Computer says no

It’s all very well coming up with clever new systems, but if your staff or customers find it difficult to use them then much of the benefit is lost.

My Office gripe centres around being required to either read the developers’ minds, or take a punt on an option that was going to uninstall something that I might then find was crucially important to my computer’s running.

After much deliberation, and an attempt to think like a stereotypical Seattle-based geek, I was forced to be brave and go with the uninstall option. This meant removing programmes I had never previously installed, and which did not show up in the list of programmes my laptop reckons have been loaded.

Now it’s one thing technology not being particularly intuitive to use when the technology is being used by your own staff. You can run training days, appoint super users and support your staff until they get used to a new system’s quirks. This plasters over the gaps of poor user experience.

But most retailers are no longer implementing and running systems just for their staff to use, but also their customers. Websites, kiosks, self-checkouts, mobile phone applications – all these technologies require user interfaces that customers can easily get to grips with.

Most of your customers won’t be as patient as I was with Microsoft at the weekend. If you don’t make technology easy for them to use, they simply won’t use it.