Training and testing
I've written before that the best form of training follows this process: Tell them what you're going to do, tell them what you're doing, tell them what you did.
When working with your software company to report bugs or other issues, you should follow a similar process:
- Tell them what you were trying to do. For example, "I'm trying to process a membership order."
- Tell them how you did it. For example, "Here are the steps I followed." Be as explicit as possible and include screenshots!
- Tell them what happened. Show the results of your steps (again, including screenshots).
We've all heard "a picture is worth 1,000 words." I mentioned screenshots twice above for that very reason. Screenshots often communicate more than any narrative can.
"The membership join process doesn't work" is reporting a bug, but it's almost useless in terms of helping the software company figure out your problem. But following the process above will clearly communicate the issue and bring a resolution much more quickly.
![]()
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
Have the courage of your convictions
Have the courage of your convictions Having the courage of your convictions means you’re willing […]
Even your online directory is out of date!
Even your online directory is out of date! Back in the day of printed directories, […]
Start small
Start small When I work with my clients on projects that involve measuring member engagement, […]
Some context, please
Some context, please A pet peeve of mine: A report about associations (e.g., marketing benchmarks report) where […]
Eventually automated emails get ignored
Eventually automated emails get ignored During the discovery and development phase of implementing a new […]
The challenge the AMS providers see
The challenge the AMS providers see Over the years I’ve asked AMS providers what they […]
Be careful about “solutioning” too quickly
Be careful about “solutioning” too quickly One of the great things about software developers is […]
What’s our next action?
What’s our next action? As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time in […]
Don’t automate for the sake of automation
Don’t automate for the sake of automation I’m the laziest person in the world. I […]
Don’t forget about what got better
Don’t forget about what got better Negativity bias is the tendency to focus on only […]
