Onboarding, or improving the new user experience

[animats]

Recently I was looking at mesh bodies for men, and looked around for an in-world tutorial. None at Linden help islands. None at Firestorm help islands. None at New Citizens. New Resident Island, though, just recently installed a tutorial, "My First Mesh Body".

Start here to look like the ads for SL.

This just became available; a few days ago it was in a skybox reachable through a hard to find teleport, but now it's in the mall at New Resident Island. And it's been upgraded for Bakes on Mesh. If you go through the tutorial, you come out wearing the Ruth open source avatar. There's no tutorial for men yet, although the companion Roth open source avatar is available. ($1 on Marketplace.)

As far as I know, this is the only tutorial in-world that covers the current BOM avatar system. It assumes you don't have an existing wardrobe to adapt, which is the complicated part of BOM.

It's so much simpler to explain when it doesn't have to be backwards-compatible. Compare that big flowchart Slink gives out on making Omega, BOM, and Slink play well together.

This is forward progress. Congratulations to New Resident Island.

[animats]

These are your options, n00b! You'll look like this and like it! This is the message from Linden Help Island Public2.

This Exit point does nothing.

Muwhahaha! You thought you could get out of here and explore? No! You're trapped here! There's no exit! We have you now!

New zero-day users are arriving at this place about once every two minutes. It's not an unused sim, it's a forgotten, broken part of the onboarding process. Wonder why new users aren't staying? Much of that may be due to bad initial experiences like this.

Needs improvement.

 

[Mollymews]

1 hour ago, animats said:

 

This Exit point does nothing.

the exit sign used to give a Landmark to an Infohub when these style of Help Islands were in the on-boarding path - not since about 2008.  The path was [ Starter/Welcome island ] > [Orientation island] > [ [Inworld Infohub] or [Help Island > Inworld Infohub] ].  The green exit sign at the Help Island would give a Landmark to a Infohub

the Orientation islands also had two Exit boards at the end of the path.  One board would give Landmarks to Infohubs. The other board would give Landmark to Help Island.  Can see these in the Temple at the end of the path on Orientation Island Public (dunno if they still work tho)

when Linden  Experiences came then Landmark boards got obsoleted and replaced by Portals

a thing about Orientation and Help Island Public is that they weren't directly in the new resident on-boarding path. To get to them people had to either find them in Search or World Map. If they did this to get there then they could exit/go somewhere else doing the same thing

the onboarding Starter/Orientation/Help islands were closed  to all except new residents (until they exited to the Inworld), Second Life Mentors and Linden staff. In the heyday of new signups 2007/2008 there were 22 Linden dedicated onboarding paths. And when they used to get full (which they did often in those days) then the overflow were dropped straight into the Infohubs

[Solar Legion]

Oh for the ...

Help and Orientation Island Public are both archived/historical versions of an "onboarding" process that does not exist anymore and should not be used or thought of as any sort of example for the present process.

[animats]

7 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

Oh for the ...

Help and Orientation Island Public are both archived/historical versions of an "onboarding" process that does not exist anymore and should not be used or thought of as any sort of example for the present process.

That surprised me, too. I was just flying over the public Linden sims in north Sansara to see what had moved to the cloud. (Denby just went to AWS.) There were people at those old abandoned hubs. So I went to take a look. They're getting new users from somewhere. More than Caledon Oxbridge gets. Somewhere, something is sending zero-day new users there.

[Maitimo]

13 minutes ago, animats said:

That surprised me, too. I was just flying over the public Linden sims in north Sansara to see what had moved to the cloud. (Denby just went to AWS.) There were people at those old abandoned hubs. So I went to take a look. They're getting new users from somewhere. More than Caledon Oxbridge gets. Somewhere, something is sending zero-day new users there.

The Public Help Island was NEVER a place where new residents started. The real starter islands were closed to the public and are long-gone, replaced with whatever the new ones are now.

Public Help Island was meant to be a place for people who wanted to go back after they had left. THAT is the one you've seen. Those people you see there are there because they teleported there on purpose. They probably searched for "help".

Edited October 4, 2020 by Maitimo

[Mollymews]

15 minutes ago, animats said:

There were people at those old abandoned hubs. So I went to take a look. They're getting new users from somewhere. More than Caledon Oxbridge gets. Somewhere, something is sending zero-day new users there.

if brandnew people are being sent there directly then what is happening is that the Linden onboarding regions currently online are full. For the overflow of new signups, OIP/HIP/HIP2 are in the same category as Linden Welcome Areas and Infohubs

[ItHadToComeToThis]

But still, I love my system clothing.

