{"id":263,"date":"2009-01-20T10:17:13","date_gmt":"2009-01-20T17:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/?p=263"},"modified":"2009-05-06T14:15:38","modified_gmt":"2009-05-06T21:15:38","slug":"know-thy-add-on-user","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2009\/01\/20\/know-thy-add-on-user\/","title":{"rendered":"Know Thy Add-on User"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Cramer is a guest writer for the AMO blog. He is CEO of SurfCanyon<\/a>, the creators of the SurfCanyon Firefox add-on<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Creating software in a vacuum is incredibly difficult. While all add-on developers have a general idea of the value they\u2019d like to deliver to their users, without copious and constant feedback it\u2019s like flying in the dark. Knowing what your users want and what they don\u2019t find interesting is incredibly important. It also helps to know what, if anything, they\u2019re seeking and how they perceive what it is that your add-on does and how it works. Even if you\u2019re delivering a valuable add-on, compatibility can also be a major issue since end users\u2019 machines all look different and testing the limitless combinations of add-ons, desktop software and personal configurations is virtually impossible.<\/p>\n

Listening and reacting to the people in the trenches can therefore make the difference between success and failure.<\/p>\n

While it may seem daunting, you can take heart in the fact that users, when nurtured properly, can be an incredible resource for feedback, helpful advice, technical assistance and, on many occasions, even quality assurance. They can certainly be abrasive sometimes, but with a thick skin you can get tremendous value out of their \u201ctough love.\u201d In the spirit of trying to share a few thoughts, here are some humbly submitted, common sense ideas, along with a few tricks, that might help make the difference.
\n
\n1. Actively Seek Feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n

The AMO page for every add-on enables users to leave comments. Check once a day for new feedback, post responses whenever appropriate and, when possible, follow up with the commenter if more information is needed. As a general rule, when communicating with users, keep it positive and constructive and control your emotions. While on occasion it might seem otherwise, malicious intent is extremely rare. Most people want to help, so always respond with that in mind.<\/p>\n

The AMO page, however, should only be the beginning. For most add-ons, the percentage of people who download and then return to leave a comment is small. Finding other ways to elicit feedback is therefore imperative. Nevertheless, the challenge can be particularly difficult since it is not obviously when, where or how to ask for feedback. You could try to incorporate a feedback mechanism into the add-ons itself, but be careful about being overly intrusive. Real estate is very precious and most people don\u2019t want things popping up at them. We have found, however, that one excellent way to resolve these issues is with an uninstall survey.<\/p>\n

A survey page can be launched using an uninstall script. For actually running the survey and collecting the data, SurveyMonkey provides an excellent service. If you don\u2019t mind having to erase the responses and start over every time you get 100 replies, you could run it for free. Keeping the survey very short will help conversion greatly. You might even consider one simple multiple-choice question: \u201cPlease tell us why you are uninstalling this add-on.\u201d Allow for an open-ended response and consider making one of the answers \u201cTemporary issue \u2013 I\u2019ll be back!\u201d While few people will leave an email, make sure to ask for it as those that do leave one will normally turn out to be very helpful.<\/p>\n

Remember to keep your uninstall survey up to date. The open-ended responses will enable users to give whatever feedback they want, but if you use multiple-choice questions, make sure to keep the selections current with the functionality of your add-on. Moving the questions and responses around a bit will also help to remove \u201cposition bias\u201d \u2013 people have a tendency to select the first choices.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve found that the moment the user chooses to uninstall an add-on turns out to be an opportune time to request feedback. He or she has had an opportunity to evaluate the application and has just made a decision: to uninstall. Unfortunately this doesn\u2019t afford a lot of opportunity for positive feedback (people who love the application will generally leave it installed and thus won\u2019t ever see the survey, so you\u2019ll have to find another mechanism for getting the positive reviews), but hearing from people who uninstall is what you really need to improve your add-on.<\/p>\n

2. Meticulously Pursue All Leads<\/strong><\/p>\n

The majority of feedback, whether through the AMO page, the add-on\u2019s website or the uninstall script, will not include contact information for the user. For obvious reasons, people are very reluctant to share their emails. In many cases, this can make the job of debugging or improving your application very difficult, especially when the feedback isn\u2019t anything more than \u201cit didn\u2019t work.\u201d Therefore, whenever a user is gracious enough to provide contact information along with the feedback, it\u2019s important to capitalize on that opportunity to learn everything that you can. People who submit their email addresses are doing so for follow up, so don\u2019t be afraid to contact them. That being said, restrict the communication to the subject matter at hand (their feedback) and don\u2019t send them sales pitches or add them to any mailing lists.<\/p>\n

Take pains to profusely express gratitude for their feedback at every opportunity. Pointing out how valuable their contributions are to resolving issues and improving your application, and then thanking them for their effort, turns out to be very helpful. It\u2019s also the right thing to do. As a consequence, we\u2019ve found that some people can be incredibly generous with their time and assistance. In order to debug issues, we\u2019ve had people create new profiles for testing, uninstall and deactivate add-ons one at a time to find compatibility problems and install testing software as well as beta versions of our add-on. We even had one user send a video in order to demonstrate a particular thing he was experiencing.<\/p>\n

Many people love problem solving and will look at providing you with useful information as a personal challenge. By offering them avenues for giving feedback, demonstrating respect for their time and offering them encouragement, AMO users will be an amazingly valuable resource for improving your add-on.<\/p>\n

3. Relentlessly Make Improvements<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now that you\u2019ve got the feedback and have an army of users helping you out, it\u2019s naturally important to implement improvements as a result. New features and enhancements can take time to realize, but responding to your users should always be a top priority. That being said, just because one user asks for something doesn\u2019t mean that you need to drop everything to deliver it, but with enough feedback you\u2019ll begin to identify patterns. Keep in mind that if five people give similar feedback there might be hundreds out there that are thinking the same thing.<\/p>\n

Compatibility issues can also be tricky to resolve since they typically involve other people\u2019s software, although once again, other developers can be very helpful. If you reach out to developers with whom you have issues you\u2019ll most likely find that most are eager to provide assistance. Add-on incompatibility issues work both ways, so it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s interest to work together. If another add-on developer were to contact you, I\u2019m sure you\u2019d do the same. Even if other developers are unable to modify their application in a timely fashion, perhaps they could help suggest a temporary work-around. We\u2019ve found that the odds of not getting some form of assistance is very small and that most developers are enthusiastic about collaborating.<\/p>\n

Finally, don\u2019t hesitate to reach out to the AMO community for technical assistance. Many issues relating to the development of add-ons are tricky and a lot of the \u201cart\u201d is still being fashioned. Post questions to forums or send emails to other add-on developers. If you have a little bit of money to dedicate to something particular, RentACoder can be a cost-effective means of finding vetted developers with very specific talents.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure there are many other techniques for working with AMO users, but these suggestions might be a helpful place to get started. If other people have ideas, we\u2019d love to hear them, so please post below. Everyone is always looking for ways to improve!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Cramer is a guest writer for the AMO blog. He is CEO of SurfCanyon, the creators of the SurfCanyon Firefox add-on. Creating software in a vacuum is incredibly difficult. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nKnow Thy Add-on User - Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2009\/01\/20\/know-thy-add-on-user\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2009\/01\/20\/know-thy-add-on-user\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2009\/01\/20\/know-thy-add-on-user\/\",\"name\":\"Know Thy Add-on User - 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