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If you're going to jump off a bridge….please don't tell me about it, ok? I'd hate to be persuaded to join you.
After the Mook decided to go ahead and create a tumblog, I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon. Anything that is not post-worthy here will probably end up on http://typeset.tumblr.com/ . But thanks to the magic of the internet – you don't even have to go visit – the new widget in my sidebar will auto-update with the latest entries, giving you up-to-the-minute coverage of everything I've posted that you couldn't possibly care about reading.
Earlier this month, my wife and I ordered some flowers online for some family members who had helped us out in a pinch with watching the kids. I've ordered a number of times from them before, and they always provide a quality product with decent customer service (e.g. the one time the order came with a broken vase, I called and they rushed out a duplicate bouquet the next day with a replacement vase). But recently they did something that just struck me as a little bit ridiculous.
A week after placing the order online, I received an email directing me to a customer satisfaction survey about my orders. I typically fill these out if I have the time, as I figure it is my chance to get my voice heard, even if all I have to say is good things about the company. I filled out the survey, giving them good marks on almost every area. The only section I gave sub-par ratings to was the shipping costs. Almost all of these flower services have to charge a relatively large amount for shipping & handling, so this company was not above average in shipping prices. However, it still was, in my opinion, beyond what I would want to pay for shipping a product that already is costing a decent amount. So I marked the survey as "Not satisfied" with the shipping costs, and put in the comments that I wish shipping charges were reduced or made free to help ensure I continued being a customer.
About a week after that, I got a call at home at about 8 PM from a customer service rep. She wanted to let me know that they had received my comments and that they were indeed passing them on to be considered. That was the entirety of the call. Just informing me that the survey that I had submitted had been processed, and that someone was going to look at the answers I gave.
Then, this morning, I received an email from the company asking me to take ANOTHER quick survey, this time to see if my "issue" had been resolved. So, in their mind, I created an issue by filling out the survey, and their "resolution" was to let me know that they were going to look at the results.
I filled out this second survey. I clicked "No" when they asked if my issue had been resolved. In the comment box, this time, I mentioned that I really didn't see a need to contact me to let me know that my comments were being reviewed, as that was sort of implied by me filling out and submitting the survey.
How much do you want to bet I'll be getting another call in a week, letting me know that my latest comments are going to be considered in an upcoming survey review?
Hey, you! Yeah, you! Why don't you come on over and play the Calliope No. 8 with us?
I'm talking, of course, about discussing the recent Vox update. I haven't made a dedicated effort to seeking out people's opinions on the new UI changes, but every post from my neighborhood on the topic seems to be on the negative side of things. I wonder how many, like myself, actually tried out this interface during the beta phase? I'm blushing, because I tried it, found it pretty unusable, and switched back to the "old" UI. But I forgot to submit feedback through the survey, and I'm wondering now if there were just not enough people who tried it out, found they didn't like it, and submitted their negative review.
I wouldn't think Vox would go ahead with such a change for everyone if they found 90% of the people who tried it didn't like it, so I'm afraid that the majority of the survey results were from people who tried the new design and liked it and bothered enough to submit feedback. I have to take my share of the blame for not providing feedback when it could have helped, but yet I still feel that it is better to voice my opinion, albeit a bit late.
Here's what I submitted to Vox feedback this morning:
I tried out the new design when it was a beta option, and had to stop after a couple days, because it was just so damn hard to do what I wanted to do. This is not a knee-jerk reaction, I really gave it a chance and it came up lacking for the basic actions and ways that I used Vox. I was happy that I was able to switch back, and I hope you provide an option to opt back to the older layout (much like Google gave Gmail users a means to switch back to the old Gmail design if they didn't like the new one).
Problems with the interface that made me switch back: I can't easily follow my neighborhood updates, comments are a pain to find, and this really breaks the entire user experience I was having and enjoying. I don't care so much about the death of [This is Good], but I feel like my Vox homepage is a splash screen with almost zero content, where before I felt like it was a very lean, efficient means of transferring information about myself and my neighbors. Part of my desire to come to Vox was derived from what I could glean from the Vox homepage. That part of my involvement feels missing – I feel LESS connected with my neighbors and groups than I did before. The new "features" section is a good idea but something about it makes me feel like I won't be using it much.
I will (probably) be staying with Vox through this new design, but I'm leaning towards getting into posting on my personal site. I know that I won't have the community aspects that Vox has had, but when it feels so awkward to use Vox, I think I may be willing to give that up for something that feels more comfortable to use & manage.
Vox has been a great place to blog, and I have enjoyed the community aspects that have made me active, both in posting and reading other people's blogs. I'm going to stick with Vox for a while yet, and see how things go. But in the end, my intention for having a blog was having a place for me to write and share my thoughts and experiences, and the neighborhood aspects were secondary, only. If a wordpress blog on my own site is what it takes to keep me feeling like I can easily get my thoughts out into a written medium, I won't hesitate to go that route. We'll see, though. I still have faith that the Vox admin can turn this around – I just hope that my neighbors don't all jump ship without giving them a chance. And if you are thinking of leaving for somewhere else, PLEASE leave a forwarding address. I want to keep track of my neighborhood, even if they are scattered to the four corners of the internet. (And I'll be you didn't even know the internet was a quadrilateral, eh?)
jaklumen: Ross, I hope what I say will be understood; especially when the accepted thing for me to do would be to...
Jonathan Arnold: You aren’t going to like this “humor” then :) http://www.happyplace.com/1...
GingerSister: I struggle with how we can be so afraid of this (gay marriage) and get all up in arms about it, yet...
Margy Rydzynski: Good for you, Ross. Maybe this will encourage people to become more involved and take a better...
Budd: So, you are saying that giving gays the right to marry (the axe handle) gives them the tool they need in...
Steve Betz: Good thoughts, Ross, on a difficult night. I felt the same way when California passed Prop8. I was...