How many times have you heard of people (ie: designers, marketers, developers, etc.) condescendingly utter "Wow, people are stupid" or other remarks to a similar effect when something that they've helped develop with all of its bells and whistles goes awry....and is lost upon the end users?
I can't remember how many times I've had this conversation within my own circle of friends - especially with one of my good friends who apart from being a proficient programmer, has related his own share of insightful encounters with his clients. Clients who take the liberty of presuming, overestimating the effectiveness of what they choose to deliver to their users without any solid backing, and completely discount considering any suggestions made by anyone else - even if they happen come from the very professional programmer they've hired, who should be noted as having extensive experience in developing interactive platforms. In many circumstances, the same self-assured clients come back shortly thereafter to request revisions once they receive frustration-filled feedback from their end users - the very ones which could have been avoided had they paused to consider the suggestions made earlier.
While this is not uncommon and there is not too much that is wrong apart from the presumptuous attitude that clients may project, the problem is that it doesn't end there. The problem is when they come back with revisions and pin the entire blame on the end users being incompetent. That is is where it really makes one raise an eyebrow - and with all due respect for clients along with client satisfaction- it begs the question:
"Honestly, is it really entirely the end user's fault?"
At what point does one ask themselves "If so many users are having a hard time using this - are they all stupid? Should I pause for a few moments and take a few steps back to re-evaluate what's going on to discover what elements are causing that disconnect to take place at all?"
Essentially what it boils down to is the client clearly has a "vision" in mind along with the presumption that their vision is what their end users will want, will use, and behave a certain way with. But then those end users do something unexpected which the client had not accounted for - leading to frustration on the end user's part along with the client who must now consider a revision. However, by no means does it make the end user stupid. Only that perhaps alternatives ought to be considered which will permit the client to assess and anticipate their end users better, and figure out how this information can be leveraged with their own vision.
Now say a developer sees this problem occurring, however, the authority to make those decisions lie with someone else. How does the developer then go about persuading their client to reconsider that approach in view of the potential consequences later down the line, especially if that client is not willing to acknowledge the developer's experience, potential consequences, or any of the case studies they've presented? Is 'let them learn the hard way' the only option left at that point? Does that not risk making it harder for the client to recapture that market share because the end user's perception of the client's product has now become tainted as being one that is frustrating to use?
Anyway, on a similar note, below are some interesting articles I recently visited that relate to the topic of clients, under/overestimating the user, and so forth. Some of them are old, but the message they carry was still relevant:
Call them Clients? No, They are Business Partners! by Design Sojourn
End Users Are Not Stupid... by Lee Drake
The Gnome Journal on End Users (old, but not only are the points still completely relevant, they bring up an exceptional point of why satisfying customers is a priority because a satisfied end user becomes a good advocate for the product/service. In other words, more $$$)
An older thread regarding Kodak, software downloads, and frustrated users which I found to be an interesting read
And as always, if there are any additional examples you think are relevant, please send them on over! :)
I can't remember how many times I've had this conversation within my own circle of friends - especially with one of my good friends who apart from being a proficient programmer, has related his own share of insightful encounters with his clients. Clients who take the liberty of presuming, overestimating the effectiveness of what they choose to deliver to their users without any solid backing, and completely discount considering any suggestions made by anyone else - even if they happen come from the very professional programmer they've hired, who should be noted as having extensive experience in developing interactive platforms. In many circumstances, the same self-assured clients come back shortly thereafter to request revisions once they receive frustration-filled feedback from their end users - the very ones which could have been avoided had they paused to consider the suggestions made earlier.
While this is not uncommon and there is not too much that is wrong apart from the presumptuous attitude that clients may project, the problem is that it doesn't end there. The problem is when they come back with revisions and pin the entire blame on the end users being incompetent. That is is where it really makes one raise an eyebrow - and with all due respect for clients along with client satisfaction- it begs the question:
"Honestly, is it really entirely the end user's fault?"
At what point does one ask themselves "If so many users are having a hard time using this - are they all stupid? Should I pause for a few moments and take a few steps back to re-evaluate what's going on to discover what elements are causing that disconnect to take place at all?"
Essentially what it boils down to is the client clearly has a "vision" in mind along with the presumption that their vision is what their end users will want, will use, and behave a certain way with. But then those end users do something unexpected which the client had not accounted for - leading to frustration on the end user's part along with the client who must now consider a revision. However, by no means does it make the end user stupid. Only that perhaps alternatives ought to be considered which will permit the client to assess and anticipate their end users better, and figure out how this information can be leveraged with their own vision.
Now say a developer sees this problem occurring, however, the authority to make those decisions lie with someone else. How does the developer then go about persuading their client to reconsider that approach in view of the potential consequences later down the line, especially if that client is not willing to acknowledge the developer's experience, potential consequences, or any of the case studies they've presented? Is 'let them learn the hard way' the only option left at that point? Does that not risk making it harder for the client to recapture that market share because the end user's perception of the client's product has now become tainted as being one that is frustrating to use?
Anyway, on a similar note, below are some interesting articles I recently visited that relate to the topic of clients, under/overestimating the user, and so forth. Some of them are old, but the message they carry was still relevant:
Call them Clients? No, They are Business Partners! by Design Sojourn
End Users Are Not Stupid... by Lee Drake
The Gnome Journal on End Users (old, but not only are the points still completely relevant, they bring up an exceptional point of why satisfying customers is a priority because a satisfied end user becomes a good advocate for the product/service. In other words, more $$$)
An older thread regarding Kodak, software downloads, and frustrated users which I found to be an interesting read
And as always, if there are any additional examples you think are relevant, please send them on over! :)
1 comment:
Assumptions! That's the root of all evils :-)
Post a Comment