S&T Feedback Thread

Prepare for trouble, test_account has tested the lab and made it DOUBLE.

i definitely think it's a fantastic idea so good job to those who worked on it

off the top of my head i'd say get on updating those category titles (does club need to be a thing?)
either add really broad categories or get specific in the science aspects

edit: ok i refreshed the page and you guys had done it before i had finished posting so there

So right now we're also looking to jump start the lab by having a few events (aside from our upcoming scientist AMAs). If y'all have any suggestions for events you would like to see, please let us know!

The sub-forum header looks really weird on my phone. Maybe I should use a mobile theme, but I prefer the desktop theme on my phone as it feels a lot more usable on a Lumia 930.

I'll put up a screenshot later.

This seems like a really neat idea, and it looks pretty good to me so far. My one aesthetic comment is that some of the text on the "Welcome to the Lab!" blurb is a little hard to read (the white text blends in with some of the white background). Other than that, everything looks promising.

In terms of topics, I really like the idea of the AMA threads. Maybe it would also be worth having career-related Q&A threads (where people could ask specific questions related to careers in these relevant fields, whether questions about careers themselves or questions about training/grad school, and users who feel qualified could answer). I don't know how many users we have in science-related career fields on this site, but presumably, there are enough to give us a starting point.

My only concern is the placement. I still feel like it fits as hobby thing. To me, science and technology are often hobbies that people enjoy or get into. I also feel as though it clutters up the off-topic section because it seems like this section where it is has enough as it is... but that's just me probably. *shrug*

Achromatic said:

You could argue that fitness, health and food are hobbies to some people, yet the Mall remains in place. Science is definitely much more than a hobby. Take a look at NASA for example, is that just a hobby? Nope! Science is an important job and profession for many, many people. I'd argue that it's much more of a profession that it is a hobby, really. For we wouldn't be here today without the important work of computer sciences. That's so much more than just a hobby.

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I never really thought of The Mall, actually. Also, I know Science is probably more important, but how does Technology fit in with Science then if Technology gets considered as a hobby? I mean technology itself, not computer science and what not.

Hey everyone, Team Fail is working on the splash, so please be patient. :) As a plus, if you guys need to let us know something with the splash is broken, please let us know which forum style you are using so that we can test things on our end as well!

JohnnyMustang said:

For the AMA thing, I don't think we have enought interest or regulars to do it. Even in A&D these things die.

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I've already gotten a PM from a user who was interested in having one, and both me and Jordan agreed it was a stellar idea. We have more events to come in the near weeks/months, and AMAs are just a part of those events. They could be frequent or infrequent, depending on interest and if anybody approaches either myself or Team Fail in regards to doing one.

Rowlet said:

where would the line be drawn on psychology threads? would I have to avoid the more social stuff entirely (since that is more crossed with sociology) and post the more psychodynamic, behavioural, biological stuff here? I'm just super interested in this and don't see why it wouldn't go here.

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As long as the social aspect is not applied, then I really have no problem with housing discussions on the biological/behavioral side of psychology and/or psychiatry.

I knew PC was missing something for a while and I couldn't put my finger on it. Now seeing that we have a section that accommodates for discussions about science (which is incredibly interesting and fun - yay!), I can say that feeling as been satiated. I'm really interested in seeing how this place turns out, and I definitely will be posting around. Hopefully it's a success!

I'm thinking Computers and Technology got way too unfocused when it's now also Science... Something about it feels really wrong.

I welcome anything to incite new activity, anyway. Weather chat is pretty much... a bad thing (tm).

If only I could afford to buy new computer things...

Twiggy said:

I welcome anything to incite new activity, anyway. Weather chat is pretty much... a bad thing (tm).

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Just wondering, but what makes you say that? Weather is related to science in that meteorology is the study of weather, which is an area of science.

Tsutarja said:

Just wondering, but what makes you say that? Weather is related to science in that meteorology is the study of weather, which is an area of science.

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It's also an indicator of "got nothing really useful to talk about" even if we're supposed to be science-y.

Twiggy said:

It's also an indicator of "got nothing really useful to talk about" even if we're supposed to be science-y.

