TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:useful customer feedback From:Miki Magyar <MDM0857 -at- MCDATA -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 21 Nov 1996 12:56:03 -0700
Beth in Tucson offered some excellent ideas for getting useful feedback
from tech support. Here's another -
I gave the tech support guys a checklist and asked them to track help
calls for a week. The list was simply designed, so all they had to do was
list the product and put a check mark for each call. The options included
such stuff as: Not in the manual, error in the manual, manual unclear, ESL
user, didn't read the manual, user is a jerk, and so on. After a bit of
prodding, they did it, and it provided some good data on what kinds of
changes I needed to make in the documentation.
But to get back to the original point, if you want feedback, you have to tell
your respondents what you want. The easier it is for them to do it, the
more likely you are to get what you need. That's why I like checklists and
specific questions.