Member Surveys

Do you do them? Why or why not? @Yazzeh and I are partial to having them because we like knowing how our members feel about certain things on the site. You get a lot of great feedback when it comes down to it. However it can be frustrating, especially when you make them anonymous, so that's always something to keep in mind.

 

I'm actually running one at Wolf right now, and it's a great way to get feedback from members about what they think is working, what isn't, what will inspire them, etc. I don't do anonymous surveys because I don't really think there's a reason for it—I think it just invites trolls to have a field-day.

 

Haha, Hey Em!

We're doing an anonymous one mostly because in past surveys we've done, it had been expressed that it was an option they wanted, plus I think it encourages people to actually speak their minds. Does it invite trolls? Perhaps, but we haven't had one yet. If we do get one, it'll be swept aside.

 

I have mixed feelings on surveys, for a couple of different reasons, though I agree that they can be effective in receiving feedback.

The biggest fault that I have with surveys is that typically, they're not focused enough. If you ask a vague or really broad questions, you're going to get vague and broad responses. In general, I've found the responses to these kind of questions really useless, because they don't typically give me anything that I can actually use to improve the game. So if you're looking for specific feedback, you need to be specific when asking the question.

The second problem I've found with surveys is that unless they're short and focused, it's really hard to actually act on the advice that is given to you. The last time I put out a general site survey on RoW, I got close to 30 responses from different individuals. With that many responses to sort through and try to determine where the majority opinion is, sometimes it just gets to be too much and plans that I originally had fell by the way side. It's especially hard if you have two large groups of people who offer opposing views on something you're trying to get feedback on.

I can go either way with the survey being anonymous or not. Anonymous lets people be free to give both negative and positive feedback without worrying about any retaliation, but it also means that if I have a question about something they said and/or need to clarify what it was they were trying to say, I can't, which makes that piece of advice virtually useless.

 

I agree that a large member base can be a set back when it comes to doing a site survey. Fortunately, Risk is currently of a size where it's more of a help than a hindrance. When/if we do get bigger, I will probably make the survey much more specific.

I feel that using a survey tool is much easier to handle than asking people to fill out and post. And you can also require their name as a question.

Here's what we're doing. We have a couple broad questions, and a couple more to the point in each section. Risk - Member Survey Part One & Risk - Member Survey Part Two

 

We like to use them but sparingly. We find that any survey gets about 20% participation.

We are careful to be clear if it's a vote or a survey. Are we making a site wide decision and staff will honor the results? Or are we guaging interest or gathering feedback.

I agree with someone above to keep them focused! Ask the right questions to get the most useful responses. And not too many questions.

Some topics are fun? And don't really benefit from anonymity. We just do it in a thread with a built in poll. If the topic is more controversial or sensitive, we'll use something like Google docs.

It's also a good idea to publish results in some way, at least a summary. Let's members know their input is duly acknowledged and improves future participation.

 

I've never really had much luck with surveys or polls. Never seemed to matter whether it was anonymous or not either. It seemed like getting an answer from people was more difficult than pulling teeth. I don't know whether that meant they were in agreement and didn't feel the need to object or if they thought everything was fine / they had no complaints/suggestions or whether they didn't care either way.

So I more or less stopped bothering to ask for input. I just do what I think is right/best. If people have issues or concerns then they are more than welcome to voice them in any of the numerous ways (our feedback section, PMing me, emailing me, etc... )

 

We've had a few surveys at 'Souls, but we do them pretty infrequently. Most of this is because our surveys tend to be on the extensive side and we usually get a fair number of responses...in depth responses, even. This means that it takes a lot of effort and resources to sort through them and make notes on things, to count opinions, because rarely are survey questions multiple choice. Digesting the data we collect is time consuming, and it's rare that they lead to immediate action. Our game is large and extensive, and big changes to the rules and procedures don't happen without a lot of discussion, so yeah.

But yeah, we tend to ask pretty specific things on surveys. Since the advent of Formspring and Tumblr, members have been free to give us anonymous feedback when they feel like, so any drama ssues are usually handled as they happen, without waiting for surveys.

 

We have plenty of discussions. It's kind of futile nd time consuming to set up a survey when a simple poll or question in the chatbox will do as well.

 

Sizael had quite a few surveys over the years, especially once I discovered Surveymonkey XD

One that I found invaluable was the New Player Survey. Members used to get an award for it (off the top of my head I think it was the Silverwings Award), but there were also other awards later on for participating in surveys, such as the I Ate It Award. The New Player Survey was completely optional, but strangely enough pretty much everyone who ever joined after I created it took part in it (maybe because they were new and so earning an award would be fun?). I always tried to make them quick and easy to fill in, though in part that was due to the 10 question limit per survey Survemonkey puts on it's non-paying users. When the site had a huge overhaul of it's guidebook (the V2.0 update/the tenth big update) I created a new one with the same questions so it was easy-ish to compare responses between pre2.0 and post2.0. I'd definitely use them again once my new site has enough members to warrant it.

@Kiriska What sort of questions did you have on some of yours?

 

Ah, sorry for the late response, @Draegon. Some specific questions from our last survey (which was several years ago) include:

• What is the one item on 'Souls you can NEVER seem to find?
  
• Is there anything we should consider for reorganizing the site? Specifically, is there any way you think we could make information easier to find?
• On a scale of 1 to 5, how easy do you find it easy to post to the correct forum?

Obviously, organization was a huge concern of ours at the time. XD Some pack-related questions:

• Do you like the pack application system for forming a new pack?
• Are there any features or changes you think could be made to how our pack system works?
• Would you consider leading a pack at 'Souls, or does the prospect disinterest you?

General rules/procedures questions:

• Are there any rules or procedures you think could be changed, updated, strengthened, or loosened?
• If there was a single rule at 'Souls you could remove, what would it be and why?
• If you could add any rule to 'Souls, what would it be and why?
• Are you confused or intimidated by the process of requesting auxiliary characters, puppies, or other such things from the administration?

Hope that helps!

PS -- Google Forms makes making surveys/quizzes really easy and dumps all answers in a spreadsheet for you for easy organization!

 

I personally have never implemented a survey on any of my sites, but I often tend to have small groups of people that all speak their mind freely and are willing to give suggestions and feedback without hesitation because in the smaller groups it is easier to foster that sense of camaraderie and inclusiveness. I don't think it is a bad idea in general though, and I would actually prefer anonymous to named because people will actually filter themselves for fear of being judged by their peers. At the very least, I would not allow the results to be public without taking names away first. It does seem like a good way to get feedback from members though, and some people really love doing surveys! xD

 

Um, we have polls but not the same kinda survey's as I have seen on other sites.

Like on this one site the admin asked for feedback. I was severely reluctant to give it and she coaxed me into speaking publically, which I did. I got accused of (by one member) admin attacking and the admin said nothing, just let me hang, and now claims that they WERE attacked. This was feedback she wanted public btw, she knew what was going to be said and she said she thought the community needed to hear it. To maintain her "nice" reputation she hid behind me - still does in fact.

So if you are genuinely looking for feedback don't be scared by anonymous stuff, just take it on board and be professional about it - or... don't ask for feedback. :D

Oh, when we do have polls we get 10% to 90% reply rate depending on what the topic is.