When it actually works

Hold on to your hats folks. Something of a miracle just happened. Almost like a virgin birth. So, sit down and just listen. We've just started using Lotus Traveler on our company phones. I just followed the instructions, synchonized and it actually worked. I almost fell off my chair. I can still not believe it. I used Lotus Notes for something and it actually worked. Yes, the user interface does not follow the standard, it looks ugly and it's not very intuitive, but it worked.

But isn't this tragic? When the users take failure for granted. I tested this and never thought it would work.

I've seen systems where the customers hated upgrades. Yes, they wanted the new features but knew the system would be down after the upgrade. This should not be acceptable.

What does your users anticipate from your next release? Fear, suffering and bugs or a newer and better system? And no, the new features do not make up for the system being down.

Here the ultimate question can help. After each release, ask your real users (those affected by the new system – users and system administrators) if they would recommend you as a supplier after each release. No, you shouldn't just ask them but give them a means to register this anonymously. Share the result with the developers and the managers so it becomes transparent when a delivery does more harm than good.

Just thinking that the customers should be pleased by the new features and not to mad about the system failures is not a long term good way to treat a customer you want to keep.

So, why don't you ask that question? what are you afraid of?

About these ads