Hi Researchers!

This is a test question. I want to see what the experience of asking a
question is like so I can better understand my customers' experiences.

So, whoever can lock this question first, please do the following:

* ask for a Question Clarification (just make it up)
* when I post the clarification, please make up an answer
* when I ask for clarification of the Answer, please make something up

If anyone else who looks at this question wants to wade in with
Comments, that would help too! :-)

Thanks everyone

websearcher-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by netcrazy-ga on 16 Aug 2002 08:08 PDT

Hello websearchers-ga,

Here it comes... 
What exactly you are trying to find out with this test question from a
customer point of view?

Thanks
netcrazy

---

Request for Question Clarification by netcrazy-ga on 16 Aug 2002 08:10 PDT

oops... typo mistake with your name..
It should be websearcher-ga and not websearchers-ga
My apolologies. :)

---

Clarification of Question by websearcher-ga on 16 Aug 2002 08:14 PDT

Hi netcrazy!

I'm just trying to see:

* How the pages look different for an asker
* What, if any, email prompts an asker gets
* Just how it "feels" to be on the other end. :-)

So far, it's been very informative. 

Have you ever asked a question in GA? 

websearcher-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 16 Aug 2002 08:43 PDT

websearcher-ga , 

I join the fun test. I would like to know if you're also interested in
completely unreltaed philosophical anecdotes that sometimes compose
the best of my answers :-)

Please also tell me how many links do you expect from this answer
(hint: already have an answer...)

---

Request for Question Clarification by philip_lynx-ga on 16 Aug 2002 08:47 PDT

Since netcrazy was the first to lock, I guess he deserves to collect
for the 'answer'. It will be interesting to see who _does_ answer ;-)

---

Request for Question Clarification by siliconsamurai-ga on 16 Aug 2002 08:49 PDT

There is one misunderstanding obvious in your question. You don't lock
a question to ask for a clarification; if I lock it then no one can
comment or ask for clarifications.

---

Clarification of Question by websearcher-ga on 16 Aug 2002 08:53 PDT

To answer all recent clarification requests:

I hope netcrazy answers - that certianly is my intention!

As for the "unreltaed philosophical anecdotes" offered by
politicalguru, sure put them in the Comments section.

Well caught siliconsamurai! That was indeed a slip-up on my part. :-)

websearcher-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by knowledge_seeker-ga on 16 Aug 2002 09:14 PDT

Hi websearcher!

What an interesting experiment!  Perhaps, before Netcrazy answers the
question, you might experiment with your ability to change the price
of the question. It's my understanding that you can still do that
before the question is answered. I would be curious as to how this
process works.

Oh. Wait a minute .. who's doing the asking here?! 

:-)  -K~

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Clarification of Question by websearcher-ga on 16 Aug 2002 09:18 PDT

Hi knowledge_seeker!

Actually, I've edited the price twice already. Started at $3.50, then
$3.75, then $3.65. :-)

When I (the asker) am viewing the question, there is a button in the
Question bar called "Edit Question Parameters". That button takes me
back to a variant of the form I originally filled in and allows me to
adjust the price.

websearcher

---

Request for Question Clarification by rebeccam-ga on 16 Aug 2002 09:29 PDT

Just a point of clarification to a comment siliconsamurai-ga made...

It is my understanding that an asker CAN post a clarification while a
question is locked.  (Others cannot post requests to a locked
question, however.)  The change was outlined in a Recent Researcher
Newsletter.

Best, Rebeccam-ga

---

Clarification of Question by websearcher-ga on 16 Aug 2002 09:37 PDT

Hi rebeccam:

I think the point siliconsamurai was trying to make is that a
researcher who has locked a question can't ask for clarification on
the question while that question is locked.

websearcher

Hello websearcher-ga,
Greetings.

It is really great to see life from the other side. You come to know
how it is different from your side. Thanks to you for giving us a
chance to know how you feel on being a customer.

I've seen many of your answers and it is really good to know that
you've taken this test to become a customer and get an insight from
the customer perspective. Infact, some of our dear researchers, did
ask questions in GA as a customer and what I feel is that, they had a
good experience with the answers they received and with GA setup.

