You are here: Home / Archives for Customer Focus

It’s beautiful. Does it work?

August 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I'm replacing a few well-worn, well-loved items. Or trying to.

They're just purses, but this experience is an example of principles covered in the book, "The Design of Everyday Things," written by Donald Norman a few years ago.

The purses I'm trying to replace had a clean, classic design.

Just the right size and shape, nice leather, they didn't have a lot of flourishes, logos and doo-dads.

More than that, though, they WORKED. Perfectly.

Just enough pockets, in all the right places, and all the right sizes for a phone, pens, and a few other oft-needed retrieved and stored items.

Finding a replacement for a few simple purses should be easy, right?

Not so, I discovered.

And, it turns out, this is a more common problem than I suspected. A client has a similar problem, unfortunately. It's just a hassle neither of us needs or wants (I liked shopping at one point. Not anymore).

And because of that, I bought one recently that seemed "perfect enough."

I should have taken it for a test drive.

It was beautiful, elegant, and vaguely intriguing, with a slightly unusual shape. And it was on sale.

The problem with that beautiful purse? For all its surface elegance, it does not WORK. It's a junker, a clunker, in use.

It's too deep, too subterranean in design and yet, too compact to find things easily without unpacking and then repacking it, multiple times a day. (It's a bit like having a tightly-packed grocery bag that has to be completely unloaded just to retrieve one simple thing).

This beautiful-but-it-doesn't-work bag reminds me of something my mother used to say about beautiful buildings.

"This probably won the architects an award, but they clearly didn't have to LIVE in the building they designed!" she would say in exasperation when something created more hassles than it should have, in use.

Do you know the feeling, too?

Think back to the last product or service you bought that fit solidly in the category of, "It's beautiful, but it doesn't WORK."

- Was there a simple design change that might have made all the difference in usability of the product or service?

- Did your experience change your likelihood of recommending that brand to other buyers in the future?

Filed Under: Business Results, Customer Focus, Knowledge Management, Leadership, Process Management

Traffic lanes…on the sidewalk

July 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Traffic lanes at UCSB, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Skateboard-dedicated lanes reduce the chance for accidents at UC Santa Barbara.

One can only guess at the mishaps that created the need for a skateboard lane.

Imagine pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders, and rollerbladers all trying to share a single concrete path without some traffic separation.

Filed Under: Customer Focus, Images, People watching, Process Management

Singing while you work

June 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I had an omelette this weekend prepared by a singing chef.

It wasn't his job to sing. It was his job to cook.

I soon realized he was the type of person who couldn't help but sing when fully invested in his work.

I heard the singing first. And I wondered if he'd get the order right.

But for some reason, since he was singing Italian arias, I decided the odds were high he was a passionate guy. And that meant to me that, as heartfelt as his singing was, his cooking was probably heartfelt, too.

I was right.

The omelette was perfect.

It was artistry on a plate, a perfect melody in every bite.

The experience made me think about singing while I work – at least in spirit.

When – and why – have I most often felt like singing while I worked?

How about you – when was the last time you felt like singing while you work – and did you actually do so?

What made you feel that way?

And is there some way that you can bring those circumstances into your work today?

Filed Under: Customer Focus, Musings, People at Work, People watching, Serendipity

Conducting rapid-cycle user tests

May 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Seeking user or reader feedback?

Just give it to someone who's ready to go out the door soon. Pre-arrange it, though, so you don't just spring it on them.

Watch how they read, react, and interact with the product you've created.

Listen to their words.

Try to understand what they're not telling you, as well as what they are.

What I discovered in two recent tests was a bit amusing. And the users' feedback was far more valuable than they knew.

Quick tests and fast-cycle feedback are representative – more than we might guess – of users' work and attention environments in the busy lives that people live now.

Give it a go.

Filed Under: Customer Focus, Knowledge Management, People at Work, Process Management, Serendipity

“Zappo” is a verb

April 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I realized today that the word, "Zappo," is now a verb.

I'll tell you in a bit what the process, the action, "to Zappo" means to me.

A bit of context is in order, though.

At some point yesterday, for a variety of reasons, I realized I needed new navy flats to go with a staple of my wardrobe, navy pants.

Yet, I was busy with many deliverables for clients and my own business, as well. So going to the mall? Searching store after store for my narrow shoe size? In navy flats?

It was not likely to be a successful shopping trip.

And so, Zappo's was the answer.

When the process of buying and getting those navy flats was so fast, so pleasant, so convenient, I realized that "Zappo" is a verb. And then when the shoes arrived in time to wear them to a dinner meeting tonight, well, my inclinations on that word, "Zappo," were confirmed.

"To Zappo" is to:
- Provide elegant, seamless, superior, customer-partnering service when a product is ordered
- Provide SUCH elegant, anticipatory, customer-partnering service that no-fun-for-anyone heavy-lifting, correct-the-problems-we-created, if we can, type of customer service is rarely, if ever needed, on the back end of the purchase
- Respect the customer, the company, and its employees so much that the company designs, manages, and continuously improves processes for making shopping and buying elegant, light, effective, and cost-effective (service excellence is no accident).
- Create such goodwill that the customer thinks, "Hmmm…I’m going to give that company my business whenever I can!"

And no, I am not paid by Zappo's to say what I am.

