Customer Support
Post-Release Software Design
At core, we think of software support as post-release software design. The job of the original designer is to imagine how a horde of different people will respond to a product. Support's job is to allow product development to hear the actual response without being overwhelmed by it.
Create Compelling Documents
We use FogBugz's integrated email features to communicate with customers, and we use parent cases to amass known issues and common requests. With the addition of a Balsamiq UI mock-up or a mini-spec created in the wiki, the case becomes a compelling document.
We no longer need to wander down the hall and argue a position. The information is all there. The engineers can read as much or as little history and detail as they want. FogBugz helps us show them how people are reacting to their product, and where their effort can best be spent to improve the product. And, when they do check in a new feature, we can see the checkin. It's tremendously satisfying to watch the product visibly improve because of clear communication and smooth teamwork.
Coders and Productivity Hackers
Everyone on the support team is a coder and a productivity hacker. We hack FogBugz twenty different ways. We run Python scripts on the FogBugz API to balance workload and manage our @FogBugz Twitter account efficiently. We write in-house plugins to integrate with our internal systems. We use the BugMonkey plugin to tweak the interface for maximum productivity. And, we help our customers do the same.
