Which is the best method of getting a change to chess.com, is it:

a. help/contact us/site feedback & suggestions, or

b. creating a topic on the subject.

I have found staff to be a bit negative on the former (suggestion that the starting of a game through challange should be more visible through a menu item on the home page), but do they even read all topics, let alone action them?

Yes i do believe they do look at them all as they get time. Remember there is lots of sudjestions and things to go through that we couldnt imagine the number of them....

Using the forum route lets others refine your idea. It can harness the synergy of the chess.com community.

See, for instance http://www.chess.com/forum/view/community/whats-the-time-mr-wolf , http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/alert-sounds---customisation and http://www.chess.com/forum/view/help-support/ordering-current-chess-games for examples of extrapolation and quick response.

we generally see topics :)

erik wrote:

we generally see topics :)

 Which option is most likely to get a change applied?

I suggest you make a solid business case for your proposal. Hold a survey; demonstrate genuine user demand; mention it casually in your chess games to drum up interest. Identify the key opinion formers and lobby them. Get FIDE on board (if appropriate). Enlist the support of movers and shakers in the chess world. Use the press, the Net. Challenge Erik to a game - with the new feature as the stake.

my business intuition says they do. think of this site as a beta program needing all the help it can to make the preferred site whether u r a chess nut or not. we are in effect the unpaid testers just like what microsoft been doing...