Focusmate News – December 2017

We’re back with our second edition of monthly-ish updates!

My team and I have listened to your feedback, and have been working around the clock to make some big changes to Focusmate that will be unveiled tonight!!!!

Note: The site will be down for updates from 12-1am Eastern on Wednesday night/Thursday morning, December 14th.

Keep reading to learn more, or watch a video I recorded about the new features and how they will make Focusmate even more awesome!

Introducing Profiles

  • Customize your profile photo. For best results, use a (friendly!) photo of your face. Showing your face will encourage other users to match with you.
  • Tell other users who you are and what you’re working on. It’s time to get better acquainted! Now your profile will include answers to questions like, “What are you working on today?” and “What’s your favorite music for productivity?”
  • Custom profile URL. You can now have your very own custom Focusmate page! Grab your name before it’s gone!
  • Session stats. Show off your prowess with the new automatic session counter.
  • Make requests and share feedback for Team Focusmate. Included in your profile will be the option to share feedback and requests. How’s that for accountability?!
  • Display your full name or first name and last initial. We’re eliminating “display names” and moving to real names only, to improve trust within the community. You will have the ability to share your last initial or full last name.

Note: when you login for the first time, your account will default to last initial only. If we don’t have your last name, you’ll be re-directed to your account settings page to add one. Thanks for your help in building an awesome and close-knit community of REAL PEOPLE!! 🙂

Here’s what my profile looks like on our test site:

“Do I have to fill out all of these profile fields?”

Nope!

But we’re excited for Focusmate members to get to know each other better, so we sure hope you will!

“Who can see my profile?”

Currently, your profile is only visible to logged-in users. In the future, we plan to offer the ability to share your profile publicly.

Let us know if you have other questions!

Updated Privacy Policy

We are working hard to better understand how you are using Focusmate, so we can make sure our software and systems are keeping up with the growth of the community.

To correctly analyze user behavior, we need to see when users are accessing Focusmate across multiple devices. The update allows us to tell when users are using multiple devices. Here is the added text:

How We Use Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to identify you as the same user when logging in through different devices. This allows us to analyze and understand user behavior, in aggregate, without transmitting or revealing and personally identifying information.

We may also use Google Analytics to connect your individual usage behavior data to your account information, in order to provide more relevant support and communications to you, and enhance your experience.

We do not upload any data that allows Google to personally identify an individual (such as certain names, social security numbers, email addresses, or any similar data), or data that permanently identifies a particular device (such as a mobile phone’s unique device identifier if such an identifier cannot be reset).

There are no other changes to our terms. Your information will remain secure and anonymous.

The first time you log in after the scheduled update, you’ll be asked to accept the updated Privacy Policy.

What else is new?

What’s next?

  • We have a full slate of upcoming product improvements too, including better reminders, recurring sessions, and a fresh new look for the website, all coming in Q1. Stay tuned!
  • We’re looking for web designers/developers to join our team on a part-time basis. Contact me if you’re interested: taylor@focusmate.com.

Thanks for your ongoing support. I look forward to working with you soon!

Best,
Taylor

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