Old people and the matrix

I was talking with a coworker today about old people and the matrix (rest assured, this is normal), and he said something that spawned this article; “I like old people, they greet me at Wal-Mart.”

I jokingly asked him, “Yes, but when was the last time they greeted you on the way in?”

That’s the question of the day, isn’t it? I can’t remember the last time I went to Wal-Mart, Target, BestBuy, etc and was greeted at the door on the way in. It seems to always be the other way around… greeted on your way out when your bags are checked.

Some may chock this up to rising theft rates, a company wanting to protect it’s assets, etc. I see it the other way around. By having their back turned to me on my way in (unless I’m carrying something that needs to be “checked”), they’re displaying to me that they care less about me than they do a $2 tube of toothpaste, or whatever it is someone would steal from Wal-Mart. Customers are the most important asset a company can have. It’s not a right or even expected to be greeted at the door, but for a company that promotes it as one of their best attributes, I would expect to see it actually being done.

How can we apply this to the web? Simple. It’s a part of the user experience. When I’m shopping at Wal-Mart, I’m a user. Welcome messages are very common on websites, and thankfully there are no tangible products to be checked on your way out. So why am I writing this?

I want to bring focus to the user experience. By showing you actually care about your user and how they interact with your product, you will increase visits, loyalty, and passion for your product. It also comes in handy when you have a new product to promote. People know you actually care, and that you’ll be there for them with the new product as well.

Being honest is the best user experience you can give. If you lose data, admit it. If you leave a bug in a program, fix it, apologize, and move on. If you fail ridiculously at a viral marketing attempt, admit it. Although, I wouldn’t advise trying to fool users to begin with. Your users are you and people just like you. If not, you may be in the wrong line of work.

So, how can you apply this to your products? During the design phase, you can skip the whole part about you being lazy and do whatever it takes for the optimal user experience. Keep the user experience in mind and make it your top priority. Don’t take shortcuts because it’s easier to develop; work extra hard to make it convenient for a user to do something. Don’t “fail your grandma”, she may be the next one that has to “greet” you on your way out of Wal-Mart.

James Thomas is a web developer living in Orlando. During the day he can be found working for the mouse, and spends most of his evenings working on various projects in a desperate attempt to change the web.