Complaints are the most important!

I have never posted a complaint about Xara before, but I noticed the sticky saying that this forum was not the place for complaints, and I have to say that that is not a very good idea.

Complaints are themselves suggestions for changes. They are in fact the most important kind of suggestion because the very last thing in the world you want are suggestions limited to people who are already content with a product.

Such limiting provides suggestions that are very minor tweaks by comparison. Complaints, even those dripping with ire, are priceless because the liklihood of such complaints being limited to merely the person posting is low.

Yes, there are those who ignorantly flame. But there IME have been a large number of complainers who have uncovered notions that are simply too important to ignore.

As a long time software engineer in charge of a large number of software products, many of which are graphic and GUI centric, I have always known that while complaints may be uncomfortable in nature to hear, they are critical to place at the very top of the attention list.

I agree wholeheartedly.

If complaints are dealt with promptly, then you can avoid losing clients/customers in any field.

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Originally Posted by tgm1024

I noticed the sticky saying that this forum was not the place for complaints

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I guess it all depends if that instruction came from Xara or not.

I hate it when my customers complain because it indicates either that

• they are whiners
  
  OR
• that I have done less than my best or my best wasn't good enough

But if I have to filter through the whiners to get to the constructive criticism then it is worth it for the overall good of my business.

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Originally Posted by beretgascon

I guess it all depends if that instruction came from Xara or not.

I hate it when my customers complain because it indicates either that

• they are whiners
  
  OR
• that I have done less than my best or my best wasn't good enough

But if I have to filter through the whiners to get to the constructive criticism then it is worth it for the overall good of my business.

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It came from Sledger in this "welcome to Xara" (etc.) forum over this a'way----> http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=35990

I disagree about the whiners thing vs. constructive criticism. IME, *ALL* criticism (whining, "bitching" (as pointed out in the sticky), hollering, etc.) is constructive because it indicates a reaction from the public. Even if the person is swearing out his mind in Klingon, you can see his complaints, and then gauge if they are likely to make others as upset.

True you get to judge the individual as well, but to say that a feedback forum isn't the place for bitching and complaining is just shooting yourself in the foot.

I make it a point to give my clients exactly what they ask for (within the scope of my skills,) and if they ask for something that I cannot do, I find someone who can help me give them what they want. After all, it is their web site and I will go above and beyond to make every single client happy. So far, I have had zero complaints, but if I ever do I'll make whatever they want happen. This is just the way that I work.

I have noticed that Xara doesn't seem to like criticism and when we suggest good ideas to improve their product, they usually have some excuse as to why certain things cannot be done (although their competitors seem to get features into their products that Xara says is impossible.)

I love Xara software, but there are features that if implemented could take this product over the top. One of those features to is the ability to add extensions. Others can get it, I feel that Xara could too.

I don’t think that Xara as a company dislikes criticism anymore than any other individual or company. My perception is that they are asking for requests as regards new features for future releases and thus actively attempting to improve their product.
As for excuses as to why things can’t get done, then its usually a matter of priorities in relation to the number of people doing the work and the number of requests for various features. Suggestions for new features, supplemented with the comment that it would be easy to implement are rarely followed by an explanation of how it could be easily implemented.
I’m sure that if they had Adobe or Corels budget and staff levels all things would be possible and also all the threads here would be moaning about the price it would be necessary to pay for the upgrade to the new all singing , all dancing significantly, slower loading and reacting Designer.

Don't get me wrong... I absolutely love my Xara Design Pro 6 and I use it extensively to make graphics that I then animate inside of After Effects. It's more fun to work with than Illustrator and easier to navigate and do design work. I also use it exclusively for my fliers, brochures, etc.

But I'm also a web designer. I own the Adobe CS5 Master Suite and have access to the latest Dreamweaver offering, but for most designs I find myself creating in WD6 because it is faster. I have recently discovered and started playing around with Web Designer 7. One of the absolute coolest things about WB7 is their exhaustive list of Javascript extensions that can be dragged to the page from the toolbox for instant photo galleries, and really cool navigational features (the list of extensions goes on and on.) All of this can be accomplished without having to create a <head> placeholder as all of the needed code is built into the extension and placed in the page code for you (including any external files needed.) You place it on the page and get an instant preview inside of any installed browser. As a matter of fact I've noticed that almost every single web design program out there gives you this feature (except for Xara.) There is even an extension builder that you can download to create your own extensions, and then on their forum, uses delightfully share their creations with other users. What a cool community of WB7 users.

I guess that I just love Xara so much that I want to see them be the top in the WYSIWYG design business. Their program is amazing, I just want to make it the best! Too bad I'm not a programmer...

If you are not a programmer, how in the world can you be so sure that mixing bulldozer with a limousine would produce anything useful? :eek:
And hey! I see some things I can drag and drop in my XWD6. Have you tried to open designs gallery?
I for one would vote for more control over code and scalable pages. I have it in my Dreamweaver and miss it as hell here! :'(

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Originally Posted by Add.O.B.

.... I for one would vote for more control over code and scalable pages. I have it in my Dreamweaver and miss it as hell here! :'(

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I think that you're missing the point of Xara's WYSIWYG approach.

Yeah, I know, it's written here and there that there's no code internally and such... So I'm not complaining! But this topic is about complaints.

Complaints or suggestion should be sent directly to Xara.

That way they can keep track in a log of what to improve or fix.

Tracking hundreds of messages in a forum is not very productive. I wouldn't want to do it, so wouldn't ask anyone else to either.

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Originally Posted by Regular

Complaints or suggestion should be sent directly to Xara......

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And when they get them, they do what with them, compile a file so they are all in a central place and then go through hundreds of ..... etc.

This is the whole point of the "Dear Xara" forum ... all the requests are in one place.

I was raised in a civil service culture which considered complaints as something to fear, to try to ignore, to make excuses for, to cover up, or to belittle complainants.

Then I joined an organisation whose chief exec said "complaints are gold in my hands". He read each complaint personally, and allocated it to one of the directors who was then responsible for investigating it, working out what went wrong, engineering the fault (if there was one) out of the system, and drafting a reply to the complainant for the chief exec's consideration and signature, all within a week of receiving it. If we were wrong, we said so, and without reservation.

Quite a difference! ... and some might say, a little OTT, but the phrase "complaints are gold in my hands" has stuck with me.

I recommend you read this thread

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=27258

in particular this post from Charles Moir himself:

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showpost...8&postcount=16

pre-dates the Dear Xara forum, but says it all really ;)