I always believe that it is good to see from both sides. It is like
putting your foot in others shoe to know how it feels to be like them.
:)

I just wanted to be a part of this test, so answered it. Now, if you
want to continue the test, please "Request for Clarification".

I hope this test will come up with something good for all the
researchers.

And, regarding the comments on "Asking for clarification" when the
question is locked, from the researcher point of view, if it is
locked, it cannot be done (I mean no one can then ask for
clarification, if it is locked), but from the customer point of view,
it can be done only by the asker. I’ve seen it several times that when
I’m answering any question, and if I relock the question for more
time, I see clarifications posted by the asker.
Another example of seeing life from other side :)  Isn't it !!

Have a good day.

netcrazy

---

Request for Answer Clarification by websearcher-ga on 16 Aug 2002 11:10 PDT

Hi netcrazy-ga:

Thank you for the well-thought answer. This has indeed been a learning
experience and I will most certainly post what I've gleaned from it
when the process is complete (probably as a Comment).

As a point of clarification, have *you* ever asked a question at GA? 

:-)

websearcher-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by netcrazy-ga on 16 Aug 2002 11:18 PDT

Hi again,

I wanted to answer your question in my answer, but then thought of
holding it so that I can answer it in "Answer Clarification".

No, I've not asked even once in GA. Most of the times, I'm getting my
answers by my own research. But I do want to see the "other side of
life" by being a customer and I very much looking forward for that
question that will force me to change my shoes from researcher to a
customer one.

Thanks.

Thanks to netcrazy and everyone else who participated in this
experiment! I'll be posting a comment later on with what I've gleaned
from this experience.

Good test, websearcher. I had entertained the thought of doing just
this. Please let us know what you find.

-=clouseau-ga=-

Hello from cloudy and cool Michigan. I am one of the legal beagles on
this team. This is a pretty slick system and generally delivers very
timely answers.

weisstho-ga

Hmmm. What happens if someone nonanswers this nonquestion in the
"comments" section (or in the noncomments section, as would be more
appropriate)?

Then I believe that the universe would implode upon itself. ;-)

websearcher

And I sometimes wonder what the screen looks like for researchers... I
only see the question asker side of the forms! ;)

Dear pne-ga - On your side of the screen are bright lights and
cosmetic graphics.  On the researcher's side, we live in total
darkness.  We venture into the light only on rare occasions to blink
and watch our skin wrinkle.

hi websearcher,

"Seeing LIfe from the Other Side"  and I thought your question had to
do with death and dying!  ;)  ;)

What a nice surprise to read this was your experiment w/Google Answers
and not something that would strain our brains!

Your friendly researcher,

tlspiegel-ga

Well, this has been a very interesting experience. Well worth the
$4.15!

What did I glean from this experience?

* The process for asking a question is very well set up. There are
plenty of opportunities for getting help or examples. One page of
particular value can be found while seeting the price for a question.

https://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

This page gives a pretty fair accounting of what $2-$5, $10-15,
$20-50, $50, $100, and $200 questions (and their answers) should be
like. [However, my experience is that many askers either don't read
this information or don't heed it.]

* Once a question is asked, askers work through pretty much the same
sort of interface as Researchers do. They go to the desired question
and, depending on where the question is in the process, they are
presented with specialized buttons to rate an answer, close a
question, edit a question's price, request clarifications, give
clarifications, etc.

* One thing that surprised me was that the email notifications (of
activity on their question) for askers are only sent out at most once
every hour. During the life of this question, I received four such
notifications, all around 45 minutes after the hour. All activity that
has happened since the last notification is grouped together in the
one email. Knowing this "timing" will help me understand why my
requests for Clarification sometimes go unanswered for quiet a while.
[I wonder why GA doesn't send out an immediate email upon getting a
Question Clarification request???]

