If you’ve ever worked on a project that you really cared about, you might be able to relate to the pain of trying to get feedback. The begging, the pleading, the bribing. Sometimes called soliciting, a word which has connotations all its own. But the point is, why is it so hard to get feedback sometimes?

People who make things want to hear feedback. Unless your ego is the size of that comet everyone’s been talking about (which is huge, have you seen the comparisons to Star Trek structures?), you’ll want to identify and fix any problems in your project.

And there will be problems, there are always problems. The random typos, the useless feature, the difficult UI, no matter what, there is something that can be improved. And whether it’s a current project you can continually improve (like a beta release), or a big release you want to make even better next time (like the Simple-Talk magazine), you want to know how to make it better.

That means knowing if something is really bad, could be better, or “this part is great don’t touch it”. But, getting that feedback is tough! You need to find someone who cares, even if it’s just a little, enough to take the time to respond.

I also think people get scared, scared that you’re going to send follow-up questions you don’t want to, or know how to, answer. Scared they’re going to get signed up to some list they don’t want to be on. Scared they’re going to get pressured into buying something.

So, we make anonymous surveys that don’t require email addresses so there’s no fear of follow-up.

Personal experience backs this up, sending a survey is more effective in terms of response rate instead of trying to get people to email you their thoughts.

Surveys are good for specific questions you want answered. For myself, I also favor having an open comment at the end for any other feedback to get more info back.

Others do prefer the “email us” route. It’s a little more dangerous, someone out there will know your emails address. The people who take the time to email a response are going to be a little more invested, or at least not paralyzed by the fear of someone asking follow-up questions.

Still, finding the people to fill out these surveys/respond can be tough. Even at Simple-Talk, getting enough people to fill out our Users survey took a certain amount of cajoling.

So what’s the best way to get feedback?

Do you use incentives? Try to collect emails and send out requests for feedback? Rely more heavily on feedback from people within the building? Throttle use (be part of a special sign-up for a promise of feedback later)? Do you play it cool with a static feedback form which you may, or may not, glance at occasionally? Do you have your own tried and tested route?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.