I think that sometimes we, as consumers, tend to forget that behind these big company names and brands, there are actual people just like you and me who truly care about and value the user, and who are working hard (long after normal office hours, mind you) to make sure that our opinions are heard.

Knowing this, I simply refuse to allow our amazing team to go unnoticed.

Here at Identified, we have this incredible team of kick-ass and brilliant folks who are all actively working behind the scenes to ensure that people like you and I, the consumers and users, are getting exactly what we want out of the product and service, and in a way that is truly meaningful and valuable to everyone. Our team wants to know how to make Identified better. We know the product isn't perfect (we are a relatively young company, after all), but we want to know how we can improve.

How do I know this?

Because I sit and have lunch with these people every day. I talk to this team. I know where they've been, why they're here, where they want this product to go, and how they're taking the steps to get there. These people are real, intelligent, and working so incredibly hard to make sure that Identified is taking both the traditional route to user-satisfaction, as well as thinking completely outside of the box in order to cover ground that has never been touched before.

Today, in fact, the Identified team sat down with Roger Dickey – Serial Entrepreneur: Founder of Dope Wars (acquired by Zynga), Mafia Wars, and FishVille, as well as General Manager at Zynga – to pick his brain on everything and anything related to creating value for the user.

We learned a few interesting things.

Roger touched on several fantastic points that definitely got our creative juices flowing (we have some amazing stuff coming up, folks!). Here are a few key items that really struck a cord with us, and which should give you a better sense of how we approach refining Identified's vision and product:

• Always think about value for the user. How can Identified differentiate itself across millions of websites? In fact, why would our site be one of the very few that users like you come back to every day? We are constantly brainstorming around this concept in-office.
• Think about user goals. Identified is dedicated to designing its entire product around helping you accomplish your professional goals — whether that's general career improvement, or simply gaining a better understanding of how you are perceived by recruiters and employers. Why do these things have to be a secret? We want to make this absolutely transparent.
• Measure everything the users do. Our community has surprised us in ways we never would have expected, and it's important to us that we identify hidden trends in the job market with the intent to better communicate that data back to our community — the people who would most benefit from that information — in a way that gives everyone better context when it comes to understanding this otherwise very confusing space.

Although we've always been very user-focused, hearing Roger speak about these concepts in ways we hadn't thought to visualize before really helped to drive home the meat of his speech. That is, this idea that Identified (and companies in general, really) should be very focused on listening to its users, seeing what its core community is doing, and understanding how to improve that experience even more.

Time to take action.

Identified knows how valuable user input is.

If it didn't, I probably wouldn't be here explaining just how focused on its community Identified happens to be. In fact, if Identified didn't care about its users, the team probably would not have taken the time to sit down and absorb Roger Dickey's speech, and would have instead been at their desks coding and developing our actual product.

But, of course, this is a two-way street.

It's one thing to say we care about our users and hope for the best, but to make any actual tangible progress on our product, we need real feedback from our community in order to understand exactly what you guys think about Identified, and exactly where you might be confused when it comes to the modern and competitive job market.

Identified wants to hear from you!

Are you following us on Twitter? Have you liked us on Facebook or circled us on Google+? Are you aware that you can reach out to us at any time with your suggestions, feedback, and comments, and that we're actually listening?

If you didn't know before, I hope you know now.
In Identified's quest to change the world for the better, we need and value your feedback. We genuinely want to understand exactly how we can work together in order to create this amazing platform that everyone will find valuable, beneficial, and hopefully even fun. It's not just us creating this wonderful product — it's you too.

If you'd like to offer suggestions and feedback, you know how to get in touch. Just tweet us, email us, leave us comments on our social profiles, or even reach out to me directly with your feedback and questions. Again, we're listening, and we want to hear from you.

Will you help us?

About Sherilynn “Cheri” Macale: Cheri is a 24-year-old San Francisco transplant and is Identified’s resident “Career Blogging Wizard”. She is perhaps best known for her 10+ year background in Lifestyle Blogging, and most recently for her role with The Next Web as its lead Social Media News Editor (among other professional endeavours). When she’s not rubbing elbows with the tech and gaming saturated community of Silicon Valley, you’ll most likely find her tucked away in her apartment blogging, playing video games, or immersing herself in geek culture. You can follow her on Twitter, subscribe to her on Facebook, circle her on Google+, or shoot her an email at cheri@identified.com.