High on Help

I constantly tell my team “inspiration is everywhere” and when I bring a catalog from William-Sonoma or pull up the Dyson website in a meeting to discuss information design, I know they get me. What better place to find a healthy dose of inspiration than to chat with our users one-on-one and hear exactly what they love and hate about Bullhorn’s Online Help. “Hate,” you say; do they really feel that strongly? Yes they do! And when we recently sat down with a few users, they were more than eager to share their ideas and to lend a “helping hand.” When it comes to winning an award, for some that very badge means they have done their job and that’s it. Maintaining the standard is simply keeping up with what they have already done. But in keeping up they are falling behind. Winning an award for us was a moment to reflect and recognize the effects of hard work, but it also meant raising the bar and figuring out how to improve to stay ahead of the competition and give our users a competitive advantage.

So when we recently sat with some Bullhorn users for a candid two-hour dish about Bullhorn’s Online Help, and a fellow co-worker took a moment to mention that it was award winning, I kind of cringed. I thought to myself, sure we won, but we can still improve and I made it a point to let that group of Bullhorn users know we are more than eager to do so. What did users ask for? Well, surprisingly a lot of things we’ve been thinking of implementing, but also several fresh ideas that we hadn’t. They asked for us to challenge users and help them grow their skill set by appealing to the competitive nature of the industry. They asked us to market Help more because it’s packed with useful information but many don’t know it’s there. They requested more best practices and examples that teach the “why” not just the “how.” So, what did they love? Well for one it’s packed with information. There’s documentation on how to use nearly every feature in Bullhorn from mass mailings, to standard reports, placements and all the new features we recently released. There are demos, FAQs, shortcuts and tips. And if it’s not there, use the feedback links to tell us…we’ll add it.

We also revealed some of the features to come and that sparked a conversation that lasted nearly 40 minutes. It’s great to see the same enthusiasm and passion in our users. The two-hours flew by with requests from several to attend another forum in the future. We spent the entire day on a high from which I have yet to come down. I am inspired by our users and I am even more motivated to exceed your expectations. I can’t wait to reveal an even cleaner, easier-to-use Online Help in the coming months. One that challenges, educates, and makes users more efficient, and let’s face it, makes you more money. We are a 24-hour resource and we are only getting better. And while we would love to continue winning awards, it won’t mean we stop looking for inspiration, especially from our users. So go, click the Help button in Bullhorn and search for a topic…then send us your feedback and ideas. Good or bad I guarantee you we will listen and you will see a change.