23andMe - DNA Testing 12+

I was initially baffled at the great number of European cousins appearing on my DNA relatives list, as my genes precluded any European ancestry. The updated analysis by 23andme has partially explained this oddity. I follow with keen interest all the updated information sent by you, and am ready to help with any additional information, as the region I come from, Kurdistan, has been ascribed as the cradle of mankind. My birthplace is close to Sharazur, the first human settlement and cultivation circa 12,000BC. Keep up the good work!

23&Me has outstanding potential. But that’s the issue it’s just waiting to be taken further and explored.

I love the predicted tree, but there’s a limit to how many you can add and there’s an issue with the design.

I like the coloured line idea because it shows easily who you are and are not related to, but the way the lines all show up I often find myself tracing the wrong line when I’m looking for someone in the tree.

A way you could approach this is by using the same kind of square-based portrait design that Ancestry uses, it’s a lot easier to follow.

Too much of the map is on show all of the time and its difficult and time consuming to find people on your tree. To combat this you could show maybe 2 or 3 generations of direct ancestors/descendants and in any one of those generation groupings have arrows (also like ancestry and FamilySearch) for those with children meaning that the direct line is more accessible and so are their immediate families while making sure to limit the unwanted number of family on display.

23&Me has outstanding potential. But that’s the issue it’s just potential at the moment. You’ve conceptualised it now you need to realise it.

Although I love Ancestry and still use it I would prefer to use 23&Me as my main hub but it’s just not there with the fine-tuning.

Great detail on the initial report and app. However, I suspect this is aimed for the US market where most immigration has occurred in the past 200 years, as the breakdown of ‘nationality’ is quite specific within this date frame. If you are British or Irish then don’t expect any further analysis other than you are a Celtic, Saxon, Viking ‘soup’. My criticism of this company is that the DNA updates can alter your results hugely. In my case 14% German being totally replaced by 0.6% Sardinian!! I suspect that this is due to the European customer base being comparatively small which means as more people are added, their ‘algorithms’ change. If I had my £80 to spend again I would use the Ancestry. com alternative as it is the UK market leader and will give better results for this market.