Does anyone find Geocaching website intuitive to use?

October 27, 2014

or is just it me.............

I am a sporadic Geocacher so find myself going several weeks or even months between visits. I am reasonably computer literate so have little difficulty in finding my way round the internet and its many applications, with one notable exception..... Geocaching.com/Groundspeak.com (confess to not knowing the difference, but should I care??). I would expect that a well designed website home page would lead me within a couple of clicks to where I want to be, I would expect it to be simple to understand without too much jargon and perhaps most of all, I would expect that the developers have planned an architecture that provides the user a simple and intuitive experience. Geocaching.com/Groundspeak.com (what is the relationship between these 2 anyway?) fails to my mind on all the characteristics of a well designed website.

What has prompted my rant today? We are visiting relations up North so thought I would load up the Garmin with some local caches (don't start me off on the clunky interfacing - that was August's frustration) opened Geocaching.com or Groundspeak.com (what the heck is the difference here) and couldn't even find a map, pretty fundamental you may think, and then clicking on a link to look in the forums it asked me to again re-enter my log in, which after 3 times of trying finally let me proceed - anyway here I am, moaning about the website rather than using it for its intended purpose - says it all really!!

One thing that the website does do very effectively is brag about it's number of geocachers - 6 million eh - perhaps you may wish to invest some of the vast sums of cash washing in on a website that is fit for purpose.

Rant over - off to get my tin hat because it is probably only me that finds it pretty much unusable, or perhaps you more regular users have simply managed to live with its limitations?

9.2k · October 27, 2014

Geocaching.com/Groundspeak.com (what is the relationship between these 2 anyway?)

... opened Geocaching.com or Groundspeak.com (what the heck is the difference here)

http://www.Groundspeak.com/about.aspx

3.7k · October 27, 2014

It always has seemed odd to me that the map is almost hidden...you have to go to the "Play" pulldown and the map is the third item down on the list. Personally, I think it ought to either be right there on the home page or there should be a map icon/link right at the top of the home page.

7.3k · October 27, 2014

If I was looking to find caches, I go to the Hide & Seek page:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/

If I am looking to post on the forums, I go to my bookmarked link:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/

Other than those two, I don't use either of the links you posted. The information you seek can be found there, but you need to do some navigating.

I find it much, much easier and faster to bookmark the links I posted, and to go to my profile page.

http://www.geocaching.com/my/default.aspx

My profile page used to have the incredibly quick and easy "List newest in xxx", but that was removed in the last update.

B.

October 27, 2014

Geocaching.com/Groundspeak.com (what is the relationship between these 2 anyway?)

... opened Geocaching.com or Groundspeak.com (what the heck is the difference here)

http://www.Groundspeak.com/about.aspx

Thanks for the link - I must say I enjoyed the self obsessed video enormously, but how exactly does that help with a virtually unusable website?

October 27, 2014

If I was looking to find caches, I go to the Hide & Seek page:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/

If I am looking to post on the forums, I go to my bookmarked link:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/

Other than those two, I don't use either of the links you posted. The information you seek can be found there, but you need to do some navigating.

I find it much, much easier and faster to bookmark the links I posted, and to go to my profile page.

http://www.geocaching.com/my/default.aspx

My profile page used to have the incredibly quick and easy "List newest in xxx", but that was removed in the last update.

B.

Living with its limitations perhaps......

9k · October 27, 2014

Until the web layout is made more user/navigation-friendly, I suggest created a bookmark folder and bookmarking all the pages you use regularly.

Such as:

https://www.geocaching.com/map/ (default map)

http://www.geocaching.com/my/ (your private profile homepage)

http://www.geocachin...?u=yourusername (public link to your public profile; insert your username)

http://www.geocachin...y/logs.aspx?s=1 (all your find logs on one page)

http://www.geocachin...ek/nearest.aspx (cache search form)

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?ul=yourusername (search results for the caches you've found; insert your username)

http://www.geocachin...statistics.aspx (your statistics)

http://www.geocachin...fieldnotes.aspx (field notes)

http://www.geocachin.../watchlist.aspx (watch list)

http://www.geocachin...et/default.aspx (pocket queries)

(also, right click on your My Finds pocket query download link and store that link for quick access after you run it)

http://www.geocachin...m/my/lists.aspx (bookmark lists)

http://www.geocachin...&sort=lastfound (caches you own sorted by most recently found)

http://www.geocachin...r=desc&sort=fav (caches you own sorted by fav points; insert your username)

http://www.geocachin...travelbugs.aspx (your recent travelbug log history)

http://www.geocachin...ck/default.aspx (trackable item search form)

Edited October 27, 2014 by thebruce0

1.2k · October 27, 2014

To answer the original question, I DO NOT find the website intuitive and never have. I can only find stuff easily here because I have 10 years of experience finding stuff here.

