I’m on the distribution list that receives feedback email sent by users through a Web application. The stakeholder department has a person who works full-time supporting the users, partially through this feedback mechanism.

Up until now, with the users’ comments about how busy they are and how they need the most efficient reports and app performance (which I can’t blame them for wanting), I gathered that they had no time and interest in fostering a community among themselves. This application is used by more than 60 offices around the world and will ultimately end up at over 300, but I don’t know how much communication there is between these offices. If users are interested in just getting their work done in a timely manner, how much time will they want to take to help others?

Yesterday, an email came through that suggested that at least one person is willing. Or at least willing to ask questions. The email asked for a “bulletin board” of some kind for users to post questions and answers to. They find the process of going through the help desk too slow for the pace of their work.

In months of rolling this application out, this is the first time I’ve seen or heard of such a request. But if one person is asking for it, others may be thinking about it.

I can see the appeal of user-to-user forums. I did a questionnaire among a set of users of a different application a year or two ago in which they indicated their favorite ways to get help were to ask a coworker or manager as compared to using documentation or calling the help desk. People like interacting with peers rather than an impersonal documentation set or support agent.

I volunteered to help in this effort if it goes somewhere—right now, it’s still just the seed of an idea. Usually, the things that are requested the most get the most attention. Management won’t want to invest the resources to set up and manage a forum if it won’t be used. I wonder if the old line from Field of Dreams applies, that if we build it they’ll come. But a colleague of mine tried giving a set of users all kinds of Web 2.0 capabilities for an application, and not much came of it.

Anyway, we’ll see where this goes. But with talk going on about technical communicators needing to adjust their role and be content managers, including user-generated content, I’m willing to give it a try.

Related entries (auto-generated):

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The Team I’d Like to Sit With

Fight User Frustration: Give Users What They Expect

Clear, Common Language Leads to User Success

Taking a More User-Led Approach to Learning