The "Smelly Sock" Approach to Feedback

Customer feedback. We all know we need it to make sure we are delivering the right thing. But sometimes we all have trouble engaging. The customer might be busy, or disinterested, or both. So here's a little tip that might just help.

Like all the best stories, this happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... 

We were working on a web front end and associated backend system for a client. But we were suffering from the "disengaged customer" anti pattern. The customer would not commit to a web front end design, and help us design the look and feel needed for the application. We provided a few options over a couple of iterations to try and start the design conversation, but none connected despite our efforts.

So we threw in a "smelly sock". Something so stinky it guaranteed to get folks going "Ewwww! Get that out of here!". I seem to remember we disabled all CSS formatting....

Sure enough, we got a reaction during the regular show-and-tell session, and the customer engaged with the question "What would you like it to look like?". From that day forward, we had a customer who was prepared to spend time collaborating and helping refine the final design. Just in case we tried to release another smelly sock....