Software Development from Ryan

It’s not easy to be swayed to try something new, especially from advertising, and definitely if you have to pay for it. Old marketing doesn’t really work well even though it still lingering around. I find the only way I try something new is if its recommended by someone I know and this doesn’t happen very often.

Lately there have been a few blips on my radar for Chipotles. It was recommended both as a company worth investing in and having burritos worth tasting. So recently, being in the area, wife, baby and I decided to try it and it was an educational experience. Not only is their food pretty good but the whole customer experience, while simple, is well polished.

I’ve been looking a little closer at customer experience over the past couple months. It’s essentially the consumer version of software’s user experience. In both cases a product is not the focus of design. Instead, the focus is the experience surrounding the product. I suppose these thoughts stem from having read Do you matter recently (the one takeaway point I got from this is that a solid culture of design is necessary on a team that builds good customer experience). Making this link between the two types of design broadens the horizon of inspiration for designing software experiences. And of course, of particular inspiration is Chipotles. Here’s a few design ideas taken from Chipotles customer experience:

1. Limit Selection. I hate ordering food when the menu is long. It’s a lot of work figuring out what the best thing is to order. With long menus its a research project. Why do these restaurants make me do all this work? In contrast, if you go to Chipotles you can get Burritos or Tacos either with Chicken, Steak, or Pork, all for the same price.
2. Don’t Limit the Extras. They aren’t part of the product but contribute to the experience. These are generally the first things that get cut when trying to reduce costs but they’re usually the cheapest and contribute the most to the experience. For example, Chipotles lets you choose how many napkins you need, lets you help yourself to sliced lemons and full bottles of tobasco sauce. That my not seem like much but the experience is miles better than hot sauce packets and napkin dispensers. Google follows this technique with GMail’s ever increasing limit. You may not ever come close to that limit but its nice to know its high.
3. Care. This is more than a customer service smile. It’s caring about the details. When ordering there was a notice that the meat they used was free of chemicals and vegetable fed. When we sat down we received a bib for our baby (although she was not eating burritos!). When we used our napkins to clean up what became a messy burrito we saw, on the back of the napkin, instructions on how to unwrap and eat your burrito without making a mess.

I’m curious to see what other companies are paying attention to details like this in the software world. If you bump to any, send me an email!