F E V E R B E E ’ S B R E A K D O W N O F A P P L E ’ S O N L I N E

C O M M U N I T Y

By Richard Millington, www.feverbee.com

Apple has had an online community ecosystem since the earliest days of the internet.

The current incarnation of the official community was launched in 2006, revamped in 2011, and has been gradually tweaked and upgraded since then to the site we see today hosted on Jive.

The community is designed as a customer support channel. The primary goals would be to deflect customer support tickets (and calls) and provide a superior level of customer service customers can get through other channels.

The community also provides a less noticeable area for user tips. Members above a certain level can share their best advice to use products more effectively. This can have an impact upon customer satisfaction and retention.

Given Apple’s status, we would imagine the community site to be very well designed, but can Apple also handle the challenges of managing a community for hundreds of thousands of members with urgent questions about their products?

C O M M U N I T Y C O N C E P T

Apple has one of the largest and most challenging branded online communities in the world to manage

CONCEPT AND BACKGROUND

K E Y C H A L L E N G E S

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A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Huge organizations with devout fanbases face three big problems when building an online community.

1) Fear of upsetting cult fans. Cult fans feel a sense of ownership over the brand. If they don’t receive the answer they want, they become extremely vocal about expressing their anger which can garner negative publicity.

2) Information leaking / rumours starting. Apple is one of the world’s most secretive organizations. It wants to surprise and dazzle its fan base. However, the fan base is known to scour patent applications and every public statement looking into any insight about the company’s future plans. This means any statement by any Apple employee could start a gossip whirlwind (whether it’s true or not). This most likely places tight limits on what Apple employees are allowed to say within the community. This may

also limit what the community team can say about products, tests of software, and rumours of future releases/updates.

3) Scaling the community. Apple is known for keeping teams relatively lean. Thus we would expect the community to need to nurture hundreds or thousands of advocates to be able to answer enough questions. This also means keeping information up to date. Every new product release and software updates makes thousands of accepted answers within the community redundant. This could mean a lot of people are accessing false information and becoming more frustrated. Apple needs to find a way around these challenges.

None of these challenges are entirely unique to Apple, but they are unique at this scale and sensitivity.

KEY CHALLENGES

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U P G R A D E S S I N C E 2 0 1 1 A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

THE COMMUNITY UPGRADE

2010 2017

H O M E P A G E D E S I G N

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T H E CO M M U N I T Y H O M E PAG E A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Very clear call to action (find answers) with the search box prominently displayed. This is common in most enterprise platforms today. Very much a best practice

This image takes up a lot of space and doesn’t add anything to the page. Would be better to pull up the categories beneath to help people find what they need. Or, at least, feature the top community experts.

This is the only ‘sign in’ option. This feels somewhat hidden and it’s not clear this is the option to register. Would push this below the search box next to ‘learn more about’. However following the search option to ask a question will prompt a registration

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Featured categories are optimised by popularity with further categories hidden (but available) in a useful drop-down. A good best-practice to follow.

It’s good to feature topics, but what does ‘featured’ means? Are they trending? Most popular? Most useful? Could replace with ‘trending issues’ or ‘most popular issues’ here. or top tips.

Feels optimised for mobile with lots of empty space. Could reduce this space and have these appear side by side. Are these tips personalised to the user or the most popular tips?

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Still a LOT of empty space here that could be used to reduce the size of the site and need to scroll down.

Feels like a redundant feature. There was already a ‘learn about support communities’ just below the search box. Could easily remove this and bring the bar below higher up.

These three benefits are really interesting but relatively downplayed. Might be worth seeing if they can be moved up or have different versions of the site for return visitors / regulars.

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Ask question is probably better than start a discussion given the nature of the community

Apple has 60+ communities across several major product lines. The navigation of these is pretty good, clean, and simple. You can get to any community in three clicks. They are also well prioritised

The get support button here could be highlighted a bit clearer. It’s a useful addition however.

