Better flow for group membership requests

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We’ve been handling quite a few group membership requests recently, and the current workflow has been causing us a bit of pain. I’ve got an idea to markedly improve it, which could (hopefully) be quite easy to implement.

Current Workflow

  1. User hits the image button
  2. The user is placed in a queue accessed via /g/group-name/requests and a PM is generated with this text:
    • Membership Request for @group-name
      xxxxxx text from the user (uses template in group settings)
    • This is sent to the group owners who have recently been active (not sure of how this is calculated)
  3. Group owners see the PM
    • this includes a link to handle membership request above the message text
      (links to /g/group-name/requests?filter=username)
  4. One of the group owners deals with the request
  5. A new PM is generated
    • You’ve been accepted into @group-name (or rejected if that is the case)
      Your request to enter @fci-members has been accepted and you are now a member.
    • This is sent to the user, from the group owner (just the one who dealt with the request)

Problems with current workfow

  1. The other group owners can’t tell if the request has been dealt with easily

    • they need to click through to /g/group-name/requests?filter=username
    • if it has been dealt with, you get “There are no membership requests for this group.”
      • there is no indication of whether they have been accepted or rejected
      • to discover this, they must visit the user’s profile and dig around (or search the group)

  2. The owner who approves / rejects the user can’t easily add to / modify the generated PM

    • it gets put in their sent box (out of sight, out of mind)
    • this is a missed opportunity for a positive interaction between owners and the new member

  3. (minor issue) There are two PM topics (there only needs to be one)

Suggested Change

You can probably guess this already!

Make the second PM instead be a reply to the first PM, rather than a whole new message.

This would fix all 3 of the problems nicely, closing the communication loop, giving good visibility to all group owners, minimising unnecessary notifications, and promoting positive community interactions.

What do you think?

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