Notes on the WelcomeHub

[Rowan Amore]

11 minutes ago, Robberinthemuseum said:

Yeah but if somebody spent even ten minutes talking with you they would be completely hooked and never leave sl. The right stuff is being welcoming and entertaining to be around. Everything else you can learn from a youtube vid. XD

 

That's what my intention is at the Social area.  

[Love Zhaoying]

17 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

That's what my intention is at the Social area.  

People like you and Rolig know what you're doing!

 

[Luna Bliss]

17 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

32 minutes ago, Robberinthemuseum said:

Yeah but if somebody spent even ten minutes talking with you they would be completely hooked and never leave sl. The right stuff is being welcoming and entertaining to be around. Everything else you can learn from a youtube vid. XD

 

That's what my intention is at the Social area. 

That's great, Rowan. Would you be willing to 'take them under your wing', so to speak, beyond the brief periods of help at the Welcome area?

I might do that...personally mentor a couple of people again. I like helping, being a teacher. I remember this one guy I helped who was enthralled with terraforming, and loved that someone was helping him learn this. He was like hyper and so excited, running around making all these tunnels in the terrain, and mountains.... it was fun to watch.

[Luna Bliss]

12 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

People like you and Rolig know what you're doing!

Maybe you would run into a newbie interested in scripting!

[Rat Luv]

My first ever 'mentor' (who I met in Freebie Galaxy, lol) told me "Rez your popgun!" and taught me how to change the 'bullet' for a taxi...I suppose that was my first scripting lesson 🤣

[Rat Luv]

Anyway, I agree, I think Love and Rowan would be great mentors. Maybe Robber too 😀

[Luna Bliss]

3 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

Anyway, I agree, I think Love and Rowan would be great mentors. Maybe Robber too 😀

I think you would too, Rat Luv.

[Rat Luv]

Just now, Luna Bliss said:

I think you would too, Rat Luv.

Aww thanks, but I'm too lazy...lol...and still COMPLETELY clueless about mesh avatars 😬

[Luna Bliss]

2 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

Aww thanks, but I'm too lazy...lol...and still COMPLETELY clueless about mesh avatars 😬

haha I barely get by with my mesh avatar, keep losing my body and I'm all deformed, freaking out because I'm supposed to be @ some class and look all weird. So I change into my baby elephant or butterfly...

The thing is, quite often the best teachers aren't people who know everything, rather they are the people who know how to connect someone to those who know more than they do.

[Katherine Heartsong]

18 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

Anyway, I agree, I think Love and Rowan would be great mentors. Maybe Robber too 😀

I could add at least a half dozen more names to that list, and agree with these two as well.

Sadly, I don't think on-boarding is the major thing about growing SL and retaining users long term. It's a good start, but the entire user experience needs serious work, and there is a massive gap between expectations and reality of SL that needs to be narrowed.

I wish I was privy to the UX research and numbers. But I've spent 30+ years doing this and am getting tired, and have stopped volunteering in this area. Too much left to do, too little time now.

(Also, for the love of everything holy, stop using typefaces from the 90s in world thinking they're cool. A modern, clean san-serif would be much better and more usable in more instances.)

Edited July 18, 2023 by Katherine Heartsong
spelling, as usual

[Rowan Amore]

32 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

That's great, Rowan. Would you be willing to 'take them under your wing', so to speak, beyond the brief periods of help at the Welcome area?

I might do that...personally mentor a couple of people again. I like helping, being a teacher. I remember this one guy I helped who was enthralled with terraforming, and loved that someone was helping him learn this. He was like hyper and so excited, running around making all these tunnels in the terrain, and mountains.... it was fun to watch.

I did that for years but I no longer have the time nor patience for it.  I wish I did.  I'd have joined the mentor program.

I do Social (chatting) much better so I'll leave the mentoring to the mentors.  

[AmeliaJ08]

.

Edited July 18, 2023 by AmeliaJ08

[Luna Bliss]

6 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Sadly, I don't think on-boarding is the major thing about growing SL and retaining users long term. It's a good start, but the entire user experience needs serious work, and there is a massive gap between expectations and reality of SL that needs to be narrowed.

Can you talk more about that (if it can be condensed into a paragraph)...the massive gap between expectations and reality?

