Perhaps sizes could be in, you know, English?

Jim Romenesko, a media critic who runs a widely read Starbucks gossip blog on the side, said he has not yet seen many original ideas on MyStarbucksIdea.

"I think that's going to be one of their problems ... and something my readers have noticed: It's become redundant after three weeks. There are only so many good ideas," Romenesko said.

About four dozen Starbucks employees monitor MyStarbucksIdea, each about eight hours a week. They are all specialists in segments of the business such as coffee and espresso drinks, food, ordering, payment and pickup.

Some people have proposed fixes to the site itself, complaining they could not comment on the company's blog postings. Bruzzo said that feature will be added soon. The site also will break out the most popular ideas to give others a chance to rise to the top, and users will be prompted to search whether an idea has already been posted before they add their own, a move to keep duplicates to a minimum.

IdeaStorm has helped Dell win back customers' trust, experts said.

"They really are actually responsive on the blog," said Debbie Weil, a corporate blogging consultant and author of "The Corporate Blogging Book."

"More significantly," Weil said of Dell, "they've trained a whole department of customer service reps to be constantly trolling blogs and jumping on and saying, 'I hear you're having trouble with your machine. Here's what to do.'"

Weil characterized Starbucks' site as "corporate blogging 2.0," calling it "a very interactive, fun, interesting community."

Few companies have sought online customer feedback as assertively as Dell and Starbucks, but Blackshaw said more of them should.

"The ultimate form of dignity to the consumer is to ask for their opinion," Blackshaw said.

Online input, offered in real time from legions of customers is beginning to make traditional focus groups seem old-school.

"Is it better to listen to tens of thousands of customers vote on ideas, discuss them and participate with them over a period of a couple months, or get 10 customers in a room, feed them sandwiches and listen to them behind smoked glass?" said Bob Pearson, Dell's vice president of communities and conversations.

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