Author: Spastic
Date: Apr 07, 12 at 3:37pm (PST)
Subject: Monthly Feedback Surveys
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Like many other members here, neoseeker holds a special place in my heart. I pretty much spent my adolescence growing up on these forums. But let's face it, the internet has changed rapidly since I joined and there are numerous signs that the interactive part of this site, the forums, have not adapted well to this new environment. For example, the traditional lounge forums, with the exception of Loungin' are all sitting <20PPD. This would have been unthinkable when I was last active 5-6 years ago.
One could argue that the rise of social media, in particular Facebook and Twitter, have absorbed most of the time a user spends online and we are seeing the inevitable impact. This is possible, but I think there are other legitimate arguments (for example in this recent thread that inspired this post: link), and I am not willing to concede defeat so easily.
I am suggesting that there be a monthly survey sent through mass NeoPM which asks for feedback on various aspects of the site. One may argue that RFS serves this purpose, but I have problems with that idea. RFS is public and many users are not even aware of its existence. Because the forum is public, users may not be expressing their most honest opinions. A NeoPM would also reach more users who have never visited the site related section of neoseeker. A rough example of the survey as I imagine it:
quoteOne may ask who could possibly take on this monumnetal task? I suggest a new category of users, the "Community Manager." This team of community managers would aggregate the responses anonymously and report to the admin team monthly on their findings. Overall, I think this would be a better approach to generating feedback than the current model of RFS which IIRC has not changed substantially since the site's inception.Hello [user]. An ongoing mission of the neoseeker administration is to improve the user experience on the forums portion of our website. We would like to invite you to complete the following survey. Please know that your responses will remain anonymous and will be aggregated with other responses to offer suggestions to the administrative team. You may choose to stop receiving these surveys here.:
1. What do you like about neoseeker? What do you not like about Neoseeker?
2. Which forums do you visit frequently? What do you like about these forums?
3. Do you have any comments on the moderation of your forum? Is your forum mod accessible?
4. Do you have any suggestions that would improve your overall experience on neoseeker?
Author: Aurora
Date: Apr 07, 12 at 3:59pm (PST)
Subject: re: Monthly Feedback Surveys
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I can see the point in occasional surveys (and, by the way, they have been done in the past, albeit very rarely), but not monthly surveys. I doubt people's opinions change that much on a monthly basis, and it would create a mammoth of a task for whoever's collecting and interpreting the results (many of which, to be honest, are unlikely to be particularly useful).
It might be worthwhile to do a bi-annual one, perhaps, as long as the questions are decent. Even then, I'm sceptical of its usefulness, and I'd hope that Neoseeker would use a proper survey system rather than collating the results manually from PMs.
Author: VeGiTAX2
Date: Apr 07, 12 at 4:06pm (PST)
Subject: re: Monthly Feedback Surveys
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Not opposed to it if we could actually develop a system of internal review that instead of running monthly allowed users to submit feedback like that every 30-45 days. In PM form or emails it would just be a mess, even systems like MR struggled under a flood of PM's to sort through. It's not effective and if we want it to beneficial to the community it would pay to do it right with a dedicated system.
No need to develop a new position either, the cat mods and community engaged moderators and the supers would be able to interact on such a thing if it came around. Prominent themes could be addressed as seen and discussed at length. To some degree this is already done by combing the forums for popular topics or complaints found in GD's and other areas.
Good idea as we're always looking for feedback, such reason is why some announcements have shifted to areas like Loungin' to help generate interest or participation. Still I can't get behind this if it relies on something like a mass shared PM box though, we really would have to move forward on that front.
Author: Spastic
Date: Apr 07, 12 at 4:07pm (PST)
Subject: re: Monthly Feedback Surveys
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quote AuroraYeah, monthly is probably too often. Possibly quarterly?I can see the point in occasional surveys (and, by the way, they have been done in the past, albeit very rarely), but not monthly surveys. I doubt people's opinions change that much on a monthly basis, and it would create a mammoth of a task for whoever's collecting and interpreting the results (many of which, to be honest, are unlikely to be particularly useful).
It might be worthwhile to do a bi-annual one, perhaps, as long as the questions are decent. Even then, I'm sceptical of its usefulness, and I'd hope that Neoseeker would use a proper survey system rather than collating the results manually from PMs.