[Rowan Amore]

8 minutes ago, ItHadToComeToThis said:

But still, I love my system clothing.

They had to use the word "suck"?   Adhere perhaps would have been better? Anything but suck.

[animats]

16 minutes ago, Mollymews said:

if brandnew people are being sent there directly then what is happening is that the Linden onboarding regions currently online are full.

 

26 minutes ago, Maitimo said:

Those people you see there are there because they teleported there on purpose. They probably searched for "help".

Ah. A picture is starting to emerge of how those lost souls end up in limbo.

[animats]

Just now, RowanMinx said:

They had to use the word "suck"?   Adhere perhaps would have been better? Anything but suck.

They did a modern mesh tutorial. NRI's text and graphics could use some polishing, but they're doing good work. I've been after the Caledon people to do something like this.

It expresses the idea well, too. With classic avatars, you had all those system clothing layers other than skin (dress, coat, etc.). With BOM mesh, the classic stuff is applied (I think) only to the bare skin. Dresses and coats must be separate rigged mesh. So it's simpler now. You layer the skintight stuff on the bare body, then put on some clothes. And it's good to see it expressed that way. Much of the BOM info is "how to bang on your existing mesh avatars and wardrobe to make them play with bakes on mesh", which gets complicated. For a new user, that's unnecessary.

[Rowan Amore]

1 minute ago, animats said:

They did a modern mesh tutorial. NRI's text and graphics could use some polishing, but they're doing good work. I've been after the Caledon people to do something like this.

It expresses the idea well, too. With classic avatars, you had all those system clothing layers other than skin (dress, coat, etc.). With BOM mesh, the classic stuff is applied (I think) only to the bare skin. Dresses and coats must be separate rigged mesh. So it's simpler now. You layer the skintight stuff on the bare body, then put on some clothes. And it's good to see it expressed that way. Much of the BOM info is "how to bang on your existing mesh avatars and wardrobe to make them play with bakes on mesh", which gets complicated. For a new user, that's unnecessary.

Which is awesome but the wording could have been better.  Applied to, adheres to, lays directly on..maybe they had misplaced their thesaurus.  It doesn't sound at all.professional.

[Rolig Loon]

8 minutes ago, RowanMinx said:

the wording could have been better.

spewed ... blown on ... slathered ... plated ... fused ... annealed ... 

[Rowan Amore]

41 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

spewed ... blown on ... slathered ... plated ... fused ... annealed ... 

"painted", layered, set on....at first glance, it looked like they just said. The textures suck.

[animats]

50 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

spewed ... blown on ... slathered ... plated ... fused ... annealed ... 

This is bikeshedding. My point is that the new user experience can be improved, but new users are being sent to some limbo place from SL ancient history by mistake.

What I hear from talking to new users are two big questions. 1) What do I do now? 2) How do I fix this $$#%* &%! clothing problem. #1 is inherent in what SL is, but #2 is mostly an onboarding problem. Some people get really upset at a broken appearance. Their whole self-image is damaged.

As I've said in another topic, the single biggest thing I've found it useful to tell new users is that once they get a reasonable look, save it. Then they can go back, and the risk of appearance disaster is much reduced. They can then try things without fear. Somehow, none of the tutorials emphasize this.

[Rowan Amore]

What about a more interactive tutorial?  You must complete tutorial/task #1 before you can proceed to the next.  A video of how to inbox..then you inbox and only then do you move on to the next.  Covering the basic of appearance, the same thing.  Open inventory, see what is worn, detach this, add that.  Only after completing all can you move off into the world.  I recall my first time in.  I read maybe the first couple then off I went.  I'm sure a lot are the same way now and there is way more to learn.  

Ive helped out a lot of people over the years.  It can be time consuming and often it seems as if they're not focused on what you're saying.  Making it mandatory to complete a basic tutorial (as in actually doing it before moving on) seems like a good idea to me.

[Mollymews]

4 hours ago, animats said:

As I've said in another topic, the single biggest thing I've found it useful to tell new users is that once they get a reasonable look, save it. Then they can go back, and the risk of appearance disaster is much reduced. They can then try things without fear. Somehow, none of the tutorials emphasize this.

Linden moved from inworld tutorials (like is found on Help Island Public and Orientation Island Public) when context sensitive help came with Viewer 2 back in 2010

the main problem with people generally, not just in SL, is that they don't/won't/can't read the manual. For those that can't then is where helpy people can be useful. There is not a lot of that can be done to help those who don't/won't

 

[animats]

4 hours ago, RowanMinx said:

You must complete tutorial/task #1 before you can proceed to the next.

