Our troop signed up for TT this fall, and I have been trying to familiarize myself with TT since then. I have received some feedback from a few users in our troop, and mostly they have found the website to be confusing. A couple of people said that they have spent a few hours figuring it out. I am concerned that if our leaders, who have a vested interest in making TT work for the troop, are having to spend hours figuring it out, then our parents, who do not have a vested interest, will not bother to take the time to figure it out for themselves. I created a “cheat sheet” for my troop to explain how to perform some of the basic functionality we need in our troop (updating badge requirements, adding service hours, etc.), however I think the hurdle is still too high for our technophobe parents out there.
I think the Dashboard could be revamped to make it simpler for parents to use. For example, the information that is currently displayed under my name on my Dashboard is mostly irrelevant (money account - we don’t use that feature; my leadership status - changes once a year, and I can access it in my profile; training - updates every 2-3 years, and I can access it through my profile). That info clutters up the screen.
The information under my daughter’s name on my Dashboard is mostly irrelevant, too: money account (not used); the badge she earned last April that will never matter again; and her current leadership position - could be accessed through the profile.
My suggestion is to revamp the Dashboard so that parents are able to directly access the functionality that they use most.
Here are some thoughts about the functionality that would be most useful on the Dashboard (AHG parent’s perspective):
“Welcome to TT, Parent’s Name!” (with a link to the user’s profile)
Followed by a section for each daughter/ scout:
Daughter #1 (her name could be a link to her profile, or keep the profile link as is)
-
Badgework:
1- A list of badges, patches, pins & awards that are marked as completed, but not yet awarded
(Each badge in this list is clickable and takes you directly to the pop-up where you can view when each requirement was completed by the girl)
2- A list of incomplete badges, patches, etc. (for her current rank?), that are not marked as completed and are not marked as awarded/ recognized/ purchased
(Lists incomplete badges and their percentages; clickable, takes you to pop-up to update requirements for the specific badge)
3- A prominent button that says “Start New Badge” (takes you to Profile > Achievements > Start Achievement button) -
Upcoming meetings (lists the next 3 meetings on the girl’s calendar):
1- Meeting 1 (clickable link to calendar)
–Date and time of meeting
–Location of meeting
–Meeting contact name (clickable to email? pop-up window?)
2- To the right of this information would be the Current RSVP Status (“None - Please Update RSVP Status” or “RSVP Not Needed”)
–Next to the Current RSVP Status, a section headed “Change RSVP Status” with buttons for Yes, No and Maybe (one click updates the RSVP status)
–Beneath Yes, No and Maybe, have a button “Advanced RSVP Details” where you could add siblings, etc. (links to Calendar > Event > Details & RSVP page)
–We don’t use the money feature, but maybe you could add a money link here
Repeat info for next 2 meetings.
–Add prominent button “View Additional Meetings on Calendar” (takes you to the calendar for that girl)
-
Service Hours as of “Date” (add a button to change the “As of” Date, save this date for future logins)
– “Number of Service Hours as of “Date”: X hours” (hours are clickable; sends to summary of service hours, both calendar events and individually updated service hours since the As of Date)
–Next to that, a prominent button “Add Individual Service Hours” (takes you to Profile > Participation and Service > Add Service Hours button; autofill Event Type as Service Project) -
Camping nights As of "Date" (and possibly canoeing hours, bicycling hours, etc.) (same “As of Date”? Or a different As of Date for each Service hours, camping, biking, hiking, etc.?)
–# of Tent Nights as of “Date”: X (X is a clickable summary of tent nights for that girl, as of “Date”)
–# of Cabin Nights as of “Date”: Y (Y is a clickable summary of cabin nights for that girl, as of “Date”)
–Add a prominent button “Add Individual Tent Nights” (takes you to Profile > Participation and Service > Add Service Hours button; autofill Event Type as Campout - where do you specify tent vs. cabin?)
–Add a prominent button “Add Individual Cabin Nights” (ditto)
(I wonder if you could include service hours, camping nights, etc., under a section called “Participation Summary.”)
Sorry for how lengthy this is. I think that making changes to the user interface on the Dashboard to simplify the parents’ interactions with TT will increase their participation.
Thanks!