Collecting user feedback
It is possible to collect feedback from the users of a workflow. A workflow author can optionally include a feedback form on one or more steps with customized questions for the step owner to answer at the conclusion of a step. Such feedback can be useful for determining the effectiveness of a workflow design, or collecting user requirements for future enhancements to a workflow. Inclusion of a feedback form is optional; answering the questions in a feedback form can be optional or required, as determined by the workflow author.
The workflows XML schema includes elements to help workflow authors create questions for users. The Workflows task includes functions to allow the workflow owner to prompt users for feedback, and collect the responses into a consolidated document. When all of the required feedback is provided, the workflow owner can send the feedback to the workflow author for evaluation.
How feedback is collected
- Workflow author
- Workflow author defines feedback questions in the workflow definition file, and designates the questions as optional or required.
- Workflow owner
- For a workflow that includes feedback questions, the workflow owner is responsible for collecting the feedback. From the Workflows table, the workflow owner can select Feedback to launch actions that are related to feedback. The workflow owner can display pages to see which steps require feedback, which steps have incomplete feedback, and options for notifying the step owners who need to complete feedback.
- Step owner
- For a step that includes a feedback form, the step owner is responsible for providing feedback by answering questions about the step. To answer feedback for a step, the step owner selects a step and selects the table action Feedback. Only the step owner can display the feedback page for a step. The Feedback action is disabled for steps that do not contain feedback questions.
When all of the required feedback is provided by step owners, the workflow owner can save the accumulated feedback into a feedback file. On the Generate Feedback Summary page, the workflow owner can create a report of the feedback, which can be sent to the workflow vendor for evaluation.
Schema elements
As the workflow author, you define feedback questions and answers in the workflow definition file.
Figure 1 shows how to define each of the question types in a workflow definition file.
itemOne
defines a multiple choice questionitemTwo
defines an either or choiceitemThree
defines a question that accepts a write-in response.
The questions that are defined in Figure 1 can be referenced by the steps in your workflow. Figure 2 shows how the questions defined earlier
can be included in the step definitions. Notice the attribute required
is included
for questions that require an answer from the step owner.