Linden Lab has chosen to close its existing task-based Second Life Orientation Islands, which have been problematic in so many ways. Instead a modified version of the so-called Help Islands will be used as default user-entry-points instead. These modified islands were a part of an A/B testing program last month, and Blue Linden, Linden Lab's volunteer coordinator, said that the modified Help Islands 'are proving to do a bit better' according to the internal metrics that Linden Lab keeps. Just how much better, we're not sure, as Linden Lab generally plays those cards fairly close, but one Linden staffer is reported as saying that the hub-structured, task-oriented Orientation Islands are currently only yielding about 1%.

We're not even sure whether to believe that grim statistic, as it seems to be shockingly low. Linden Lab's testing seems to indicate that the task-oriented nature of the Orientation islands is a mark against them, while many others have suggested that it is the hubbed layout that is at fault. Certainly everyone agrees that the outdated and faulty Orientation HUD system (an attachable user-interface item that is intended to guide and instruct) is a major strike against the existing orientation experience.

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Continue reading Second Life shutters orientation islands

Second Life shutters orientation islands originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to introduce a friend to Second Life. We'll call her Susan. That meant a run through the current orientation system. The whole process was an eye-opener, especially the part where Susan tried to beat me to death with her keyboard.

The last time I saw a Linden Lab orientation island it was one of the old ones (2005/2006). The new ones, though (2007/2008) - well, it's surprising that the retention is as high as ten percent.

The absolute highlight of the experience was a nude avatar by the name of Adam Neal, who ran around in circles for ten minutes or so yelling "ADAM NEAL CANNOT BE STOPPED!" -- no, really. That was one of the good bits, actually. The rest was worse.

Continue reading Peering Inside: Disorienting experiences

Peering Inside: Disorienting experiences originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.