I read a web survey recently and it pointed out that many members of a online forum will leave if its too difficult or complicated to understand. I think were at that level now.
I agree completely! One consistent complaint I've had over the years is from the members, who just want to discuss cars; often times they have difficulty navigating and grasping the vast array of "features." I have found more than one occassion where I installed a new version with new bells and whistles and found that my members were not nearly as enthralled with the new features as I was. Threads is a great piece of forum software (the best), but the sad truth is, in its current form, much is lost on the average member (at least on my site). It seems there has been a lot of focus on stuff that the true forum-geeks, like us, appreciate, but not necessarily the average user.
I'm not proposing that any features be eliminated, but when the new UI is developed, I would suggest that the primary focus should be on making the forum less cluttered and easier to navigate/understand. As it happens, I am an analyst who conducts Operational Testing of complex (mostly military) systems, and I can tell you that the #1 thing that gets looked at in any Operational Test is the man-machine interface. The simpler and cleaner you can make it, the better.
Just 2 more cents.
