Give help now, get feedback later

Getting users’ feedback is an important part of improving a service, but when is the best time to ask for that feedback?

When and where to ask for feedback

As a rule of thumb: the worst time to ask a user to do something is when they’re trying to do something else. So I’d ask wait until users have finished using the service before asking for feedback.

You want to capture feedback from users who didn’t get the outcome they wanted as well as those who did. So with a government digital service, the two obvious places to put a link are the ‘confirmation page’ and any ‘exit pages’ the user is shown if they’re not eligible for the service.

The different between feedback and ‘help’

If the user wants to “talk” to the service while they’re using it, chances are it’s because they need help. For example — they may be looking for clarification on what what the service is asking for, or on the implications of making a particular choice.

At this point the user is focused on getting to the outcome. They’re still trying to do the thing: it’s unlikely they they’ll be ready to reflect on their experience of doing the thing.

This is one reason why it’s probably a good idea to have different channels for getting help and giving feedback. Show the user ‘Get feedback links’ at the right time, when they’ve finished with the service. But link to the ‘Get help’ channel in a consistent place, and make it available from any page within the service.

Another reason for separating ‘feedback’ from ‘help’ is that you probably want to use different mechanisms. When a user needs help, they typically want it as soon as possible — ideally in real time. And it may only be possible to solve their problem by having a nuanced, two-way conversation.

On the other hand, you probably don’t to get feedback in real time. And you may want to optimise for structure over nuance — so it’s easier to spot trends in the feedback.

Some examples using GOV.UK design patterns

Here’s what a confirmation page looks like on a government digital service (you can find the confirmation page pattern and associated guidance in the GOV.UK Design System).

And here’s example of an exit page, taken from the ‘Register to vote’ service — it’s the one users see if they enter a date of birth below the threshold for registering to vote.

‘Square emojis’ image by Kasunit. Used under a Creative Commons licence.