User-Submitted Feedback: When Does It Matter?

[Houston]

Tonight, I submitted my first ever piece of feedback to Google re: a feature-suggestion for Google+. While constructing my feedback, my mind was thrown into a brief war with itself. The source of the conflict? Whether or not the time I was spending piecing together my feedback was worth it or not.

Because I know the "Send feedback" button is there for a reason, I ignored the conflict I was going through and submitted my opinion on principal anyway. Regardless of this fact, I'm _still_ questioning whether or not what I just submitted was worth the time I spent putting it together.

So, I've come to the ever-intelligent members of HN to ask the question, "When does user-submitted feedback matter?" I would like to think that user-submitted feedback is handled democratically, wherein the majority rules and once a specific number of people have weighed in on a specific thing, action is taken.

But, honestly, I can only see user-submitted feedback being handled democratically if the feedback is inherently negative, i.e a bug that completely decimates the user-experience in it's entirety, rather than feedback that is inherently positive, i.e a feature request.

That said, although I ended up submitting my feedback to Google for a feature I think would add positively to the user-experience of Google+, taken what I've said above, I'm almost positive it's a textbook example of grasping at straws.

So, what do you guys and gals think? Does user-submitted feedback matter? If so, when? If not, why not?

[duzins]

I've been a community manager since 1996 and at all the companies I've worked, even the biggest ones, we did look at that feedback and use it. It was usually my job to read it all over and report back to the product team with numbers and suggestions. Granted, sometimes it didn't make business sense to implement a feature so we didn't act on it, but for the most part it is the desire of companies to make products that are appealing to their users. So, yes, companies look at and discuss your feedback.

Unless it's just 'this sucks', people are reading and using your feedback.

[doctororange]

Probably it just depends how much feedback the developers have to deal with. If yours is the only feedback submitted this week it'll probably get plenty of consideration.

I imagine that feedback submitted to an organization like Google is handled more democratically, so in a sense you've cast your 'vote'.