Feeder lite - Results and findings from our survey
A week ago we sent out a survey to our feeder lite users. Lite is what we call the free plan of feeder, which only allows the use of our extensions. To gain access to sync, backup of feeds, mobile apps and faster updates you need to purchase a feeder account. The survey was sent out to understand what you think of the product and what you think is needed to make feeder the best feed reader out there. We received over 2000 responses, which is fantastic!
Over 80% that answered the survey thought feeder met their needs very well or extremely well which we think is great. The survey shows us that we are heading in the right direction, but we believe we can do even better.
We asked you to select from a list of predefined words what you think best describes feeder. We can conclude that you are experiencing feeder to be Reliable and Useful and of High quality. A lot of people felt that we were Good value for money and Unique. That is awesome to hear since we have been investing of time in stability. The feedback shows that we have been able to deliver on that point.
The responses were well distributed between new and old users of feeder, as detailed in Question 5. We believe that having a good distribution is extremely important when we draw conclusions.
We asked what the community would feel if it could no longer use feeder. More than 40% would be very disappointed and more than 90% would miss feeder. Our conclusion is that we fill a function for our users and that feeder delivers. Our mission is to be an important tool in people’s daily lives, and knowing that it is inspires us to continue.
When asked if you have recommended feeder to a friend only 40% said that they had. We are really grateful for the recommendations that have been given but at the same time over 60% have yet to recommend feeder to a friend, family or colleague. This is an issue we hope to do something about, because support from you is a big part of what allows us to be be able to develop feeder even further and being able to deliver a fantastic product.
Here are some examples how you have described feeder to a friend or colleague:
- “It’s a web browser extension that allows you to easily see your favorite RSS feeds. It helps keep you updated about current events and also in the know about the latest news regarding your interests.”
- “I just let him know it was a cool plugin for following stuff”
- “Handy, easy way to keep track of headlines in my industry”
- “Reliable and easy to use. Integrates fine with Chrome.”
- “Perfect tool to keep up to date with feeds you are interested in”
- “If you’re looking for a RSS feeder that integrates with Safari then this is the best one.”
- “This app conveniently gathers all your feeds in one place. You can choose whether you’d like to see the feed separately, or as an update list with the newest unread posts on the top and the oldest at the bottom. You can easily manage the feed into folders to sort things into different spheres like comics, news, etc.”
- “Simplest way to stay up to date. No social media required.”
- “A great way of monitoring content without having waste time looking for it.”
- “RSS is the best way to keep track of your favorite blogs and Feeder is the best way to do RSS!”
- “As a reliable source to keep yourself updated about blogs/podcasts you follow. Feeder is light, so it won’t make your computer slower.”
- “An easier, more organized way to keep track of subreddits, youtube channels and lots of other stuff”
We asked what features you might be willing to pay for. From that we got some really good insights into what people would find useful. It also helps us to prioritize our roadmap for the future. We brainstormed together a list of features, and were pretty surprised by some of the results. “Notifications from other sources than RSS” was one of the top ones!
Some people however were concerned that we would stop supporting the Lite version. That is not our intent. We believe that users need to have a choice to pick what fits them. Some people only need the basic features and others need more. That is what we will continue to provide.
The open questions at the end of the survey gave us great insights. It made it clear to us what you would like us to focus on and what area you would like us to scrap. Below you have some quotes:
Pros
- “I really love this extension! Easily my most used extension, thanks for all your hard work”
- “I tried other rss readers and yours is the best, definitely”
- “Thanks for creating such an accessible, easy to use software”
- I have been using Feeder since it first released and have always found it to be extremely intuitive, clean, and perfectly suited to my needs.
- “You guys and girls rock, you know that? :D”
- “Love the opportunity to easily give input. Some people might find it intrusive though.”
- “Thank you for providing a good quality, no fuss tool”
From us at Feeder: Thanks for the awesome feedback, we really appreciate it!
Cons
- “How about adding the account manager so you can store and sync your feeds, so each time you wipe your computer/delete the browser you won’t have to set the feeds a new.”
Feeder: With a feeder account you actually do get this feature, so it is clear that we need to do a better job of informing users what is available with an feeder account.
- “Sometimes the mouse scroll stops working somewhat randomly”
Feeder: This is an issue we are looking into. It seems to be connected to a bug within Chrome itself, so it’s hard to debug from our end.
- “I don’t like recurring payments for apps, a one off payment and then possibly a suggestion to donate after a certain time has passed would be better if you go that way”
Feeder: Donations is something we have tried, and are open to trying again, but unfortunately previous trials have shown that it doesn’t give us enough to keep the service going. The best way to show support is to upgrade, and with that you get a lot of great features. Recommending feeder to friends and family is also something you can do show support.
- “You should be more on-the-nose about the PRO version. Does it even add any new features or is it just to support you? Maybe add a disclaimer somewhere, or, if it has some added functionality, add page that compares the free and pro version.”
Feeder: During the last 9 months we having been working hard on new features for those with a feeder account and will launch some new cool stuff soon. Hopefully it will also solve issues with uncertainties in what is available between the different version. By the way, now we have an Android app!
- “I find this tool very helpful. The only problem I now have to solve is finding enough time to read the “important” feeds and leave “regular” feeds for later”
Feeder: A core purpose of feeder is to make it easier for think people to consume information and be more productive, so this is something we think a lot about. We have some ideas, but if you have any suggestions please let us know.
- “When in Spanish!?”
Feeder: Translation is something we feel is important going forward, as the user base increases we believe that the need for feeder in more languages will be released.
All suggestions on how we could enhance feeder and all the loving feedback was really fantastic. We live and breathe feeder, day and night, and the feedback from the survey makes it all worth it. Thank you for all the answers, we are really grateful. We will try to keep up and deliver what you demand from us.
Thanks,
Feeder team
Also, while you’re still here: Why not give an upgrade a try? Try free for 14 days here.