I started asking 'what's the dumbest way this could work' and it actually helps

I was stuck trying to figure out how to get people to answer more specific questions in their posts. I spent a month trying to write perfect examples myself. Then I tried something silly: I made a template with blank spaces for numbers, places, and names, and told people to just fill it in like a worksheet. I posted it last Tuesday. In two days, 15 people used it and their questions got way more detailed. It was a stupidly simple fix for a problem I was overthinking. Has anyone else found a basic template or form that actually gets people to follow posting rules?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan6532mo ago

Templates can feel too restrictive sometimes though.

karen2751mo ago

Wasn't the whole point of templates to make things easier? I used to hate them for feeling so boxed in, like you said. But then I got stuck trying to plan a trip with five friends over text. After two weeks of "sounds good" and "maybe next weekend" I just threw a simple calendar poll link at them. Having those set options cut out all the back and forth noise instantly. It totally flipped my view on what being restrictive actually means.

casey4852mo ago

Seriously, that's such a good point. I've seen this with event RSVPs. People would just say "maybe" forever. We made a dumb Google Form with three checkboxes: coming, not coming, need more info. It forced a real answer. What was the hardest part about getting people to actually click on your template link in the first place?