mway’s blog

Everyone likes hearing that the many hours they spend developing the UI and overall functionality of their sites is appreciated by visitors, and if it’s not, we all like hearing what we can do to improve the experience in general.  It’s the proverbial pat on the back – that small reassurance that keeps management insecurities in check (which are generally numerous… seriously, guys, you should see someone about that).  It struck me as ironic, though, when I started seeing all of these “Feedback” fixed tabs everywhere.  Oh, you’ve seen them (and if you’ve used them, shame on you) – they’re those stupid, boxy, left-or-right-aligned-but-vertically-centered  buttons that just say “FEEDBACK” on them, and when you click on one, you get the same little javascript popover begging for your invaluable opinion.  I say ‘ironic’ because, well, they make your site look fucking stupid and everyone is using them.  That’s not to say that they’re bad idea in theory – or, even that they don’t show some results – but anyone who is going to implement something as god-awful as one of those feedback things probably isn’t going to listen to your feedback anyway, because they’re too busy with their heads up their ass, doing the same stupid stuff that everyone else is doing.

Personally, I’ve never been one to underestimate the power (and overall purpose) of the contact page.  If you feel like your users can’t figure out how to have their voice heard, then you need to rework your UI.  No, not by having one of those popovers, but by providing a place where – imagine this – you list your contact information and give users clear, concise instructions on how to get in touch with you.  This also typically means not having the sole link to your contact information being a) in tiny text in the footer or b) only in the sitemap.  Use your brains.

I’m aware that having a visible, ubiquitous call to action for your visitors is usually a good idea.  In this case, though (at least, in my opinion) it marginally cheapens your site.  By “marginally cheapens” I mean, “makes you look like you’re desperate for input because you’re well aware that you need feedback”.  Maybe it’s just me that feels that way, I don’t know.

In any event, focus on your UI.  You want your site to be easy to use, unique, and provide a (positive) memorable user experience; don’t fuck it up by adding widgets that accomplish simple tasks that you could have taken care of an easier (better) way.