The other day I got frustrated with the process of an online conference with a new platform. It required many steps to access the online presentation. First, it required me to sign in to the conference platform. Then look for the room and topic I wanted to attend. After that, sign in again as an attendee to the presentation, go Zoom platform, sign in, and access the webinar. In all the processes, I have forgotten my password and email I have used to registered, which require me to ask for it, wait and start the process. So, it took an extra effort to access the already running presentation, which added to my frustration.
I’m sure the organizers were well-intended. And I assume part of the registration process focused on capturing the number of attendees to the conference and how many participants each topic attracted. All valid measures; however, they forgot the customer experience in their planning. And I wonder how many people quit based on time and frustration. By the time I listened to the speakers, my mood had changed from positive to negative.
People’s needs are not so complicated, but we tend to make simple things more complex. And the more complicated things are, the less likely they are to going to act. Make things simple.
Good enough can be scary. But quality is relative.
We strive to produce a great experience, a high-quality product, or service. These are ideal performance measures, and most likely, their definition is based on our own point of view. However, your opinion of performance rarely matches the people you serve view of performance. In fact, it is most likely that you overshoot when you project your own idea of performance.
Three basic performance lenses people use to choose between products or services.
Functional refers to performance and reliability. How does it work as I expected? Did it take me too long to sing in?
Emotional is about how people feel. What is the story they tell themselves about the product or service? I only buy the best. How does it make me feel? I got a good value.
Social focus on the tribe, how they perceive others feel about them, and their signals to the group. What will they tell others? She is environmentally conscious; this reflects who I am.
Simplicity is the key to brilliance.
Bruce Lee
What would happen if you intentionally lowered the performance in one area and increased to good enough in another in the name of simplicity?
Three ways to make the complex more simple:
Focus on the human experience. Understand which performance is more important to the people you serve and what tradeoff they are willing to make.
Eliminate the non-essential. Do less, but better. Focus on what matters most, and decrease performance where it does not.
Make the complex more simple. Look through the peoples’ eyes. Create experiences that require less time, physical or mental effort.
Simplicity is key. Make things easy to do.