Introducing the MLP Forums User Satisfaction Survey

[SCS 7,537]

Beginning on January 1st, 2014, we will be holding a user satisfaction survey once every three months. Its purpose is to gather user feedback concerning MLP Forums and its management. It is very important to us that we run the site in a way that is deemed fair and satisfactory by all. While we have always welcomed feedback for how we can improve the way we manage MLP Forums, through this survey we will be able to gather feedback and assess community sentiment on a regular basis. 

 

The survey will be held on the first day of the month every three months, and will be open for two weeks. So, during 2014, the survey will be open four times: from January 1st to January 15th, April 1st to April 15th, July 1st to July 15th, and October 1st to October 15th. This will occur every year.
 
The survey features sixteen questions, eight of which are optional. The eight required questions are multiple choice, and all of them include an optional free response field to expand upon your answer. The eight optional questions are free response questions that, while not required, allow those who are interested in doing so to provide much more detailed feedback for MLP Forums.
 
Users are allowed, but not required to enter in their email address at the beginning of the survey. Those who choose to enter in their email address will receive a personal response regarding their feedback from a staff member via email within two months of completing the survey.
 
The link to the user satisfaction survey can be found in the user satisfaction survey thread. That thread is in the Feedback & Suggestions forum section. The [CLOSED] tag will be appended to the end of that thread's title when the survey is closed, and the [OPEN] tag will be appended when it is open. Please note that the link to the survey will only be present when the survey is open. In addition, an announcement will be posted at the top of the page whenever the survey is open.
 
Staff members will read all responses to the survey, and we will use them to continually improve MLP Forums and how we manage it over time. While change will not necessarily be immediate for every situation, we will always strive for improvement and use your feedback to enable us to do so.

The survey is comprised of three major sections: General Questions, Specific Questions, and Optional Free Response Questions. There will be an opportunity at the end to provide feedback on anything not specifically covered by the survey, as well as the survey itself.

You are allowed to say whatever you want in response to this survey. However, the more constructive your response is, the more helpful it will be to the staff, and to the community as a whole. You are allowed to remain anonymous when responding to this survey if you choose to do so, but you will receive a personal response if you let us know who you are.

Any question that is not optional is marked with a red asterisk. Any question that is optional is marked with "(Optional)."

 

If you have any comments, questions, suggestions or concerns about the survey, you are welcome to post them either in this announcement thread or in the user satisfaction survey thread.

 

Thank you to everyone who will participate in the survey. Without your feedback, we could not possibly improve MLP Forums or how we manage it. We want to do our best to ensure that everyone here has as wonderful an experience as possible, and we will do our best to rectify any and all of our shortcomings.

 

Lastly - Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that all of you had a wonderful 2013, and I hope that 2014 will be even better.

[RrVPfX9cPtw59FpC 1,304]

EXCELLENT! I'm so glad something like this is happening! Will we be able to see the results?

[D1SC0RD 987]

Yay! This is a really good idea.

 

I keep hearing stories from people about poor management, misconduct and biased rulings from staff. I've never witnessed any of these things, but it's nice that these people with concerns can now be heard by the people who can enforce change.

 

Or maybe people will complain about those things no matter what. I really don't know.

 

Either way! Those of you who are displeased, this looks like your shot to speak your mind. Now stop complaining to me about it 

[SCS 7,537]

EXCELLENT! I'm so glad something like this is happening! Will we be able to see the results?

 

Due to the nature of the survey we may receive responses concerning private situations between specific individuals. It would not be appropriate to disclose that information publicly. As such, I cannot guarantee the release of survey results. Which results, if any are released publicly will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis. I know this is not ideal, but it is necessary. 

 

However, all results will be released in their entirety internally. All staff will have access to the results and we will use them to improve over time. 

 

Lastly, while I cannot promise to release the survey results publicly, I do promise that everyone who chooses to put in their email at the beginning of the survey will be contacted privately within two months of completing the survey regarding their feedback. Anyone who wishes to remain anonymous may do so, however, as entering in your email into the survey is optional.

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

Just a quick question: if we want a response from the staff, can we request to have a PM response instead of an email?  I know that there are a number of people (myself included) who are hesitant to give out our email addresses.  I realize that they won't be displayed publicly, but I can't help but still feel a bit hesitant.

[SCS 7,537]

Just a quick question: if we want a response from the staff, can we request to have a PM response instead of an email?  I know that there are a number of people (myself included) who are hesitant to give out our email addresses.  I realize that they won't be displayed publicly, but I can't help but still feel a bit hesitant.

