Beta feature: Yesterday on Loomio
This week we’ve been looking at how people interact with Loomio via email.
The number one problem we’ve heard is that people don’t get emailed about new comments, so sometimes it can feel like you’re speaking into an empty room.
We’ve built a prototype solution to this problem: an email that arrives once each morning, with all of the new content that you haven’t read from the past day.
We’ve been playing with it for the last few days and we’re pretty excited, but we want to get some more feedback before we release it widely. If you want to try out this new feature, just go to your email preferences page and switch it on - you should get an email at 6am tomorrow.
Then come back here tomorrow and add your feedback! Together I think we can come up with a really great feature!
Some more details for the geeks :)
Currently, the ‘Yesterday on Loomio’ email is generated based on your Inbox preferences - which means you can configure what groups you are interested in. We’re thinking about this as the groups that you are following - we’ll probably change the interface to reflect that soon.
This is the first step in a major overhaul in how we keep you up to date with content.
The next phase will look at the discussions you are participating in (a subset of following) - i.e. if you have commented, started the discussion, or been mentioned in it. You’ll have the option to be emailed immediately about new content in those discussions.
We imagine eventually the default setting will be: you'll be emailed once per day, with a summary of all the content you haven't read yet, and you'll be emailed immediately about stuff you’re participating in.
Once that is sorted out, we get to the really exciting stuff: reply by email. This means you will be able to reply from your email client, and your comment will be added to the discussion on Loomio.
Michael Duane Mooring Thu 19 Jun 2014 3:58AM
Sounds cool. Turned it on.
Richard D. Bartlett Thu 19 Jun 2014 8:43PM
The best bit was when I read all the way to the bottom and got to "have a great day".
[deactivated account] Thu 3 Jul 2014 7:40PM
Switched it on and look forward to it helping us stay on top of the discussions. Keep up the good work it is much appreciated out here!
Poll Created Fri 4 Jul 2014 12:06AM
Turn on the "Yesterday on Loomio" email for everyone, with a clear option to turn it off Closed Wed 9 Jul 2014 2:10AM
I think this daily email notification is a really great way to keep engaged with Loomio, and most users probably don't know about it. Right now it's turned off by default and for existing users unless they manually switch it on. I would support turning it on for everyone now, with a really obvious and easy way to turn it off for those who don't want to receive it. I'm raising this proposal to test how the community feels about this.
Results
| Results | Option | % of points | Voters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
Agree | 28.6% | 4 |
CD
MD
|
| Abstain | 14.3% | 2 |
|
|
| Disagree | 57.1% | 8 |
JK
|
|
| Block | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Undecided | 0% | 262 |
KC
G
DMA
K
|
14 of 276 people have voted (5%)
Richard D. Bartlett
Fri 4 Jul 2014 2:12AM
To be clear, it is already on for new users. I don't know how to switch it on for existing users without overriding their preferences.
Alanna Irving
Fri 4 Jul 2014 3:36AM
I think the majority of existing users would benefit from this being turned on, and if they don't like it that can turn it off
Anthony Liu
Fri 4 Jul 2014 7:41AM
I'd like to get notified only for those I am interested in.
Rachel B. Wickert
Fri 4 Jul 2014 9:37AM
I don't like the idea of overriding preferences. And I am allergic to the opt in by default except when it is made very clear. Dodgy contracts are full of these.
Mathew Danaher
Fri 4 Jul 2014 11:26AM
I think it's a really useful way to remind people to engage with discussions regularly.
Sir Wumpus
Fri 4 Jul 2014 7:42PM
A one-time email to make people aware of the feature is better than turning on a repetitive email feature without consent.
Robert Guthrie
Fri 4 Jul 2014 8:51PM
Sending emails is a sensitive topic and I don't want to spend the energy on convincing those against until we have the whole email revamp done. At that point (in just a few weeks) we'll have to change everyones settings anyway.
Alanna Irving
Fri 4 Jul 2014 11:42PM
I want to defer to Rob's judgement that it's better to wait for the email revamp and do it all at once
vivien maidaborn
Sun 6 Jul 2014 3:24AM
I love the feature , let's wait and make it part of a bigger release
Jason Pemberton
Mon 7 Jul 2014 10:47AM
As long as it has a clear message to the effect of "This is a test feature to fix a common problem, you can turn it off Here" then it seems a great idea - especially for folks new to loomio who might forget to check until @tagged.
Jason Pemberton
Mon 7 Jul 2014 10:48AM
Having now read the other thoughts (voted directly from email!) I agree to roll it out with larger changes down the line!
James Kiesel
Tue 8 Jul 2014 2:12AM
I wouldn't want this to get turned on under my nose; I'd just get annoyed and turn it off immediately.
Benjamin Knight
Tue 8 Jul 2014 4:16AM
rolling out with more updates makes sense to me
Carolyn Dixon
Tue 8 Jul 2014 5:18AM
I'd like it so I can know more about what is going on.
Sir Wumpus Fri 4 Jul 2014 12:12AM
Are you certain it is not already on by default? I have it turned on and I don't recall taking any action to make it so.
Of course, I am a very new user of loomio so maybe it's just people who registered recently who have it on by default?
Anthony Liu Fri 4 Jul 2014 7:52AM
An A/B test should help to clarify the actual feeling from the whole Loomio users.
Sir Wumpus Fri 4 Jul 2014 7:39PM
The privacy policy on the website says: "From time to time, Loomio team members may access your email address to send you information about the site or ask for feedback, either personally or through an email provider. If you do not wish to receive these emails please respond with a request to be taken off the contact list, or unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email."
Rather than updating people's preferences to turn on the option, why not an email announcement to make people aware of it so they can turn it on for themselves? This way, if they don't want it turned on, no action is required.
Sir Wumpus Tue 8 Jul 2014 4:33PM
@carolyndixon you can turn it on for yourself, just go to the menu with your name on it in the upper right, and select "email settings". :)
Tim Huegerich Tue 22 Jul 2014 5:46PM
Is it supposed to include all new comments from the previous day or only comments I haven't look at yet (and/or comments I didn't author)? As it is, it seems to have only included one discussion, whereas there were actually 2-3 new discussions yesterday in my group.
Richard D. Bartlett Tue 22 Jul 2014 8:32PM
Hi @timhuegerich, it is supposed to send you all the new content from the past 24 hours that you haven't read yet.
It could very well be buggy though :)
Robert Guthrie Tue 22 Jul 2014 9:28PM
@timhuegerich, it only sends stuff you've not read.
@richarddbartlett - I have been keeping an eye on it, and it seems to be behaving correctly. We even get motion outcomes in there.
Tim Huegerich Wed 23 Jul 2014 11:31AM
Thank you. I think that explains it.
Alanna Irving · Thu 19 Jun 2014 1:49AM
Once we've tested this I reckon we should have it on by default with a link to easily turn it off.