User Feedback Tool

Establishing a direct in-product channel to collect user feedback

Project Context

The primary goal of this project was to establish a dedicated channel within the product, enabling users to submit feedback directly to the design and development teams. Despite existing channels for users to interact with support and sales teams, there was a gap in direct communication with design and development regarding software enhancements.

Company

Laserfiche

Team

Project Manager
Developer
Marketing Consultant

Timeline

June 2021 - Ongoing

My Role

I was the lead UI/UX designer responsible for

Project coordination across multiple teams
Production of wireframes, mockups and prototypes

The Challenge

The lack of a direct communication channel from users to the design and development team had been a major pain point within Laserfiche. Laserfiche Cloud is sold through a network of resellers and solution providers, who often act as a middle man between Laserfiche Development and the end user. Not only did the product development team feel like they were lacking feedback directly from the end user, the end users were getting frustrated that they couldn't report issues and provide feedback directly to product development and support.

Discovery

Over a six week period, we conducted a series of user interviews that included end users, resellers, and our internal support team.

During the discovery phase, we found that a support case would be typically opened by the solution provider on the users behalf, resulting in time delays and miscommunication. We hypothesized that we could address both the user and business needs by defining three key objectives:

1) Shorten Customer Issue Lifecycle:
By providing a direct feedback channel, the aim was to reduce the time it takes to address customer issues.

2) Increase Customer Loyalty:
Bringing users closer to the development cycle was expected to enhance customer loyalty and engagement.

3) Gain Critical Business Insight:
The feedback tool was anticipated to provide valuable insights into how customers were using the product, offering crucial information for business decisions.

“I can’t contact support directly and am forced to go through my re-seller who just opens a support case for me. Or I'm forced to use the answers website and wait around hoping for a good response.”

“There are glitches all the time within the system. When we call our support rep, half the time he has to call Laserfiche direct, and often there’s not a good solution to the issue.”

Solution

After the discovery phase, I was tasked with creating wireframes and mockups for a tool that would allow users to submit feedback and suggestions. I began by defining key design principles that would help guide the visual and flow of the project:

Make the tool accessible and easy to find for the user.
Keep the options simple and easy to understand.
Utilize existing design language and patterns from the Laserfiche Design System.

To address the main objectives, I outlined the core features the tools would include:

Options to choose which type of insight the user was submitting.
A text box for the user to explain their feedback or suggestion.
An optional file upload field where they could upload images or screenshots.
A checkbox giving our team consent to contact the user about the submitted feedback.

Since the user would already be logged into the system, additional metadata like User ID, Page ID, and Environment would also be collected on submission.

Once the user submitted the suggestion or feedback, the data would be routed to an internal database as well as posted on a teams channel monitored by key team members in the product development department.