features vs scenarios, with a Clippy example

As a member of MacBU, one thing that I hear frequently from users are feature requests. They're usually phrased along the lines of, 'you guys should do [something that I think is cool]'. Sometimes, the user will append a statement along the lines of, 'and all of my friends think that this would be great too'.

Feature requests by themselves aren't really all that interesting, even if you think that lots of people will use it. What is really interesting to me is why you want that feature. What are you trying to accomplish with it? Since you don't have that feature today, how are you getting around it right now (if you are able to get around it)?

The reason that this information is more interesting to me than the plain vanilla feature request is that it gives me context for your request. It gives me a chance to think about the whole scenario. It means that I can take your scenario and combine it with other similar scenarios that I've heard from other users, and I can do some research about those scenarios. That research might lead me to a different feature (or set of features), or it might give me a better idea of how important this scenario is in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes it turns out that the feature that was requested was one that won't actually solve the real problem. Or sometimes it turns out that the feature requested will solve part of the problem, but not the whole thing -- without a full understanding of what you're trying to accomplish, we're not going to be able to solve the real problem.

In each of our apps, if you go to the Help menu and click on "Send Feedback", you'll be taken to a webpage to submit feedback. This is a great way for you to tell us what you want from us. When you enter your feedback, please be as complete as possible. If you tell us "I need different bibliography styles in Word", you've only given us part of the picture. If you're more complete in the feedback that you submit, we’re more likely to be able to act on it. In this example, tell us what different bibliography styles you need. Tell us what the impact is of not having the one you need. Tell us how often you need to use them. Tell us whether it's a commonly-used style or if it's a special one that's only used when you submit a paper to a specific conference. Tell us how you're working around it right now (using another app? typing everything in manually? something else?). Tell us how this impacts your productivity.

I noticed that someone submitted product feedback asking for the return of the much-maligned Clippy.  This is a request that I would have loved to have more detail about. Did this user think that they got good help from Clippy, and that they haven't been able to get as good of help since Clippy was excised from the apps? Did this user appreciate the assistance provided by Clippy when it noticed that you were trying to do something like write a letter? Did this user simply think that Clippy was cute and missed that little bit of whimsy while they were working on something? Or was this just a joke on the part of the submitter, because they knew that such a request would make me wonder if I was losing my mind?

We're in the early stages of working on the next release of Office. Right now is an excellent time for you to think about what Office could do to better meet your needs, and to tell us about it.  Yes, even if you do want Clippy back.

Comments

• Anonymous
  April 25, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  April 25, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  April 25, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  May 01, 2008
  Sorry for the off-topic. I want the nudges and animoticons also in Messenger 7 for Mac. Is it possible to do that in order to make it 100% compatible with people using the Windows version? Thank You! Bob.

• Anonymous
  May 01, 2008
  Bob - For the latest about Messenger, check out the blog post over in Mac Mojo (which is the official MacBU blog, this is just mine): http://www.officeformac.com/blog/Messenger-for-Mac-7-is-Now-Available

• Anonymous
  May 13, 2008
  Office 2008 SP1 is available today, and VBA will be available in the next version of Office:Mac

• Anonymous
  May 14, 2008
  Color-coded Worksheet Tabs!! PivotCHARTS <<<<<< Advanced data sorting & filtering (ie: by Color, etc...) Improved Conditional Formatting Cell & Table Styles in Excel

• Anonymous
  May 14, 2008
  @Brian - You just did exactly what I was talking about.  You've only given me a laundry list of features, but you haven't said anything about why you want 'em, or even told me what your priorities are here.  I've already got a laundry list of feature requests, I need to know why they matter to you.