Encouraging Constructive User Feedback
People treat feedback forms like they’re a black hole; they don’t really expect a human to read or respond to their problems, so they just vent. Learn to ignore those negative sentiments if nothing else.
The black hole mentality isn’t surprising, though. Companies of all sizes—even sole proprietors—spend a lot of time saying «we» and hiding behind the face of the company, dehumanizing themselves. I’ve been guilty of it too, but earlier this year I tried an experiment at Black Pixel and made our support page say very explicitly that support mail goes to my personal inbox. It puts my name and my face right on the page. I can definitely say the tone of the incoming mail has changed for the better.
That sounds like a great idea, but I just can’t imagine doing it — for no rational reason whatsoever. It would just feel wrong, no matter how right I absolutely know it would be.
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