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I agree with Miki - you need to ask specific questions if you want
feedback.
My company conducts training classes for new users - so I was able to
get feedback from these new users while they attend class. I picked a
subject that the new users had just covered in class and gave them a
sample of the new document along with a list of specific questions. Then
I left them alone for a few minutes. I was lucky because I had a chance
to collect the evaluations and discuss the sample doc with them. Some
users wrote good comments on the evaluations and never opened their
mouths in the classroom setting - other users wrote little but had a lot
to say when the discussion began. The whole exercise only took about 30
minutes. I got a lot out of it and the instructor was glad to give the
class a "break" that reinforced an important topic.
>Karen Brown asked, "Anyone had luck in extracting usable feedback
>from customers?"
>It's very similar to the process by which I get useful feedback from the
>SMEs who review my user manuals. First I grab them by the throat... no,
>that's *after* the deadline is past... I tell them specifically what I want
>them to tell me. If someone hands you a document and asks you to edit or
>review it, do you know what they want? I don't. So I give my reviewers
>a specific list of things to look for, usually in the form of a checklist, to
>minimize the work required. You can do the same for customers or
>users, starting with, "Did you use the online help?" Then at the end you
>can ask for specifics of what they wanted but couldn't find, what
>annoyed them, etc., but leave the open-ended stuff for last. And if they
>don't give you the information you need, *then* you grab them by the
>throat...
>Miki
>"You could live a perfectly normal life, if you were only willing to live a
>perfectly normal life!" Q