I would propose that these PMs only be sent to active members (as determined by PPD over the quarter). As long as you have a large enough team, and I know there are a lot of members who would love to assist in making neoseeker better, I don't think it would be too difficult of a task. I suppose we would have to see how many people respond on this first round (although-deferring to VeGiTAX2, I'm sure those members who participated on moderator requests have a better grasp on how difficult this would be). My concern with a "proper survey system" is that the admin team may be too busy with other tasks, and I really don't think an automated system would truly capture the opinions of members.
quoteMy only problem here is that, if moderators/admins are reviewing the feedback, users may not as honest and free with their opinions as the survey would hope. This also creates a conflict of interest in reporting negative trends in relation to a moderating style. In any case, it taints the results ultimately imo. I think a group that is as independent to the admin/mod team as possible would be able to produce the most helpful report.No need to develop a new position either, the cat mods and community engaged moderators and the supers would be able to interact on such a thing if it came around. Prominent themes could be addressed as seen and discussed at length. To some degree this is already done by combing the forums for popular topics or complaints found in GD's and other areas.
Edit: I had another idea inspired by the how MR has been run over the years. Neoseeker could have an account modeled on that concept. Every 3 months or so a thread could be posted sitewide inviting members to participate in this survey. This would be easy to implement and hopefully effective. The downside is that it may be difficult to manage this way. (people who worked on MR have more insight on this?)
Author: VeGiTAX2
Date: Apr 07, 12 at 8:55pm (PST)
Subject: re: Monthly Feedback Surveys
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Any survey is based on a fixed set of options to a user, automating the process with designated fields that submit isn't different from offering a PM area for someone to speak their mind. Offer someone 1500 or even 3000 characters in an automated system or in PM and it's the same result. If we turned responses into simply automated 1-10 fields to gauge satisfaction I could see there being an issue, creating an accessible system for users within a designated group to read them doesn't take away from the experience though and it only ensures more people will actually be able to read and field through it.
You have issues also if you're hard up for an outside party, true community managers in general aren't defined to this task, they're marking reps for the company that launch events, gather limited feedback on a 1-1 scale as they can afford time and simply try to promote the company as priority 1 for damage control and image issues. Also they report in full to the administration and moderation team with their results so any masking of identity goes away anyway when auditing comes into play.
Easiest solution is offering basic anonymity but in cases of abuse there will be a higher level record accessible that comes out for users deliberately abusing the system or trolling it. There's not a conflict in regard to negative feedback though, in fact the supers have been overseeing such feedback for quite a while now and executing as best they can. Feedback surveys will not always equal direct results and they really shouldn't, it's just that, feedback. The cat mods and supers are working to take things forward so anyone thinking otherwise is simply mistaken.
As far as using anything related to the old MR system. It's retired for a reason (it was a nightmare looking back at it). Also there's almost no way to establish a steady manual review system for those working within it to handle reports, I say almost as we would need to have users on 24/7 and force tem to group log all thoughts and adjustments at every corner and pray we could organize them all in a decent manner. With a dedicated system there's the chance to make case notes and suggestions and even earmark suggestions for future review.
Author: Spastic
Date: Apr 07, 12 at 9:23pm (PST)
Subject: re: Monthly Feedback Surveys
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quote VeGiTAX2I like this. I have conceptualized the potential page. Behold my paint skills:Any survey is based on a fixed set of options to a user, automating the process with designated fields that submit isn't different from offering a PM area for someone to speak their mind. Offer someone 1500 or even 3000 characters in an automated system or in PM and it's the same result.
A mass PM could be sent out to active members every 90(?) days urging them to complete the survey. Possibly a link next to the forum rules at the bottom of the page.
Author: hiigaran
Date: Apr 08, 12 at 3:54am (PST)
Subject: re: Monthly Feedback Surveys
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so long as its not a bother to the people in charge of reviewing the info, and that it isnt frequent enough to just piss people off and simply ignore it, then sure, i dont see a problem with this.
Author: VeGiTAX2
Date: Apr 08, 12 at 2:04pm (PST)
Subject: re: Monthly Feedback Surveys
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Not sure about the mass PM thing, we'd need a bit of internal research about using the notification system as an alternative instead. Just like with site-wide announcements it's something that needs to be considered. Often we get negative feedback just for having contests or announcing things on the site and so we gauge our impact levels and benefits before doing things like that.
As for the format of the survey, we do know how these work in fact I'm sure many of us have gone through quite a few in the last year. I appreciate the concept work but if it goes forward we'd have a pretty good eye for design.
Author: Spastic
Date: Apr 08, 12 at 4:03pm (PST)
Subject: re: Monthly Feedback Surveys
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quote VeGiTAX2Of course, I just want to make it roughly clear to everyone who views this thread what I'm proposing.As for the format of the survey, we do know how these work in fact I'm sure many of us have gone through quite a few in the last year. I appreciate the concept work but if it goes forward we'd have a pretty good eye for design.