7.3k · October 27, 2014

If I was looking to find caches, I go to the Hide & Seek page:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/

If I am looking to post on the forums, I go to my bookmarked link:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/

Other than those two, I don't use either of the links you posted. The information you seek can be found there, but you need to do some navigating.

I find it much, much easier and faster to bookmark the links I posted, and to go to my profile page.

http://www.geocaching.com/my/default.aspx

My profile page used to have the incredibly quick and easy "List newest in xxx", but that was removed in the last update.

B.

Living with its limitations perhaps......

Yup, exactly. Just have to deal with what we've got.

No, it's not an intuitive website at all. "Clunky" comes to mind.

the bruce0, that's a lot of bookmarked links. I find that one click to the profile page will get you to most of that info.

Except for the extremely helpful, now gone, "List newest in xxx", of course. :mad:

B.

October 27, 2014

Maybe I am lucky that I am not a computer wizard because I don't seem to have a problem with finding caches and map. Others things yes, but not that.

Front page type in city, state etc. click

Brings up list of the caches.

Above list says to Map this Location. Click and I have a map with those caches on it.

9k · October 27, 2014

the bruce0, that's a lot of bookmarked links. I find that one click to the profile page will get you to most of that info.

Sure. But why go to the profile page to get to a page you want, when one click on a bookmark is faster? ;P I have all my GC bookmarks in one dropdown in my browser. So much easier to get where I want right away. And if links or menu layout or page content changes but the URLs stay the same, no worries!

That's just my humble recommendation that works for me - but do as you wish :lol:

3.1k · October 27, 2014

Perhaps add this thread to this one?

October 27, 2014

Perhaps add this thread to this one?

Wow - I thought I was unhappy

As a newbie here, do geocaching.com/Groundspeak (still don't know the difference) ever pass comment on the forum or demonstrate that they listen to the community (sorry their customers) when in receipt of feedback?

9k · October 27, 2014

Perhaps add this thread to this one?

Wow - I thought I was unhappy

As a newbie here, do geocaching.com/Groundspeak (still don't know the difference) ever pass comment on the forum or demonstrate that they listen to the community (sorry their customers) when in receipt of feedback?

That is another debate. The impression many get is that they "don't listen" and "don't care". Don't be taken away by the overly negative and critical content of the forums. Criticism is always the loudest voice. But it is true there are many suggestions and improvements that over time don't seem to have been given satisfactory attention or priority. For whatever reason that may be.

Welcome to the forum. Read everything with a grain of salt.

Edited October 27, 2014 by thebruce0

3.1k · October 27, 2014

Perhaps add this thread to this one?

Wow - I thought I was unhappy

As a newbie here, do geocaching.com/Groundspeak (still don't know the difference) ever pass comment on the forum or demonstrate that they listen to the community (sorry their customers) when in receipt of feedback?

Not "unhappy", just acutely aware of a continuity issue, and that thread served as an example of how things read from the website to the guidelines to the knowledge books to the forums. It just doesn't flow well, and, as this thread also demonstrates, all are lacking the answers one may look for at a single click or two.

It's as if the different parts are all cobbled together, and it is impacting how new and existing users interact with the game and gameplay.

I would assume they are listening (reading), but seldom do we see anyone stopping by anymore--save for Moun10bike once in a while. There was a time when you would see lackeys and even founders in the forums. Now they stay away--likely for many reasons. But it would be nice to know when people are listening, and that is, as thebruce0 said, another issue altogether.

The reason I mention the thread I started is to help keep things in 1 place on the forums. It seems like the issue brought up in the OP is very similar to the other read-through issues I mentioned in my topic.

