Interacting with Webflow the brand

Hello,
I have been using Webflow for awhile now and overall I would give the product very high marks, in fact, I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a platform to design create their website. However, I would like to bring up a few issues when it comes to the support for your customers.

First of all, I would like to say that the number of video tutorials available and their production value is really second to none. Compared to what a lot of your competition provides, there really is no comparison. But it is here where I do find value slightly lacking since most of the videos are high-level overviews and can often leave out some key foundational material that would help in providing a stronger understanding of the product. I know that some of the deeper dive videos are handled with the Workshop videos, but those also tend to be a bit of “hit or miss”.

One of the biggest problems with the tutorial content is that 98% of it ignores how whatever is been taught can be applied to the various viewpoints. Sure this stuff might look great on desktop, but we all know the importance of how the content will work as responsive design. And this gets to the core of some of the struggles users like myself have when they interact with the Webflow brand.

The tutorials are often focused on the most basic use case and almost never show alternative uses or even edge case uses, not to mention ignoring mobile solutions. Webflow hangs its hat on the mission statement of providing timesaving web creation tools for non-coders. And while I would say that on the surface that statement is true if you want to build a pretty basic site, the real truth is if you want to create something even slightly complex, there is going to be a lot of time invested.

Becuase the tutorials are often high level and can leave out some foundational instruction, users often head to the forum to post their questions. The forum really shows the two sides of the Webflow brand. One one hand, help from the Webflow staff or another community member can be quick and extremely helpful. I have personally experienced this type of help, and it goes a long way to building brand loyalty. Unfortunately, I have also experienced the other side which usually involves posting a question and having it completely ignored, or worse yet viewed by a number of people and yet no reply/solution is given. This is really the salt to the wound. Since a lot of users are against some type of deadline, getting help in a timely matter is really important.

I get that Webflow cannot staff enough people to address everyone’s issue and that is why there has to be some responsibility placed on the community to help itself. But this is also why I think if a little more effort was placed into the tutorial video content to do deeper dives and address more than the basic uses, it would provide more knowledge and hopefully reduce the number of questions posted on the forum.

Ok, I know this was a long post, and I am fairly sure no one will bother to read it, but this is meant to positive feedback from a longtime user who would love to see this product flourish and grow. I really love this product and appreciate all the hard work that the Webflow team has put into it.

Thanks for listening.

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You made quite a number of valid points. However, it’s up to the question asker to make it detailed enough so that the community finds it easy enough to repro the issue and able to provide a quick response.

The best way is to always attempt something first, then provide read-only and published links so that we can “follow” you.

I’m not criticising your input - I also wish the best for Webflow and this community.
Thanks for sharing your feedback!

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No doubt, but I have seen a number of questions that have the necessary information and links but still have no solutions or replies. Just to be clear, my original post was not a criticism, but merely some suggestions based on personal experiences using the product.

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Hi @kbowman firstly thank you so much for your feedback and kind words. We all really appreciate it!

The recent launch of Webflow University represents a revised approach to educating people on the Webflow platform, which meant prioritizing general/introductory content in most places. We’ll certainly take your input into account as we refine our education further and dig further into more advanced use cases.

We generally focus on teaching people the underlying concepts and mindsets to empower people to solve problems on their own. I personally really enjoy deeper dive tutorials as well and learned a lot about from the recent interactions and animations course. That said, we’re also in the process of adding more in-depth tutorials on the Webflow blog.

When anyone is struggling with certain site implementations/designs/code integrations we recommend reaching out to experienced Webflow Experts or other Designers on the forum for help. This provides opportunities for further collaboration between the community and for more work opportunities for those that are well versed in Webflow as a platform or implementing more custom solutions.

I highly encourage spending as much time as possible in the research phase of any projects that anyone takes on in the web design space to avoid any difficult crunch time moments. Each project requires a unique set of expected results, gathering information/requirements beforehand is critical to success. Usually during this phase it’s a good time to note where you need help/need to learn about new areas and recruit professional peers for assistance.

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@Waldo,
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my post. I am also thankful that you did not see my comments as criticisms but merely some thoughts from an active user of your product. I look forward to more in-depth tutorials.
The Webflow community, for the most part, has been outstanding. My only issue is the length of time it can take to get a response about a question(currently I have a couple of posts that I still haven’t gotten a solution to, one is an issue that I have seen one or two other’s post about). Again I understand the restrictions of time and resources, so this is not a criticism, but instead more just highlighting a pain point.
Again thank you for taking the time to respond.

Best,
K.

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