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Well, this is still very much C&T like it used to be, but with more topics to go alongside it. I'm sorry if you don't see it this way, but that's how Jordan and myself envisioned it when we were redesigning the section. :)

By the way, I want to remind you guys that we do have the feedback thread here for posts like these.

Tsutarja said:

Well, this is still very much C&T like it used to be, but with more topics to go alongside it. I'm sorry if you don't see it this way, but that's how Jordan and myself envisioned it when we were redesigning the section. :)

By the way, I want to remind you guys that we do have the feedback thread here for posts like these.

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Heh. You can probably call it something like... well, I dunno, but maybe I just don't like changes.

It's weird how wanting more computer stuff makes you want to get a job.

Johnny said:

Well not everyone is a scientist either :p Anyway, it does seem kinda hard to appeal to everyone with an event, there's gotta be something though. That being said, I think this section has improved a lot anyway, events or such are not a desperate measure. Did you wanted feedback in a particular sense when you asked? I see a tiny improvement, right now I can't think of something that would help.

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Right now, we're looking for feedback to see what everyone thinks of the section in the two months that it'd been revamped. Things such as what you would like to see in the section and how you think we (as moderators) are doing in the section, and what we could do to improve the section's flow are what we would like to hear.

^I actually think this particular place died a long time ago due to its identity crisis but the staff just aren't convinced.

A long while ago this place was a decent environment that was very inviting for meaningful, lengthy and mature discussions on tech and the like. As different people started coming around I guess that just went away at some point.

Now, in a cheap attempt to promote 'activity' regardless of whether or not it's at all meaningful we have ridiculous filler threads where the things that have the largest amount of replies are garbage like "what is your pulse???" and "what's your favourite planet?"

No offence to the mods (also, why are there two? This place isn't nearly as active enough as to warrant two people having to take care of it) but a lot of these threads are actually created by them. And unless those people responsible for setting an example strive to promote a much deeper environment for threads this place used to have, we're just going to have filler after filler and people will just stop paying attention to it because all they expect is dumb polls that belong in the Treehouse or whatever. My fear is that it's already too late and this already happened a long time ago.

The thing is—lack of activity should in no way be seen as a negative aspect. And therein lies its identity crisis: sure, maybe everything I just said above won't work—but that's fine. This is a Pokémon forum after all, and maybe this is too much to ask of the demographic. But I'd much rather have a somewhat inactive hub of meaningful threads instead of useless polls that die after two days. But the former can only be achieved if the people responsible for it start taking it seriously instead of focusing so much on activity—especially now that we've brought 'science' along as well.

Johnny said:

I agree to a point, but... This is your personal preference, focusing on one aspect to lose activity on the other side might not be the correct answer. You made good points though, but I believe every kind of discussion should be encouraged.

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I think the key term here is discussion. Spammy polls are not, and should never be considered "discussions."

I also disagree with the idea that there's a "correct" answer to handling a forum—unless people are having an explicitly bad time, which I don't think is the case here either way.

Team Fail said:

If you're not happy with the content that you're seeing here, why not try to make some yourself?

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Because I'm not the one asking for feedback. :)

Team Fail said:

We're not seeing it as a negative thing at all. We do understand that this is an off-topic section and that we're not always going to be busy and bustling. And most of all, technology and science isn't everyone's niche. We're trying to make an attempt to cater to more people that may not always be into sciences, hence the simple polls, but for the people that look around, they might get inspired by the discussions that we do have.

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You're not succeeding. You've managed to loop in Science yet this forum is still half as active as it used to be. Though, nicely done on the Coder's lounge. That's the longest programming thread I think I've ever seen.

Team Fail said:

You can't start off catching the big fish. You have to start small and work your way up. There's no way around it.

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This is my point—you have to decide on a focus. There's no such thing as a progression from one thing toward the other when it comes to the type of posts that you see on a forum. You either see one type or the other.

As a result of whatever long-term effort you choose to have on this forum, you're going to have a place riddled with cheap polls and drive away those wondering if it's worth having a more substantial thread on here, or you're going to have it the other way around. Pick one. You've been "starting small" for the better part of 2 years and this is still a shadow of its former self. That's all I'm saying.