Quality Suggestions/Feedback
This thread is for posting any ideas or constructive feedback you may have! Things you'd like to see, things you think might help, things you think aren't working quite right but have constructive feedback for, etc. For questions, please post them in the Quality Questions thread. Thank you!
@EvelyneRose one more distinctive color for the "busy" statut in the 1-on-1 chat, i want my regular members being able to see when i am on site and available for them, but not accepting new members (vs online), because i reserve times when my regular members have priority for chat versus taking new members. the orange is very similar to red offline statut and my members dont always see when i am on busy vs offline.
@vivelespatates
Like a purple?
@EvelyneRose @Rarelycharlie recommended shapes along(?) with the colours a while ago. I like that idea a lot.
@AffyAvo Yes, that was a while ago. I suggested using shape along with clearer colours, implemented my design, and published the code on March 13th 2016. Back then it looked like this in colour and monochrome. The original forum discussion seems to be lost:
Since then 7 Cups has changed the design two or three times without ever fixing the problem.
In June 2018 a developer known here as @SnugglyNarwhal was assigned to work on the issue, and there was further forum discussion: Updated Listener Icon Poll
I proposed an even clearer design:
But even though a 7 Cups developer had been assigned to work on it, nothing was ever implemented.
(If anyone ever wonders why I sometimes remark on 7 Cups' resistance to change, this kind of saga is the reason.)
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie love the idea for shapes, definitely would make it easier. in your example though the grey and orange are already more different color than the red or orange and would already be better..
I been noticing whenever the gr Goes really over 20 there is a panic over will all these gr Get taking. New or some listeners get idea that they need a lot of chats to take care of that get ls to take more chats. I think if there is some way to display or have it some where that listener see would like help like there is many listeners on line Alll the gr requests will be taking would be helpful
sunshine
@Raysofsunshineandrainbow2005 that is true people focus on number of requests more than the average waiting time which is rarely over 2 min. maybe even the bar could change from green to orange when the waiting time is over 2 minutes instead than based on "10+ requests"
Maybe having a easier way to find. Out what to do if some in. Crisis like active sh or The s one. That seems like a lot of l ask what to when that happens.
i did not want to tigger any one that why I did not s words or whole sh thing
thanks
sunshine
@Raysofsunshineandrainbow2005
Hi Ray! Thanks for the suggestions. Like something in the new listener primer?
@Raysofsunshineandrainbow2005 I agree its very hard to navigate on the site for a new member or listener. 7cups is very resourful place with much links, documents and wonderful forums, but its very hard, even for the most experienced of us who use the site daily, to find what we need quickly.
the trainings for listeners (in training section (Listener only link) could and should be different from the self help guides for members (they are already listed as different menu and are on a different page but content is a duplicate) and the trainings should focus more on "how handle chats on xxx topic" (same like those I still suggest to my mentees and are listed here (Listener only link) even if kinda outdated it could be a good opportunity to update it too).
Of course, It could definitely includes the informations from the listener primer on the training page and/or be part of the progress path.
@EvelyneRose
Hi there!
I want to share my feedback on a couple of quality issues I noticed in relation to the last AMA with therapists, hosted on the 14th-16th September. Link here: https://www.7cups.com/forum/7CupsOnlineTherapyInformationDiscussion_157/AMAwiththe7CupsTherapists_1133/AMAaskmeanythingSeptember1416thwiththerapistsRoryandStacy_228530/1/
Issue 1
What happened: Posts from members were expected to receive an answer following the order of posting, as stated in the description of the event. This did not happen though. Therapists replied earlier to later posts. No explanation was offered as for why this happened.
Problem: members may feel unheard and think their questions are perceived as unimportant or less important/less interesting.
Solution 1: questions should be answered in the order received.
Solution 2: therapists could reply with a short message if they feel another colleague may be better equipped to answer a specific question. Something along these lines, for instance: Hi there, thank you for your question. As it falls more in @nameofothertherapists area of expertise, I will let them reply to you.
Issue 2
What happened: Several posts from members were left unanswered (and still are), despite their being posted in time. These posts not only saw later ones being 'preferred', but also got dismissed.
Problem: as above, members may feel unheard and think their questions are perceived as unimportant or less important/less interesting.
Solution 1: ensure that all questions posted in time get an answer.
Solution 2: Reduce the AMA to one or two days only, instead of three, if the amount of questions received by therapists is too high.
Solution 3: Fix a set amount of questions that will receive a reply (for instance: this AMA will give the first 30 queries the opportunity to receive an answer from a 7cups therapist)
Solution 4: Give more time to therapists to reply, up to two weeks for instance.
Solution 5: Run AMAs that are topic-restricted, for instance: AMA on depression, AMA on anxiety, AMA on grief etc.
Solution 6: if the questions of the last AMA are bound to remain unanswered, an apology and possibly an explanation as to what went wrong could be (and in my humble opinion, should be) offered.