P R O D U C T - S P E C I F I C CAT E G O RY PAG E S A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Each product has it’s own support community with navigation, top communities, and latest posts. These are generally well-designed.

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The structure of these sub-communities feels a little odd. It’s unlikely the last 3 questions will answer the visitor’s question, so display these by most popular at the time rather than latest. Not good to show a lot of unanswered questions.

I suspect very few people want to ‘follow’ the discussions of an entire community. Might be better to include an easier to find search bar here.

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M O B I L I Z E O P T I M I Z AT I O N A N D R E S P O N S I V E N E S S A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

MOBILE OPTIMIZED AND RESPONSIVE

Every page is responsive. Featured tips disappear at around the 1/3rd of the page. Mobile version of the site

works extremely well as you might imagine from Apple

A S K I N G A Q U E S T I O N

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AS K I N G A Q U E S T I O N / G E T T I N G H E L P A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Jive’s autocomplete search is a little slow

but works to well to find relevant

communities and discussions. This is

definitely a best practice today and

forces members to check if a similar

question exists before asking a repetitive

question. However, it’s unclear if these

discussions have been resolved or not.

Many of the questions may also seem

old and out of date

AUTOCOMPLETE SEARCH

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How to write a good question is minimised here, but should be expanded by default - especially for first-time posters. Anyone that forgets the basic principles won’t get the answer they need.

‘Tell us what is on your mind’ works better on Facebook than someone who wants to get their problem solved right now. This isn’t a place people will casually chat about Apple

Relatively simple, clean, interface. Allows HTML and other styling.

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Turning categories (used here more as tags) into buttons that people can easily select is really clever too.

It’s always REALLY hard to get people to post in the right areas. Apple makes it easier by autofilling from relevant key words. Very clever.

This is genius. Asking people to select their product and operating system to help people answer the question. The ‘add to Profile’ is also smart. Apple nails this section.

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Really awesome profile information integration here. It highlights what products you already own and helps you answer questions.

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H OW Q U E S T I O N S A P P E A R A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Need to add prompts when people are writing the question that any question < 200 characters should include the exact product, describe the exact problem or include a screenshot so people can answer it

This is an extremely useful feature (better than like) as it highlights what questions Apple should focus on resolving

Not immediately clear to the visitor if the question has a solution or not. This appears below the question which it could be positioned here

R E S P O N S E S A N D E M P A T H Y

R E S P O N S E S A N D E M PAT H Y A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Apple suffers greatly from not being able to

get an accepted answer to most of the

questions which appear in the community.

This is the single biggest flaw the

community faces today. Most of the online

communities we looked at, the number of

solved questions was extremely low. These

were questions asked days, if not weeks

ago. This discourages future people from

responding. Questions with solutions

should be featured near the top along with

any trending or ever-present questions.

LOW NUMBER OF SOLVED QUESTIONS

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R E S P O N S E S A N D U S E R E M PAT H Y A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

This response could use a little work, but we’ll go into that later.

View answer in context is good when there are a lot of responses and the answer builds upon previous answers. Likely to be irrelevant for most answers.

Who is this person? Do they work for Apple? Are they an expert supporter? Showing the level is good but would be ideal to make clear distinctions.

Here is the ‘solved’ green icon. Feels too hidden away.

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Solved option is always good.

Clever static bar at the top keeps the question present as you scroll down.

What is a community specialist Why does this person not have a real name or photo? Is this someone that can access my customer record and have real power or not? Is it an employee or a helper? Is it an external contractor (probably)

Need to be much clearer about this.

Bullet points are ALWAYS a good idea in a longer answers. Remember your responses have to be scannable.

Repeating the question back for clarity is good. Taking the information out of the resource and dropping it into the question is also smart. Don’t make people make that extra click if you don’t have to.

Feels a bit insincere and fake.