[Luna Bliss]

4 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

I do Social (chatting) much better so I'll leave the mentoring to the mentors. 

That seems important too...making the world seem friendly and intelligent.

[Katherine Heartsong]

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

Can you talk more about that (if it can be condensed into a paragraph)...the massive gap between expectations and reality?

One of the basic tenets of user experience design is that we are trying to understand and lessen the tension between what a user says they want to do, and what they actually do when we observe users doing tasks and interacting with products or processes. They are rarely the same. That causes the user to experience pain points and get frustrated and either stop doing something, or perhaps fail and associate that thing with a negative life experience.

This same thinking also applies to a user's expectations and reality. What a user expects to happen, versus what does happen when they engage. The difference between this and the tension I spoke of above is that sometimes this one can be a positive thing. For example, a user starts doing a process that goes faster and smoother than they imagined, and conforms to their mental model of how it should have worked. Thus, joy and happiness and they will then be willing to continue to engage with the thing.

It's those expectations that I think are not being met well enough, quickly enough, cheaply enough, partly because SL isn't well defined for a user when they try it. They come in expecting one thing, and find another that is radically different than their expectations. That discourages them. The mentor program is a solution and a small positive step in the right direction that helps mitigate this gap because the mentors can temper these unmet expectations to some degree.

The NUX avatars will also help, though compared to almost every other character/avatar creator in any other 3D game you can name in the past 10 years, SL's avatar model and way of doing things [buying bodies, separate heads, skins etc] is shockingly bad. You should see what upcoming games like Palia, Life by You, Paralives etc avatar creators look like. Heck, even 2017's Sims 4 runs rings around our avatar creation process. Wow.

Honestly, the mentors are as much therapists as teachers .. helping users struggle past the initial shock of landing in SL and having virtually no clue what to do. That is a problem.

But if you look at how SL shows itself off ... the stunning landscaped world views, the handsome avatars, the gorgeous furries, the idea of owning your own home etc ... these things take time and money to learn/earn, and for many new users who are used to more instant gratification, or ways of doing things in 3D worlds (like games etc), and SL isn't like that, they get frustrated and lost.

Furthermore, SL's very slogan for years ... the idea of "Explore, discover, create. New world waiting..." doesn't say anything, really. Explore what? Discover what? Create what? It's generic ... gamers have been exploring, discovering, crafting/creating like that in World of Warcraft etc for 15 years.

The words "New world" sounds like 90s cyberpunk ("a new world awaits you in the off world colonies, the chance the begin again" for all you Bladerunner fans). The new users I think SL wants grew up on FB and Instagram and fast moving social networks and especially modern-looking computer games where gratifications and graphics came fast and furious. That's their mindset and SL is slow and janky looking and, honestly, empty and boring, without any purpose unless you make it yourself. That's the tension. This idea that to find meaning in SL you have to give it meaning is contrary to most entertainment and social things we interact with these days.

Look at the pretty and gorgeous motion scene on their homepage. That's what a user expects ... where do they find that?

Also, promoting remote meetings? On the home page? SL can't compete with MS teams and Slack and Discord for meetings. No one wants 3D meetings, they barely tolerate having to appear in regular meetings. Imagine the possibilities? Look at the image on the homepage. Sure, if you can learn BoM well and have 15K Lindens to spend on that avi, head, skin, purse, and outfit.

The most salient points are finding community and the wide range of possibilities here. But it's hard to find and un-intuitive. You have to be patient and stick with it. Some do, but many don't. Not enough. Something has to create growth. I'm not suggesting gamification but SL needs to absorb the best lessons from games about engagement and somehow apply them in the world better than they are.

There's too much of a gap between the engagement available in other entertainment experiences and SL's. Expectations that SL is as good as these aren't the reality when you arrive, that's the gap.

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

That seems important too...making the world seem friendly and intelligent.

Wait .. do we have to do both of these at the same time? Or can we be intelligent one day and not friendly, and the next day friendly but totally clueless? Asking for a friend.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Katherine Heartsong

[Persephone Emerald]

43 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

[snip]

Sadly, I don't think on-boarding is the major thing about growing SL and retaining users long term. It's a good start, but the entire user experience needs serious work, and there is a massive gap between expectations and reality of SL that needs to be narrowed.

