qualtrics.com Presentation

Positives

SIMPLE

• Easy to have further social interaction (Plato)
• Plato taught that good things should foster further social interaction - qualtrics.com does this well with sales and support being a click away.
• Everything fosters social interaction [or research] (Aristotle)
• Aristotle taught that good things will be unified in fostering social interaction, or, in this case, research. Every page on qualtrics.com makes mention of this.
• Developmentally accessible (Aristotle)
• Aristotle also taught how information should be shared in stages as learners progress through their interests. qualtrics.com makes this easy. Might be good to link relevant blog articles, case studies, etc. to the bottom of the product pages.
• Unified problem solving, problem solvers not information gatherers (Dewey)
• Dewey placed the burden on humans to not be information gatherers but problem solvers. Qualtrics makes a ton of information on its website that can be easily referred to so users can focus on solving problems, not memorizing information. Users are also able to download wizards on the Innovation Exchange to facilitate their project creation.

PERSUASIVE

• Logos (Aristotle)
• good examples of the value that is brought by investing in insights [show pages for case studies]
• Case studies show the drastic changes brought on by Qualtrics. Could show more of the negative side of inaction
• Aristotle taught that a presentation should have pathos, ethos, and logos. qualtrics.com does particularly well with logos. The case studies and crucial and show readers the results of using Qualtrics at companies large and small.
• Articulate review (Kant)
• High quality posts and information on the website [show quality blog posts]

Criticisms

SHARABLE

• Easily share relevant interactions with others (Plato)
• Is there a place for people to easily share their experiences on the site? No.
• Is it easily sharable on social media? No. Only blog posts have share links and they are only at the bottom.
• Engaging through example (Nietzsche)
• Allow for and encourage users to share stories (not just case studies) of how they overcame certain challenges and that motivate readers to do the same.
• Pathos (Aristotle)
• Should be more emotionally engaging, humanize the content. Storytelling is powerful. Allowing for the perspective of the individual user and his or her challenges will help connect with clients and prospects on a more emotional level. It may also be worthwhile to encourage people to share the consequences of inaction. While we are selling to businesses, those looking at the page are actually people!

ETHOS - Website design and messaging

• Ethos (Aristotle)
• Does a great job at building ethos with the client list [show customer page]
• In speaking with John, a focus is to convey more of the value of the solution through the website. He claims the site design and content should make it seem like more of a high-end operation. I do agree with this to the extent that Marx taught...
• Users need to see how task relates to a larger purpose (Marx)
• Have an emphasis on what Qualtrics’ end goal is, change the world of how insights are collected? Get back to making sophisticated research simple? Like Ryan was saying last week, place more emphasis and confidence in the fact that Qualtrics is the best in the world for collecting insights on markets, customers, and employees. 
• In addition to this, there is a push to get away from the idea of being a "survey company." This description limits Qualtrics in interactions with clients as their perception of our capabilities is a small part of what they actually are. 

RELEVANT - Build user profiles

• Hume taught that good things should be engaging because they are personalized and relevant. 
• When users visit the site, they should be logged in and view a personalized version of the site content based on the profile Q has created for them
• Kant taught the idea of ongoing review
• Allow users to continue to review the most relevant content (blog posts, case studies, products) based on their profiles
• Dewey pushed for ongoing revision
• Make available a forum where users are able to critique, test, review, revise ideas and content. They can discuss challenges they are dealing with. Might even be another channel to critique Qualtrics and for the firm to collect feedback.
• Heidegger taught that people do better when they care about what they are doing
• This is another reason why user profiles would be valuable in pulling relevant content to the top
• According to Plato, users should quickly know what theme is and what they should do
• Clear up messaging to place more emphasis on people going out and doing research

ENGAGING - Progression of users

• As you may recall, Kierkegaard taught that the best way to teach is to get down to someone's level and help bring them up. Not in a condescending way but in an empowering and encouraging way. He believed people were on different levels and the goal was to progress to the highest of the three (aesthetic, ethical, religious)
• What does the site do to help lift visitors and encourage them to reach the next level of research capabilities? Three ideas
• Site could monitor profiles and curate content based on what level users are (perhaps some type of gamification)
• The other extreme is to have a group of experts (employees) focused on this that can access users and teach them how to leverage Qualtrics
• Qualtrics can track users by their profile and pair them up with the right people (other users) in a forum
• Finally, Hegel taught that development follows this process: thesis, antithesis, synthesis
• Site could provide more opportunities for debate among researchers

Key themes for the recommendations are

• Facilitate sharing
• Make it so users can more easily share site content
• Place more emphasis on storytelling
• Focus messaging on a larger picture
• Changing the world of research (or, changing the world through research)
• Making sophisticated research simple
• Get out and use Qualtrics
• Build richer user profiles 
• Use this information to display more relevant content to each user
• Use it as a way of measuring their journey and development as a customer
• Provide timely encouragement to help them get to the next level
• Have qualtrics.com become a one-stop-shop
• By being able to access experts and other researchers, they can get more of the information they need for their projects and initiatives on the site

Invitation to Conference Draft

Dear ______,

For the past few months a group of students, under the direction of Professor Dennis Packard at BYU, has been critiquing various websites, including my critique of <your website>, in the light of thought from philosophers, from ancient Greece to the 20th century.  With things changing rapidly, we believe that it is valuable to look at the present age in the light of thought that has endured from past ages.

