Types of campaigns in Finder (classic)

Nexthink Finder is a Windows-only desktop application whose functionality is now available within the Nexthink web interface. Nexthink can now be used directly from a browser and most functions no longer require an additional desktop application.

Understanding the opinions of employees regarding a particular subject can be very useful. Depending on the nature of the subject, especially in regard to its temporal characteristics, asking for feedback usually requires different approaches. For instance, you may want to get employees’ reactions to a single change in the IT infrastructure and ask them about it only once. However, in a different situation, it may be appropriate to repeatedly ask end users for feedback each time a specific event occurs. In cases where you want to know how employees perceive the quality of an IT service, it would make sense to continuously measure how their satisfaction evolves over time.

Types of campaigns

Three different types of campaigns allow you to adapt the measurement of employee experience to these usage patterns:

One-off campaign

Ask for employee’s feedback only once.

Recurring campaign

Repeatedly ask for end user feedback about a matter that occurs time and time again.

Continuous Satisfaction Measurement campaign (or continuous campaign for short)

Continuously estimate the overall satisfaction of end users with respect to a particular subject.

Specifying the type of campaign

When creating a campaign, indirectly specify its type by choosing the appropriate options in the RECIPIENTS section.

The first option lets you choose how the campaign targets employees, which may already determine the type of campaign:

• When targeted manually or with a remote action, the result is a special kind of recurring campaign, as the campaign can target users again manually, through the Engage API, or through a remote action. The way to prevent reseeding the campaign to the same user in a short period of time depends on the chosen option (see quiet period below).

• When targeted with an investigation, the type of campaign is determined by two additional options that appear just below the placeholder for the investigation that targets users.

The first option of a campaign that targets users with an investigation reads:

• The campaign will be sent to (...)

  • To create either a one-off or a recurring campaign, choose all target users. One-off and recurring campaigns are sent to all the users retrieved by the investigation associated to the campaign when it is evaluated.

  • To create a continuous satisfaction measurement campaign, choose a different sample of target users every day (continuous measurement). Only a small fraction of the total target population will actually receive the campaign each day. The system computes a sample of the target users from the total set of users retrieved by the associated investigation with the aim of maximizing the representativeness of the sample, while minimizing the annoyance of end users (not all users need to answer the campaign).

Because all targeted users receive one-off or recurring campaigns, the second option for these types of campaigns reads:

• Target users will receive the campaign

  • To create a one-off campaign, select only once from the list.

  • To create a recurring campaign, select again from the list. Another option appears, letting you define the recurring or quiet period; that is, the time between a user answering a campaign and the same user receiving the same campaign again:

    • Enter a number followed by a time unit (to choose from a list) as the quiet period.

Because only a sample of the target users receive a campaign each day in continuous campaigns and because continuous campaigns always define a quiet period, the second option for continuous campaigns switches to:

• Target users can receive the campaign again after

  • Enter a number followed by a time unit (to be chosen from a list) as the quiet period.

Characteristics of a campaign

Target evaluation and re-evaluation

In campaigns that target users manually, select in Finder the users from a list view or from a user view and then trigger the campaign. Therefore, there is no automatic evaluation of targets. To manually trigger a campaign, the campaign must be published beforehand.

In campaigns targeted with remote actions, the targets are determined by the remote action itself. The users who interact with the devices targeted by the remote action receive the campaign, which must have been published beforehand.

In campaigns targeted with investigations, the evaluation of targets starts at the moment of publishing the campaign. When you publish a campaign, the campaign executes its associated investigation to retrieve target users for the first time. In the case of a continuous campaign, it additionally computes a sample of the target users from the results of the investigation.

After publication, the set of target users is periodically re-evaluated by executing the investigation again and again (and taking a sample if the campaign is continuous). The frequency of re-evaluation depends on the type of campaign, but it is always relative to the time of the first evaluation:

• For one-off and recurring campaigns: 10 minutes.

• For continuous campaigns: 24 hours.

