Most people stop registering at the point where they have to install an app and need a photo. It is also very costly to induce users, so I am not sure why this option cannot be stopped.
Metta Zetty
•
Aug 30, 2022
Musubi Power & Camilo Alcázar ~ I ran into this problem with my very first test member! I understand the logic of trying to encourage user engagement, but if the friction is so high that people will not join at all, we're cutting off our noses to spite our faces (so to speak) ;-)
Musubi Power
•
Sep 2, 2022
Metta Zetty: In my opinion, and in the custom here, people tend to participate by hiding their personal information at first, and then reveal their photos and profiles little by little. Some social networking sites make you not to display your own face and name because there is a lot of trouble.
Metta Zetty
•
Sep 2, 2022
Musubi Power: This has been my experience, as well. People are hungry for deep engagement, and they will eventually open up ~ but only after they know the space is private, secure and safe.
Misty Dorman
•
Jun 24, 2022
If this happens, it would be nice if we could set our own custom default picture for those who don't add their pic. Right now since users can't edit their profile on mobile, it's actually kind of nice to have the pic be mandatory but not everyone's ready with a photo & I wonder if it being required hinders some people from completing the onboarding.
Sue McLeod Ceramics
•
Jun 25, 2022
Misty Dorman: Yes, I would think it'd be a barrier for some users. I love the idea of setting my own branded placeholder photo.
Metta Zetty
•
Aug 30, 2022
Misty Dorman: Definitely hinders onboarding! My first test user told me this was a deal killer. Not good at all.
Leen Roeleveld
•
Aug 18, 2022
I've sent this request also to Heartbeat, so far it still is mandatory. For me, it's a showstopper. We want to connect a global user base of 2000+ end-users, including africa, asia regions. Apart from people being protective on their pictures (worrying privacy), others don't have a picture (nice looking :)) at hand and will simply stop the onboarding. And you've only one chance. They probably will never come back. I've suggested to allow not to add a picture (and a default set of avatars is perfect), but to every now and then ask the user to complete the profile (just like LinkedIn does). Better seduce than enforce. Unfortunately, I did buy a license for unlimited users, but so far it's sitting on the shelf, because I don't want to waste my only chance to connect this user base. If it would be very hard to implement, I would understand. But it can't be easier than this. Technically it's nothing. But it's the conviction of the makers ("picture should be mandatory") that rules over valid questions of paying users. That worries me even more.
Misty Dorman
•
Aug 20, 2022
Leen Roeleveld: For now, you could do something like Bre'anna Wilson did where she's got a landing page that offers some profile pics to use before they click the invite link to start the onboarding.
Metta Zetty
•
Aug 30, 2022
Leen Roeleveld: I agree completely. I strongly feel this requirement is shortsighted and extremely limiting ~ and, in spite of having participated in online forums for literally decades, I've never run into a mandatory file upload requirement when creating my online profile. Moreover, in today's contentious online environment, where users are extremely concerned about privacy and security, this requirement is going to be deal killer for users and site owners alike. I strongly recommend that Heartbeat reconsider this position on this issue. Otherwise, we'll have to strongly reconsider using Heartbeat.
Sue McLeod Ceramics
•
Jun 24, 2022
Yes, I would like the option to just have a placeholder pic as finding a good pic could stall people in getting started. I will be providing my members with a placeholder pic so there's no barrier to entry.
Kathy Cornell
•
Jun 24, 2022
Sue McLeod Ceramics: That is a great idea about providing a placeholder photo!
Misty Dorman
•
Jul 12, 2022
I know Bre'anna Wilson is offering several placeholder pics branded to her community for her people to use as they’re onboarding. I think it would be a nice option on the bio pic prompt to have an “or use one of these” and be able to provide a few different options.
Nick Barba changed status to Complete
Team•
Jul 18, 2023
You can now set profile pictures as required, optional, or skipped in your onboarding setup settings (Settings > Onboarding Setup). You can even choose to customize this option for each of your onboarding flows.
Evie Hartman
•
Jul 18, 2023
Nick Barba: At last! Thank you. I'm a little concerned that it took a year, but I'll give Heartbeat another look 😊
Albert Kinng
•
Jul 18, 2023
Nick Barba: My God! Thanks!!!
Alun Parry
•
Jul 19, 2023
Nick Barba: thanks lots
Alina Mueller
•
Feb 25, 2023
Yes, please! It would make the onboarding procedure so much more smooth. Plus, I want to provide more safety and annonymity to my customers.
Evie Hartman
•
Nov 10, 2022
Every time I forget why Heartbeat is sitting on my shelf unused, I come back and am immediately reminded that THIS is why. I could not care less that Heartbeat would like my users to have pretty profile pictures. I. Do. Not. Care! And my users don't care! What I care about is my users having a quick, smooth onboarding, instead of another unexpected unskippable hoop to jump through in the middle of their busy day. Literally no platform I regularly use has this requirement. What good does it even do Heartbeat to make their clients' users do this? None. There is NO good reason for this to exist. It's an immediately bad user experience, ruining the entire reason for buying this platform in the first place. Please, Heartbeat, get rid of it yesterday.
Kirsten Dam Pedersen
•
Oct 18, 2022
Maybe they could make it possible to be able to choose an avatar instead of a bio image when they onboard? I have courses for kids and that would make their onboarding much easier. I just attended a Q&A for Heartbeat and I think they are considering this option in the future.
Regina S
•
Jul 12, 2022
In my docs, I added a note that if members didn't want to add a picture of themselves, to just please use a pretty photo, so that the community looked nice. This could be a workaround for you until the option is available.
