Microsoft Late To Online Help Space; Lacks Basic Survey Design Skills

Microsoft may have lots of money, but they’re not going to give any of it to you—not even if you provide them with feedback that helps them develop what the company says will be the “next-generation Help platform”. A survey being spread across technical communication listservs asks participants to take the Microsoft survey “Understanding your requirements for User Assistance”.

We quote: “We are interested in the user assistance technologies you’re using now (whether or not they are Microsoft technologies), what features are important, and what you would like to see in the future. Your input will be the primary resource for future planning of Windows client- and web-based user assistance development platforms and tools, as well as the Help system.”

Aside from being standard marketing and competitive intelligence information you’d hope Microsoft would be able to locate without your help, here’s the kicker: The survey takes about 30 minutes to complete. Thirty minutes? Obviously these folks have never read How to get the best response to an online survey!