Update 10/21/13 9:55 a.m.: SparkPeople's new Start page is now live! Read below for details and a video showing you how to use your new page. Thanks!
Good morning, everyone!
Today we are very excited to announce the launch of a big enhancement to your SparkPeople experience. We know, we know: Change is often viewed as a dirty word. It's something people don't always like, especially from a website that you are used to using a certain way. But this change has been many months in the making and has even been tested and approved by a group of SparkPeople members who got a sneak-peek! We wanted to get it just right—and we are confident that YOU are going to love what you see, too!
As a courtesy, this announcement is coming a few days early. All changes described below will go into effect by 10 a.m. EST on Monday, October 21.
So what's changing? Your SparkPeople "Start" page. Members of SparkPeople know this page well since it's the page you see every time you log in to your SparkPeople account. That page has undergone a few changes over the years, but none are going to have as big of an impact as this one. The page is laid out in a completely new way, and even has some brand-new features!
Without further delay, check out the 5-minute video below to see what all of the changes will look like!
We have made these changes for many reasons—always with you (and future members) in mind. We are fully aware that SparkPeople is a big, BIG site. We have so many cool features, stories, tools and resources that it can feel overwhelming—especially for new members. On the old Start page, people weren't sure how to begin. The improved Start page was created to give everyone a clear three-step program for using SparkPeople to reach their goals.
It prioritizes three main things:
- Tracking. We know that tracking food, fitness and other goals builds confidence and helps people get results, which is why it's Step 1 of your SparkPeople Start page. You'll notice a brand new tracking feature on the right side of the page that allows you to customize up to six other goals—they can be anything!—and earn SparkPoints for tracking them each day.
- Coaching. Step 2 combines "coaching" from our experts (in the form of articles, videos and other tips) with a brand new feature: the Goal Board. This is based on what a great coach or goal-setting expert might do with his or her clients: encourage them to write down, look at and visualize their goals each day. You can completely customize this section with your personal goals, inspirational images (from our site or your own photos) and more so that you give your goals some attention each day to stay motivated.
- Community. We've seen just how much of a difference it makes in our members when they connect with others on our site, so connecting with our Community in any way that works for you is part of step 3. A new Community feature you'll find here (in addition to all of your old favorites) is SparkTeam Bonus Points. For every 5 SparkPoints you earn each day, you'll get a bonus "spin" to earn extra SparkPoints for yourself—and your favorite Teams. It's a fun feature that we think you'll enjoy to help your Teams advance on our leaderboards. (P.S. Soon, we'll have another BIG announcement related to this new feature directly from SparkGuy!)
And just to make sure it would be received as well as we had hoped, we test-piloted the new Start page with a few dozen SparkPeople members during development and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Here are some of their initial reactions.
- "I was all prepared to be all critical and curmudgeonly and say 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it. " But I like it. A LOT. I don't use the current Start Page much, but I expect to use the new one. Everything I need is easy to find, and everything new members will need to find is very handy."
- "I have just gone to the new Start page and first thing that comes to mind is: GREAT JOB AT MAKING THE CHANGE! LOVE WHAT I SEE!"
- "First impression?? WOW!! I LOVE it!! So easy to use, everything bright and easy to find…love the layout!! I think someone new could navigate it quite easily."
- "My overall impression is that this will be a good layout for new users and it makes everything more 'one-click' for those of us who have been around for a while."
Note that everyone's Start page will switch to the improved design on Monday, October 21. We hope that you love the new Start page as much as we do, and that it helps you stay focused and get results from your SparkPeople program. Please share any feedback and questions in the comments below and we will try to address them by editing this post with more information when we can.
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