So… Today I encountered an interesting thing. I was confronted by a user who apparently got annoyed because I was asking questions about how to replicate an issue in a web application that I built a few months back.
Now, I can understand frustration with something not working, especially when a user has an expectation that things on the web should pretty much always work as expected. However, as a developer, when I hear that something goes wrong with something that I’ve built, I want to know pretty much everything about the circumstances surrounding the issue – so that I can fix it.
I was confronted with the user posting on twitter that it wasn’t the his job to test and document bugs, and that it’s the developers fault if things go wrong.
True, and true. I agree with this [paraphrased] statement completely. First, yes, it’s the developers fault (why can’t it ever be the designers fault!!!). Second, no, it’s never the users job to test an application – especially once it enters production.
However, as many developers have come to realize, no matter how many tests you run on an application before and after deployment, something’s going to go all wonky. Something that you haven’t thought of, or something that you just didn’t test for.
The thing is, while I realize this, once something goofy happens in an application, knowing that ‘on this page, something went screwy’ is often just not enough information. Especially with an application where 98% of users are not experiencing the problem. So, as a developer, I want to know more.
Of course, customer service is key. I’ve found that most users are more than happy to answer any question about their user experience – especially because they know that there’s a human being ready to fix the problem.
But, my development philosophical question is this: do you ask the questions needed to try to replicate a bug, or do you just say ‘thanks’ to a user, and begin a very tedious process of trying to figure out exactly what went wrong – often going on next to no background information?
This is a huge issue to me – especially with web applications that are built and deployed rapidly, with very little chance to beta test the app properly.
What’s interesting is that full sites have sprung up to help users – most notably Get Satisfaction (www.getsatisfaction.com). This is a site where communities spring up around products and services – mostly by the user community themselves – users helping other users. What’s really awesome is that a lot of times the companies themselves get involved in the conversation, often troubleshooting with users.
So… my dilemma stands. Obviously, I realize that too much questioning of a user can become irritating, and voids the whole customer service concept. But… is it acceptable for a developer to ask the user questions when they come to them with an issue?
