Unofficial survey: Is Microsoft listening?

[William Smith]

Hi Folks!

I would appreciate your participation in a small survey for an upcoming
entry for The Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org>. My
goal for this survey is to just get a feel for what you think.



1. Do you know how to use the Send Feedback feature in Office?

2. If so, do you feel this tool is effective?

3. Do you think Microsoft is monitoring these newsgroups for feedback?



I don't want to start any flame wars with these questions but would just
like honest and simple YES/NO answers. If you want to add a comment,
please keep it brief.

Thanks for your cooperation!

--

bill

William M. Smith, Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>

 

[Diane Ross]

Yes, but never received a reply of feedback

No one gets a reply from MS. Do you feel you should have at least, received
an acknowledgement?

Your comments indicate you don't feel you were heard. I see Bill's article
as a bridge between users and MS and hope that it will improve feedback that
will find it's way into Entourage.

 

[Steve Ball]

Hi Folks!

I would appreciate your participation in a small survey for an upcoming
entry for The Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org>. My
goal for this survey is to just get a feel for what you think.



1. Do you know how to use the Send Feedback feature in Office?
Yes.

2. If so, do you feel this tool is effective?

I don't know. Even an automated acknowledgment that my message has been
received would help.

3. Do you think Microsoft is monitoring these newsgroups for feedback?

Again, I have no idea.

HTH,
Steve = : ^ )

 

[Joel McIntosh]

1. Do you know how to use the Send Feedback feature in Office?
Yes

2. If so, do you feel this tool is effective?

Probably .. yes. It is hard to know. I don't use it that often, but I did
have an printing issue a couple of years ago and called the support line.
The representative said they had a record of the problem (perhaps "feedback"
from other users was a part of that), offered me a workaround, and said that
the problem was being worked on. Within a handful of months, an update was
released that addressed the problem. based on that experience, I tend to
think that the information collected from feedback is being read and
considered.

3. Do you think Microsoft is monitoring these newsgroups for feedback?

Yes and no. I would not imagine that Microsoft is doing this formally, but
the MVPs may present the exception. I know the MVPs are reading these posts,
and I assume they have a close relationship with the MBU team. So my answer
may be "yes," in that the MVPs are communicating with the MBU.

While I like to think that forums are a useful resources for getting
information about software flaws. It is also an incredibly large pool of
information from people who don't understand the software and haven't done
much (if any) review of the help files. If Microsoft is monitoring these
newsgroups, it might be to get feedback on how to make the content of their
help system more accessible.

I would appreciate your participation in a small survey for an upcoming
entry for The Entourage Help Blog

William, I would love to read a blog about how the MBU actually uses the
information gathered from the feedback took. Also, I would enjoy hearing
some perspectives by the MVPs about the users whose questions they face and
the biggest thrill and frustration of working with us.

 

[aRKay]

Yes, but never received a reply of feedback

No one gets a reply from MS. Do you feel you should have at least, received
an acknowledgement?[/QUOTE]

A simple acknowledgement would have been better than nothing.

 

[Jolly Roger]

No one gets a reply from MS. Do you feel you should have at least, received
an acknowledgement?

A simple acknowledgement would have been better than nothing.[/QUOTE]

Even if an automated acknowledgment were sent, it would not be an
indication that sending the feedback was worth the effort. The real
indicator would be human interaction and interest in the feedback, and,
of course, seeing that the issue is addressed in later versions of the
product.

 

[Keysaw]

1. Do you know how to use the Send Feedback feature in Office?

Yes, I;ve used it several times.

2. If so, do you feel this tool is effective?

No. Obvious features that have come up on these boards many times, and
that I have submitted years ago (dechipering winmail.dat files, in
particular) still have not become part of Entourage, and no
explanation whatsoever is ever received back from Microsoft.

3. Do you think Microsoft is monitoring these newsgroups for feedback?

Obviously not.

 

[Charles Victor Ganelin]

Hi Folks!

I would appreciate your participation in a small survey for an upcoming
entry for The Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org>. My
goal for this survey is to just get a feel for what you think.



1. Do you know how to use the Send Feedback feature in Office? Yes

2. If so, do you feel this tool is effective?

No, it seems to be a "let's make the customer feel good without really doing
anything" device.

3. Do you think Microsoft is monitoring these newsgroups for feedback?

No; if MS were monitoring, they would design Mac software with Mac Users in
mind.

 

[William Smith]

William, I would love to read a blog about how the MBU actually uses the
information gathered from the feedback took. Also, I would enjoy hearing
some perspectives by the MVPs about the users whose questions they face and
the biggest thrill and frustration of working with us.

Hi Joel!

I hope to have something interesting for you to read soon. I have
collected a lot of good information and suspect that this may be a
multi-part post because of it. The few comments so far have been
enlightening themselves.

Thanks for chiming in! It's greatly appreciated.

--

bill

William M. Smith, Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>