User Feedback

[Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- FS -dot- COM -dot- AU>]

Another tip, based on my own experience: if you're collecting the
feedback yourself, don't give the slightest hint that you had anything
to do with producing the current docs. Lie   Creatively mislead if
you have to.

Whenever I've been introduced as "This is Stuart, our Documentation
Manager" or "This is Stuart, the guy who writes the manuals", the
feedback has been vague and useless -- "OK, quite good, all right,
fine".

Whenever I've used one of my other titles -- "Stuart the User Interface
Designer", "Stuart the Tea Lady", "Stuart the Technical Rhetorician" --
the feedback has been much more specific and honest.

The very best feedback has come when I've managed to imply that I'm
some sort of outsider who's been brought in the overhaul the 'old'
docs. It's not that customers go on a raging flamefest, but they do
loosen up and talk about what's missing and what they'd like to see
presented differently.

Regards
---
Stuart Burnfield
Senior Euphuistic Rhabdomancer
Functional Software Pty Ltd
mailto:slb -at- fs -dot- com -dot- au

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