Feedback glossary

Short definitions of the vocabulary our own writing uses: what a feedback widget collects, what annotation adds to a bug report, how triage and content gaps turn a stream of comments into a queue of fixes, and which satisfaction metric belongs on a documentation page. For longer arguments, see the blog.

  • Content gap

    A content gap is a question your users need answered that your site does not answer, surfaced by the feedback, searches, and support tickets that keep asking for it.

  • Feedback loop

    A feedback loop is closed when the input a user sent leads to a visible change and that user finds out about it.

  • Feedback triage

    Feedback triage is the recurring process of reading incoming feedback, discarding the noise, and routing what remains to the person or backlog that can act on it.

  • Feedback widget

    A feedback widget is a small component embedded on a website that lets a visitor rate or comment on the page they are reading without leaving it.

  • NPS, CSAT, and CES

    NPS, CSAT, and CES are three standard satisfaction metrics: NPS measures how likely someone is to recommend you, CSAT measures how satisfied they were with one interaction, and CES measures how much effort that interaction cost them.

  • Screenshot annotation

    Screenshot annotation is the step where a reporter draws on a captured image of the page, with an arrow, box, or highlight, to mark exactly what they are talking about.

  • Ticket deflection

    Ticket deflection is the practice of answering a user question through the site itself, so the question never becomes a support ticket.

  • Visual feedback

    Visual feedback is feedback that arrives with an annotated screenshot of the page attached, so the report shows the problem instead of describing it.