3.3k · October 27, 2014

To answer the original question, I DO NOT find the website intuitive and never have. I can only find stuff easily here because I have 10 years of experience finding stuff here.

Okay, but how steep is the learning curve for those of you who use all the features? I tend to use the simplest features and have no problem. But if I wanted to load 4,000 specially-selected caches onto a GPSr for a weekend trip, as cachers here have stated they do, I'd have a hard time.

And could it realistically be simplified without a complete redo? And would people beef about having to relearn (like moving from Windows 7 to Windows 8)? And given the different styles/interests/approaches, is there one answer to the "best" website design?

3.1k · October 28, 2014

And could it realistically be simplified without a complete redo? And would people beef about having to relearn (like moving from Windows 7 to Windows 8)? And given the different styles/interests/approaches, is there one answer to the "best" website design?

It could be more simplified and clear without a complete redo, yes. There might be some "relearning", but for the most part we are used to that happening on the geocaching.com website already anyway.

While there are different styles and interests people have, and approaches people take for using any website, there are some common practices that exist for website creation and management; a "style book", if you will.

One of the basic ideas with website design is the 3-click rule. If someone needs to click more than 3 times to find anything, it's too much. Really, much of what is on the Geocaching.com website could be approached with this common practice and thereby improved. It's about being 3 clicks or less to find things. And, as this thread and mine detail, this isn't always the case.

Especially when dealing with key functions, the utility of the website design should be intuitive, clear, and accessible. Topics should flow, and none should be essentially "hidden" or "buried". This is very important when dealing with instructions and directions.

Add in the readability factor, where people scan webpages in "f-patterns" and don't like reading heavily-texted webpages, the Knowledge Books and Guidelines need some attention as well. People really only read about a quarter of the print content on webpages, so getting the point across quickly and efficiently is very, very important.

An my favorite key is to never lean on a web or site search to handle the queries your users may undertake. People should be able to find the details necessary without conducting a search. I shouldn't have to search Google to find certain guidelines. I shouldn't have to use another website or external application to conduct the outputs I'm seeking from geocaching.com or Groundspeak.com.

So, yes. Some things have improved quite nicely over the years on these sites. However, some things were improved at a rate the others were not, or were handled by what seems like one dev team, and other parts by another, without any cross-communication.

6.1k · October 28, 2014

geocaching.com/Groundspeak (still don't know the difference)

Groundspeak is a company, it employs people, has an office, and produces a number of products.

geocaching.com is one product that the company produces.

Think of it like Budweiser/Anheuser-Busch

3.7k · October 28, 2014

The website has slowly evolved over the last ten years or so and I suspect that Groundspeak were happy just to make tweaks rather than drastic changes. I suppose because the established users wouldn't like dramatic change and for every one supporter they'd have a hundred people complaining about anything too radical.

So it's all very old-fashioned now, as you'd expect. Indeed, geocaching has changed enormously but this isn't reflected in the design either. Creative ideas about caching have been shoehorned into unsuitable formats just so that staff weren't troubled by having to rewrite stuff that already "worked" and could get on to something new (that no-one needed).

Rather than grasping the nettle, the focus seems to have been on several side projects and almost all turned out disappointing or were left unsupported.

How I wish there was a viable alternative, but there isn't; geocaching.com contains the lion's share of the all-important data and have to be forgiven for resting on laurels.

How I wish I could have been in charge of projects at Groundspeak too. The website would be buzzing!

4.5k · October 28, 2014

To answer the original question, I DO NOT find the website intuitive and never have. I can only find stuff easily here because I have 10 years of experience finding stuff here.

My first thought was that the the website seems easy to navigate but then i got to thinking that this may be because i've been using it for so long. Like someone mentioned above, i also have a favorite's link set up to bring up the page that displays my local unfound caches. I can get to everything i'm interested in from that page. I can't remember the last time i came in through the main home page.

1.3k · October 29, 2014

It has always seemed weird to me that not all the options are available from the drop-down menus.

Some of the more commonly-used features require you to select a page from the drop menus, then locate them on a list of links on the right side of the screen.

One of those was "Newest in Ontario" -- but not any more.

3.3k · October 29, 2014

Until the web layout is made more user/navigation-friendly, I suggest created a bookmark folder and bookmarking all the pages you use regularly.

