It’s all about active listening when it comes to employee survey software. How is it that users influence employee survey software development? Well, it all hinges on actively listening to feedback. What works well. What could be better. What wish-list features might step it up a notch. The idea of continuously and conscientiously listening isn’t quite the kind of thinking one would associate with disruptive change. But it’s a WorkTango approach that
Forbes describes as
“a service that disrupts the employee engagement landscape.” Active listening is something we embrace wholeheartedly and have seen radically transform organizations. The aim to
“project and protect the voice of employees” is a wash-rinse-repeat cycle applicable to the very technology WorkTango designs for people strategists:
- by establishing an ongoing two-way dialogue
- listening with purposeful intent
- identifying small as well as more ambitious improvements
- taking action
- soliciting follow-up feedback
Simplifying the User's Survey Software Experience
“Uncomplicated” begins with survey software development, design and engineering. To create a platform that can be used to design and deploy the kinds of surveys that attract high response rates, take all the raw data, and make something sensible out of it. The secret? It takes a lot of different people with different skills, working with our customers in different capacities to turn a vague idea into a viable solution. That’s where our
active listening approach comes to the fore of our survey software development and product iterations.
Connecting the Survey Software User Experience to Product Development
Customer success is an instrumental link in the chain that connects the user experience with product development. Have they encountered any trouble spots? A bug in the system? A non-intuitive user interface? A use case where a feature can solve their problem but also enhance the experience and capabilities of other organizations? Developers work directly with the Customer Success team and with users themselves to help solve day-to-day problems. This gives the team insight into how the platform is being used, what problems people are trying to solve, and what features they’d like to see.
“In software engineering, building a wish list of features isn’t enough to tell you how the tool will actually operate. In order to reach a valuable solution, it’s crucial to spend time listening to the people who will be involved in the process on a day-to-day basis, putting yourself in their shoes, and then iterating on a continual basis until you reach the solutions users want.” –
Clutch.co
Asking and Continuously Listening to What Survey Software Users Want
When WorkTango begins survey software development for new features, priorities are established based on a combination of considerations. Chief among them again is user input. Ongoing dialogue between users and members of the Sales and Customer Success teams is one conduit. Interviews and discussions between members of the Product Design team and users with different levels of familiarity with the WorkTango employee Survey & Insights platform (from the novice to the highly knowledgeable) is another. Additionally, this process of “discovery” involves close collaboration and constant check ins with users to keep abreast of pain points. And wish lists. And to solicit feedback. Core functionality or product scoping is one piece – what business problems do users need to solve? Testing for intuitiveness to understand how people respond and react to the interface is another. Determining if the new feature or updated fix actually solves the problem is a third.
“It feels like a real partnership where both sides are invested in long-term success. They’re not just a vendor who sold us a thing… any time I suggest a feature [WorkTango] takes it seriously and in fact I’ve already seen a prototype for one of the improvements they’re working on for us.” –
Sara C. Lead, Workplace Experience Enterprise Sales and Customer Success are consulted for recommendations and introductions to users with particular interests, concerns or experiences. Throughout, the Product Design team ensures members of the Development team know what’s being expressed and fully understand user needs before starting to build code.
Keeping Survey Software Development Focused on the User Experience
Everyone is kept on the same page: knowing what the challenge or opportunity is, the expected outcome, and progress status at any given moment. There’s a very real, very effective continuous feedback loop – talking it through with users. Talking it through as a team. Checking every step of the way to make sure activities are headed in the right direction. Organizations tell us they haven’t experienced a partnership like this before. One that values what they have to say acts on their observations and follows-up to find out if iterations and new features are working as they should. If you would like to partner with WorkTango,
schedule a demo to chat with an employee survey expert today.
Partners in Survey Software Progress
A regional municipality in the Greater Toronto Area, as an example, recently shared how much they enjoy being included in the evolution of WorkTango’s product. They appreciate the time taken to ask about their initial thoughts, reactions and needs as they relate to functionality. Also mentioning how they hadn’t worked with another vendor that involved them in product progression in such an intimate way. And how very happy they are to see many of the items they provided feedback on developed and executed so well in subsequent iterations. Solid employee engagement strategies require leaders to care about employees, establish trust and demonstrate empathy-in-action. Good design, as a technology
blogger writes, “requires that someone cares a lot about the user experience AND understands how to design a great user experience.”