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P E R S O N A L I S E D A N D K N OW L E DG E A B L E R E S P O N S E S A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

The responses are generally personalised

and contain good knowledge, but they

score badly on friendliness, checking for

resolution, and giving the member a

sense of influence over the outcome.

Could use this as an opportunity to be

more friendly, show more personality.

Suspect this work is outsourced to a

western contractor with a quote of

questions to get through. For a

contractor, it’s generally ok.

PERSONALISED AND SMART

R E G I S T R A T I O N A N D O N B O A R D I N G

R E G I S T E R I N G TO J O I N T H E CO M M U N I T Y A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Apple unsurprisingly requires you to log

in with your Apple ID or create one to be

able to participate in the community.

The single sign on and security is one of

Jive’s strengths and works well here.

NEED AN APPLE ID TO REGISTER

B R E A K DOW N O F T H E A P P L E CO M M U N I T Y PRESENTATION TITLE COPY GOES ON HERE

This email is repetitive and badly written.

Would be better to send after someone

has participated. Most people who

register will have one single-goal in

mind; getting an answer to a frustrating

question. The welcome email should

acknowledge this and guide them to

where they can get their answer as

quickly as possible. This is the only thing

that matters at this time. Would also

sign it from a named community

manager.

APPLE WELCOME EMAIL

Welcome to Apple Support Communities!

Welcome to your community

Richard Millington. you're the newest member here at Apple Support Communities, theworld’s largest community of Apple fans! Welcome to the community!

Jump right in and . You’ll find all kinds of discussions about your Appleproducts, or you can .

If you’re ready to have some fun, there are even more ways to enjoy the community bygaining !

Thanks for joining Apple Support Communities, the premier learning community for Appleusers around the world.

Sincerely, The Apple Support Communities team

You are receiving this email from Communities. You can change your email preferences in your . Pleaseexpect a slight delay in visibility of points awarded.

TM and copyright 2016 Apple Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, MS 96-DM. Cupertino, CA 95014.

| | |

Apple Support Communities Updates to Richard 11/20/16

explore the sitestart your own discussion

perks and awards

Communities Profile

All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy Terms of Use Apple Support

T H E T U TO R I A L PAG E S A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

This tutorials page is a REALLY good idea and works well here. Easy to navigate and learn more about the community.

After registration there is no further on-boarding program via email or series of notifications from Apple to help anyone get more engaged in the community or identify people who could become top participants from those who just want a response to the question.

If you want to turn a one-time visitor into a regular, look at the on boarding of newcomers and your autoresponder series. There is usually a great opportunity here to establish a perception of the community and the idea someone can become seen as a top member.

P O S T - R E G I S T R AT I O N A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

FOLLOW UP AFTER REGISTRATION

POST REGISTRATION

G A M I F I C A T I O N

G A M I F I CAT I O N A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

As a mature community with hundreds

of thousands of members, Apple

deploys a seemingly complex reward

system which covers points/

leaderboards, levels and perks,

specialities, and ‘unique awards’.

In reality, it’s actually two-related

systems. A points-based system and a

specialist-based system. Can easily

remove ‘unique awards’ from this area.

TWO MAIN REWARD SYSTEMS

The perks target people’s need to feel a collective sense of identity with Apple by getting access to exclusive stuff.

Points and leaderboards target each person’s competitive nature and create a habit.

Specialities are rare but really smart to have. They let each member ‘own’ their own small part of the community and feel an incredible sense of competence

This feels somewhat redundant and confusing. Could easily skip these. Also ‘adding colour to a profile’ is the least enticing perk imaginable, what’s the best perk to feature here?

P O I N T S A N D L E A D E R B OA R D S S Y S T E M S A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

The points system is designed to convert

newcomers into addicted participants

by getting a quick ‘hit’ to their first

question and then rapidly raising their

score with the next few actions which

gets them to socialise with other

members or learn more about the

community.

