Why Was the Answer Later Feature Removed?

The recent announcement that the 'Answer Later' feature on Quora has been rebranded to 'Answer Drafts' has left many users feeling frustrated, especially those who relied on the former for managing their question lists.

What Happened to Answer Later?

From September 2023, the 'Answer Later' feature, which allowed users to queue up a list of questions to answer later, has officially been retired and has been replaced by the 'Answer Drafts' feature. This change has caused a shift in workflows for users, which is often a point of contention.

The New Home of Answer Later Queues

If you are among the users who managed their time by adding questions to your 'Answer Later' list, the feature is still available, but under a different name. To access your 'Answer Later' queue, click on your profile picture or avatar in the bottom right corner of the app. From there, you'll find 'Answer Drafts;' this is essentially the destination for your 'Answer Later' questions.

This change has not been warmly received by all users. Many find it confusing to have to navigate to their profile to access their drafts, especially when the naming of the feature did not reflect the actual functionality of merging two distinct features (Answer Later and Answer Drafts) under one umbrella. The transition has caused a backlog in finding one’s previous work.

Quora’s Justification for the Change

Quora provided a rationale for the merge: ""We've found that marking a Question to answer later is conceptually the same as saving an in-progress answer to Drafts so we're streamlining the process to do both." However, this perspective appears to have overlooked the user experience for those who benefitted from the timely organization of questions.

Impact on High-Volume Users

The transition for high-volume users has been particularly jarring. The management of a queue containing hundreds of questions may have become more complicated and difficult to track due to the integration with drafts. Features that were previously separate have now been merged, potentially leading to difficulties in organizing and retrieving earlier questions.

Feedback and Severity of the Change

Quora acknowledged the impact of this change, publishing the news on their Product Updates blog, which has just 6,100 followers. This contrasts sharply with the direct approach one would expect when informing a significant change to the user experience. Despite the small audience, interested users can provide feedback through the post itself and submitting a form.

It is unclear whether Quora will address these issues given the low engagement level of the post and the apparent confusion among users. For users who rely on organized lists of questions, the renamed feature is just the tip of the iceberg in a larger frustration that Quora has seemingly ignored.

Related Keywords: Answer Later, Answer Drafts, Quora Updates