If you would like to be contacted by PM, include your username somewhere in your answer to the last question. I am the one primarily in charge of contacting survey respondents. To avoid flooding my inbox, I would prefer to contact people by email, but I am willing to contact a reasonably limited number of people (20 or less) by PM.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Ah yes, another user satisfaction survey. It will be nice to see the concerns that the users have, so that both sides can find a way to solve their problem willingly. This can be good for all of us.

[XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 777]

This is most excellent news if I do say so myself!

 

Continual feedback is not only going to help in improving the forums, but it'll also make everyone's experience much richer for the days to come. The forums are pretty good, but there's always room for improvement. Keep up the good work Staff Members & Admins, you as well fellow users, I look forward to the days to come!

 

Edited January 1, 2014 by Accellerant

[Shift 4,274]

Yay, we have one of these now!
 

Now if you excuse me i'll be watching Two Best Sisters Play Pokémon Snap.

[TheYoungestBrony 45]

Can we do the survey on iOS/Tablet?

[ProjectRKA 2,848]

I unfortunately answered the survey with a lot of negative feedback this time.... step up your game, guys.

[SCS 7,537]

Can we do the survey on iOS/Tablet?

 

If your device is able to use Google Forms properly and connect to the internet, you should be able to do so.

[Batbrony 16,071]

Just completed the survey this evening, and I gotta say that I was most delighted by the final product!  Lovely little survey ya'll put together; not too long and not too short, just right, and the questions asked were very relevant indeed.  Glad to see this wonderful and hopefully useful community tool has finally become a reality!  Finally, a Happy New Year to you all!!! 

[Concord 1,982]

Hello!

 

Very nice survey! It was easy to understand and answer, though, I did take the time to try and explain most of my answers given. I hope it shall prove informative to you

[RrVPfX9cPtw59FpC 1,304]

 

Due to the nature of the survey we may receive responses concerning private situations between specific individuals. It would not be appropriate to disclose that information publicly. As such, I cannot guarantee the release of survey results. Which results, if any are released publicly will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis. I know this is not ideal, but it is necessary. 

 

However, all results will be released in their entirety internally. All staff will have access to the results and we will use them to improve over time. 

 

Lastly, while I cannot promise to release the survey results publicly, I do promise that everyone who chooses to put in their email at the beginning of the survey will be contacted privately within two months of completing the survey regarding their feedback. Anyone who wishes to remain anonymous may do so, however, as entering in your email into the survey is optional.

How about the multiple choice questions? I hate to beg, but I'm really curious about how the majority of the forum members feel about the forums. That being said, I have no problems if you decide to keep them private, I'm just a bit curious.

[King 5,626]

How about the multiple choice questions? I hate to beg, but I'm really curious about how the majority of the forum members feel about the forums. That being said, I have no problems if you decide to keep them private, I'm just a bit curious.

Im not positive but Id say after each survey is finished, some results will become available without naming members, so probably a percentage thing showing who chose what answer in regards to multiple choice.

 

Anything thats simply written feedback will be kept private.

[SCS 7,537]

Since the site was down for a few days, we will be leaving the survey open for three days longer than it normally would have been. Instead of closing the survey on January 15th, we will close it on January 18th.

[Dsanders 5,750]

I took this survey a couple of weeks ago and I have to say that I'm liking this idea. I'm hoping that all this surveying will result in a better understanding or a better idea of the kind of changes that could be made to improve the overall quality and safe environment of the forums here. 

 

Since the site was down for a few days, we will be leaving the survey open for three days longer than it normally would have been. Instead of closing the survey on January 15th, we will close it on January 18th.

 

This might be a really dumb question to ask, but why exactly is there a time limit to these surveys?

[SCS 7,537]

I took this survey a couple of weeks ago and I have to say that I'm liking this idea. I'm hoping that all this surveying will result in a better understanding or a better idea of the kind of changes that could be made to improve the overall quality and safe environment of the forums here. 

 

 

This might be a really dumb question to ask, but why exactly is there a time limit to these surveys?

 

 

We need to organize responses for archival purposes as well as in multiple forms appropriate for staff use, to make it as efficient as possible for the staff to improve over time based on user feedback from the survey. We also need to email personal responses to people who chose to enter in their email at the beginning of the survey. We have a lot of responses (currently over 500, and the survey will still be open for six more days). Therefore, it will take a long time to complete all of the required tasks for each instance of the survey.

 

 

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I must add an addendum to this announcement. Due to the unpredicted great amount of work it will take to make sure that all necessary work is done regarding responses to the survey, the survey will be held once every six months as opposed to once every three months. In addition, if it becomes absolutely necessary to extend the time between each survey further, we will do the survey once a year. 