That's a bit too control-oriented. But having tutorials for specific goals which involve doing various steps is useful. Like the one at the top of this topic, "Your First Mesh Body". Each tutorial should give the user something upon completion. Think carrot, not stick.

Quote

It can be time consuming and often it seems as if they're not focused on what you're saying.

One of the Caledon helpers made a similar remark as we watched some people running through the Caledon tutorial at high speed. When they hit a problem, though, you can get their attention.

Quote

Linden moved from inworld tutorials (like is found on Help Island Public and Orientation Island Public) when context sensitive help came with Viewer 2 back in 2010

What passes for "context sensitive help" in the viewer is not all that helpful to users with clothing problems.

Edited October 4, 2020 by animats

[Qie Niangao]

11 hours ago, animats said:

It's so much simpler to explain when it doesn't have to be backwards-compatible. Compare that big flowchart Slink gives out on making Omega, BOM, and Slink play well together.

Yeah, but unfortunately all that complexity is just below the surface, so new users won't need it until the moment they encounter any content originally made for the still semi-compatible avatars of old. (... or until they encounter content that tries to work around the lack of materials baking in BOM, for example.)

In passing, and just to close the loop, this thread is about #7 on @davidventer's recent "long hiatus" thread.

And I still believe that this process will remain a maze of twisty little passages until the UI only shows customization controls that work on the currently worn avatar. Either the avatars must be 100% standardized, or the UI must be responsive to non-standard avatars that are 100% standardized in interacting with those controls (or equivalently the built-in controls—the dreaded sliders—must be exposed for use in avatar-specific customization interfaces).

Edited October 4, 2020 by Qie Niangao
(n., "workaround"; v., "work around")

[Mollymews]

1 hour ago, animats said:

What passes for "context sensitive help" in the viewer is not all that helpful to users with clothing problems.

it is helpful when a person does actually read it

fro example: context sensitive help for Edit Outfit

Quote

Changing your appearance

 

 

See also:

• My Appearance - Wearing
• My Appearance - Edit Outfit

In the Knowledge Base:

• Outfits
• Shopping
• Creating Clothing and Tattoos

The MY OUTFITS tab shows all the outfits you have. Right-click on an outfit (or click  ) and choose an option to wear an outfit, create new outfits, or modify your outfits.

Click WEARING to see what you are currently wearing.

What your avatar can wear

• Body parts - Shape, skin, hair, and eyes item types. Each has a unique icon in your inventory. You must always be wearing one of each type, which means you can't take off a body part, but can replace it with another.
• Mesh clothing - Assorted types, and like body parts, each has a unique icon. Clothing layers allow for transparency, which means you can wear an open jacket over an undershirt and the latter is partially visible. There's also a special alpha layer that can selectively render parts of your avatar invisible. This is useful for creative purposes, like being a ghost or a non-humanoid.
• Attachments - Objects made out of prims designed to be worn. Necklaces, watches, and non-mesh hair and skirts. Attachment creators almost always pre-designate an attach point so you can simply wear it. For example, a hat usually goes on your skull.

Here, you can unwear items by right-clicking any item and choosing Take Off (if it's a clothing item) or Detach From Yourself (if it's an attached object).

Wearing clothes

You can wear a clothing item (or change a body part) in your inventory by double-clicking the item. Its name becomes bold and (worn) appears next to it. Wait a few seconds for it to appear on your avatar. It will be fuzzy at first, then sharpens.

Wearing attachments

Right-click an object in your inventory and choose Wear to attach it to the default attach spot. If you'd prefer to override this, choose Attach To and choose another attach spot. (Normally you don't need to do this, unless you're experienced at customizing your avatar.)

Tip: Every object can be worn as an attachment, but not every object is designed to be worn as an attachment.

For more information, see Avatar attachments in the Second Life Knowledge Base.

Editing appearance

To change your appearance:

• Choose Me menu > My Appearance or
• Right-click your avatar and choose My Appearance.

Choose an item under the Body Parts or Clothes headers, then drag the sliders to preview changes. You can also click the preview squares to increment the sliders in values of 10. Some items have squares to change textures and tint. If you can't change an item, it's because it's no-modify.

When you're happy with changes to an item, click Save.

You can also make an outfit folder with links to everything you're wearing by clicking Make Outfit and entering a name. Outfits appear in MY APPEARANCE - MY OUTFITS, and allow you to retrieve an avatar look quickly. For example, you can transform from casual clothes to a formal gown in seconds.

For more information, see How do I change my avatar's appearance?.

