"wine before it's time...."
The idea of the new lab experiment is great....but there are too many bugs and issues and non answers to questions. I've read most of the inputs (discussions) and it seems to cover most of what is "wrong" with the implementation.
You wonderful developers should come down (ha) and visit the missionaries in the Lehi FamilySearch center if you want an "ear full" of comments. We are more than happy to help...
It's also very hard to teach guests when stuff changes...and isn't necessarily pertinent (at this time) to some of the guests. For one example...the new image viewer is a step down. How do we teach guests to use the image viewer when to use it means we have to participate in the lab experiment? We are helping guests all the time in MEMORIES...but these things confuse and frustrate them.
There has to be a better way of testing these new products. I like what is being done in the NEW Source Linker. We can EASILY turn it off without loosing a lot of work.
Plus...when this new Family Group comes fully on line...what do we do with our old LIVING people? Delete them to remove duplicates. what do we tell new guests who want to create LIVING people.
Thanks for the great work...talk to us
Ralph Stephens
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As another user, I have to say I like this new method of testing far better than the old one which was for a new feature to just show up one day. I'm sure this process of real-world beta testing gives them much better information than regular beta testing. There are so many different types of users and so many different ways people use FamilySearch, this type of testing is needed even if it is somewhat painful.
Sounds like the best thing to do for most of the people you are helping is to not tell them about the labs at all and keep them out of the experiments for the next year. It doesn't sound like they are "early adopters."
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I definitely agree that there's still a lot of bugs in the lab features. What I'd like to see the developers focus on would be making things more user friendly rather than adding loads of more tools. As a current service missionary, we sometimes work with people who barely know how to use multiple tabs, and all of the different features can be overwhelming.
I'm not saying that all the new stuff is bad and should be removed. Some of the most recent additions have been great! I wasn't sure about the new source linker, but now that I've gotten more familiar with it, I think it's going well (even if there are still some kinks). I've also really liked the new get involved page and how straightforward the activities are. If more of the website was like that, things would be so much easier to use and teach.
As a hobbyist coder, I can say from experience that simpler is almost always better ;)
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The ambition is great, but there are fundamental issues with clear consistent operational procedures for user input to function intuitively in the GUI. Specifically, the ability to make corrections, or on making attachment to records in the database. There needs to be an immediate user interface remedy to errors in our own user input data, as well as an ability to report errors in the record sources you display. I constantly need to repeat my efforts in this way over and over again and it gets me nowhere. The database doesn't really function effectively for retaining correct information that I find but never really integrates effectively without a constant battle. Clear, consistent policy throughout all of your website so we all know how to operate the database is what every user requires. Thanks for the creative, highly technical expertise and monumental effort at operating at such a massive scale without catastrophes.
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Thank you all for your input. Your concerns are exactly the reason for the new FamilySearch Labs and groups like this one. As we get reports, not just of bugs, but also the "I don't understand" and 'How does this work?' questions that come here, we are constantly refining and adding to our process, instructions, and the tools themselves. Thank you so much for all the suggestions and comments. They help immensely to make this tool (and all the other ones) the best that they can be.
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