Hating the "Load older posts" feature

[SerendipityJane]

No one asked for it, and if they did, this isn't what they want.

There isn't enough space in this box to explain how incredibly poor it is.

You're not wrong. The new posts aren't loading properly.

With this and the bug causing accidental swipes to the next thread, I really think whoever's in charge of 'enhancements' at MNHQ just needs to shut the fuck up for a bit. You are RUINING it. Do you even test this shit before you release it? Let alone ask users what they want?

I got off a plane on hols and assumed this was a consequence of shit local phone reception.

WHY would you do this?!! How does it make life better?

Please let us toggle this off. I often lose internet connection through the day. I like to load one huge thread and then read it when my connection is down to stay busy until it's back up. If it wont load posts until I scroll down to read them then I can't do this.

I also often will do a control+f search to see if something I was going to post on a thread has already been posted and this stops you from being able to do that too.

Same here. I refer MN IT to the well known saying 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Not a fan.

I was trying to catch up on a long thread I'm on and it is jumping all over with times and just not user friendly.

And don't get me started on the full page ads which I cannot scroll past. Even on this very thread trying to reply here!

We are here for browsing and catching up. Now is just frustrating and stressful and tbh I just cannot be bothered. I just want to scroll and read in a straight forward manner. Can't even do that now.

Do a key stroke level analysis on it MNHQ you are adding key strokes for no good reason and no benefit.

And the 'load earlier posts' is just as bad.

I have my settings to load all messages deliberately. If mn is slow, if rather wait for all the posts to load ONCE that have to keep waiting for thread after thread to load.

This is a short thread and yet when I clicked on it today, it only showed the first and the last post. Went do I want to click to reveal just a free now posts (and then have to click again and again)?

Not a good user experience.

Again, I ask why it can't just be an option in settings?

No! I don't want to limit to 50 or do posts. They tried that. It was a case of having to wait for posts to load again and again. All posts on live page is much better.

Even the auto loading is annoying (although it works on some websites) you can't see how long the thread is from the side bar (which helps me to skip ahead sometimes)

I find it really unhelpful as it doesn't allow me to go back to the beginning. There's very few times I want to read the last few posts only. Could there be an opt out of it?

And it loads back to a random point that may or may not be where I want to be. It makes it very hard to navigate a thread.

I access on iPhone, iPad and laptop. I use the app on the phone most of the times, but sometimes switch to safari when the app is too restrictive.

I hate this feature too. I understand the frustration some user may have when threads are really large, but I have my settings on load all posts because despite the slow load times, I want all the posts. Not only does the new way mean it’s hard to find where you stopped reading, it also makes it difficult to search for a word to get context for posts that don’t quote the bit they’re replying to, or to see if anyone has mentioned something already.

It is rage inducing to have to keep clicking on that “load more posts” button.

This is an approach to loading content that has popped up on quite a lot of websites lately and it’s made them all less appealing to browse. Doesn’t work any better for MN.

I access on a Motorola mobile phone and I hate this feature. Make it opt in, not default as a minimum. Make it go away would be better. I don't normally moan, I normally take whatever crap "improvements" companies bring out but this is just extra irritating

I also hate this new 'feature'. It is not user friendly at all. I tend to use the 'See next' function. This new function means I end up jumping to random OP posts in the thread, mainly ones I've read before. It makes the thread incoherent as I can't easily find where I was or even where I bookmarked. It makes reading threads pretty pointless as it's so difficult to read through a thread properly. It also takes several back clicks to exit a thread instead of the previous one.

When using 'See next' sometimes the OP refers to a pp's comments that I might have missed and are not quoted. Prior to this new function, I would scroll up to find the comment. Now I can't because this new function is user unfriendly and it takes ages to reload earlier posts and navigate around the thread.

In my view, this new function is not workable. It is frustrating for users and seems pretty pointless. Personally, I don't see the point in making changes to the site that have no added value to users or to the site. This is one of those changes.

I don't understand why it took so many years and so many hundreds or perhaps thousands of requests and seemed so difficult to implement an edit feature (that every other forum I'd been on in the last 20 odd years managed to include, even the tin pot ones), and then weird stuff like this gets rolled out seemingly overnight - that no-one asked for, that no-one wants, and that ruins the browsing experience for everyone.

It's just such an odd way to operate.

I hope you're listening to your users @KatyMumsnet and @LilyMumsnet!

I used to work in new product development. And part of that job is trying to anticipate consumer needs, generally by doing your research. Then when you develop and launch something, it should fit with those. Then you research again to determine how well you've executed the idea.

So first - what research did you do to determine that people wanted this feature? And now, having launched it, do you really think that a) it was a feature that your users wanted? And b) have you executed it well?

From what I'm reading, the answer to both of those questions is a big fat NO.

It's a terrible idea.

Honestly I’m giving up on MN today. It’s really annoying, I want to read posts sequentially, starting with first and the reload means having to jump all over the place. It makes it almost impossible to follow long threads.

Completely agree with this. But tbh this will finally help me step away from MN. So there is that.

Did you do any UX testing before rolling this out @MNHQ ? It just seems completely incompatible with the way many users prefer to navigate the forums, plus it has broken several other features that people do use.

Do a key stroke level analysis on it MNHQ

MNHQ: "Do what ?"

On the thread about "changing colour" Katymumsnet said: we have tested this internally and with users before releasing as we do with all our releases. Unfortunately there were some small issues we didn't pick up during the testing mainly due to varying devices and internet speeds etc. Everyone's help in spotting these is hugely appreciated.
I'm sorry you're not a fan but as I've said this is about creating a faster and better performing website. I hope we can improve it so that we can achieve this and make it enjoyable for you to use.

Given the number of problems that showed up immediately I'd like to know exactly how much testing was really done though!

It's just awful. The site is virtually unusable.

Please get rid of it!! I absolutely hate it. I use web browser on my laptop and phone, no app. It's bloody awful.

It completely defeats the purpose of a discussion forum, you open a longer thread and all you get is essentially the first and last post, you basically have to reload the whole page to only get a few posts before the last anyway. How are you meant to follow the discussion if it’s ceased to exist unless you reload posts several times…

I'm sorry you're not a fan but as I've said this is about creating a faster and better performing website. I hope we can improve it so that we can achieve this and make it enjoyable for you to use.

Improve it = MN way of saying it's not going anywhere

They're going to do one of two things:

1. Keep tinkering with it. While repeatedly asking users for their device details and if they've cleared their cache

2. Ignore the problem and hope users stop complaining about it.