I am just a satisfied…MORE than satisfied…Zappos customer who knows an excellent, customer-focused shopping and buying process when she experiences it.

And yes, I will be Zappoing more in the future when I can.

Filed Under: Business Results, Customer Focus, Leadership, Musings, Process Management

“You’re using that website wrong”

April 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

"What does better mean?" a recent blog post by Seth Godin, almost made me laugh. I definitely understand his point about "Who gets to decide?"

He asked if zippers on jeans were "better." For him, they used to be. And now he likes buttons. So, for him, buttons are now "better."

I'm amazed that the issue of who defines "better" even needs to be discussed. Is it really a debate about who gets to define "goodness," the creators and producers of products and services, or the consumers of them?

It reminds me of something a colleague, a technical product marketer, said to me after I described how useful I found one well-known product review website.

"You're using that website wrong," he said to me.

"How can you use a website 'wrong?'" I thought to myself, incredulously. I didn't know where I would even begin to address his statement.

He thought his opinion was fact. I knew it was folly.

You use a website the way you decide to use a website. The designer may have had an original assumption, belief or intent in creating the information or decision path the website provides to its users.

But there are no citations issued for using a website "wrong."

You use it as long as it serves a need, easily. And then, you move on.

My colleague was adamant in his position. What he didn't realize is that I, the consumer, had stopped listening to him, the product marketer. Arguing would have served no need.

Apparently he did not know what my mother knew, inherently.

"Consumers vote with their feet," she used to say. And their wallets. And now, the click of a mouse, as well.

The days of one man, one vote? They're still alive and well for the product marketer, the product designer.

But for the buyer of the product or service you are trying to sell?

He or she gets two votes, at least.

Filed Under: Business Results, Customer Focus, Process Management

If at first you don’t succeed, take a step back

February 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Success continually eludes your grasp?

Perhaps you're trying to rush ahead, too fast.

If at first you don't succeed, try something revolutionary. Take a step back.

You may need to stop, check and correct the fundamentals or the foundation you need to have in place before you can race ahead.

For example:

1. Do you – or your team, if you're leading a team – have the right skills already? If not, what do you need to add, improve, correct? What do you need to compensate for? How can you do that?

2. Are there resources that you'd ideally have, but do not? Is there a creative way you can adapt, such as by simplifying work processes? Can you combine some things to get more done with fewer resources? Can you rearrange work or resources to creatively get to the finish line in a new and different way than you have in the past?

3. Is your purpose clear, really clear? If not, fix that.

4. Is the path, the action plan, as clear as it can be – given that for many people and many companies now, the path ahead can't be completely defined. Some things you don't know and won't know how to address until you get farther down the path. But for those things you can define and plan, have you? Are they well-communicated so everyone who needs to know, knows what the plan is, and what part they play? If the plan isn't clear or isn't well-communicated, fix that.

Filed Under: Business Results, Customer Focus, Musings, People at Work, Process Management

Lean Cuisine next to Haagen-Dazs?

January 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lean Cuisine and Haagen Dazs?, originally uploaded by jcgr.

Hmmm…poor product placement, I'd suggest.

Here, Lean Cuisine is a neighbor in a local freezer to ice cream and dessert toppings.

Need there be this many temptations so close to the low-fat dining options?

Or, in fact, does the close proximity fortify resistance to the marketers' and merchandisers' best attempts to move desserts, as well?

Filed Under: Customer Focus, Images, Musings, Serendipity

Be specific when you place your order

December 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment

You have to be specific when you place your order.

Say you want a dog.

Is it large, REALLY large, the dog you want? Maybe you want an Irish Wolfhound, like the dog on the right.

Or, is your desired dog fluffy, white, a lap sitter, with bright brown eyes?

Then a Bichon Frise, the dog on the left, may be what you want.

When you place your order – whatever you seek – make sure you are specific.

For a dog is not just a dog, as you can clearly see.

Filed Under: Customer Focus, Images, Musings, People watching, Serendipity

Doing the hard work of happiness

December 10, 2008 By Leave a Comment

As a client and I were reviewing progress with her team on a major change and improvement project in her group, we realized there was a big barrier we hadn't anticipated when we first planned the work.

A key challenge for the change makers she was trying to create in her world?

They each wanted, more than anything, to make everyone happy.

Right here, right now. Every time.

"They haven't learned yet that happiness often – usually – takes hard work," we agreed, as we looked back on our own experience with the hard work of major and ultimately, very successful change-making.

Changing her team's focus from the short- to the long-range outcome will help them, a lot. They need to keep their eyes on the goal of the much greater happiness they're helping create – but it will show up later, not necessarily now.

And when the change begins to "take," it gives the change-makers' client group greater ease-making skills of their own.

It grows their innovative skills, and takes them out of the relentless EMT mode.

The client and I need to help her would-be change makers see beyond the immediate resistance and push back they've already felt. They need the "it will be, it is becoming better" experience that simple, consistent practices build.

Which brings me to a few questions I'm thinking through, too:

- What's the hard work of happiness for you?

- What's the payoff you want and can have sometime later, if you defer short- or immediate happiness now?

- What's one simple change that, if you start it now, can lead to much greater happiness down the road for you?

Filed Under: Business Results, Customer Focus, Leadership, People at Work
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »