Yesterday, I had the pleasure of participating in a focus group related to a non-genealogy website that is under development. We spent two (enjoyable) hours exploring the pages and many of the tasks we were asked to do centered around this important question: “How would you find … ?”
My focus group experience got me thinking about how to navigate the new Genlighten and I decided to do a quick tutorial.
So, here we go.
How would you find …
Q: … a provider who specializes in adoption research?
A: Type “adoption” in the search box and hit “enter” OR type “adoption” in the search box and choose “Adoption” from the dropdown OR click on the “Adoption” specialty button from the front page.
Q: … a list of Massachusetts providers?
A: Type “massachusetts” in the search box and hit “enter” OR type “mass” in the search box and choose “Massachusetts” from the dropdown OR click on the “Massachusetts” locality button from the front page.
Q: … a list of providers who visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City?
A: Type “family history library” in the search box and hit “enter” OR type “family” in the search box and choose “Family History Library” from the dropdown OR click on the “Family History Library” repository button from the front page.
Are you beginning to see a pattern here?!
We’ve improved the search feature on the new site and it is a simple way to find out if we have providers who offer research for the locations, specialties, and/or repositories you need.
Here are a few more questions:
Q: How would you contact a provider?
A: Go to the provider’s profile and click on the “Ask A Question” button.
Q: How would you submit a project request?
A: Go to the provider’s profile and click on the “Submit Request” button.
Q: How could you learn what others have said about the provider’s skills?
A: Go to the profile, scroll down, and look for “Reviews” and “Reference” tabs. If there are no reviews, it’s likely the provider has not had a project through site. If there are no references, it’s likely the provider is just setting up.
Q: How could you get help using the site?
A: Click on the blue “Questions? Just Ask” button at the bottom of the screen.
If you find yourself thinking, “These answers are so obvious,” that’s good!
We want the site to be easy to use.
There are, of course, many other questions that aren’t as intuitive and require more detailed answers, for example, “How does a Genlighten project really work? How and when and who will I pay? How long will it take? And what can I expect to receive at the end?”
Recently, I asked one of our Family History Library providers to get a New York city death record for me for my own research, and in the next post, I’ll walk you through that project start to finish. Often, Genlighten research goes beyond simple document retrieval, but sharing the steps involved in my request will give you a good introduction to how Genlighten works.
