As I have stated before, I want the whole range of opinions. This is intentional as I have visited many sites that change the layout, and other things that were just fine. I want to know what everyone likes AND dislikes.
When I say feedback, I mean complete feedback. In my past experience, when all I get is a critique on how I can improve but no info as to what I am doing good I eventually come to the point of ignoring the source. The reason why is that I feel those people can only seem to focus on what they don't like.
I am not angry, upset, or otherwise emotional about this. Just stating some facts.
To be honest I never was looking for a pat on the back.
Speaking generally about getting good quality website feedback, the process reminds me of a quote from the cartoonist Michael Leunig.
He said, "We must make do with scraps".
This same statement is a truism in regard to obtaining good website critiques. If the volume of honest comments were there, we could all get rich off our fantastic websites because we could literally create the perfect marketing vehicle from that quality and volume of feedback.
The fact is, that genuine honest feedback is, in real-life, in short supply.
Its actually incredibly hard to get.
The rare moments when people do (a) take the time to think hard about our work, and (b) then are generous enough to share their thoughts with us, are nuggets of gold.
Unfortunately, they are often not appreciated as such.
The trick, as a webmaster to making this process work, is to find opportunities to locate people who are willing to do this, (TN, and its generous community being one such place), and then to create a context where they feel they are able to be open and honest about what they see.
The easy part, comparatively speaking, is applying the ideas to the design.
Just a thought...