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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?
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ryan6535mo ago
Templates can feel too restrictive sometimes though.
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karen2755mo 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.
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casey4855mo 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?
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