Last week we launched some changes to the Search & Match area. Here’s an insight into the decision behind the changes and in particular why we removed the children options.
We often hear from members who can’t find anyone in their area (we are sure there are plenty more who we never hear from!) When we started to investigate why, it is often due to their search options. In particular, the children options can be confusing. For example the second children option “Do they want children?” offered the following choices:
It’s important to note that these search options relate directly to how a member has answered the question on their profile.
Looking closely at the example above, these options are very similar: “Not sure yet” and “Let’s talk about it”. However, if I search only for people who have answered “Not sure yet”, I will be eliminating members who have answered “Let’s talk about it”. My perfect match could end up hidden behind this one tickbox!
Essentially we have to strike a careful balance between offering wide enough answers in the profile questions to allow everyone to express their personality/circumstance and keeping the search options broad enough to avoid eliminating potential matches from search results.
We assure you that we are listening to your feedback and we are reviewing the recent changes in light of that. The bottom line is that the Christian Connection team is focussed on connecting you with other likeminded Christians to ultimately help you find your perfect match. In order to do this, you may need to cast your net a little further!
There was no need to remove it. If people wanted to widen their search then they would leave everything unticked. If they wanted to narrow the search they would tick the appropriate boxes.
I can’t see the problem.
It was working better before the fix!
Please return it to how the option was – It may not be working as you want it but it works for the members.
You Say “Essentially we have to strike a careful balance between offering wide enough answers in the profile questions to allow everyone to express their personality/circumstance and keeping the search options broad enough to avoid eliminating potential matches from search results.” BUT – What if “I” want to eliminate or search certain criteria?
You point out – “The bottom line is that the Christian Connection team is focussed on connecting you with other likeminded Christians to ultimately help you find your perfect match. In order to do this, you may need to cast your net a little further!” BUT – Where’s “MY CHOICE” in how far out I cast my net?
It appears that CC has taken away that choice?
I really look forward to your response.
I totally agree with the other posts. You are now limiting our search facility! Return in please to how it was before… And no more fiddling on search options to give us ‘more choices’!!
Hi CC,
You say “We assure you that we are listening to your feedback and we are reviewing the recent changes in light of that.”
Warrick & myself posted the above on the 27th July – It’s now the 1st August – Yet we’ve not had a response to this Blogg or the comments placed on the boards – Is your listening tokenistic? or are you really reviewing the changes?
If you are reviewing can you explain how & what your review process has come up with.
Myself & others are eagerly awaiting your response!
I read the feedback last week, but I’ve been off work for a few days. Although we may not respond immediately, we read every bit of feedback we get and take it into account.
Search & Match is a particularly difficult area to get right for everyone and whilst I understand your annoyance at having these options removed, there are strong reasons behind the changes.
Warrick says “If people wanted to widen their search then they would leave everything unticked”. It’s not quite that simple. Our experience shows that many people choose their search options the first time and don’t review them again. This affects not just their Search & Match results, but members who appear in their Members Area and Match Emails. Many people leave the site without realising they have ruled out potential matches, for example, because they ticked “Not sure yet” but not “Let’s talk about it” (which are essentially the same thing!)
We are now reviewing whether there’s a way we can bring the children options back by offering more general responses. For example, in response to the question “Do they want children”, the options might be “Yes”, “No”, “Possibly”. To do this, we’ll have to group members answers into these categories, so it’s not something we can do immediately.
Any ideas on how to solve this problem gratefully received!
Joff I think you have a good reason for the changes however I do feel you’re not crediting me or fellow CC members with any intelligence. Don’t you think we realise that we’ve limited our search options and realise that ‘Not sure yet’ is a different but similar response to ‘Open to the idea’. Just put a note to this effect in the guidelines or prompts to help you section.
Please do not do ‘yes’ ‘no’ ‘possibly’ that does not suit my needs either, I prefer the original set up. Either way please do ask people in a wider grouping with wider experiences before setting this one up. If for instance you just ask people in your office this limits the demographic too much and doesn’t cover the range of experiences or life choices members may or may not have/want.
It seems to me that “Let’s talk about it” is used differently by different age groups. If a woman under 40 uses it, I read it as saying “Don’t count on me wanting/having children”. If a woman over 45 uses it I read it as saying “You must be mad if you think I’m going to have a child at my age.”
Hi Joff,
Thanks for your response, apologies I didn’t realise only one member of CC was dealing with this issue.
Many people leave the site without realising they have ruled out potential matches, for example, because they ticked “Not sure yet” but not “Let’s talk about it” – I’d be really interested in knowing how you know that this is or has been the case.
Any ideas on how to solve this problem gratefully received! Ok
1. Perhaps an “How to Search” section
2. Return the children’s options.
Cheers!
In the same way in which a user may see a message at the top of their screen informing them that their ‘subscription is about to expire’ – you could perhaps have a timed message to prompt a user to check their search settings…
Any ideas on how to solve this problem gratefully received! – Perhaps a good starting point would be evidence that you take members thoughts “Seriously” both on the blog & on the discussion board.
I see no response to either.
Thanks for your suggestions and feedback, I read all of them! If you have something specific that needs a response, please get in touch through the website.
We are looking at a way to bring the children’s options back, but the team is down on numbers at the moment so please bear with us!
Any news on the revamp of this option?
The whole team discussed this again today. It’s quite a complicated issue and we want to get it right. Sam and I will be looking at spending some time coming up with a solution to this once we’ve focussed on fixing a few more urgent things.
We’ve reintroduced a simplified version of the children options to Search & Match. You can now choose to exclude people who have said they don’t have children or don’t want children.