Such as:

https://www.geocaching.com/map/ (default map)

http://www.geocaching.com/my/ (your private profile homepage)

http://www.geocachin...?u=yourusername (public link to your public profile; insert your username)

http://www.geocachin...y/logs.aspx?s=1 (all your find logs on one page)

http://www.geocachin...ek/nearest.aspx (cache search form)

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?ul=yourusername (search results for the caches you've found; insert your username)

http://www.geocachin...statistics.aspx (your statistics)

http://www.geocachin...fieldnotes.aspx (field notes)

http://www.geocachin.../watchlist.aspx (watch list)

http://www.geocachin...et/default.aspx (pocket queries)

(also, right click on your My Finds pocket query download link and store that link for quick access after you run it)

http://www.geocachin...m/my/lists.aspx (bookmark lists)

http://www.geocachin...&sort=lastfound (caches you own sorted by most recently found)

http://www.geocachin...r=desc&sort=fav (caches you own sorted by fav points; insert your username)

http://www.geocachin...travelbugs.aspx (your recent travelbug log history)

http://www.geocachin...ck/default.aspx (trackable item search form)

I did similar things. It's pretty sad when we can get things taken away that people find useful, half-cocked ventures like Wherigo, seemingly endless souvenir gimmicks, but a simple question "show me the caches nearest to me" isn't a nice link on the main screen.

October 29, 2014

I do not find the website very intuitive, and I have stated elsewhere that the app is even less so.

However, I'm confused about people saying there is no easy way to find caches near you from the main page. When I go to the main page of the site, on the right-hand side there's a little box that says "Search for Nearby Geocaches" with my coordinates automatically filled in. I just click the little magnifying glass, and there are the caches near me. To see it on a map, I then click "Map This Location." That's one click to see caches near me, and a second to see a map. Totally within the "three clicks" rule.

Edited October 29, 2014 by michellepluseight

October 30, 2014

Interesting discussion and shows just how different we all are.

I find the site very easy to use and get around. I am fairly IT/computer literate and have not yet had any difficulty finding what I want.

14k · October 30, 2014

I do not find the website very intuitive, and I have stated elsewhere that the app is even less so.

However, I'm confused about people saying there is no easy way to find caches near you from the main page. When I go to the main page of the site, on the right-hand side there's a little box that says "Search for Nearby Geocaches" with my coordinates automatically filled in. I just click the little magnifying glass, and there are the caches near me. To see it on a map, I then click "Map This Location." That's one click to see caches near me, and a second to see a map. Totally within the "three clicks" rule.

I bookmark the profile page (http://www.geocaching.com/my/) and the forums site. I use the map page a lot and and prefer if there was a link to it from the profile page (even if it's in a dropdown menu) rather than have to go to another page in order to get the map page link. The way you do it is probably the quickest (without creating a bookmark), but it's not just "two clicks". It's "scroll down the page to see the" Search for nearby caches link, click the link, wait for the page to render, then click on the "Map this location" link. I'm surprised that someone hasn't created a greasemonkey script to put the Maps page link as a menu item or somewhere on the profile page (or perhaps someone has).

6.1k · October 30, 2014

I use the map page a lot and and prefer if there was a link to it from the profile page

Errrr, there is. In the frame on the right, below your username there's a heading "Search Options" beneath that is a heading "Search for geocaches" and beside that is a grey map square with a pin in it, click it and it opens the map centered on your home location. While I have several Greasemonkey scripts installed I don't think this is put there by one as I just checked another browser and it's there too.

I only have the profile page bookmarked, and it's always my landing page and from there I can find everything I want pretty easily.

It's difficult to say whether it's intuitive or not, because I've grown up with it over the last 10 years so I'm used to it and find it easy to get around, but as a newcomer it might be very differnt.

13.7k · October 30, 2014

I use the map page a lot and and prefer if there was a link to it from the profile page

Errrr, there is. In the frame on the right, below your username there's a heading "Search Options" beneath that is a heading "Search for geocaches" and beside that is a grey map square with a pin in it, click it and it opens the map centered on your home location. While I have several Greasemonkey scripts installed I don't think this is put there by one as I just checked another browser and it's there too.

