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EF24 The app

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Cifer:
The mobile app worked quite well for me when it comes to notifications and event planning. It has come a long, long way from its buggy beginnings! That said, it can of course always become better:

1) I learned on the last day that the app has a Contact Security feature. It can be reached (in the iOS version) by the not exactly simple or intuitive way of tapping More -> Information -> Security -> Contacting Security -> Call Security (Phone). Notably, "Contacting Security" is literally the only sub-point in the Security menu that contains another function besides text. I assume that most people, when they have reason to contact security, would want a way that is as short and intuitive as possible - putting it as the third item right in the More menu seems reasonable and wouldn't clutter up the menu.

2) Less of a useability problem, more of a feature request: The "Dealers" submenu seems a little specific for something that can be reached via one tap. Perhaps it could be expanded to list other service providers at the convention as well, like artists taking commissions outside the den (and their contact info via telegram, email or the like) or artists hanging their stuff in the art show. Ideally, this could be combined with a search function that allows to filter people using checkboxes like "is a dealer in the den", "takes commissions", "does art trades", "is a digital artist", "is a traditional artist" and so on. And the summa cum laude version (likely rather more difficult to implement, though the app already has a login function) would allow people to update their own info in real time, possibly to indicate they have no more slots for commissions available at the moment or that they can currently be found in the artist lounge or the alley and the like.

Once again, thanks for the app! It's made my convention life a lot more relaxed.

Jumpy:
As someone not associated with the app team I'll just add my feedback here.

I loved the app!

Once I figured out that I was getting a blank events list after enabling the filter-by-faves because I hadn't selected any favourites on Tuesday and all I needed to do was to switch to another day and lo and behold, there were my faves, it was tremendously useful and I kept carrying my tablet around all con long.

There really is only one thing that I would like to see added: A way to enter my own entries for personal additions to the timetable that will only be shown to myself, assign a room to them, and allow me to add them to the faves or have them automatically faved (such as concert rehearsals, setup time slots, but also an appointment for dinner, you get the idea)

Sniffer:
Generally speaking, I love the app. Think I opened it close to a million times, to keep track of events and timetables for the charity :P

One usability thing I think could be useful, is if the event table got updated when something was delayed/cancelled. Every time you found an event in the table, you had to go to announcements to check if there was some changes to it. It would be helpful if you only had a single place for this information (of course, the announcement should still appear, this is just to on the event table).

I have attached a few design ideas. Use them as inspiration if you want, or toss them entirely :)
Using red for conveying meaning could be discussed if it is a good idea. Maybe just the same grey, but still updating the event table.

For both the delayed examples, don't show the "now" label until the updated time for an event has been reached. So if an event starts at 12:00, but delayed 15 minutes, don't switch to "now" until the time is 12:15. In addition to this, maybe the end time should also be updated to reflect the delay?

The cancelled one should speak for itself. Instead of saying an event is "done", say "cancelled" or something instead. Again, to make it clear this event have had a change, instead of having to go to the announcement section and search for changes.

ANTIcarrot:
the app was a great improvement over last year, and I ended up using it a lot more than the conbook (which was relegated to mouse pad) or the fold up con-guide.

However the app was throwing out ten or more alerts a day, which felt excessive. I also frequently found that I would click on an interesting looking alert, only to be taken to a section of app that had nothing to do with the alert, and I couldn't see a way of navigating to the message I wanted to read.

The 348 days until next EF is kind of depressing though.  :'(

Luchs:
Thank you to all of you for providing feedback (and to everyone who is still about to do so) - we really appreciate it.

I'll comment on two items directly, but rest assured that everything mentioned so far is valuable and will be taken into consideration.

1. The hidden "Contact Security" feature:
It's not so much a distinct 'contact security' feature - but a general one where we can add action links to the entries in the info section. If you were to head to Hotel->Estrel, you'd see a button to call; or on the Show-Your-Badge entries you'd see a button to get directions. The reason this wasn't any more prominent is that it just was another action link, of which we had many others in other sub-pages of the info section. That's not to say that we can't/shouldn't make this very specific case more prominent/accessible - but we'll need to discuss this internally first.

2. Disappearing announcements/alerts:
It's confusing, and your point is 100% valid. The reason why it behaves the way it does today is that announcements don't work like a news feed, but they all have individual durations of validity. The "Watch out, wet paint" announcement may be valid for 24 hours; followed by two "Event X is delayed by 15 minutes" and "Badge No 1234 please pick up your badge at ConOps" that are only valid for 1-2 hours; but all of those 3 will stay in the notification center until dismissed. And since we have a lot of short-lived announcements, it's normal that you'd tap on a notification about one that's already disappeared. We'll find a more clever way to handle this.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to let us know where we can improve!

~Luchs

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