In our previous post, we discussed the introduction of our 'Resources and Learning' feature, set to allow third-party content to help provide child and family social workers with useful resources that can be used in their everyday practice. We are collaborating with Virtual hubs and Research in Practice and laying the groundwork for this enriching addition to our service.
Given the collaborative nature of incorporating third-party content, establishing an efficient feedback option is important. Ensuring a quick and clear way for users to provide feedback on individual resources is crucial to maintaining quality and relevance of resources.
Our Initial Assumptions
Initially, we anticipated the need for a user-friendly form tailored to the time constraints often faced by social workers. We also recognised the importance of prompting users to give feedback, ensuring visibility and accessibility on the page. Clarifying that feedback is specific to resources rather than the entire service was essential to facilitate efficient processing and action.
Exploring Solutions
Our exploration led us through various feedback components, initially considering a sticky feedback bar inspired by the gov.uk however we quickly learnt that this was not an official component. Instead, we opted for a custom approach using a combination of gov components to ensure accessibility and ease of use. We also explored different ideas such as pop-up prompts but ultimately prioritised user accessibility and responsiveness.
We explored different feedback capture methods, deliberating between rating scales, like counts, and simple yes/no questions. Prioritising simplicity, we opted for a straightforward approach. While rating scales offer detailed feedback, we acknowledged the potential for user overwhelm and opted for a more streamlined option initially.
Our chosen approach centres on a concise feedback form situated alongside individual resources, separate from service feedback. This expandable and collapsible form minimises page clutter while ensuring accessibility. Additionally, we're considering extending the feedback form to program and role-specific pages, facilitating user input without the need for page specific adaptations.
Insights from User Testing
Early user testing provided valuable insights. While most users could provide feedback on resources, some expressed a tendency to provide feedback only in extreme cases. We noted suggestions for improving visibility and easy navigation to the feedback option, particularly on longer pages. Additionally, users emphasised the importance of user-friendly and motivational question language.
Users still wanted the feedback options to efficient to fill in and preferred a yes/no or thumbs up option with the opportunity to fill in text. The shorter feedback from on the resources page was preferred to the longer feedback form on the website, which would likely disengage users due its length and larger amount of text. The grey and white colour contrast on it would also make it harder to digest for those with visual impairments.
The main concerns were the balance between two main issues; the first was users missing the option to provide feedback as it at the bottom of the page and they are in a rush to consume information. Some of these users said that an initial prompt before the opportunity to provide feedback would be useful.
The other issue was posed by moving the feedback link further up the page under the meta-data could disrupt their understanding of the page both for visual assistive technology users who may see it as a sign that the content is finished from their screen readers, and other users who want to consume the content first. In the end, testing a compromise where users receive an initial prompt near the top of the screen and actually fill out feedback at the bottom may solve this problem, as long as we ensure that the link component is not disruptive for screen reader users. If the link automatically took them to the bottom of the page this would disrupt their ability to go through the page’s content to make sense of it. Rather it needs to be an option that they can read and choose to follow with an understanding that they are now at the bottom of the page.
Our Next Steps
Building upon user feedback, our next iteration includes an anchor link for quick navigation to the feedback form, particularly on lengthier pages. We're also refining our messaging to help users feel valued and show the significance of user input. Moving forward, we'll conduct further testing with real content to validate our approach and explore the possibility of consolidating service and resource feedback channels for user convenience.