We will be holding a mini conference to present our critiques and allow for questions and answers.  The Philosophy and New Media Conference will be held April 20, 2015 from 11:00am - 1:00pm at Brigham Young University, Joseph Fielding Smith Building (JFSB) room B152. Material for our critiques will be drawn from our blog site which is still in development: http://webphilblog.blogspot.com 

We would be delighted and honored if you or any of your colleagues could join us.  We are also interested in understanding the priorities and goals that you have for your website so that we can address them.

Sincerely,
<your name>

LDS Social Media Dewey and Heidegger

Dewey & Heidegger: qualtrics.com

Dewey

Solutions evolve as individuals try it out and modify
As mentioned in previous reviews, qualtrics.com could benefit from an open forum where Qualtrics users discuss how they are using the platform and challenges they are dealing with. This forum could be organized by certain topics and the users would build relationships with each other as they seek to solve problems with each other. This platform would be limited to those that have a Qualtrics account and would probably be mostly successful with academic users. However, as those users enter the workforce, it would probably grow among corporations as well.

These forums will also provide areas for users to critique their Qualtrics experience and the firm can gather these insights and incorporate them into updates and new product launches.

Humans are problem solvers, not information gatherers
Another application of Dewey's ideas would be to provide helpful tips within the product highlighting trends, statistics, or best habits. This would place the burden on the user to apply and think critically but not to memorize certain facts or information.

Heidegger

Concern for certain things leads to authentic action
Heidegger emphasized the importance of caring about things. This ties in to a previous recommendation for qualtrics.com to build rich user profiles. As Qualtrics collects more information on their customers, it is better able to tailor content and the experience to them. After their profiles are complete, the landing page can change from the standard landing page to a specific page to what this user is engaged in. It is important to not add complexity to their experience but for it to be simple and natural.

On their new landing page, they can view recent, relevant articles, dashboards for their surveys, and upcoming events that they may be interested in.

Updated Standards for Critiques

The best social websites are unified, accessible, and ongoing.

Plato (what is inspired by ideals of social interaction)

• Unified -- we can tell quickly what the social interactions are about (theme) and how everything fosters that interaction.
• Accessible -- we participate by entering the conversation and sharing the most relevant interactions with others.
• Ongoing -- we find that the social interaction on the site leads to further social interaction.

Aristotle (what moves toward fully actualized ideals of social interaction)

• Unified action -- we can tell quickly how we can socially interact, and we find that everything fosters that type of interaction.
• Developmentally accessible -- we participate by consuming, sharing, and creating the content of the site with prototypes.
• Persuasively ongoing -- the content relates to us (ethos), it teaches us how to share and create content (logos), and encourages us to do so (pathos).

Hume (what people with taste like)

• Unified by being liked -- we can quickly see that the masses like the content; professionals (those who like what has traditionally been liked over time) like the content; and peers (those who like what we have liked) like the content.
• Accessible by sensibility -- we participate by consuming and liking the content because of how it affects us or how other similar things that have stood the test of time have affected us.
• Ongoing by tradition -- we hope to like what will endure into the future.

Kant (what people like because of their authentic, reflective judgement)

• Unified by being being articulately reviewed -- we can see that articulate, authentic reviewers all like praising it.
• Accessible by sense -- we can all participate by formulating fitting concepts to describe the best content.
• Ongoing reviews -- we can continue to articulately review the best content.

Hegel (what moves toward group embodied ideals)

• Dialectically unified -- we can see how the social interaction repeatedly moves from thesis to antithesis to synthesis.
• Actual accessibility -- we can all participate in arriving together at implementing the latest cultural standards for media and content.
• Ongoing evolution -- we can see how the site has built into it ways of developing itself beyond what it has been.

Marx (what moves toward group production modes that enlarge our individual embodied selves)

• Unified collaboration -- we see how it fosters individual development and flourishing of individuals; simultaneously fosters specialization and collaboration; the end goals are not fixed but moving along.  
• Accessible by apprenticeship -- as users, we have a sense of the whole but work just on a part becoming masters (specialists) over time.
• Productively ongoing -- we can see how the social interaction for creating content develops from a thesis mode, to an antithesis mode, to a synthesis mode that more fully allows individuals to authentically express themselves and flourish on the site; we are rewarded for meaningful work (gamification).

Kierkegaard (what invites individual improvement by mentoring)

• Unified by progression -- as users, we lift each other, ultimately all of us arriving at the religious sphere.
• Accessible by mentoring -- we participate by consuming content at the level we are at or sharing and creating content condescending to where others are at; content is tailored to users at different levels: users seeking pleasure and gratification (aesthetic), guidance from rules (ethical), guidance by spirit (religious).
• Ongoing mentoring -- we are motivated by love to create non-pandering content that helps others advance from aesthetic to ethical and ethical to religious.

Nietzsche (what inspires individual improvement by examples)

• Unified by “will to power” -- we come together on the site to improve ourselves in some sense.
• Accessible by example - we participate by observing examples of self-improvement.
• Ongoing by examples -- as users, we share and create authentic content, showing examples of self-improvement.

Dewey (what groups of individuals continue to like after they try it out)

• Unified problem solving -- we can see how groups are working toward solving a problem or answering a question.
• Accessible by application -- we participate by testing out the presented standards.
• Ongoing revision -- we are invited to consider articulated standards for site content, to test those standards by applying them, to review the results of applying them, and to help revise those standards.

Heidegger (what draws individuals concerned about others to authentic action)

• Unified by possibilities -- as users on the site, we increasingly draw from similar worlds of possibilities.
• Accessible by disclosing -- we participate by exploring new possibilities opened up by content.
• Ongoing by authentic choices -- we are encouraged to actualize definite possibilities that may require giving up others; to make hard choices in the moment, because we are caring for many; and to actualize the best possibilities sensed.