Thank you to all who helped (almost 750!) with the recent survey about whether the layout of the January 22^nd HeartStrings newsletter looked ok or whether it went wonky when received on your end. The fun stuff has been the drawing for the Mardi Gras Bead Ball kit. And also reading all your comments. And I AM reading every one of them. You talk. I listen.

You might be amazed at how much of my Designing Day is filled with activities that are not strictly knitting design. In fact, sometimes it could be days, or even weeks, between times when I get to pick up knitting needles. It goes along with the saying … “There is more to the business of designing than just design“.

For example, the recent journey I undertook to improve the process for producing my HeartStrings newsletters and email announcements has taken on a life of its own. If you recall, I wrote last week about The new look of news from HeartStrings. The response has been overwhelmingly favorable. Of course, I am elated it is being received so well.

But upon getting replies to me that included the original newsletter, I saw that some things might be going wonky and not displaying as intended on the receiving end. For example, some text shifted or spacing was lost. It doesn’t devalue the newsletter itself, but I really want to make it as easy to read and aesthetically pleasing as possible for readers’ enjoyment.

I couldn’t discern why the newsletter layout went wonky for some people and not others. So I decided to ask for help via a short survey. Those who pitched in to help me make the newsletter even better also got a chance to win a Mardi Gras Bead Ball kit.

As stated in the survey, the drawing for the kit was yesterday. Congratulations to Janet in Virginia. When I heard back from Janet with her mailing address, she wrote: “To say I’m shocked is not really enough.  I never win anything.  Thank you so much for this gift!“. I already have the kit packaged and ready to mail to Janet today. She should have it in her hands before the weekend if USPS cooperates.

So that was the fun side of things. Now back to work. There were 742 people who answered some or all of the survey’s 6 quick questions. Of those 742, there were 504 who took the time to write something in the comment field. Either to re-confirm that the newsletter looked great to them (and what they particularly liked), or to explain more fully about what looked wonky on their end, or in some cases to just offer other comments related to the newsletter, or even un-related to the newsletter. That is fine. I really appreciate the time that people take to share and make comments, whether via this survey or writing to me directly.

So I have a lot of data to sift through. And I AM reading every one of those comments. If you offered a suggestion, please know that I am paying attention and will be doing what I can over time to make the newsletter and your association with HeartStrings FiberArts as enjoyable as possible for you.

According to the survey, the new layout for the newsletter looked as intended for 89% of the readers, for 10% it went wonky in some way, and 1% read the plain text version of the newsletter (i.e. unformatted). Unfortunately, with all the multitude of electronic devices and computer software, it’s impossible to test for absolutely every combination. By understanding more about that 10%, though, it will give me more to go on. I don’t fool myself that I can please everyone, but I certainly want to please as many as I can.

If you talk, I promise I will listen.

p.s. If you missed receiving the January 22^nd HeartStrings newsletter, you can read it in the online archive.

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