As I said in previous posts, I travel a lot by airplane. I notice that in several areas of the airports I use, after you pass a certain area like the toilets or the security check, you can find stands with a device on it with buttons, which are used to measure the satisfaction of the recipient of the service. I learned that these are called feedback terminals. To be honest I rarely used them, and I did usually when I had a bad experience (several delays on security check). Recently a colleague of mine placed the question of whether it is possible to hack the terminal, by smashing certain buttons several times (to improve the rating or to tank it on purpose). My concern is if they are actually used for satisfaction measurement or used just to let the users believe that they gave their piece of their mind after a bad experience.

However, during my last trip I did something extra. I returned with a late flight, and I visited the toilet before getting my luggage. The cleaning lady was outside taking care of her equipment. I noticed that the whole facility was in pristine, squeaky-clean condition. Thus, when I exited from the door, when I saw the device, I smashed the button corresponding to the highest level of satisfaction. The lady, who was near the door, thanked me with a huge smile, and I also thanked her for her good work. She was very pleased; I can tell you that.

Conclusion

Sometimes it is helpful to support people in services, by giving them direct feedback. It can give them a sense of pride and satisfaction, feelings that are essential for many jobs. I do not know who is using the feedback collected from these devices, and I believe there is lot more to learn from their operations and their use.