That is, for one-off and recurring campaigns, re-evaluation happens frequently. For continuous campaigns, it happens once per day. Re-evaluation ends when the campaign is retired.

Sending the campaign to the end users

An end user that is retrieved by the investigation associated to a one-off or a recurring campaign, or which is part of the sample of target users selected by a continuous campaign, receives the campaign:

• The process of sending the campaign to end users starts immediately after the campaign is published.

• The sending process stops as soon as the campaign is retired.

• If the campaign is republished, the sending process restarts straightaway.

Users who are offline (that is, not logged in to a device) when the campaign is sent cannot receive it immediately. Instead, the moment when offline users receive the campaign depends on the type of campaign:

• For one-off and recurring campaigns: users receive the campaign the next time that they are targeted.

• For continuous campaigns: users receive the campaign as soon as they log in to a device.

Reminder of notifications

An end user who received a notification from a campaign that has notifications enabled is reminded to provide answers to the questions of the campaign with a new notification if:

• The user did not answer all the questions of the campaign.

• The user did not decline to participate in the campaign.

Once a user receives a notification from a campaign, the user keeps receiving reminder notifications to finish answering the questions even if that particular user is no longer part of the selected target users (after the re-evaluation of the investigation associated to the campaign). Reminder notifications thus appear in the device of the end user with the frequency specified in the definition of the campaign until one of the following conditions is met:

• The user fully answers the campaign.

• The user declines to participate in the campaign.

• The campaign is retired.

Reminder notifications work with all types of campaigns, except for those launched from remote actions, and are independent of the quiet period.

Quiet period

The quiet period is a method used by both recurring and continuous campaigns to avoid bothering users more than is strictly necessary. Because of the repetitive nature of these types of campaigns, users may have to respond to the questions of a campaign more than once. The quiet period defines the minimum time interval between the moment when a user answers all the questions of a campaign and the moment when the same user receives the same campaign again.

• The quiet period of recurring and continuous campaigns that are targeted with an investigation is specified in the definition of the campaign.

• The quiet period of campaigns that are targeted with a remote action is controlled by the triggering period of the associated remote action.

• The quiet period of manually targeted campaigns is fixed to two hours to prevent accidental re-triggering.

Effects of retiring and republishing a campaign

When a campaign targeted with an investigation is retired, it stops evaluating the target users and is no longer sent out. If the campaign is republished, it must be emphasized that it is still the same campaign that is being relaunched, which is different from starting anew. The history of the campaign is kept and in particular, so is the status of the end users in relation to the campaign. The effects of republishing a campaign on the end users thus depends on their status and on the type of campaign:

• On users who have declined to participate

  • Republishing the campaign has no effect on these users, regardless of the type of campaign. They have already declined to participate and will never receive the same campaign again.

• On users who have fully answered the campaign

  • For one-off campaigns, republishing has no effect, since the users have already answered the campaign, they will not receive it any more.

  • For recurring and continuous campaigns, users who have already answered the campaign may be retargeted again, but always taking into consideration their quiet period

• On users who were notified, but neither answered completely nor declined

  • For one-off campaigns, users are retargeted immediately, as long as they are still part of the results of the investigation that retrieves target users. Otherwise, users do not receive reminder notifications right away, but rather when they become target users again.

  • For recurring and continuous campaigns, users may be retargeted respecting their quiet period, which is enforced, in this case, even when users have not fully answered the campaign in its previous incarnation. In the same way as in one-off campaigns, unless employees are targeted again, they do not receive reminder notifications.

To retarget users who have declined to participate or users that have fully answered a one-off campaign, you must create and publish a new campaign.

Retiring a manually targeted campaign implies that no Finder user can trigger the campaign, unless it is republished again. In the latter case, the quiet period of two hours applies to the retargeting of users who have already answered the campaign.

Retiring a campaign targeted with a remote action implies that the remote action will not be able to display the campaign. Republish the campaign for the remote action to work properly.