Re: Requesting feedback for a user guide - good or bad idea?

[Steven Brown <stevenabrown -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Claire,

My employer recently hired a consultant to conduct
usability testing with our software. Although the
consultant has a vested interest in making us feel
comfortable using his services, he made a compelling
argument that users are more likely to give honest
feedback to a neutral third-party rather than directly
to company employees. I think he's right. It's
incredibly difficult to get honest feedback from
people, even when you're sitting with them and begging
them for ideas and criticism.

Several us writers and business analysts were able to
watch the sessions from behind a two-way mirror, and
we learned a great deal about how people use our
software. Oh, and we learned that very few people use
our documentation. (Insert sound of head hitting wall
here....)

Expensive but worth it.

Steven Brown
Technical Writer


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