" menu. Menu should be tested by actual first-time users (men and women of all ages/skill sets). Developers should be invited to watch "Aunt Mabel" use their products prior to release. Then glitches should be resolved in the prototype stage before being released to frustrate and waste the time of millions of users!!!!!

Julie Melville Hite

We really do need more FILTERS in the reservation lists. e.g. SEX, PLACE, DATE RESERVED.

PLEASE: Even one for how we are related, e.g. a 4 option filter that lists 4 grandparent lines (let us choose??, e.g. 2 of mine and 2 of my husbands?). Especially with the new family groups (which are GREAT!), I need to manage moving names to these groups. With the 300 name limit in my reservations, I need to manage the names that I've shared with the temple to help feed the family groups.