As with most things in life there are many ways to solve a problem. Some better than others but in many cases the choice is not so obvious. In building our products we often run into these. We recently had a discussion in the dev team about the pro’s and con’s of the various styles of forum/discussion systems out there.
On one side of the fence we have – Threaded forums. Forums that represent the hierarchy of the conversation in progress. Replies are displayed in a tree branching off from the main topic starter. This allows a logical visual structure for the threads allowing a simpler understanding of the overall discussion and mini-threads that come about in the course of a discussion. A popular example of this is Slashdot. While possibly simpler to understand, visually things can get more confusing (slashdot certainly doesn’t help). Indentation of posts in the hierarchy is usually the most optimal form of display but with large numbers of posts can lead to an overload of detail.
On the other side we have – Non-Threaded forums. As the name says this does not represent the threads that follow a conversation. While is may seem that it is losing out without displaying the structure of the discussion, it does have the benefit of visual simplicity. A single linear discussion becomes much easier to follow. The majority of forum systems out there follow this model.
We didn’t really come to a solid conclusion but we know what we prefer. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Visually we love the idea of simplicity around here but in this case there is other important in things to consider. What does everyone think? Are threaded forums easier to follow? Does the break in flow lead to confusion? In non-threaded forums do discussions stay or stray from the original topic?
We’d love to know the thoughts of the important ones. You, the ones who use this stuff.
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Technorati Tags: design, discussions, forums, IA, infodesign, nonthreaded, UE, userexperience
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