Log in to comment and vote
Comments35
Musubi Power
Aug 25, 2022
Most people stop registering at the point where they have to install an app and need a photo.
It is also very costly to induce users, so I am not sure why this option cannot be stopped.
Metta Zetty
Aug 30, 2022
Musubi Power & Camilo Alcázar ~ I ran into this problem with my very first test member! I understand the logic of trying to encourage user engagement, but if the friction is so high that people will not join at all, we're cutting off our noses to spite our faces (so to speak) ;-)
Musubi Power
Sep 2, 2022
Metta Zetty: In my opinion, and in the custom here, people tend to participate by hiding their personal information at first, and then reveal their photos and profiles little by little.
Some social networking sites make you not to display your own face and name because there is a lot of trouble.
Metta Zetty
Sep 2, 2022
Musubi Power: This has been my experience, as well. People are hungry for deep engagement, and they will eventually open up ~ but only after they know the space is private, secure and safe.
Misty Dorman
Jun 24, 2022
If this happens, it would be nice if we could set our own custom default picture for those who don't add their pic. Right now since users can't edit their profile on mobile, it's actually kind of nice to have the pic be mandatory but not everyone's ready with a photo & I wonder if it being required hinders some people from completing the onboarding.
Sue McLeod Ceramics
Jun 25, 2022
Misty Dorman: Yes, I would think it'd be a barrier for some users. I love the idea of setting my own branded placeholder photo.
Metta Zetty
Aug 30, 2022
Misty Dorman: Definitely hinders onboarding! My first test user told me this was a deal killer. Not good at all.
Leen Roeleveld
Aug 18, 2022
I've sent this request also to Heartbeat, so far it still is mandatory. For me, it's a showstopper. We want to connect a global user base of 2000+ end-users, including africa, asia regions. Apart from people being protective on their pictures (worrying privacy), others don't have a picture (nice looking :)) at hand and will simply stop the onboarding. And you've only one chance. They probably will never come back.
I've suggested to allow not to add a picture (and a default set of avatars is perfect), but to every now and then ask the user to complete the profile (just like LinkedIn does). Better seduce than enforce.
Unfortunately, I did buy a license for unlimited users, but so far it's sitting on the shelf, because I don't want to waste my only chance to connect this user base.
If it would be very hard to implement, I would understand. But it can't be easier than this. Technically it's nothing. But it's the conviction of the makers ("picture should be mandatory") that rules over valid questions of paying users. That worries me even more.
Misty Dorman
Aug 20, 2022
Leen Roeleveld: For now, you could do something like Bre'anna Wilson did where she's got a landing page that offers some profile pics to use before they click the invite link to start the onboarding.
Metta Zetty
Aug 30, 2022
Leen Roeleveld: I agree completely.
I strongly feel this requirement is shortsighted and extremely limiting ~ and, in spite of having participated in online forums for literally decades, I've never run into a mandatory file upload requirement when creating my online profile.
Moreover, in today's contentious online environment, where users are extremely concerned about privacy and security, this requirement is going to be deal killer for users and site owners alike.
I strongly recommend that Heartbeat reconsider this position on this issue. Otherwise, we'll have to strongly reconsider using Heartbeat.
Sue McLeod Ceramics
Jun 24, 2022
Yes, I would like the option to just have a placeholder pic as finding a good pic could stall people in getting started. I will be providing my members with a placeholder pic so there's no barrier to entry.
Kathy Cornell
Jun 24, 2022
Sue McLeod Ceramics: That is a great idea about providing a placeholder photo!
Misty Dorman
Jul 12, 2022
I know Bre'anna Wilson is offering several placeholder pics branded to her community for her people to use as they’re onboarding. I think it would be a nice option on the bio pic prompt to have an “or use one of these” and be able to provide a few different options.
Jul 18, 2023
You can now set profile pictures as required, optional, or skipped in your onboarding setup settings (Settings > Onboarding Setup). You can even choose to customize this option for each of your onboarding flows.
Evie Hartman
Jul 18, 2023
Nick Barba: At last! Thank you. I'm a little concerned that it took a year, but I'll give Heartbeat another look 😊
Albert Kinng
Jul 18, 2023
Nick Barba: My God! Thanks!!!
Alun Parry
Jul 19, 2023
Nick Barba: thanks lots
Alina Mueller
Feb 25, 2023
Yes, please! It would make the onboarding procedure so much more smooth. Plus, I want to provide more safety and annonymity to my customers.
Evie Hartman
Nov 10, 2022
Every time I forget why Heartbeat is sitting on my shelf unused, I come back and am immediately reminded that THIS is why.
I could not care less that Heartbeat would like my users to have pretty profile pictures. I. Do. Not. Care! And my users don't care! What I care about is my users having a quick, smooth onboarding, instead of another unexpected unskippable hoop to jump through in the middle of their busy day.
Literally no platform I regularly use has this requirement. What good does it even do Heartbeat to make their clients' users do this? None. There is NO good reason for this to exist. It's an immediately bad user experience, ruining the entire reason for buying this platform in the first place. Please, Heartbeat, get rid of it yesterday.
Kirsten Dam Pedersen
Oct 18, 2022
Maybe they could make it possible to be able to choose an avatar instead of a bio image when they onboard? I have courses for kids and that would make their onboarding much easier. I just attended a Q&A for Heartbeat and I think they are considering this option in the future.
Regina S
Jul 12, 2022
In my docs, I added a note that if members didn't want to add a picture of themselves, to just please use a pretty photo, so that the community looked nice. This could be a workaround for you until the option is available.