Usability Insights
| |
Usability Insights |
|
JUNE 2009 THE LATEST NEWS FROM TEC-ED, INC. VOLUME 10 |
IN THIS ISSUE: Why Observe the Customer Experience? Tec-Ed, Inc. Contact Numbers Email Website |
Tec-Ed consultants will play an active role at this week's Usability Professionals' Association conference, presenting these papers:
Also, Tec-Ed CEO Stephanie Rosenbaum will facilitate an Idea Market session on Competitive User Research: Why, When, and How Should We Do It? Come Have Coffee with Tec-Ed!Will you be attending the UPA conference? We'd love to connect with you there! On Thursday the 11th, some Tec-Ed people will get together during the morning break to chat informally with colleagues. Come look for us, or send Stephanie an email (stephanie@teced.com) and she'll let you know, once the conference starts, where you can find us in the break area. Of course, you can always find us at our presentations too.
Before contacting the device manufacturer, I watched the training video carefully once more and noticed that the timer control looked different from mine. In fact, my device had an improperly installed timer control! In one purchase, I experienced the frustrations of a poorly designed user interface, inadequate documentation, and then inefficient quality control. Clearly the manufacturer did not conduct customer usability testing before releasing that facial product. There are other aspects to a good customer experience beyond design and quality control, and I discovered an interesting booklet by Bruce Temken titled "The Six Laws of Customer Experience." Temken takes a holistic approach to customer experience, and the booklet is free—you can download your own copy: Free Booklet: The 6 Laws of Customer Experience Temken notes that his first law, Every interaction creates a personal reaction, is the most fundamental customer experience (CxP) law of them all. Simply put, experiences are totally in the eyes of the beholder. The same exact experience can be good for one person and bad for another. Here are some implications of this law:
In his blog, Temken advises: Obsess about customer needs, not product features. Rather than racing to bring new product features to market, companies need to refocus on the needs of their customers who might even want fewer features. While most firms have invested in customer analytics, even the largest data warehouse and most sophisticated software can't model the nuances of human likes and needs. That's why firms should augment data crunching with techniques like talking to customers and observing their experience. This insight needs to be widely communicated across the organization. Tec-Ed is the go-to resource for helping you determine if the experiences you provide are indeed good experiences for your high-priority customer segments (or internal clients). Our user research techniques provide observational data from which you can make informed design decisions. Without this reality check of the customer's behavior, you are designing experiences on assumptions that may be off course.I remember reading how a pilot heading for Hawaii from Los Angeles can end up in Russia by being just one degree off in navigation. Ouch! Observing customers during the design phase can help you stay on course with delivering great customer experiences, and we can provide a road map for you to do that. Also, do let me know what you think of Bruce Temkens Six Laws booklet, I'd love to hear from you! Cynthia@teced.com 734-995-1010 Ext. 112. Note: To be added to the newsletter mailing list, click SUBSCRIBE to email us your request. To be removed from the newsletter mailing list, click UNSUBSCRIBE to email us your request. Tec-Ed will not share your email address with anyone else, whether you stay on the list or unsubscribe. |