My first email notification contained notification of 3 Question
Clarification requests and 2 new Comments. My last notification
contained the posting of an Answer and an Answer Clarification. I've
pasted the relevant parts of the first notification below:

********email notification begins*********
Hello,

In regard to question: Seeing Life from the Other Side
Question ID: 55256
URL: https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=55256

A Researcher is trying to answer your question but would like more
information.
Please visit your question and provide question clarification by
clicking on the
'Clarify Question' button. 
        --------------------------------------------------
In regard to question: Seeing Life from the Other Side
Question ID: 55256
URL: https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=55256

A Researcher is trying to answer your question but would like more
information.
Please visit your question and provide question clarification by
clicking on the
'Clarify Question' button. 
        --------------------------------------------------
In regard to question: Seeing Life from the Other Side
Question ID: 55256
URL: https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=55256

A new comment has been posted to your question.
        --------------------------------------------------
In regard to question: Seeing Life from the Other Side
Question ID: 55256
URL: https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=55256

A new comment has been posted to your question.
        --------------------------------------------------
In regard to question: Seeing Life from the Other Side
Question ID: 55256
URL: https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=55256

A Researcher is trying to answer your question but would like more
information.
Please visit your question and provide question clarification by
clicking on the
'Clarify Question' button. 
        --------------------------------------------------
********email notification ends*********

* One thing that getting these numerous email notification has made me
realize is that it would be really great for the system to send
Researchers an email notification when:

a) A question they have request a Clarification for is clarified
b) A question they have answered has a comment added to it

Currently, as a Researcher, the only time I receive an email
notification is when a question I have answered has a Clarification
request of my answer.

* As an Asker, the "My Questions" part of My Account at:

https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=myquestions

lists each question that I've asked and has a Status column. This
Status column says "Needs Attention" (or something like that) when a
question is answered but has yet to be rated. This is a good way, I
think, of encouraging people to rate the answers.

I'm sure there are alot of other subtle things I picked up from this
experience that will help me be a better Researcher. :-)

Thanks again to everyone who participated. 

websearcher-ga

Two comments on your comment, websearcher -- (1) the pricing page
hasn't been there for very long. I know that it wasn't there yet when
I asked my first question (about a month ago, I'd reckon); I would
have liked something like that to be in place. I think it's an
*extremely* good idea since I'm not really sure how much to set for my
questions. (2) Questions which are answered but have to be rated have
"NEEDS ATTENTION", true; also, that phrase (and the title of the
question) are in bold. When the question is answered and rated, the
status goes to "CLOSED" and the question has a grey background in the
table. Non-bold lines with a white background have status "OPEN" and
have not yet been answered.
Also note that questions which have been answered but for which the
asker has requested a clarification still show up as "NEEDS ATTENTION"
for the asker -- though I suppose he can't really rate the question if
he's still waiting for a clarification.

Hmmmm this is very strange.

The researchers' names in the comment section are not hyperlinked.
Anyone else notice this????

Steph,

The reason the Researchers' names are not hyperlinked is because this
is a very old question, and the posts were made at a time when the
hyperlinking of our names had not yet been instituted. I suspect that
my username will be hyperlinked upon my posting this remark, however.

Does that make sense?

~Pink

I consulted my records, and it appears that Researchers' names were
first hyperlinked on December 20, 2002. This was not retroactive, so
posts made before that date will not show our names as hyperlinks.

Sorry, Pinkfreud ...

I know it is not my place to correct any of your stuff because you
hardly ever make a mistake BUT ...

If you cast your eyes upwards, you will see that some Researchers'
names were hyperlinked even though their stuff pre-dated December 20,
2002 while others weren't.

I should like to call for a full Government Enquiry.

Hmm. None of the Researchers' names in the "Comments" section are
hyperlinked, until you reach the post that I made yesterday. However,
Researchers who posted requests for clarification in 2002 do have
hyperlinked names. This is verrrrry interesting. I have no idea
whatsoever why this should be the case. This may be one of the
Mysteries of the Universe that man is not supposed to understand. No,
nor woman neither.

Thanks for the information Pinkfreud. I hadn't looked at the dates in
this question.
It seems that, in the clarification section, all the researcher's
names are hyperlinked except for websearcher's as he/she was the
questioner in this post.

Interesting post either way.

Steph53