This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Christina Gorton
Cover Photo by Chris J. Davis on Unsplash
We started a book club! Each week we host a Twitter chat on Thursdays to discuss a chapter of Docs for Developers.
On Thursday Nov. 18th, we had our first Twitter chat, hosted on the @DevEdBookClub Twitter account about Chapter 1.
This post is a recap of the chat and a place to continue the conversation.
Collecting User Data
How do you currently collect user experience data?
What works well with your approach?
What's still challenging?
Megan Sullivan and Amber Matz both mentioned feedback widgets embedded in the docs they worked on. These widgets ask if the page was helpful. They also offer an open text field to add more comments.
Sarah Rainsberger and I both mentioned receiving feedback from our communities directly.
Sarah Rainsberger@sarah11918
@DevEdBookClub A1: We have an active Discord community, & we encourage and are quite responsive to general questions and support requests. In that process of *that*, it's often revealed what is/isn't in the docs, what should be clearer etc. So, we do try to be proactive, but it's often reactive02:08 AM - 19 Nov 2021
Aisha Blake pointed out the relationship between DevRel/DevEx and customer support/success teams. She mentioned that these teams could benefit from working more closely together as they often answer similar questions for customers.
@sarah11918 @DevEdBookClub I feel like I don't hear enough people talk about the relationship between DevRel (or DevEx, or whoever does docs at org X) and support or customer success. I *have* seen and heard of folks answering the same questions many times when issues could be avoided w/ more/better docs.02:25 AM - 19 Nov 2021
Do your docs have a widget? Do you find it helpful?
Does your company have a community where they can gather more feedback?
Receiving User Feedback
Getting feedback can be tough!
How do you avoid getting defensive when sorting through feedback on your product or documentation?
Any general tips for receiving user feedback?
We all agreed that negative feedback can be hard to accept. It can help to reframe how you think about the feedback and show empathy for the user who was frustrated enough to give it.
@DevEdBookClub A2) I try to remind myself that people who leave angry or harsh comments are often frustrated. It’s not about me, even if I’m the one who wrote the doc they’re mad at.
And by figuring out ways to fix it, I’m helping prevent future people from feeling that same frustration.02:25 AM - 19 Nov 2021
Amber Matz mentioned "owning your mistakes and working to fix the error" can help smooth over a user's frustration.
Amber Matz@amberhimesmatz@DevEdBookClub A2: Processing negative feedback is so hard and my least favorite thing. But usually owning the error, fixing it in a timely fashion, and thanking them for their feedback smooths any ruffled feathers.
#DevEdBookClub02:29 AM - 19 Nov 2021
Estee Tey added it is normal to feel defensive but you should try to look at the feedback objectively.
Estee Tey 🐧🌻@estee_tey@DevEdBookClub A2. Feeling defensive is inevitable when you get negative feedback about something you care about. Let the nerves flow through and then looking at the feedback objectively. It will make it easier to continue the feedback loop in a mutually beneficial way with the user.02:38 AM - 19 Nov 2021
How have you handled feedback?
Favorite Takeaways or Quotes
What takeaways from this chapter can you apply to your own documentation practice at work?
Any quotes or ideas that resonate with you?
I mentioned that reading this book has helped me quickly implement small wins in the documentation I help support. I also linked to DigitalOcean's technical writing guidelines that I often use when writing for a technical audience.
@DevEdBookClub A3: Not sure if it was chpt. 1 specifically but I very quickly took a lot of the advice from this book and started some "small wins" in our documentation to help improve them and give developers a better experience. I have had good feedback from the changes already #DevEdBookClub02:39 AM - 19 Nov 2021
Ramón Huidobro reminded us that quality is more important than quantity when seeking direct interviews with your users. Sometimes we seek out too many opinions.
@DevEdBookClub A3) One thing that stood out to me was on direct interviews: "pursue quality over quantity".
When starting, it's tempting to think one should have as many opinions as possible. Pursuing those quality ones that fit into the existing research sounds so reasonable!
#DevEdBookClub11:13 AM - 19 Nov 2021
Join the Conversation 🗣
You can see the full conversation on the DevEdBookClub Twitter account.
DevEdBookClub@devedbookclubWelcome to our first-ever #DevEdBookClub!
Tonight, we’ll be discussing Chapter 1 of @DocsForDevs. This chapter is all about understanding your audience.02:00 AM - 19 Nov 2021
Add a comment on the Twitter thread or share your thoughts here to continue the conversation.
What did you think about Chapter 1 of Docs for Developers?
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Christina Gorton
Christina Gorton | Sciencx (2021-11-19T20:27:11+00:00) Twitter Chat: Chapter 1 Recap. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/11/19/twitter-chat-chapter-1-recap/
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