I have a love / hate relationship with user feedback

I know I need to see users interact with software I've designed to observe if they struggle or succeed.

I know any confusion they experience or problems they uncover exist whether I'm watching or not, and that it's better to fix those issues as soon as possible.

Why then, is it so hard?

Hard to watch a user fumble around a design I thought was simple. Hard to hear a user say "I don't know what I'd do now." Hard to know they would have bailed if I wasn't there.

Hard...but so, so IMPORTANT.

This week, it's especially top of mind as I met with several users to get feedback on ZenSearch. Feedback that ranged from extremely positive to... less than positive.

While I love the good feedback (who doesn't?), the critical feedback is much more valuable and has led us to some positive ZenSearch updates:

• We've clarified several pieces of microcopy
• We've reworked some of the preference selections
• We've upgraded the UI of our inputs
• We're designing improvements to the overall flow
• We've added a bunch of ideas to our backlog

So, I have an ask of everyone reading this--

If you've used ZenSearch, please, reach out to me with your feedback. I truly want to hear it.

If you haven't used ZenSearch, and are #opentowork or #jobseekers, DM me and we'll set up a time for me to observe your first use. People searching passively or while employed are welcomed too (my lips are sealed).

With your feedback, we can make job searching a little more zen.