After this it’s focused on asking ‘good’

questions and eventually attending

community conference calls or sharing

community tips. It’s generally a logical

and smart progression.

POINTS AND LEADERBOARDS

L E V E L S A N D P E R K S A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Now we can see how the points translate to

unique perks across 10 levels. The structure

of these seems odd, reporting posts could

easily be something to gain points.

These levels are incredibly spaced apart

and make it difficult to imagine

progression from getting 4 to 10 points to a

level where we’re on 1000+ points. The

perks seem relatively minor too. Though

note this is the first appearance of

conference calls and user tips.

Would be easier to show the perks for the

higher levels here too. No reason to hide

this.

LEVELS AND PERKS

P R O D U C T S P E C I A L I S T S A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Woah, this is an incredibly clear and

specific table about moving up the

specialist levels.

The levels get exceedingly more difficult

at the higher end. Would be interesting

to know of any special perks at these

levels. What is the benefit of being a

specialist compared with a generalist?

PRODUCT SPECIALITIES

U N I Q U E AWA R D S A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

This section feels redundant. It’s a nicer-

looking table but I’m unclear what else

it adds to the community. The extra

information seems designed to confuse

the audience.

The only benefit is explaining the

‘exclusive’ post level 6 perks which are

accessing a private lounge and

attending community meetups/

conference calls.

The perks feel a little disappointing

given Apple’s incredible resources.

UNIQUE AWARDS

B A DG E S A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

It’s relatively easy to get a few badges.

I’m not sure the value of these early

badges for simply browsing the

community are useful. .

Could raise the barrier to getting the first

badge to at least some kind of active

contribution, even clicking ‘me too’ on a

single question.

BADGES ARE EASY TO COLLECT

U S E R T I P S

A D I S P L AY O F U S E R T I P S BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Behind the home page the content

section becomes a more typical ‘no

thrills’ Jive experience.

User tips are presented without much

fanfare. This does a huge disservice to

many of the excellent tips shared which

should be featured at different levels.

Apple would benefit from designing a

proper tips section or only including tips

on each product page (where some tips

are already featured). Far too many tips

are not getting the audience they

should in this format.

POOR DISPLAY OF USER TIPS

Does this need both the user rating AND the ‘like’ button? Does the ‘like’ button add anything the user rating doesn’t have? Could merge at least the like button and the follow button similar to Facebook

Would be better to show the reputation at the beginning of the question. Move the average rating to the top. It’s one of the first things people need to see.

This is simple and clean. Not sure what this person is a specialist in from the profile page but the layout is clean.

C O N C L U S I O N

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S U M M A RY A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

As expected, Apple’s online community is strong on everything to do with technology. It’s level of integration with existing systems is terrific, navigation is extremely good, posting is simple enough and tackles the common

challenges of repeat posts. The community makes the best use of Jive’s functionality.

Use of the gamification modules are also among the more complex we’ve seen. Generally it is logical and is well designed to hook members who would most likely become regular, active, members.

Apple is a little less strong on the social side. The answers are ok, but far too many discussions aren’t getting a response. This is a huge problem that can’t be tackled solely by technology.

Visit for yourself: https://discussions.apple.com/

A WELL BUILT COMMUNITY NEEDING A LITTLE PROCESS WORK

CONCLUSION

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A BREAKDOWN OF APPLE’S ONLINE COMMUNITY

Richard Millington is the Founder of FeverBee, an online community consultancy, and the author of Buzzing Communities.

Richard works to help organisations understand the technology and psychology behind the web’s most successful online communities.

In the past decade, Richard has helped 250+ organisations develop successful online communities for their employees, customers and fans. His client roster includes Facebook, Google, Oracle, Lego and many more.

FeverBee’s community management academy has also trained 1200+ of the world’s top online community professionals from around the globe.

To learn more, please visit: www.feverbee.com

R I C H A R D M I L L I N G TO N , F E V E R B E E

richard@feverbee.com

@RichMillington