When offered the chance to try out a new version of software, I normally say yes. I’m curious to see what’s coming. I like to think that I give constructive feedback. I’ll try new features, and will send a note about what I find good, and what I don’t.
I do this out of love. Out of wanting the software to do more for me. Out of thinking that if I contribute suggestions and comments, that they will be taken on board and a better product will result from it. And I (and others) will benefit. And maybe I’ve been supported all along and this is how I’ll really know how to get the most out of their product.
I understand that I’m just one voice. That not every suggestion can be incorporated — and that a product roadmap can take years to roll out.
I also realise that I may not be representative of users. So sometimes software will go in a weird direction that I don’t expect or really desire (yep, Skype I’m looking at you). But maybe that’s their deliberate choice and they want to bring in groups of users that I don’t fit into.
So I was excited when invited to a new beta version of a well-known software product I’ve been using for nearly ten years. I duly installed it and gave it a few days to acclimatise (I find this important — the natural reaction to something that is different is to want to revert).
And it had bugs. Which I reported. And this is where they had a chance to really make me love them. No “thanks for reporting this bug, we’ve sent it to be fixed!”. Instead links to irrelevant FAQs for me to dig through, repeated instructions as to why I was doing things wrong, and hours of my time wasted before an admission several days later that this is a known issue.
As the beta is so I told them I want to go back to their stable version. I got instructions on how to revert to the previous version. And they didn’t work.
Bottom line is that in the last two weeks I’ve gone from someone who loves this product and is paying for it into someone who’s seriously thinking of leaving it all together.
But somewhere I’m grateful to them.
Because we also do user testing. And need to do more, even if we don’t feel ready for it. And testers come up with things that don’t work or they don’t like. Constructive, even if it’s not what we want to hear. It’s important to pay attention and work out what it means.
And I don’t deny that my natural inclination can be to think that they’re doing something wrong, they don’t know what they’re doing, they just don’t get it. All could be true. If that’s the case, it’s possible that real users will be just as confused.
So my experience as a tester is a strong reminder to me to listen. And to recognise that whatever the feedback is, it’s coming out of love.
To join the untied waitlist and be invited to our beta programme … visit www.untied.io. And take this as our first thank you!
