Provisional Order on Feedback Form Emptiness
The form has been open for six weeks. Two responses have been submitted. Neither offers useful signal.
To: The Person Who Installed the Feedback Form From: The Record Re: Performance Assessment, Weeks 1-6 Date: November 2022
This correspondence summarizes the operational performance of a feedback collection form installed six weeks ago on a product that serves an estimated 200 weekly users.
Current Status
Total submissions: 2. Response rate: approximately 0.2 percent of weekly users, assuming all users were exposed to the form, which has not been confirmed.
Submission 1 contains a positive response and a name that appears to be a test entry from the installation date.
Submission 2 contains the text "good" and nothing else. Time to complete: estimated under five seconds.
Why the Form Was Installed
The form was installed because user feedback was identified as a priority. Prior to installation, user feedback was obtained through conversations that required active outreach, scheduling, and a moderator. The form was understood to reduce friction. The form has reduced friction. The form is frictionless. The form has two responses.
A feedback form measures willingness to give feedback at the moment someone encounters a form, which is not the same as the presence of feedback.
The Mechanism Problem
The form is passive. It is available when users visit a specific page. Users visit the page to accomplish a task. Upon accomplishing the task, users leave. The form is present during the departure window. The departure window is brief.
Users who have strong feedback of either valence do not require a form. Users who have mild feedback that might be useful will complete a form if they are stopped. A passive form does not stop anyone.
The Governing Rule
The form's presence does not create feedback. It creates the possibility of feedback in exchange for the administrative cost of processing feedback that does not arrive. The six-week investment has produced one word: "good." This word is accurate. It is not actionable.
What Has Not Changed
The product. The users. The frequency of use. What has changed is that there is now a form that is not being used, and a six-week log of not being used, and a correspondent who is aware of both.
Consequence
Eventually feedback form emptiness acquires an unwritten enforcement system that everyone denies creating. The form will remain installed because removing it would feel like abandoning the principle of collecting feedback, which remains valid even though this implementation of it has not worked.
The form will be supplemented by a different approach. The different approach will be scheduled for Q1.
Regards, The Record