"How Can We Improve?" Survey Results

Last month we asked some simple questions of our readers to determine what direction you want to see OS/2 e-Zine! go. This survey was obviously done mainly for internal purposes but we thought that many of you might be interested in what others had to say. So we present to you here, the complete results of our questionnaire.

Answers to our survey were accepted from March 16th until April 13th. We had a total of 776 replies to our questionnaire with 70 "spoiled" entries (replies were considered "spoiled" if they did not contain an e-mail address, if all questions were not answered or if they were duplicates). This left 706 valid replies. The results were as follows:

How frequently would you like issues of OS/2 e-Zine! to be published?

OS/2 e-Zine! has followed many print magazine traditions since its inception, but in reality, there is no firm reason why we have to. Many Internet web sites have blurred the line between magazines and other information sources. Some popular sites publish articles weekly, daily or even constantly.

However, it appears that you would like OS/2 e-Zine! to stick to its roots. While it's obvious most readers would like to see more frequent issues, a very small percentage of our readers asked for "constant" or "real-time" updates to OS/2 e-Zine!. (But don't forget the WarpCast News Service which does do a great job of "real-time" OS/2 news updates.)

What one change would most improve OS/2 e-Zine!, in your opinion?

There were no surprises here; we expected readers to ask for more of what sets OS/2 e-Zine! apart from other Internet resources -- original content -- and you did. More than three out of four readers told us that more articles would be the best way to improve our publication with only handfuls of people choosing each of our other suggestions.

Would you like OS/2 e-Zine! to begin using Netscape's "frames" feature?

Frames have always been a touchy subject on the Internet. When Netscape first introduced them, many immediately began using them obsessively. Perhaps this overuse is what soon caused an equally fervent anti-frames movement on the Web. In our earliest days, OS/2 e-Zine! was limited to providing content easily readable with IBM's WebExplorer (which can not decipher frames), and we have always stuck to that commitment. Even now, with the vast majority of our readers using Netscape Navigator for OS/2, the majority still prefers a no-frames e-Zine! experience. However, a growing number (more than a quarter) would like to see frames incorporated. This is something we will try to address in the coming months.

Should OS/2 e-Zine! feature more screen shots mixed in with the text of articles or continue to only provide links to most screen shots?

Another long-standing practice here at OS/2 e-Zine! has been to provide ample screen shots in our reviews to give readers a good idea of products. However, because of the congestion on the Internet and out of concern for readers with slower modems, we have always tried to include links to screen shots instead of just pasting them into the body of articles. This means that readers who want to see how a program or feature looks have the opportunity, but readers who are not interested or who have slower connections can still have a speedy reading experience, without turning "graphics loading" off in their browsers.

In this age of ever-growing bandwidth, it seems there may be a movement for more in-line screen shots (one third of you said you would like to see more). However, the majority still prefers things as they are (not everyone is as fortunate as those in Canada where ADSL or cable modems will be available to most of the population well before the end of this calendar year). Since 58.6% of our readers asked us not to include more in-line screen shots, we will definitely stay the course, but we'll be keeping a close eye on bandwidth trends and definitely revisit this question some time soon.

Complete Survey Results

How frequently would you like issues of OS/2 e-Zine! to be published?

Category	Count	Percentage
Publish less than once a month	5	0.7%
Continue publishing once a month	177	25.1%
Publish every two weeks	471	66.7%
Publish every week	38	5.4%
Publish more frequently than once a week	6	0.8%
I have no opinion / I'm not sure	9	1.3%
TOTAL	706	100.0%

What one change would most improve OS/2 e-Zine!, in your opinion?

Category	Count	Percentage
More articles	551	78.0%
More screen shots	39	5.5%
Improved layout	14	2.0%
Improved decorative graphics	5	0.7%
Improved navigation features	40	5.7%
I have no opinion / I'm not sure	57	8.1%
TOTAL	706	100.0%

Would you like OS/2 e-Zine! to begin using Netscape's "frames" feature?

Category	Count	Percentage
Yes	200	28.3%
No	402	56.9%
I don't know what "frames" are	6	0.8%
I have no opinion / I'm not sure	98	13.9%
TOTAL	706	99.9%

Should OS/2 e-Zine! feature more screen shots mixed in with the text of articles or continue to only provide links to most screen shots?

Category	Count	Percentage
Yes, provide more screen shots in the body of articles	233	33.0%
Don't change anything	414	58.6%
Put even fewer screen shots in the body of articles	37	5.2%
I don't understand the question	0	0.0%
I have no opinion / I'm not sure	22	3.1%
TOTAL	706	99.9%

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