Well done on the post, I really relate to what you’ve said. We’re facing exactly the same issues in our platform team.
Using a structured form (Question API Framework) can help, but the response will still be free-form. So some of the problems you mention (“why don’t you check the doc?”, or an “annoyed tone”) persist, as does the fear of asking.
The ‘think-aloud protocol’ only works if the problem lies in the configuration, not in the system itself (the internals aren’t relevant); I agree with the ‘1-3 Rule for PR Reviews’, but I’d tackle it through pair programming (for empathy and knowledge transfer) rather than just a superficial review.
Perhaps the best recommendations are at the end: 1-on-1 sessions and a time limit to really get to grips with it. It also helps when filling in the ‘what I tried’ field in the Question API.
Brilliant, thank you for this. Now I'll just ask my colleagues to read the The Question API Framework part instead of asking them to take 10 steps back and explain to me their problems instead of shoving what they perceive as solutions down my throat.
Well done on the post, I really relate to what you’ve said. We’re facing exactly the same issues in our platform team.
Using a structured form (Question API Framework) can help, but the response will still be free-form. So some of the problems you mention (“why don’t you check the doc?”, or an “annoyed tone”) persist, as does the fear of asking.
The ‘think-aloud protocol’ only works if the problem lies in the configuration, not in the system itself (the internals aren’t relevant); I agree with the ‘1-3 Rule for PR Reviews’, but I’d tackle it through pair programming (for empathy and knowledge transfer) rather than just a superficial review.
Perhaps the best recommendations are at the end: 1-on-1 sessions and a time limit to really get to grips with it. It also helps when filling in the ‘what I tried’ field in the Question API.
Hi Mirek,
Brilliant, thank you for this. Now I'll just ask my colleagues to read the The Question API Framework part instead of asking them to take 10 steps back and explain to me their problems instead of shoving what they perceive as solutions down my throat.
Cheers !
'The curse of knowledge' and 'no learner safety' as the two modes on either end of the ladder is a clean way to name it. It's a common problem.
Time-to-question is a good metric. 1 hour surprised me, what made you land on that?