Send users confirmation of their comment delivery

[sabpop]

What is it? An email confirmation to let people know when their comment has been delivered to council/ planning authority. It also tells them what they can do as next steps. It contains a bit of info about Planning Alerts and a donation button.

What we heard?

• People are unsure of how the commenting process works. They want to know what happens to their comments after they make them on an application.
• People don't know whether council/planning authorities receive the comments they make.
• Not knowing what happens in the process discourages people from commenting and leaves them questioning the value of commenting.
• People write into Planning Alerts wondering why they haven't heard back from council.
• Some users believe Planning Alerts is their council or is connected in some way and direct their frustration at Planning Alerts.

Read more in the User Experience Map on Miro here: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPrTUbvg=/

Focus on cards: Questioning the commenting process, Understanding the Planning Alerts process, Hearing back from council, Enable self-service and stay human, Closing the loop.

Hypothesis Comment delivery confirmation would:

• Give people transparency on when their comments are delivered to council
• Help people understand the process, that council is responsible for responding to them and they have a right to follow up with council
• Decrease amount of emails from users asking why council hasn't responded to them.
• Decrease amount of emails that are meant for council coming to Planning Alerts.
• Support people to take the next step to contact their council/ planning authority.

Design specifications

• Use typographic hierarchy to emphasise the main point "Your comment was delivered, Your comment on 20 Kurraba Rd was delivered to North Sydney Council"
• Include a congratulations the first time they comment
• Include a brief explanation about how planning authorities respond to comments
• Include a step-by-step list of next steps
• Include a blurb about Planning Alerts.
• When developed, include a Donate here button
• Will need a visual design/ information hierarchy look over as per: https://github.com/openaustralia/planningalerts/issues/1708#issuecomment-1524704877

Sketch/ wireframe

[katska]

@sabpop Please could you copy and paste your initial copy here from Miro when you're next in there? I'm feeling motivated to give it an iteration. 🌻 Thank you!

[sabpop]

@sabpop Please could you copy and paste your initial copy here from Miro when you're next in there? I'm feeling motivated to give it an iteration. 🌻 Thank you!

Sure thing here it is:

Your comment was delivered Your comment on 20 Kurraba Rd was delivered to North Sydney Council

Congratulations! You have taken the first step to making a difference in your community.

Planning authorities across Australia have different rules about responding to community comments on applications.

While you're waiting for council to get back to you within the next 14 days, you could:

1. Get in touch with other people in your community.
2. You could share your comments and the application on Facebook.
3. Discuss the development with people you know might be interested.
4. Ask people you know about how planning works in your area.

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[katska]

I think the suggestions on what to do next are good, so just tweaking the wording to be plainer. How about:

_Your comment about 20 Kurraba Rd has been sent to the North Sydney Council. Well done! You've started making a change in your community.

Councils in Australia have their own ways of dealing with public comments on plans.

While you're waiting for a reply from the council, which should come within the next 14 days, here's what you can do:

Reach out to others in your community. <- suggest specific actions here?
Share your thoughts and the plan details on Facebook. <- and provide a link
Mention the development with people who might want to know.
Find out from friends or neighbors about how the planning process works where you live._

Many councils respond with an email acknowledgement, I see the autoreplies in the PlanningAlerts inbox. Should we build in an expectation of this practise, and/or prompt the commenter to take action if they don't hear back from council straight away? This could begin with "Your comment was sent to , many councils initially respond with an acknowledgment in receipt of your submission." Should this be a status visible on the website too? Like "acknowledged by council" or not.? Also we could add something like 'If you don't hear back by ' write to them at Given the time on notice can commonly be quite short at 14 days I think we could have an expectation of quicker turnaround/acknowledgement time of a further response.

[JoannaHill]

Referencing related issue, also from Sabina here: https://github.com/openaustralia/planningalerts/issues/1696

[katska]

@JoannaHill I think there's a flow to design here, and I'm happy to collaborate/contribute when you or someone else has some more specific feedback to help further fine tune a response. Unassigning myself until then.