This is where forum members can help. We can help lower the expectations of the newbies as they come in, and thus narrow the gap between their expectations and the reality of SL.  😆

[Love Zhaoying]

2 hours ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

2 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

That seems important too...making the world seem friendly and intelligent.

Wait .. do we have to do both of these at the same time? Or can we be intelligent one day and not friendly, and the next day friendly but totally clueless? Asking for a friend.

I agree, the friendliest people in my experience are NOT intelligent, because they don't know any better than to not be friendly.

For those who may be confused by my statement above: There is more than a little irony intended.

In RL, I have literally known people who tried to convince me "don't be friendly to people, they will immediately know you are a 'mark', or potential victim." @Rowan Amore❤️

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Love Zhaoying

[Ayashe Ninetails]

9 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Look at the pretty and gorgeous motion scene on their homepage. That's what a user expects ... where do they find that?

Agree with absolutely everything you said, but this part stands out especially. We've already had a newbie come and ask where to buy the female furry avatar featured on the homepage. I imagine she didn't expect to hear that that avatar is comprised of approximately *counts*...6-8 different parts sold by different creators scattered across the marketplace and in-world. Knowledge of some basic modding to manually add textures to parts like ears/tails/mouth is also required. Not to mention the purchase of a current up-to-date mesh body.

Fortunately, she found the forum to help direct her to all of the parts, but I wonder if mentors ever have to deal with such questions when players first land in-world at hubs and how they go about figuring that out. I wear furries on occasion and am familiar with a good portion of that mod market and I STILL have to go on epic quests to find specific parts when asked. 😩

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

25 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Look at the pretty and gorgeous motion scene on their homepage. That's what a user expects ... where do they find that?

Agree with absolutely everything you said, but this part stands out especially.

"How come our avatars just stand there, instead of being animated like in that beautiful scene?"  I would expect that question occasionally, too.

[Luna Bliss]

28 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

Can you talk more about that (if it can be condensed into a paragraph)...the massive gap between expectations and reality?

One of the basic tenets of user experience design is that we are trying to understand and lessen the tension between what a user says they want to do, and what they actually do when we observe users doing tasks and interacting with products or processes. They are rarely the same. That causes the user to experience pain points and get frustrated and either stop doing something, or perhaps fail and associate that thing with a negative life experience.

This same thinking also applies to a user's expectations and reality. What a user expects to happen, versus what does happen when they engage. The difference between this and the tension I spoke of above is that sometimes this one can be a positive thing. For example, a user starts doing a process that goes faster and smoother than they imagined, and conforms to their mental model of how it should have worked. Thus, joy and happiness and they will then be willing to continue to engage with the thing.

It's those expectations that I think are not being met well enough, quickly enough, cheaply enough, partly because SL isn't well defined for a user when they try it. They come in expecting one thing, and find another that is radically different than their expectations. That discourages them. The mentor program is a solution and a small positive step in the right direction that helps mitigate this gap because the mentors can temper these unmet expectations to some degree. The NUX avatars will also help, though compared to almost every other character/avatar creator in any other 3D game you can name in the past 10 years, SL's avatar model and way of doing thinbgs [buying bodies etc] is shockingly bad. You should see what upcoming games like Palia, Life by You, Paralives etc avatar creators look like. Wow.

Honestly, the mentors are as much therapists as teachers .. helping users struggle past the initial shock of landing in SL and having virtually no clue what to do. That is a problem.

But if you look at how SL shows itself off ... the stunning landscaped world views, the handsome avatars, the gorgeous furries, the idea of owning your own home etc ... these things take time and money to learn/earn, and for many new users who are used to more instant gratification, or ways of doing things in 3D worlds (like games etc), and SL isn't like that, they get frustrated and lost.

Furthermore, SL's very slogan for years ... the idea of "Explore, discover, create. New world waiting..." doesn't say anything, really. Explore what? Discover what? Create what? It's generic ... gamers have been exploring, discovering, crafting/creating like that in World of Warcraft etc for 15 years.

