UI Change Request: Phone Number Clarifications
Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 7:41 pm
As I was contacting several people in our ward over the weekend I realized a rather annoying flaw in the current design or UI of the LDS Tools App that I hope be brought into consideration.
As of right now, on the iOS LDS Tools, phone numbers for individuals are listed as "Household" and then the phone number. Of course, tapping on the number brings up the interface to Call, Send Text Message, or Cancel the press. Interestingly, however, absolutely nothing is stopping clerks from putting home landline numbers in this field. And this is what I discovered. Not knowing that some of the numbers for "Household" were landlines, I hit text and it never reached those people. After realizing this, I spoke with someone in our YSA ward who has the job of sending texts to all activities that occur. I asked them about this issue and they noted that they have simply noted which numbers are which, but that the change wasn't made by the clerk because both numbers are listed.
So the proposal that I would like discussed is whether or not a field/checkbox should be added to the online membership record form that determines whether a phone is a cell phone or not. This could then be used in the logic of the app to display the currently existing options for cell phones and only the "Call" option to those that do not have texting capabilities (i.e. not a cell phone). It seems that many informally are well aware of which numbers are which in the directory, but it can be confusing to those who have never contacted a specific person before. Confusion shouldn't belong in a directory.
Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions? Thanks.
As of right now, on the iOS LDS Tools, phone numbers for individuals are listed as "Household" and then the phone number. Of course, tapping on the number brings up the interface to Call, Send Text Message, or Cancel the press. Interestingly, however, absolutely nothing is stopping clerks from putting home landline numbers in this field. And this is what I discovered. Not knowing that some of the numbers for "Household" were landlines, I hit text and it never reached those people. After realizing this, I spoke with someone in our YSA ward who has the job of sending texts to all activities that occur. I asked them about this issue and they noted that they have simply noted which numbers are which, but that the change wasn't made by the clerk because both numbers are listed.
So the proposal that I would like discussed is whether or not a field/checkbox should be added to the online membership record form that determines whether a phone is a cell phone or not. This could then be used in the logic of the app to display the currently existing options for cell phones and only the "Call" option to those that do not have texting capabilities (i.e. not a cell phone). It seems that many informally are well aware of which numbers are which in the directory, but it can be confusing to those who have never contacted a specific person before. Confusion shouldn't belong in a directory.
Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions? Thanks.