What about convenience?
I like bagels. They are a nice easy breakfast, that doesn’t divert too far from my diet. Costco, makes some great raisin bagels, but for some unknown reason, they like to seal the bags with tape.
I am sure there are some great reasons for this at Costco corporate. Maybe tape is cheaper, or more environmentally friendly. Perhaps, it seals the bag better to keep in the freshness. Irregardless, tape is a HUGE pain in the ass.
At 6 in the morning, the last thing I want to do is to struggle with a tiny piece of clear plastic tape, to get to my breakfast. So, this brings up a question that you should be asking yourself. Is this more convenient for me or for my client?
Listen
I am very curious to see if Costco will hear about this post. This blog is not super busy, but it is on the WWW and it will be picked up by the search engines, twitter and perhaps a few other social media sites. Are you listening for your clients?
Evaluating
I work with technology, so it is very easy to forget that some things that I find intuitive, are not. It is entirely possible that whoever made the decision to use clear plastic tape at Costco, does not eat bagels. Or, they do not try to open bagels at 6 in the morning when they are half asleep.
So, make sure that you are asking your users what is the best solution. I think you will often find that what you have implemented may not be the best choice.
Fix it
Evaluating is great! But, action is what counts. Try not to get into the paralysis by analysis game. If, something has been identified as not being ideal for your client… act one it. No matter how insignificant it may seem at the time some of the smallest changes result in the biggest gains.
Trust no one
People are self centered. We all have trouble identifying with others and what may be best for them. So, once you have identified and fixed a possible inconvenience, make sure you test to see if you have the right solutions.
There are loads of great Usability tools out there to help with this. Use them.
Summary
In the end, I am not going to stop buying Bagels at Costco, I probably should… but I more then likely won’t. What the big problem is that every time I open up a bag sealed with tape, I consider shopping elsewhere. Is this really the lasting thought you want for your clients?
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