The Library

The Library is a special folder in your inventory. It contains stock content added by Linden Lab including useful examples of content, such as more avatars. You can't modify the Library. To see the Library:

1. Click the  My Inventory button to show your inventory.
2. Scroll down to the bottom and double-click the Library folder to expand it.
3. Open the Clothing folder to show various avatar folders.
4. Wear an avatar folder by dragging it on top of your avatar inworld — but make sure you've saved your current outfit first!

it mentions twice to Save your outfit

then there are the links that explain what all the buttons/options are. Like this:

Quote

My Appearance - Edit Outfit

 

 

Each wearable type is shown in its own section. Click  Collapse and  Expand to show or hide each section.

Expand a wearable section to view Clothing, Attachments, or Body Parts.

Remove from outfit

Enabled for worn items. Click to remove item from current outfit.

Edit

Enabled when an item includes modify permission. Opens the Editing window for the selected item.

Add

Enabled for avatar Clothing items not worn. Click to add a clothing item for the selected type to your avatar outfit. Opens the Add More... section with inventory items listed matching the selected clothing type.

Lock

Enabled when an item does not include modify permission.

Options

Add More...

Opens or closes inventory wearable item folders or wearable item list for a selected wearable type.

Wearable Filter

Dropdown of inventory wearables filtered by type.

Search

Opens the wearables search filter. Type into the search field to filter the list of wearables.

Actions

Click  Gear menu to choose these options:

New Clothes

Expands list of new clothing options. Click a new clothing item from the list to open the editing window for that clothing type.

New Body Parts

Expands list of new body parts. Click a new body part from the list to open the editing window for that body part type.

Buttons

Shop

Click to open the Second Life Marketplace web page.

Save

Saves changes to your current outfit. Click  Up Arrow and choose Save As to save changes as a new outfit.

Undo Changes

Reverts all unsaved changes back to original settings.

and links to wiki and knowledge base articles which give more in-depth explanations. Like the link in the context sensitive help to this one for example:

 

 

 

[Rowan Amore]

4 hours ago, Mollymews said:

Linden moved from inworld tutorials (like is found on Help Island Public and Orientation Island Public) when context sensitive help came with Viewer 2 back in 2010

the main problem with people generally, not just in SL, is that they don't/won't/can't read the manual. For those that can't then is where helpy people can be useful. There is not a lot of that can be done to help those who don't/won't

 

It can be daunting seeing a wall/page of text.  I also realize insisting someone complete one task before moving to the next may not be the answer.  Do they have videos along with text at the help areas?  Seeing something being done is often much easier to learn than reading about it.  Even if the video is in English, those who speak another language could see it being done.

[Solar Legion]

This is a "problem" that has existed since well before Second Life was even in development. The average user isn't (not can't or simply won't) going to bother with instructions or tutorials and then they will complain or beg for help later.

No, the answer is not making things simpler for them. They need to learn how to do things and ask questions. There's plenty I still don't know - I go looking for the information, asking for help or otherwise figure it out on my own. 

Yes yes, everyone is different ... In this instance, I really don't care.

As for the standardization of bodies and such that was carried over into this thread? No. That ship sailed a while back and doing as was suggested elsewhere (which included the removal of the existing system level tools/bodies) would break far more than it fixed.

[Silent Mistwalker]

14 hours ago, RowanMinx said:

They had to use the word "suck"?   Adhere perhaps would have been better? Anything but suck.

 I think apply would have worked better. They are textures that are applied [directly] to the mesh body.

[Rowan Amore]

1 minute ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

 I think apply would have worked better. They are textures that are applied [directly] to the mesh body.

The only reason I even mentioned it was because it didn't sound very professional and if I had been reading it myself as a newbie, I'd have wondered who the heck they had writing these things and if I should take the seriously.

[Silent Mistwalker]

12 hours ago, RowanMinx said:

What about a more interactive tutorial?  You must complete tutorial/task #1 before you can proceed to the next.  A video of how to inbox..then you inbox and only then do you move on to the next.  Covering the basic of appearance, the same thing.  Open inventory, see what is worn, detach this, add that.  Only after completing all can you move off into the world.  I recall my first time in.  I read maybe the first couple then off I went.  I'm sure a lot are the same way now and there is way more to learn.  

Ive helped out a lot of people over the years.  It can be time consuming and often it seems as if they're not focused on what you're saying.  Making it mandatory to complete a basic tutorial (as in actually doing it before moving on) seems like a good idea to me.

Way back in ancient history that is exactly how the Gauntlet (as we used to call it) was set up. You had to complete a tut before you could move on to the next. LL needs to go back to that.