Improvement plan · Step 6 of 7: Listen

Every "I tried online but…" call is free research

Turn the feedback you dread into a steady list of fixes residents will notice.

Get the plan template All seven steps

The problem

Remember the emperor's new clothes: everyone admired the outfit until a child said what others were afraid to. A new website can go the same way. Everyone signs it off, and only residents can tell you whether it works. Without a steady flow of their feedback, a team ends up guessing. And when feedback does arrive, usually when something breaks, it lands as stress rather than help.

The story

I worked with a London borough that had dropped from five stars to four in the national annual review of council websites. Its web team of five wanted the rating back. With over 3,000 staff able to email them, they spent their days working the inbox for colleagues, not residents.

We changed how requests came in: a short form, a six-week minimum queue, and a scorecard to rank each request. Then the team started listening to residents. They added feedback forms, ran a focus group, met the contact centre regularly, and spent time each week in the library helping residents use the public computers. Within nine months the work was manageable, resident feedback improved and they won back their rating.

"Feedback is the hot sauce that lets you dish up a better experience next time."

What to do

You already have most of a research plan from steps 1 to 5:

Your objective from step 1 becomes the research goal: find what stops residents finishing the task.
Your resident types from step 2 tell you who to talk to.
Choose two methods to start: a one-question feedback form on the task's pages, and a monthly half hour with the contact centre.
Every few months, watch three residents try the task. Say nothing; take notes.
Turn what you hear into a short list of fixes, each linked to a step on your map.

Keep the tools simple: the further you get from the human, the harder it is to hear their voice. From the simplest up: talk to residents, watch them use the site, send follow-up emails after a task, add satisfaction forms and short surveys, read web chat transcripts, then look at behaviour analytics. Split what you hear by the resident types from step 2.

If one resident said it, at least ten thought it.