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Summary of our 2nd online chat session

DrAmandaGraham
EX Team
EX Team
1 8 95

Dr. Hays and I hosted the second live chat session on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 8pm EST. The purpose of the chat session was to provide additional details – as we currently know them – about our plans to evolve the BecomeAnEX website and to answer questions that EX members brought to the chat. We used a software platform called Chatzy which allowed all of us to “chat” as a group. The full transcript is available here.

We will be having future opportunities to give feedback and input on our development – some will be chats like this, others may be things like surveys, quizzes, and new features on the EX site itself. We would love to have ALL members – new and Elder and everyone in between – be part of this process!

Below is a summary of the major themes that came up during this first session.

Please share any reactions/ideas here or in the EXers Member Feedback Group.

 

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1. How New Changes Will Affect the EX Platform

      
  • We have moved to a new website hosting provider, so users should have seen and continue to see more consistent “uptime.”
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  • The new community platform will include more structure to make it easier to find the discussions that you’re interested in.
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  • Our goal is to select the best technology that is easy to use, flexible, and intuitive… so that you all can continue to give and receive the unconditional love and support that makes this Community special.

2. Making It Easier for New Members

      
  • A recurring theme in our discussion was that it’s currently difficult for new members to know where to go, what to do, and how to talk to/get support from other members.
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  • Our goal is to make it much easier for new members to get oriented, to find people and content that is valuable to helping them quit and stay quit.
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  • We will explore having Community elements featured more prominently on the homepage and other areas of the site (such as in My Quit Plan).
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  • Mark will continue to be available frequently on the site to help welcome new members and address problems in real time.

3. Registration

      
  • We will look into enabling new members to participate in different ways that do not necessarily require them to fully create an account. The challenge here is that sometimes the new “members” that want to participate are spammers, and so a registration process can be helpful in thwarting their spamming efforts.

4. Additional Online Chat Sessions

      
  • The group discussed wanting to have more frequent live chats available on a variety of topics (such as techniques to help with quitting).
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  • Dr. Hays will try to be part of regularly-scheduled live chats to answer questions and be a resource.
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  • Another idea suggested by the group was to have a panel of Elders available via live chat as a resource on EX to talk about their experiences. This will require some careful planning but is an idea that is worth more discussion.

5. Identifying and Involving Elders

      
  • The group discussed what constitutes an Elder and how Elders could be identified on the site to make it easier for other members to know who they are.
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  • An Elder is a combination of quit history + time on EX + amount of activity on EX… not simply one of those things.
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  • We aim to make it easier for Elders to self-identify and make it visible for new members to recognize them, facilitated by technology as much as possible.
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  • We all agree that it will be important for any approach that identifies Elders to be inclusive and fair.

6. Acknowledging the Full Scope of Quitting Approaches and Methods

      
  • An important element of EX is that lots of different viewpoints on how to quit are reflected and respected.
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  • Member may have differing views about NRT (nicotine replacement therapy) and other quitting medications.
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  • A core value of the site is to convey to members that there are many ways to quit smoking. Some methods have more scientific evidence behind them, and we aim to make that available to members as they plan their own approach to quitting.

7. Additional Content and Support Around Relapse

      
  • There was a lot of discussion about website features related to slips/lapse/relapse.
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  • Some chat participants noted concern about the “I Slipped” button being featured so prominently on the site.
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  • There was a hearty discussion about resetting one’s quit date following a slip. Some participants felt that if someone slips, they need to “restart” their quit and reset their quit date… that allowing “slips” encourages people to keep doing it, rather than commit to and stick with a quit. Other participants felt that lapsing, particularly early on in a quit attempt, should be acknowledged and supported but does not necessarily warrant a reset.
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  • Our goal will be to use language and construct a new quit date element that acknowledge the reality of slips/lapses/relapse in an encouraging and supportive manner.

8. Support Throughout the Quitting Journey

      
  • We aim to expand content and features for members who have been quit for 2-4 months. Chat participants noted that this is a particularly challenging time frame of the quitting process, and that support and information that is relevant would be valued.
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  • Our goal is that wherever people are in their quit, their experience on EX is that “this site is for me” with relevant, tailored information.
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About the Author
Hello! I run the Innovations Center at Truth Initiative, the parent organization behind EX. I manage the large team of people that is responsible for bringing EX to you.