Service Mode: User Feedback

User feedback is an important aspect for any service-oriented organization like ESO. However, receiving regular feedback has proven to be a rather challenging task, despite the continuous availability of the ESO Service Mode Questionnaire.  The last global campaign (i.e. covering the entire operational cycle, from Phase 1 to Phase 2, to Quality Control and data delivery) took place in 2007 (cf Primas et al. 2008, ESO Messenger, 131, 36).  It showed how difficult it is to receive feedback on all these operational aspects at once, because timing cannot be optimized for all aspects in a similar way.

To overcome the rather low number of responses received in the past decade and to try and have the community more involved and responsive, we decided to change our approach.  We now launch so-called 'feedback campaigns' at regular intervals (usually on a yearly basis), on specific operational aspects (mainly Phase 2 related).

Because they are regular, targeted Principal Investigators (PI) are asked to provide feedback on their, e.g., Phase 2 experience during the last two periods at most.  We avoid targeting the same PI twice in a row.  We get back to individual PIs if they had used any of the free text boxes present in the questionnaire for further comments.

Please do note however that we welcome feedback at any time. To provide us with this feedback, our Paranal Service Mode User Satisfaction Survey is available at all times.

Reports from past survey campaigns

The reports highlighting the main results of each campaign are available below. They are officially presented to the ESO Users' Committee during the annual meeting.