Brainstorm

Getting average/mainstream user involved in product improvement

Posted on 2009-10-22 01:59 UTC by Emre CAN. Status: Under consideration, Categories: User Experience.

I don't know if it's already implemented this way or not, so sorry for being a duplicate if it is.

As far as I see, "Getting involved in product improvement" is mostly done actively by some enthusiasts and I think it would be great to get average/mainstream user involved in improving user experience with help from the OS & within the OS.

I also think that this would improve users' overall experience greatly about the product since average/mainstream user would like to see being taken care of / listened to when they need it.

Discussion thread: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=354963

PS: English is not my mother language, so I apologize for any language errors I made here and below.

Solutions for this brainstorm

Solution #1: Convincing the user to send crash logs

Posted on 2009-10-22 04:43 UTC by Emre CAN.

When the first crash happens, a dialogue box can appear:

We are really sorry for the inconvenience caused by the crash.
Would you like to send some info about that crash and help us improve your usage?

Remember my choice: [X]
[Yes & now] [Yes & later] [No] [Why should I? Tell me more]

[Yes & now] should immediately upload the crash log
[Yes & later] should open a date selecting dialogue to create a schedule
[Why should I? Tell me more] should show some benefits if user agrees to participate

"Remember my choice" speaks for itself and should be checked by default.

- If participation is accepted, submitting will be done in background each time.
- If participation is refused, user should never be asked again to avoid any annoyance.
(unless "remember my choice is unchecked)
- All these behaviors should depend on manually switchable/over ridable settings.

After user responds in any way, a dialogue box can appear thanking the user for their effort.

Solution #2: Implementing a reward system

Posted on 2009-10-22 04:56 UTC by Emre CAN.

In addition to the solution above, if user agrees to participate some kind of reward system (like karma etc) could be implemented and a thanking dialogue box can be shown this way:

Thanks for your precious participation.

With your latest submission you earned ... new points, and you have ... points in total.
Would like to use your points in Ovi Store now?

Don't ask next time: [X]
[Yes, take me to Ovi Store] [No, not this time]

Options don't need further description I guess.

Solution #3: Bug reporting within the OS

Posted on 2009-10-22 02:39 UTC by Emre CAN.

Implementing a bug reporting application would make user able to report bugs, which will eliminate the need to browse bug tracker: resulting in less efforts needed to report a bug & ease of participation.

In addition to this, implementing an UI widget for universal use in every possible application would eliminate the need user's entry of "what were you doing when that happened?", while adding the possibility to include RAM dumps or any needed info with the bug report.

Solution #4: Brainstorming within the OS

Posted on 2009-10-22 02:41 UTC by Emre CAN.

Implementing a brainstorming application would make user able to add/watch/vote etc ideas to brainstorm area, which will eliminate the need to browse brainstorm web site: resulting in less efforts needed to brainstorm & ease of participation.

Solution #5: Introduction to the concept and giving option

Posted on 2009-10-22 03:01 UTC by Emre CAN.

Implementing an application which will demonstrate:

(1) Benefits of getting involved in product improvement
(2) Benefits of being a part of such a community
(3) Rewards system (if any kind of reward system is implemented for sure)
(4) How everyday usage of the product will be affected if user participates (performance, data usage wise etc)

briefly to convince user in a friendly way.

After the demonstration, the application could ask for user's decision upon involvement for all the possible solutions selected for "getting involved in product improvement programme"

This application can be activated automatically after the first:

(1) Start up
(2) Crash

I think second option would help the user to comprehend the concept's importance, and also it will result in avoiding complaints like "am I a beta tester?" from the first day.

Also the option for instant or scheduled submission (and schedule too) could be selected within the application.

Solution #6: written instructions to wiki

Posted on 2009-10-22 08:30 UTC by Timo P.

Very thorough HOWTO - article to wiki and it can be linked anywhere.

It requires users only to click link and read through if they are interested.

Solution #7: Offering valuable applications/services sponsored by "betterware"

Posted on 2009-10-27 13:01 UTC by Emre CAN.

This solution is #1 and #2 merged but with a different approach.

A value added free/paid & open sourced/proprietary application/service (like Nokia Mail or Sports Tracker or Ovi Navigation applications/subscriptions) is offered freely with the optional condition of online installing an open source "background system health monitoring service" which will submit crash logs on user selected schedule/behavior after installation.

Instead of easily abusable "points per submit" base, user is rewarded in advance in this case; assuming that mainstream users like free applications/services a lot and won't get annoyed if they're asked about getting involved in improvement of a product they already use. Offering an open source service and will improve users' belief to their privacy isn't compromised by Nokia/Maemo. Not including the needed packages and downloading them from online repositories just before installation should harden that belief, in my opinion.

I think this solution can create an absolute win-win situation for both users & producers point of views, as approved by other examples (even worse examples like Google and Digsby, since privacy is compromised in them).

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