UI is unwieldy and irritating

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Steve

I have used PPH as a buyer a few times in over a period of 5 years and while I have have good results with the jobs done and the people I have worked with. I found the user interface, i.e. this website, to be unwieldy and irritating.

Here's why:
You create a project and receive some bids, you need to discuss something before awarding the project to someone, while that is happening I don't want further bids coming in, but I can't stop that happening, It wastes freelancers time bidding on projects that I am on the brink of giving to someone else.

I awarded a project to someone recently, but I received a detailed bids from 2 other guys and I wanted to ping them to say thanks for the time taken and that I appreciated what they had done. You can't for that in PPH. You can't send a message without starting a project or accepting a bid. That's bad.

I wanted to look for a previous message I'd sent, the messages are held in some convoluted mess of a  structure that I can't fathom. I found the message about 200 clicks later.

The 'happy path' (yes I work in IT) is generally happy, posting a project, accepting a bid and payment, although for my current project I wanted to put the full amount in Escrow up front. I couldn't see how to do that and gave up.

In short, I don't find the User Interface to be intuitive, it is very structured, and should you want to go slightly off-piste, you end up in a world of pain.

Anybody @PPH listening?  

Steve McElhinney

 

 

  

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6 comments

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  • Official comment
    YannisS

    Hi Steve,

    Yes, we are listening :)

    Firstly, thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. Much appreciated and already taken into consideration.

    To address your points:

    1.  In general, I agree that our UI can be more intuitive and appealing. We have noticed that and that's why we are rolling out feature and page redesigns. We have revamped the checkout page, the proposal listing page (where buyers find all of their received bids), we have redesigned the offer listings page, and more parts of the application are following. By summer 2021 you will be operating on a totally fresh platform.
    2. In case for any reason you need to stop receiving proposals while you are reviewing the ones you've already got, you can pause the project. The option to pause a project is available on the proposal listings page (follow this path: avatar > buyer activity > click on any project > proposal listings page > click on the kebap menu next to 'Edit' at the top right > click Pause . From that point onwards freelancers won't be able to send their proposals, while the project will remain in the project listings. Once you are ready to receive bids again, you click on Resume.
    3. You (buyer) can always send a message (reply) to a freelancer who has sent you their proposal without having to accept their proposal first. Once a freelancer sends their proposal you can reply to them right away. Freelancers cannot message buyers right after they send their proposal, as in the past most of the freelancers spammed buyers with subsequent messages.
    4. In case you decide to award a project (accept a freelancer's proposal) and stop receiving more proposals, while you are at the checkout page to pay the deposit, check the 'I want to stop receiving new proposals for this project' above the PAY button. 
    5. Regarding the messages, you can click on the Wokstreams icon (envelope on the header) and then View All. There you can either use the Search option at the top of the page, or the Projects navigation menu at the left sidebar. 
    6. If you want to put a certain amount in Escrow up front, then you can pre-fund your project. So after posting a project, check the respective option on the next screen ('Get better proposals'). This way you will be able to put the deposit in Escrow up front.

    I hope I have managed to address all of your points. In case you would like to discuss any of them further, we can schedule a call whenever it works for you.

    Keep the feedback coming!

    All the best,
    Yannis 
    Product Manager @PeoplePerHour

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  • Steve

    Thank you for responding.

    >> You (buyer) can always send a message (reply) to a freelancer who has sent you their proposal
    >> without having to accept their proposal first. Once a freelancer sends their proposal you can reply to them right away.


    I have just tried it, There are 2 options to reply from the proposals list, However the 'Accept' button appears both ways.
    So if I reply I am accepting a proposal, correct?.

    I got 'lost' on the PPH site for 10mins trying to get to Proposals page and again trying to get back to this page,
    The irony of that will not have escaped you Yannis, but it is 10 minutes of my life I will not get back.

    Steve McElhinney

     

     

     

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  • YannisS
    • Edited

    Hi Steve,

    The screenshot you provided is from inside the workstream, that's why you don't see a Reply option when clicking on the down arrow. Since you are already in the workstream, you can just reply to the user by typing in the text area below, there is no need to use the down arrow.

    The path to reach the proposal listings page (avatar > buyer activity > click on any project) isn't that long. The proposal listings page is a powerful tool for you to review the received proposals. There, if you click the down arrow next to 'View' on any proposal listing (see screenshot below), you will find the 'Reply' option, which will guide you to the workstream where you can reply to the freelancer.

     

    More info on the proposal listings page: https://www.peopleperhour.com/blog/product-platform/shining-a-spotlight-on-proposals/

     

    In case this is still not quite clear, please let me know so that we schedule a call to walk you through.


    Best wishes,
    Yannis

     

     

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  • Steve

    Hi Yannis,
    When I do  Avatar > Buyer activity > click on a Project > for a given freelancer, I click the 'VIEW' pull down list > then click Reply

    I get the screen below: 
    So if I click SEND I am accepting another proposal. I don't want to do that. 
    That is the issue.

     

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  • YannisS

    Hi Steve,

    I have emailed you, so let's carry on there.

    Thank you

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  • William

    I have to agree,

    It took me nearly 10 minutes to find where MY OWN PROPOSALS were hidden within the site. Even trying to find the page where jobs are posted is trying! You'd think it would be a priority that Freelancers can instantly see where the jobs are actually posed. But no, they're hidden in a dropdown menu labeled 'Search'.

    You'd think with the rip-off fees, you'd be able to afford a decent UI designer! As for the App on Android - it's missing nearly all the functionality that you need, and is another veritable maze.

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