 

I apologize for this, but it would be far better to do the survey less frequently each year and do a thorough job of reading, archiving, organizing and analyzing responses, than to do it more frequently and rush through things in a haphazard manner. 

 

Besides, it is unlikely that, aside from more short-term and tangible issues, the staff would be able to bring about widely noticeable change over the course of three months. Altering policy and methodology takes time, as does experimenting with different courses of actions to determine what works, and what does not.

 

Also, I previously stated that individuals who entered in their email at the beginning of the survey would receive a personal response within two months. This period has been extended to five months. While it is possible that it may not take anywhere near that long to send out responses, it is also possible that it may take longer. This is our first run of the MLP Forums User Satisfaction Survey, so changes such as these are likely to occur at the beginning. As time goes on, we will continually form a more ideal and consistent system. I will post any major changes to survey operations over time here or in separate threads.

 

However, the staff will read all survey responses and use them to help improve our operations and the site over time. All feedback is greatly appreciated, for without it we could not improve MLP Forums.

Edited January 12, 2014 by SCS

[Dsanders 5,750]

 

 

We need to organize responses for archival purposes as well as in multiple forms appropriate for staff use, to make it as efficient as possible for the staff to improve over time based on user feedback from the survey. We also need to email personal responses to people who chose to enter in their email at the beginning of the survey. We have a lot of responses (currently over 500, and the survey will still be open for six more days). Therefore, it will take a long time to complete all of the required tasks for each instance of the survey.

 

 

---

 

 

I must add an addendum to this announcement. Due to the unpredicted great amount of work it will take to make sure that all necessary work is done regarding responses to the survey, the survey will be held once every six months as opposed to once every three months. In addition, if it becomes absolutely necessary to extend the time between each survey further, we will do the survey once a year. 

 

I apologize for this, but it would be far better to do the survey less frequently each year and do a thorough job of reading, archiving, organizing and analyzing responses, than to do it more frequently and rush through things in a haphazard manner. 

 

Besides, it is unlikely that, aside from more short-term and tangible issues, the staff would be able to bring about widely noticeable change over the course of three months. Altering policy and methodology takes time, as does experimenting with different courses of actions to determine what works, and what does not.

 

Also, I previously stated that individuals who entered in their email at the beginning of the survey would receive a personal response within two months. This period has been extended to five months. While it is possible that it may not take anywhere near that long to send out responses, it is also possible that it may take longer. This is our first run of the MLP Forums User Satisfaction Survey, so changes such as these are likely to occur at the beginning. As time goes on, we will continually form a more ideal and consistent system. I will post any major changes to survey operations over time here or in separate threads.

 

However, the staff will read all survey responses and use them to help improve our operations and the site over time. All feedback is greatly appreciated, for without it we could not improve MLP Forums.

 

Oh well that makes sense.

 

But just to clarify, instead of having an interim of three months between each survey it's now every five months that you're gonna have this go on? And if that still doesn't work, it will be further extended to where it will be an annual procedure?

 

I wish you guys luck with how everything goes then!

[SCS 7,537]

Oh well that makes sense.

 

But just to clarify, instead of having an interim of three months between each survey it's now every five months that you're gonna have this go on? And if that still doesn't work, it will be further extended to where it will be an annual procedure?

 

I wish you guys luck with how everything goes then!

 

The interim between each survey is six months, and the waiting period for a personal reply via email to those who chose to tell us their email is five months. If that does not work out, the former would be extended to a year, and the latter would be adjusted appropriately to a duration that we are unable to predetermine at this time.

 

Thank you.

Edited January 12, 2014 by SCS

[Captain Brony (MG11) 218]

If you decide to change anything on the site based off of the input you've recieved from this survey will there be a post in canterlot castle regarding any changes to rules or moderation?

[SCS 7,537]

If you decide to change anything on the site based off of the input you've recieved from this survey will there be a post in canterlot castle regarding any changes to rules or moderation?

 

Whether or not changes in internal processes and organization are announced would probably need to be decided on a case-by-case basis, but anything that would directly impact users such as a major change in the global rules would definitely be announced.

[Adorkable 2,737]

Oh wow, can't believe I didn't see this until now.

 

*super 4 month bump*

 

When is the next one of these? Or do they even happen anymore?

Edited May 6, 2014 by Adorkable

[SCS 7,537]

Oh wow, can't believe I didn't see this until now.

 

*super 4 month bump*

 

When is the next one of these? Or do they even happen anymore?

 

This will either happen once or twice a year. We have not yet made a final decision about that.

 

I have posted a follow-up announcement, so I will lock this topic.