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140

How to fix Ideastorm

140 points posted to IdeaStorm by jervis961 Apr 9

Lets face it the site is not going to get fixed anytime soon using the current methods. With almost 9000 ideas comprised of hundreds of duplicates it is too much to ask for Dell to be able to fix while keeping everyone happy.

People complain that they want to clean up the site so that original ideas do not get lost but then complain when it is their own idea that gets merged or deleted. Since it will take a while to go through all the ideas it will just cause problems every time Dell makes a change.

Here is a new plan:

1. Currently there are 2 sites (ideastorm and dellideastorm). Combine all the content into one of them and direct all visitors to that site.

2. Moderate all new ideas to check if they are a duplicate.

3. On the unused site Dell can then start building the new Ideastorm which will take over when it is fully fixed.

Doing things this way allows the site to stay open and Dell to fix things without having to calm people all the time about changes. Since it will be hard to keep up 2 sites and keep the comment and votes together they may have to clear the votes and comments to start the new ideastorm fresh. This will also give all the ideas a level playing field to see what is really popular and what was only popular because of timing. All status tags would be added to the new site and the old site would be kept as an archive of all the comments and previous votes.

This is not a perfect idea and I expect some suggestions in comments on how to improve it. I just think we need to find a way to fix things that is easier on us as well as the moderators in order to improve the overall relationship.

phubert
Apr 9		 I once was asked to convert a program I had written for Computer Operations (back in the 'OLD' days, of course) to our new systems.

Since I had used a SOURCE library on the old system as the 'database' and since the new OS no longer supported source -libraries-, I had to:

1) create a library
2) write an interface to MAINTAIN it
(Oh, yeah, write a conversion routine to move the data from the old library to the new one)
3) modify the _program_ in question to process that library in the same manner it did the old one

I had the good fortune to be working early enough to spend time (on the phone) with one graveshift staffer who tested my implementation.

THIS is the part that's important! If Dell DOES follow your suggestion, Jervis, I believe they would do well to work with willing IdeaStorm participants in REAL TIME, commenting and testing. After all, the design is for the USER, no??
jervis961
Apr 9		 Thanks for commenting phubert I wasn't sure if it could be done that way or not. I just figured is would cause less heartache to have a big change all at once instead of the small changes causing multiple melt downs like has been happening. I'd love to participate in helping bug test a new site.
phubert
Apr 9		 Ideally, Dell would provide a 'private link' to testers for the new (development) site.

Also, ideally, they would allow FULL use of the development site and MERGE the contents of the old site into the new one.

It wouldn't exactly be a trivial effort. Ahhhhh... Salesforce.com is VERY proprietary and CLOSED, is it not??? (sigh)
jervis961
Apr 9		 If you want to feel better about Ideastorm check out www.mystarbucksidea.com which also uses salesforce software. While I find the look of the site (fonts sizes, colors etc) the basic functions are more lacking than here. No stats and no user dashboard were the fist things I noticed. Either Starbucks figures there will be less problems or they just don't want people to stick around. They also are flooded with so many dupes that it is crazy.
phubert
Apr 9		 So, we really DO need to give Dell credit, after all? :-)
jervis961
Apr 9		 I would say yes, it took a while but they are making progress.
dawn_l
Apr 10		 @Jervis and Phubert: Great discussion. There is only one Ideastorm site, but both www.dellideastorm.com and www.ideastorm.com go to the same site. We are well aware of the challenges in managing the vast number of ideas we have in circulation right now, and are working through a multi-phase cleanup effort. The IS team is reviewing all ideas by category then merging duplicate ideas and grouping similar ideas.

In reference to the Starbucks site: Our beloved IdeaStorm is run off software developed by a smaller company that was purchased by Salesforce. The Starbucks site is developed by Salesforce. We agree completely that the site we are on currently has more user functionality, which is why we are continuing to use and improve this version. The Salesforce version has other key functions that we absolutely want. Salesforce is working hard with us to ramp their version to catch up with IdeaStorm to have a more seamless platform. As we work together to build this “super platform” we will absolutely lean on you guys to help us fine tune it. Thanks!
jervis961
Apr 10		 If there is only one site why do we need to log in twice? Or did something change recently?

I guess I will back off on the abuse reports since you are already doing the work. I was just noticing the upheaval caused by the merges and thought that one big fix may be easier on users than hundreds of little fixes.

As for the Starbucks site I would have thought that SalesForce would have used the IdeaStorm software and improved upon it instead of starting from scratch. While I was upset about being a test rat for SalesForce I always thought it would lead to something but I guess it will only affect this one site for a while. Very strange company, Salesforce that is. :D

I look forward to helping out with the "super platform" but are you going to test live or on a test site?
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