The words "New world" sounds like 90s cyberpunk ("a new world awaits you in the off world colonies, the chance the begin again" for all you Bladerunner fans). The new users I think SL wants grew up on FB and Instagram and fast moving social networks and especially modern-looking computer games where gratifications and graphics came fast and furious. That's their mindset and SL is slow and janky looking and, honestly, empty and boring, without any purpose unless you make it yourself. That's the tension. This idea that to find meaning in SL you have to give it meaning is contrary to most entertainment and social things we interact with these days.

Look at the pretty and gorgeous motion scene on their homepage. That's what a user expects ... where do they find that?

Also, promoting remote meetings? On the home page? SL can't compete with MS teams and Slack and Discord for meetings. No one wants 3D meetings, they barely tolerate having to appear in regular meetings. Imagine the possibilities? Look at the image on the homepage. Sure, if you can learn BoM well and have 15K Lindens to spend on that avi, head, skin, purse, and outfit.

The most salient points are finding community and the wide range of possibilities here. But it's hard to find and un-intuitive. You have to be patient and stick with it. Some do, but many don't. Not enough. Something has to create growth. I'm not suggesting gamification but SL needs to absorb the best lessons from games about engagement and somehow apply them in the world better than they are.

There's too much of a gap between the engagement available in other entertainment experiences and SL's. Expectations that SL is as good as these aren't the reality when you arrive, that's the gap.

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

That seems important too...making the world seem friendly and intelligent.

Wait .. do we have to do both of these at the same time? Or can we be intelligent one day and not friendly, and the next day friendly but totally clueless? Asking for a friend.

All that makes great sense!

I'm wondering if having something like 'second-level mentors' could help with engagement. The 1st level mentor would assist up to a certain point (the 1st level mentor being assigned upon landing and staying with the new resident beyond the absolute first steps, and so knowing the new resident better).  And then, when the 1st level mentor detected the specific interest of the new resident they could refer to the appropriate 2nd level mentor (often a specialist in their field).  The 1st level mentor could even be taught how to encourage a new resident to 'pick a path'.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Luna Bliss

[Katherine Heartsong]

25 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

This is where forum members can help. We can help lower the expectations of the newbies as they come in, and thus narrow the gap between their expectations and the reality of SL.  😆

I like to use the term "align the expectations" instead of lower, but yes, help them understand what SL has to offer and give them as positive an experience as we can. The mentors, I hope, are helping in that regard.

And I'm hoping no one, including the Lindens who occasionally must read these things, gets me wrong.

I love SL. I can express my art and a second life here. Plus all of you make it amazing. I want SL to grow and be around in 20 years but even more spectacular. But ...

It was partly because of the hurdles to have SL click that the friend I had arriving here three years ago simply left ... the gap I talk about is both a professionally understood one, but also a personal one where a friend left simply because SL was too hard to get.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Katherine Heartsong

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Luna Bliss said:

I'm wondering if having something like 'second-level mentors' could help with engagement.

I believe, in order to contact the "second-level mentors", the new users are required to chop down the largest shrubbery in Bellisseria with a Herring, and present the shrubbery to them as Tribute.

[Katherine Heartsong]

2 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I believe, in order to contact the "second-level mentors", the new users are required to chop down the largest shrubbery in Bellisseria with a Herring, and present the shrubbery to them as Tribute.

Not too tall.

[Luna Bliss]

35 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Something has to create growth. I'm not suggesting gamification but SL needs to absorb the best lessons from games about engagement and somehow apply them in the world better than they are.

Do you have any ideas regarding this?  My first thoughts are that SL is not a game and so anything learned in game engagement can't apply.  However, I know very little about games, my primary experience being shooting clay pots in VR.

My fears, however, as expressed elsewhere, are that LL is now attempting to turn SL into a game.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Luna Bliss

[Love Zhaoying]

10 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

We've already had a newbie come and ask where to buy the female furry avatar featured on the homepage. I imagine she didn't expect to hear that that avatar is comprised of approximately *counts*...6-8 different parts sold by different creators scattered across the marketplace and in-world. Knowledge of some basic modding to manually add textures to parts like ears/tails/mouth is also required. Not to mention the purchase of a current up-to-date mesh body.

A fun answer would have been:

"Find someone with a similar avatar head to the one you want, and challenge them to a battle.

If you win the battle, you get a copy of their body and can use the head for your own avatar! 

After that, you have to do the same thing for each body part you want to use for your own Avatar."