This is what I heard -- is this what you said?

DNA Ancestry is committed to its users and to providing a great user experience with our service.  We are using your feedback to help shape our product and service as we move forward. While our beta version is a stand alone service, our plan is to integrate into Ancestry.com and as part of the Ancestry.com family, we have the availability of resources to implement requisite feedback. 

Following is a sampling of the feedback mechanisms we have already tapped:

• Focus groups with Ancestry.com subscribers and registered users from different quadrants of interest and familiarity
• Federation of Genealogical Society (FGS) focus group sessions
• Interviews of current project coordinators
• Online surveys to Ancestry and Rootsweb message boards
• Online survey to project coordinators
• International Society of Genetic Genealogists (ISOGG) board review and critique
• Enhancement requests provided by Sorenson Genomics as received from its customer bank
• International survey

Below are some common themes we’ve been hearing.  We encourage you to share your perspective on these specific themes and to provide additional topics for consideration by sending your comments to DNA@Ancestry.com. .

Concerns:

• Finding inconsistencies and/or having few ways of proving that data is accurate.  Overall feeling was that DNA can play a tool in overcoming this hurdle, but users need to visually see the application of DNA to genealogy.
• Non-traditional family structures (e.g. adoptions and illegitimate births) make research difficult and are not easily accommodated in the traditional family tree format.  DNA will expose these relationships and may segregate family ties along a biological line; won’t this knowledge make the situation worse?
• To the general public, understanding of genetic genealogy is limited.  The lines of distinction between popular culture (CSI), medical diagnostic testing and genetic genealogy are not clear.  Many still think that exhuming bodies is inherent to genetic genealogy.    
• The unknown.  Concern from the uncertainty of what could happen in the future.  The notion of one’s DNA being “out there” was unsettling and disturbing for some. 

Needs:

• To validate and confirm information already in one’s family tree.
• A wide segment of individuals familiar with DNA and genealogy discussed the topic of genetic matches.  Such as:
  • need for a large, diverse, and global database from which to pool for matches
  • ability to welcome and display results of users from other testing facilities
  • need to link to and query all of the public DNA databases for potential matches
  • need to be notified of genetic matches
  • easily understand what a “match” means, and
  • facilitation of contact with potential matches 

As we move forward in our development, the needs and concerns expressed by our existing and potential users are at the forefront of our discussions.  We plan to provide educational materials, UI enhancements, and new functionality to address these and future feedback.  Please continue to send us your comments at DNA@Ancestry.com. 

Comments

[George Kelly]

On Ancestry.Com DNA "Beta"
I would like to be able to:
1. Search the database by last name
2. Search the database by Country
3. Search the database by State, County, Zip

[DNA Ancestry]

George, thank you for your recommendations for searching the site. We will include your feedback in our discussions for our DNA Groups release--stay tuned for enhanced functionality within the coming months.

[Rosemary]

I am have a little trouble interperting the comparison information. For example: I receive an email stating that a dna match has been found. When I click on the name, which indeed does say 0 differences, there are several differences. What am I seeing that I am not interperting correctely?

[DNA Ancestry]

Rosemary, I apologize for the confusion you are seeing. What is happening: the notification is being triggered based on a comparison of the regions you have in common with the other person. In your case, the only common region is HVR1 -- in which you and the other person do NOT have any differences. Our screen, however, is incorrectly showing differences in the HRV region where you were tested, but the other person was not. These extraneous differences should be disregarded and we should have a fix for the problem in the coming days.