Recently, I’ve been conducting some research for a medium-sized organisation that asked me to help them develop the next phase of their website.
As I sat waiting for a meeting in reception, I got to overhear some of the phonecalls they get from customers; mostly people needing help with a web-based booking system they’ve implemented (away from the website itself).
Hearing these calls, it became clear that the process of using this system (which is quite time-sensitive for customers) provokes quite a lot of questions for an unfamiliar user: they need to ask a human about specific form fields in the system in order to complete a booking.
An improved user flow + design will reduce these calls (time/cost-save) and instil greater confidence in users (increased customer loyalty).
The lesson here is that I identified a pain-point for users simply by sitting in reception. I didn’t use a computer. I didn’t even talk to anyone.
The website-specific work was unlikely to identify this problem: I got lucky really. However, its a great example of how thinking holistically about the customer experience can produce interesting results.
2 thoughts on “When sitting around waiting produces better UX”
I’ve spent time in organisations, observing staff behaviour and it can provide good insight. However it’s usually fairly structured with staff showing me how they /would/ behave or how a certain system works.
I really like the idea of just sitting quietly with no particular goal in mind. I bet it would often provide the kind of serendipitous discoveries you’re talking about here.
Agreed. I think its also linked to the idea of a ‘brain-soaking’ period where you are just getting familiar with the problem over time, even if you’re not focussed on it.
I’ve spent time in organisations, observing staff behaviour and it can provide good insight. However it’s usually fairly structured with staff showing me how they /would/ behave or how a certain system works.
I really like the idea of just sitting quietly with no particular goal in mind. I bet it would often provide the kind of serendipitous discoveries you’re talking about here.
Agreed. I think its also linked to the idea of a ‘brain-soaking’ period where you are just getting familiar with the problem over time, even if you’re not focussed on it.
Like having good ideas in the shower.