I hope I made myself clear enough, please tag me if you want me to expand on a specific point 
A big thank you to the therapists who volunteer their time to AMAs
I said it from the beggining:
- member to member sessions with all safety in place for blocking or etc.
- relevant check in content. Much of the content in check-ins are not tailored to the subject and sometimes totally out of whack. That happens alot in delression but in most forums too. If you are responsible, take the time to taylor your posts to the theme.
- personal freedom to safety rather than someone banning people. Give rights to users of all kinds to block users or contents that they do not like while not banning someone.
- deficiency due to listeners seeking personal gain points and hyeratchy and badges etc. To the detriment of paying attention and caring for members. The rewarding mechanism is sadly based on educational systems rewarding the person itself not the good they have done...result: listener actibity just based on rewards with totall disregard to members.
- i was appalled how 7cups took the call of the "covid" without time to dig and investigate deeper, that is a shame that will stay with the site...
- discrimination of mental disordered members...the mentally disordered people that are convinient to your goals are ok, the rest of mentally disordered people are banned or shunned...I remind you that this site is meant to be dedicated for those in mental need not for people in need of personal carreer of affiemation or leaders...silent helpers are modest and never trumpet their helping effort. Helping is personal and discreet, not a show or a competition...
- ....
I been here For 9 months mostly on other accout but had to start over.
what I have noticed in my 9 months here. There are some members go though the gr bout over 5 times to find the right listener. That must be frustrating to have go though gr so many times to find the right listenet. There must be a way to help them find the right listener without having them go though the gr so many times
@specialPurple1582 Yes, most of the time the system (the website) could find them a good listener immediately. We have so many listeners that it would not be a problem. The problem is that 7 Cups doesn't want to do that, and doesn't want to explain why.
Charlie
Hello and happy holidays!
First of all, I apologise in advance if this isn't the correct place to post some or perhaps even all of these suggestions.
So now...
On with the suggestions!
1) Since we have many members from all around the globe, I'm thiking if instead of using EST or some other inclusive timezone name, we can switch to GMT/UTC instead. I believe most people will find it easier because they ought to know in which UTC timezone they are - in contrast to the condition where not everybody remember ET or EST is UTC plus or minus how many hours. Even though the time converter machine is provided, I think it still would be quicker to do it by memory of GMT.
2) I understand this one is perhaps technical so maybe I should suggest in another place, but I can't seem to find a more appropriate page. Could you please pass the suggestion of adding searching page/message by key words? I have to say the organisation of 7 Cups, as awesome as this site is, is not easy to navigate particularly for newbies. In my opinion, a key words-search (something like Startpage or Google) should help.
3) This may be technical as well. When we try to unlock or join something, sometimes there are badges required. Is it possible to inform users (both listeners and members) how many items are still left to do? I mean, for instance, someone needs a badge which can be earned by completing 5 chats - now, that person is likely to ask, "How many chats have I actually completed? How many more do I need?" (And perhaps even, "How would a chat considered to be 'complete'? If it's over X messages? Or if it's over Y minutes?")
Well! That's all I can think of currently.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
@11820Read I think this is a good place to post suggestions 
1) I agree that time zones are a problem, but I think the best way to deal with it is for the website to do the conversion internally, and display local time to each user wherever they are. In practice this is pretty simple to do, and it means no one has to know about UTC.
2) I agree that searching for information at 7 Cups can be difficult. I'm not sure why 7 Cups has hidden most of the site from the normal search engines. I think it might be a way to control the search results in order to get more clicks. 7 Cups' own search could easily be improved, though.
3) I agree again. It would be good if we could all see which badges we are on the way towards earning, and how far there is to go.
By the way, a standard "chat" is usually said to be 30 messages in total (sent plus received), regardless of the time spent. If you keep chatting, every 30 messages counts as another "chat".
Although it's always interesting to discuss suggestions, it seems to me that strong resistance to change has always been an underlying problem at 7 Cups. Suggestions from the community are almost never implemented, and the things that are implemented have almost never been suggested by the community.
When the new app has been released ("real soon now", we're told) maybe there might be some resource available to improve other things about 7 Cups, or maybe the resistance to change will continue. Maybe the new app itself will help to restore overall levels of activity, or maybe not.
Charlie
I think the unwritten rule of Lsr should be put In the rule list.
no sharing of usernames
I see people sharing user names a lot so I thought it would be nice for. Listener to see that rule also when cs oe chatroom mentor tells them the rule.
thanks
@Colorfulcatsofhope I thinkyou will find that Rule 7 covers this
- Be Safe: Do not ask for or share social media, personal contact and confidential information about fellow listeners or members (this includes revealing your member account, or talking about others listeners who are not present, or anyone's username).
I don't know where else to write this.
For a site that partakes in research we have so very little surveys. My suggestion is this: Make a section that makes people fill surveys. Sell the info in those surveys (not without telling the participants exactly how their replies will be used of course) or share with research programs and use that income to fund the site. Users who fill a lot of surveys would be rewarded. There would be different levels of anonymity or different types of surveys. The user would be able to see that level and pick the ones that best suits their prefrence.
