Related vs Suggested Topics

feature
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:information_source: Context

We are playing around with the idea of changing what you see at the end of the topic, right now that would include Suggested" and Related" topics. Some ideas we are thinking of…

  • Having only one option at the bottom of either Suggested or Related
  • Making Related Topics the default tab option while still having suggested
  • Having only Related topics at the end

Which option do you find most useful? why?

  • Suggested Topics
  • Related Topics
0 voters

:speaking_head: Feedback

The goal is to make the “what should I read next?” experience as easy and relevant as possible. Feel free to speak your mind and be honest. Some guiding questions I’m interested in knowing…

  • How often are you using either of the options? why?
  • What do you feel is missing?
  • Don’t use either? why?
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I sometimes follow suggested links when browsing on communities I only visit rarely or am just for a specific topic. Here on meta where I’m more of a regular user I almost never even look at it. Not sure if that’s a helpful observation, or if it’s just obvious that the feature is more for casual users and visitors.

Layout-wise, I’d love to see any suggested lists align more with the flow of the topic width. Stand more in the back, rather than standing out widely. There’s a lot of options to process already at the bottom of the topic. The layout break adds to that cognitive load and makes the entire view feel more noisy.

Screenshot from 2024-02-08 18-36-12
Screenshot from 2024-02-08 18-36-121087×856 56.2 KB

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Totally agree for the general user of the site.

For other use cases such as moderation, this is one of the most useful tools in the toolbox so while improving related topics for the general user, please be mindful of the other use cases. :slightly_smiling_face:

Suggest topics - next to never now.
Related topics - depends on the need as moderator. Sometimes a few times a day but for actions on sets of topics such as checking tags, closing, changing categories, seeking keywords etc. may use it about a hundred times finding similar topics.

A graphical spatial interface with colored dots based on criteria such as text, similarity rule, e.g. cosine, distance, etc.

5

The way I see these two features is as follows:

  • Recommended is like a Just in Time Search result
  • Suggested is an extension of Browsing.

When I’m searching for something specific, and reach the end of the topic, this is what I do:


graph TD;
    A[Did I find what I was looking for?] -->B[Yes]
    B --> B1[Leave]
    A -->C[No]
    C --> B2[Search]
    C --> C2[Navigate]

I would much rather have Just in Time search results(Related) at the end of a topic. Mainly because it nudges me towards searching a little harder, or gives me an idea of when I’m reaching a dead end.

Suggestions are also useful, but fall more into the Browsing Behaviours of the user. Maybe there is better location to make Suggested more Just in Time for Browsing users?

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