Introducing LikeBack - Quick Feedback from Beta-Testers

[Sébastien Laoût]

Le Samedi 12 Août 2006 00:44, Aaron J. Seigo a écrit :
> no, just meant for additional apps that open up. that way when a user
> launches an application with likeback support for the first time, if
> they've already seen the full message they just get a little passive popup
> saying something like i18n("This application is Like-Back enabled! Share
> your thoughts with the %1 team as you use it.").arg(aboutData->appName());
>
> a nice little reminder. so if they saw the Big Message(tm) six months ago
> and the install another Like-Back enabled app they'll remember what to do.
> =)

Ah, yes. I haden't understood.
Good idea.
Added to my TODO list ;-)

> attached is an uncompiled/untested patch. enjoy.

Good.
Will test it later today.

There is also the need to remove the examples from the initial dialog box.
If bug reports are disabled, then the examples should not state user can 
report bug :-)
I say that because... if we show the message only once per user, then the user 
can have seen only the "bug" message and a when using second application, 
this application will have the "like" and "dislike" buttons, users will not 
know what it is.

I think a simple solution would be to include the little examples in the 
passive popup, tought it could make it more heavy than a simple reminder!

Or remember what examples were shown and then show the message again if it 
should show the functionnality of a new icon...
Perhapse better!

> the code also needs to be relicensed as LGPL and given a d-ptr if it is to
> go into KDE.</obvious-notes>

Ok for the licence.
Yes, of course it need to be d-ptr-ified.
When it will be final enough.

> > And concerning the "Ask new features" button, it's clear it should be
> > added. Because currently people post feature wishes either as "like",
> > "dislike" or "bug". Feature wishes are not categorized yet. They should.
> > And that way it can be disabled for other applications.
>
> perhaps offer this as a choice in the bug dialog? it's what we do on
> bugs.kde.org, seems to work decently and would keep the # of button down in
> Like-Back

Hum... Currently people post wishes by clicking the three icons.
So they may click "I dislike...", begin to write what they do not like, and 
finish with a wish. It may be better if they had directly the choice of a 
"Feature wish" button they would click in first place, instead of requiering 
them to click the bug icon and click the wish radiobutton.
And it will be more consistent with other dialogs.

> the rss could be fed via a php script which could return all entries since
> the last retrieval. easily trackable with a url like:
> http://myapp.kde.org/likeback/rss.php?u=aseigo
>
> not foolproof but handy. =)

Myes... Can do the trick.
I'm still not convinced it's pratical-ness but I can add it on the TODO list, 
at the bottom of it ;-)

> thanks .. .so the answer is "a LOT of feedback".
>
> hm. may eventually need a better tool to sort through things than a website
> for large volume apps. but that's would be a problem of success; i suppose
> we have yet to get to that success ;)

If we want less noise, developers can enable it for only one beta version, 
released during one or two weeks (after that time, they can replace the 
downloadable archive with one without LikeBack enabled).
Enough to get valuable feedback without too much noise.

Or it can be made an option in the settings dialog.
Disabled by default.
If users want to give feedback they first need to enable the system.
Quite unacceptable for a small application (very few people will discover it), 
it may be handy for heavy applications, where only motivated people would 
post.

This is the solution choosen by Microsoft Office 2007, where users need to 
first download the "Send a Smile" tool before being able to report 
smiles/frown. At first I thinked it's strange because not so many people will 
download it, but after a few days I understood they should also have a lot of 
noise even with that restriction :-)

Hey, seems like a new "Tips to Reduce Noise" chapter in the LikeBack 
documentation ;-)
At least I will wait for other experience returns from other applications that 
integrated LikeBack.

Best regards,
Sébastien Laoût.