Scenario: Scope of Feedback

[joelr]

I came across this real scenario a couple of months ago where an IPS forum launched a new member initiative, and they asked for feedback.

Members were nice and polite, but they gave feedback on ... everything. The theme, the type of general conversation, the terms of the website. There were only two posts actually related to the feedback.

You can probably guess that the forum owner didn't specify that he was looking for feedback only on the new changes.

The admin got snippety at the members because it was irrelevant feedback. What would you have advised him to differently?

 

[Shortie]

In terms of advice to give to the admin, the first piece of advice I would have given to him would be to have given more detail on what you wanted the feedback on so that the community members were aware of what he was looking for instead of giving feedback on everything.

If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it is that you have to be clear on what you are looking for when it comes to feedback to get the results you are looking for.

 

[Nomad]

It is very important to become specific, if you are not specific and you don't say what kind of feedback you want people would say all sorts of thing. Therefore, it is very important to be specific. When some wants my feedback and he is not specific, I guess I would also offer generalized feedback.