Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2006-04-19 08:03:43 - Graham Ellis
There are some aspects of our work - such as training and helping people specify and plan their systems - that have a positive aura about them and are naturally forward looking. Yes, we celebrate those jobs.
Other aspects, such as support and repair work, start off with a natural "down" - we're called in because of a problem, but chances are of a positive outcome in the end once we get the thing fixed or suggest ways forward. Again, great work if a bit of a gamble on the outcome - some things that people want to do just ain't practical or within their knowledge, they're unwilling to put time and perhaps money aside to learn, and they go away disappointed.
When we put up our on line quizzes way back in 2001, we didn't look at them as anything particularly different - a nice way to help potential training delegates find out what level of course was best for them, or if they knew most of it anyway and could save themselves the money. Well - that was the idea.
Alas, if a user gets 12 our of 15 questions on a quiz right, he will often look at the three he got wrong in great detail. Perhaps he'll feel cheated if the question can be mis-read in any way, or if there are any shades of grey at all in the answer. So the quizzes become quite high maintenance with us having to explain and justify questions rather more often than I would like ...
We have seriously discussed "pulling" the quizzes - and it may happen at some stage - but I do see them used by about a dozen people a day. I've upgraded the look and feel of all four quizzes this morning, I've added a reminder at the top of each of them that questions get dated and we would appreciate updates, and I've given them what is - I hope - a new lease of life.