tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468631352102294695.post4733205228760897733..comments2024-01-18T01:02:10.807-08:00Comments on Story colored glasses: Stories in search of charactersCynthia Kurtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16185088323080774635noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468631352102294695.post-88510938917085852222014-08-13T10:43:16.086-07:002014-08-13T10:43:16.086-07:00Thanks for the comment, John! I've had similar...Thanks for the comment, John! I've had similar experiences supporting software. People have such low expectations about support (of anything) that just being fully human can make people happy, even if you can't fix the problem they are having. Product creators who can keep themselves in their stories have a competitive advantage. It takes courage to say "the site is our responsibility," but this is one situation where the right thing to do is also the smart thing to do.<br /><br />Folks, you can try John's inspired and inspiring journaling project at http://www.threeminutejournal.com. <br /><br />CynthiaCynthia Kurtzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185088323080774635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468631352102294695.post-83446860003320150882014-08-13T08:00:40.210-07:002014-08-13T08:00:40.210-07:00I learned a lot from this post, Cynthia. Stories o...I learned a lot from this post, Cynthia. Stories of people having problems using websites are very interesting - in the journaling project I get to be the Customer Service department. As such I get to read and respond to all the issues (thankfully, not too many) that people have using the site. I'm taking pains to put myself in their position, so when I respond I try to first of all apologize that they had problems using the site - the site is our responsibility,after all - and then to let them know that they didn't do anything wrong - we have bugs, or other people have had the same issue, or we could be better about explaining this particular feature. One observation, after doing this 50 or 60 times, is that people who are treated well come back and use the site more, they are open to giving candid feedback, and they'll tend to recommend the site to friends. So we're learning that we have to keep ourselves (people & code) in those stories and engage with the folks who report issues as people rather than "users." regards, JohnAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09455469112645117394noreply@blogger.com