Clear feedback

I'm just coming out of a particularly busy spell where I have been completing the Front End development on several different client sites. It's been a fun, yet arduous time.

Fun because I love doing what I do, yet arduous because I've found some clients aren't providing clear feedback.

This doesn't work...

It's hard work when you get a one-liner from a client saying "This doesn't work..."; What exactly doesn't work?

So Over the past few projects, I've been trying to advise these clients about providing clearer, more defined and easier feedback.

This actually speeds up development. Instead of saying "This doesn't work", consider explaining the issues.

• What doesn't work
• Where are you seeing the issue
• What sort of behaviour you're expecting
• Which device / browser does this issue occur (Support Details is awesome for this!)

Being clear about what's wrong means your developer can get on and fix the issue rather than trying to second-guess the problem or having to have a second conversation with you to make things clear.

I've started rolling feedback requests like this into my standard documentation that I send out on new projects.

Any issues / feedback raised should be clear & concise, I should be able to understand the issue straight away and not have to come back to you and ask more questions.

I'm almost tempted to roll my own bug-reporter/tracker which requires the above inputs.

When you've got a client who provides difficult feedback, how do you deal with it? I'm interested in hearing what others do in the same situation.