Write a topic that states clearly what belongs to it and what does not, so that the findings you receive are about the experience you chose.
A topic has four parts. The first two are always present. The other two are optional.
You write the four parts when you first describe the topic, on the review step. Later, you change them from the topic's page by selecting Change this topic.
What this topic covers
Name the area of your customers' experience the topic listens to: airport transfers, invoices, holiday bookings. Do not describe what people do there or how they feel about it.
Name the area, not a feeling about it. For example:
Holiday bookings on our site, from searching to changing or cancelling afterwards.
Examples
Write at least two lines, the way a customer would say them. Three or four is usual. Real quotes are best. If you have none yet, write what a customer would be likely to say. Each line shows the level of detail that counts as feedback on this topic. A summary of the topic is too general to show that.
One line each, in the customer's own words, not a summary. For example:
- I couldn't tell if my dates were actually confirmed after I paid.
- Got charged twice. The first payment looked like it failed so I tried again, and both went through.
- I wanted to move my check-in by one day and there is no way to do it myself.
What to leave out
Name what is out even when it seems to fit the topic. A description can be correct and still too broad: you may want holiday bookings but not guest houses. Without this part, findings about guest houses would be delivered with the others.
Write the thing itself, not a sentence about it. For example:
Guest houses
Edge cases
An edge case is something that could be seen as part of your topic or as part of a neighbouring one. Write which it is, and what makes the difference. Write one for each case you know of.
An exclusion removes something completely: whatever matches it is out. An edge case describes something that belongs in some situations and not in others, and states the rule for both.
State when it belongs, when it does not, and the reason for the difference. For example:
Being charged twice belongs to this topic when it happens while booking: the first payment looked like it failed, the customer tried again, and both went through. A charge that appears later, on a statement or an invoice, is a billing problem and not part of this topic.
Write it directly
In every part, use short, direct wording. Do not add explanations of what you mean.