{"id":5261,"date":"2024-02-08T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T09:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/?p=5261"},"modified":"2024-02-08T18:03:11","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T18:03:11","slug":"community-center-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/community-center-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons on building community while building the new OCLC Community Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Next<\/p>\n

If you participate in the OCLC Community Center<\/a>, you’ll know it\u2019s recently had a major upgrade. We\u2019re happy with the results and excited about the possibilities ahead. But getting to this point wasn\u2019t easy. It\u2019s been a long road. And like many large-scale tech projects, the takeaways go well beyond the new software.<\/p>\n

Every twist and turn offered lessons about how to better create valuable content and meaningful connections with our users. The truth is, we learned a lot more than ever expected about building community. And we\u2019re hoping our experience can provide insights that inspire and inform your work to connect and engage with the communities you serve.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pay attention to negative and positive feedback<\/h2>\n

First up is the critical role of feedback. We took a deep dive into years\u2019 worth of community ideas, comments, reviews, and member surveys as part of the update. And when you look at it all, it\u2019s both positive and negative.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tempting to focus on negative feedback. When we put ourselves in the community\u2019s shoes and reframed negative comments as problems to solve, we of course wanted to fix the squeaky wheels. At the same time, we made sure to balance the negative against positive responses. This helped us shine a light on the things our users already value.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new modernized community center site has huge improvements. I can easily find what I want and really enjoy browsing different topics, and always can find new stuff. All the contents are well organized. It allows me to easily manage my subscriptions and get notifications in time.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Grace Ye, Pepperdine Unviersity<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Really understanding what the community values is essential to make sure any changes are better, not just different. We found that creating a culture that welcomes both positive and negative feedback has helped foster open communications and a friendly, helpful tone.<\/p>\n

Tie changes back to community needs<\/h2>\n

Our second big lesson was about responsiveness. Receiving feedback is part of the equation, but acting on it is what matters most. That involves asking clarifying questions, prioritizing improvements, and closing the loop so that the solutions proposed actually meet the identified needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate that the Center has been streamlined, so that events, recordings, and ideas (enhancements) are grouped under their own menu headings. Being able to search across the entire site versus just within a product community is a big time saver.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Laura Vogler, Wabash College<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can see below how some of the new features address specific requests and concerns of the community:<\/p>\n