Every page on nsw.gov.au includes the Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down (TUTD) widget:
This lets customers rate the page, as well as leave a comment if they choose to. Note this is a one-way feedback mechanism – no response is provided to the customer.
The TUTD data is a great resource to help uncover issues with your content. At a minimum, you can see the number of positive and negative ratings on your pages via Google Analytics.
Additionally, you can request a report of the actual (verbatim) comments left by customers.
Questions to answer
- Are particular pages getting a lot of ratings, either positive or negative?
- Are ratings changing over time?
- What are people saying about your pages?
What you can do about it
If pages are getting a lot of negative ratings, it’s worth digging into the actual comment data to see if that can tell you what the specific problem is, and how you may be able to fix it.
You can also use ratings to help you prioritise which pages to work on first.
Caution
We do not recommend setting a benchmark around TUTD data. For example, don’t set yourself a target of ‘less than 10 negative ratings per page per month’ or similar. TUTD data is volatile and varies wildly over time, often in response to real-world events.
Thumbs Down ratings in particular can also be because customers disagree with policy, not because they don’t understand the content, which is not something you can necessarily resolve.
Similarly, a metric such as ‘more positive than negative ratings’ may also be difficult to achieve. Unhappy customers are more likely to rate a page than happy customers, so ratings often skew towards the negative.
A more achievable target may be ‘a decrease in Thumbs Down ratings’ after a change is made, as a way of tracking whether the user experience has improved.
Number of positive and negative ratings
Google Analytics can tell you how many positive (Thumbs Up) and negative (Thumbs Down) ratings your page(s) get. It cannot give you details on why a customer rated the way they did.
How to find this report
In Google Analytics, go to Reports > Page review (Thumbs up/Thumbs Down).
You need to report on positive and negative ratings separately – there is a report in this section for each.
Filter to a specific page by pasting the page path (without the nsw.gov.au in front) into the Search box at the top of table and hitting Enter.
Feedback Dashboard (TUTD) data
The Feedback Dashboard collates all TUTD data, including the source page and customers’ verbatim comments.
Access is restricted, however each portfolio has lead reporters – contact the reporting officer for your department/portfolio to request data for your pages.
Raw data can be filtered by URLs, so you only see what you need to.
Caution
TUTD contains verbatim comments as submitted by customers. Customers are sometimes angry, and some comments may contain unpleasant language or sentiments. When reviewing feedback, try to look past how the customer has commented, to see what they’re having difficulty with.
Customers also sometimes include personal information in their feedback, including names, email addresses, phone numbers etc. The system will mask things it thinks may be personal info, but some things (especially names) slip through.
Please bear this in mind when working with TUTD data and treat it as personal information in line with privacy and data protection policies and legislation.
Need any more help?
If you have any questions, or require assistance with anything mentioned in this article, submit a request via the webform.