This way those of us who can't donate can help fund the site as well.
@bluelotus99 I think that could work, if there was complete transparency about how the personal data is used. I suppose there might also be legal issues.
However, complete transparency has always been something that 7 Cups has found challenging, so it might be difficult to achieve.
Charlie
I'm not sure where else to post this, so I consider this forum as the most appropriate - maybe we can call this a project suggestion.
I've noticed for some time that Long-Time Listeners is a popular feature seek by many members, particularly new members (who we can assume are not very familiar with navigating 7Cups). The problem is that, there is no real/true support for this feature. To my best understanding, there are only two ways of searching long-time listeners: (1) members must go to Browse Listeners page and then filter the listeners by using a checkbox, AND (2) members must post in "What is a Long-Time Listener?" page.
As far as I know, not many listeners actively and frequently check the post mentioned above (the second option). As for the first way, I'd say this is quite a burden for members who are already in depression, anxiety, or any other condition: they need a reliable shoulder to rest soon, but instead, they are given extra work in order to receive the help they badly need.
Thus, my suggestion would be to have a form where members can simply fill in, including stating which topics they would like to discuss about and their timezones. Later on, they can be matched with a committed long-term, verified listeners who offer help with the topics the members have chosen and who live in a similar timezone. This matching process can, I believe, be performed using a machine or something like that (please pardon that I'm not so good at technology and its terms).
Thank you in advance for considering this suggestion and put it into real action.
@11820Read There's another way: (3) a member can find a good listener first by trial and error, then ask that listener if they would agree to regular chats.
I think using a form could work, but members would have to find the form—we have so many forms!—and someone would have to administer the system. At present we struggle to reply in a reasonable time to members who ask questions in the forum. The Needs Reply list had more than 200 threads in it when I looked this morning.
You're right—the matching could be automated, but historically 7 Cups has always resisted using technology for the benefit of members, so I think it's unlikely such a thing will ever be implemented.
You're also right to point out that there is no true support for long term listening. Originally it was a very formal arrangement, but that idea didn't work out and it was abandoned. The members I have supported over extended periods have all had different needs, so I don't think any one-size-fits-all approach is ever going to work well.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
That's a good point about the third way. I'd say though, the downside would remain - that distressed members who need verified, long-term support ASAP are forced to do "homework" first. Besides, as I'm sure you understand since you've replied to numerous posts complaining about this issue, many find this discouraging.
As a dedicated listener who has been on this site longer than I have, may I know any suggestion(s) on this problem you have in mind? I think it might be much more effective than mine.
@11820Read I think "forced" is putting it a little strongly. Someone might click Connect Now, get a random listener who happens to be wonderful, and immediately make an arrangement to chat regularly. No homework!
This isn't reliable, of course. But nothing is reliable about finding the right listener.
I think maybe my ideal is that every listener is a good listener (because the selection and training is so good), and every listener can provide long-term support (if that's what the member wants).
But that's not really a practical suggestion. 7 Cups would fiercely resist those changes. I don't really have more detailed suggestions, because I don't think a discussion in the forum is unlikely to achieve anything.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
I agree with you that it'd be ideal that "every listener is a good listener". I'm sorry if I hurt you or any other listener here because of my negative experiences with some listeners I chatted with through the Connect Now feature. (Spoiler: they ghosted after only asking "what happened".)
I also do indeed remember you posted somewhere here on 7Cups mentioning that there are currently enough listeners around and thus the training should be shifted to focus on the quality instead of quantity. I agree fully with this idea and hope that it can be realised. If this is successful, then the ideal of "every listener is a good listener" really can come true.
Thank you for taking some time to discuss with me regarding this.
@11820Read
Good suggestion1 What about if they were able to search for verified listeners and as charlie says, seeing if they'd do long term support? Not every listener does.
@EvelyneRose
Hi! I think it should be fine, too, and easy to apply because both features (as well as the topics which each listener take) can be filtered when browsing for listeners.
In my opinion, the only problem now seems to be the sorting system. I'm not sure why, but even if I've filtered listeners based on their topics, cheers, long-term, and verification, the list still doesn't show all listeners that fit these requests; in addition, it still shows listeners which do not fit (often because they're currently online). Maybe this is something our smart Tech Team can try to fix.
(So, instead of featuring online listeners after these criterias are filtered, the list would show only those who fit. If the criterias are too specific, then it's better for the list to simply state something like, "We are sorry, we cannot seem to find a listener which meets all of your criterias." Online listeners who do not meet the criterias would not be listed this way; instead, members need to clear some or all of the filters in order to meet them.)
@11820Read If it can't find any listener who matches the criteria, it does in fact say:
Uh Oh!
We’re sorry, we couldn’t find any active Listeners matching that search. Please try reducing filter options to find an active Listener to contact.
The Sort By has always been broken. I assume no one knows how to fix it.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
Ah I see now! No wonder it always seems to not sorting according to cheers or alphabetic screen name whenever I try so. Thank you for clarifying the issue for me.