I only have the profile page bookmarked, and it's always my landing page and from there I can find everything I want pretty easily.

It's difficult to say whether it's intuitive or not, because I've grown up with it over the last 10 years so I'm used to it and find it easy to get around, but as a newcomer it might be very differnt.

Agreed.

Ten years, even a dyslexic old fart with little tech experience knows his way around.

- Kinda why I get a bit upset when things change.

October 30, 2014

Nope, after 8 years, I still don't find the site intuitive to navigate. Being a geek, I don't even bookmark the pages, and just type "/my" or "/map" into the address bar of my browser. It's auto-suggest function knows I mean Geocaching.com and takes me to either my profile or the maps, as my two main landing pages. I virtually never use the main geocaching.com/ landing page, and find it a slightly bewildering experience when I do occasionally arrive there. This approach does however mean that I can go months or years without noticing features, until I discover them in the forums!

5.2k · October 30, 2014

I just use this page as the start page in my browser. Takes me everywhere I need to go with a minimum of effort.

7.8k · October 30, 2014

I use the map page a lot and and prefer if there was a link to it from the profile page (even if it's in a dropdown menu) rather than have to go to another page in order to get the map page link.

It is under a dropdown. From any geocaching.com page, hover over "Play" in the menu bar at the top, then click on "View Geocache Map".

One hover, and one click.

However, why the map page isn't even more visible, in a game where the location of the caches is the most critical piece of information, is beyond me. If I were designing the site, there'd be a big, obvious "MAP" button right on the menu bar, not just another link hidden in a non-obvious location under a menu.

9k · October 31, 2014

Nope, after 8 years, I still don't find the site intuitive to navigate. Being a geek, I don't even bookmark the pages, and just type "/my" or "/map" into the address bar of my browser. It's auto-suggest function knows I mean Geocaching.com and takes me to either my profile or the maps, as my two main landing pages.

Well then you're a stubborn geek who prefers lengthy typing over mouse clicks :laughing: Two clicks from the bookmark menu to any page - or click, typetypetypeypteenter. Being a geek who can use one hand with the keyboard and one on the mouse, I'll use bookmarks for efficiency!

#geekpreferences

November 7, 2014

Glad it isn't just me - thanks thebruce, your list of bookmarks clearly the way to go...... sadly!!

November 7, 2014

Nope, after 8 years, I still don't find the site intuitive to navigate. Being a geek, I don't even bookmark the pages, and just type "/my" or "/map" into the address bar of my browser. It's auto-suggest function knows I mean Geocaching.com and takes me to either my profile or the maps, as my two main landing pages.

Well then you're a stubborn geek who prefers lengthy typing over mouse clicks Two clicks from the bookmark menu to any page - or click, typetypetypeypteenter. Being a geek who can use one hand with the keyboard and one on the mouse, I'll use bookmarks for efficiency!

#geekpreferences

Hehe. As I touch-type with both hands, even relatively lengthy typing can be far faster than moving my hand to the mouse / mousepad and doing all that business of waving the pointer around to the right place. Just goes to show everyone has their own preferences, and one size does not fit all for user experience.

I generally cache using a mobile phone (I started out using a PDA with a bluetooth GPS "mouse", and have never owned a "proper" GPSr), so I would love the site to be more mobile-friendly. But I always type my logs on my laptop using a proper size keyboard, and I would hate to be forced to use a mobile-centric website on a full-sized computer.

June 17, 2020

On 10/27/2014 at 3:48 PM, thebruce0 said:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?ul=yourusername (search results for the caches you've found; insert your username)

Hi,

When you see the results, do you know if going to a specific page in the results is possible ?

A parameter ?

Something like http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?ul=yourusername&page=nn or something else ?

Thanks

Edited June 17, 2020 by Bebs

4.6k · June 17, 2020

Holy threadbump, Batman...

Can't help with extra parameters but I use the website as little as possible. That means only the cache page when needed and my profile page (the old one) which gives me all needed links because of the Tampermonkey script GClh II (like the PQ page).

Cache trips are prepared 99% using GSAK with API access instead of a browser.

June 17, 2020

Thanks for this info !

Does anyone find Geocaching website intuitive to use?

Recommended Posts

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Join the conversation