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When to use the page feedback tool: Canada.ca design

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When to use the page feedback tool

We recommend using the feedback tool where there is a commitment to reading and acting on input:

Use cases for the page feedback tool

Consider adding the page feedback tool to:

Expectations and commitment

It is important to commit to reading, considering, and taking action based on what is submitted through feedback. Without this commitment, we are wasting peoples’ time.

In certain cases, people will leave feedback with their opinions of a certain program or policy. Addressing a policy issue is beyond the scope of web teams, so it’s important to share these comments with program and policy colleagues.

Recognizing and handling threats

Before you implement the page feedback tool on your pages, make sure your organization has a process in place to deal with threatening feedback. A similar process may already be documented for threats received through email, social media and/or call centres.

Though the likelihood of receiving threatening feedback is low, there is still a risk given the open textbox. So it’s important to be prepared.

Depending on the nature of the threat, there are different steps that should be taken.

Specific threat or a personal crisis

What to do

If you receive a message about a specific threat or a personal crisis through the page feedback tool you must report it.

Non-specific threat

What to do

How not to use the feedback tool

The feedback tool should not be used for the following purposes:

Evaluating page success based on yes / no clicks

The feedback tool is biased towards collecting ‘no’ answers in several ways:

Evaluating statistical significance of feedback based on page visits

The number of page visits does not represent the number of people who saw the feedback tool at the bottom of the page or were motivated to use it.

Monitoring of public perceptions

Monitoring public perceptions is a specialty discipline covered through media monitoring and public consultation teams.

We recommend using the feedback tool in very specific and targeted ways to ensure limited research time is laser focused on turning data into action.

Monitoring trends week over week is a resource-intense activity.

Long term use

We don’t recommend keeping the feedback tool on a page continuously. This reiterates that the tool is for research purposes (rather than monitoring) and to ensure the best use of your time.

Secure spaces

We don’t recommend using the tool within secure spaces. In these spaces, it is better to ensure users have clear access to direct support channels.

Sensitive content

If using the tool on pages with sensitive subjects (for example, suicide), ensure you monitor the feedback frequently and take action where needed. The tool should be added for short intervals and then removed while you make improvements to the page.

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