For many years, community administrators have been told that if you focus your attention on having quality content on your site then you're on the way to having a successful community. But is that really true? I've seen many many communities out there choc full of excellent interesting content and articles, yet have absolutely no activity at all. Why? The reason, in my eyes, is simple. Giving all your focus on quality content, these administrators have neglected the other important part of building a community - user experience. You can write as many articles as you like, if you can't draw your visitors in by developing a user experience that entices them, then you will never achieve the activity on your site that you desire. So, I put it to you, instead of it being quality content vs user experience, shouldn't everyone be focusing on giving a good user experience to bring people back and develop that quality content we're all in search of?
I suppose it could be argued that the right kind of quality content is what leads to a good user experience. To give an example, I have a passion for imagery but don't always have the time or expertise to create what I want myself. Up until very recently I didn't even own a camera but I often buy stock images for projects. However I found this thread http://slruser.com/threads/lighting-and-portraiture.123/ on a developing XenForo forum to be so inspirational, I went out and bought a camera. I'm also tempted to join the forum even though I'm a complete novice when it comes to using a camera. That said, I think you've made a good point and the forum I've linked above is an excellent example of a forum owner who has gone out of his way to give his members a good user experience. So perhaps it is that which is bringing in the quality content
