Feedback loop

Working on the web can be an odd experience; you can work feverishly to produce a new feature, hit the publish button and be satisfied the job is done. But getting feedback on products that are just bits and bytes isn't always easy. We launch new features weekly at the Star and promote them in print and online - but if you are not a regular reader you may not know about them.

This experience came to light recently when a former colleague, who works in Internet marketing, was genuinely surprised that thestar.com had podcasts, blogs (with comments) and polls. Her experience with the Star online ended when we introduced registration and she had neglected or forgotten to come back to see what, if anything, was new. It was only through a chance conversation that she re-discovered thestar.com (including the fact that we no longer require registration). Not the most efficient method of getting the word out but at least that is one more reader who will take a second look at us.

At the end of the day we do have metrics - pageviews, visits, downloads, number of times viewed, etc. - to measure our success, but in reality this does not always tell us if something is of use to our readers. In light of all this and our desire to improve the site and concentrate on useful products, we would love to hear from you on some of our recent additions. Hold nothing back - tell us if these are useful, hard to find, can't live without...

• The Constant Shopper
• Daily and special photo galleries (located in the upper right of thestar.com home page)
• Comics
• The use of PDFs to produce charts and graphics
• Flash presentations such as Peter Goddard's Art Openings slideshow
• Podcasts
• Blogs
• Daily poll (located on the home page
• Video voting, such as our Election feature on political ads and our Wheels contest on the Detroit auto show

Comments

[MArk Flynn]

This was the link to the election results - the Flash view. I am a Canadian on a long business trip to Portugal so I missed the election (but voted in advance polls) and I am a political junkie.

This site was by FAR the best available to me on election night. The constant updates, stunningly simple but effective visuals, customization options, and tracking tools and ease of use made it my way to watch the election from afar. I was up almost all night!

The only thing missing was the commentary from the political spin-masters of the CBC!

Thank you very much!

Mark

[david]

first time here...love it. We have something to learn from you down here across the lake...

[clickbench]

Being in Toronto, maybe you would like to consider following up with us to help you in measuring your success.