Users find half of mission-critical site problems, not IT staff

[mandy]

Half of significant web site problems such as errors or slow response times are found by customers rather than by the IT professionals who manage the site, according to a new survey. Of those companies that reported web application problems, more than 50% reported that their company had lost business as a direct result of the problems...

Among other findings, 86% of companies responding said their end users experienced mission-critical problems in using the site, and respondents estimate an organization’s IT department becomes aware of only about 65% of web site problems experienced by end users. About 35% estimate more than 10% of their IT manpower was devoted to fixing site problems...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=17461

[rose]

Half of significant web site problems such as errors or slow response times are found by customers rather than by the IT professionals who manage the site

Obviously that would be the case when you have a heavily trafficked medium-to-large sized site.  It's impossible for a site's staff to visit and test every page and user entry form every day. Add a report problems link to the buttom of every page and your users will act as your eyes and ears.