For those of you who didn't know him, Ben was great to work with. He had an incredibly positive and infectious spirit and had a genuine graciousness in his work with others that I deeply appreciated. Not only was he analytical but he had a great passion for people, for understanding them and for supporting them.
I came to appreciate Ben in new ways in 2005 when we first began working with one of my favorite acronyms- RFM. RFM is a strategy we learned at that time for segmenting our customers based, basically, on their behavior--how Recently they ordered, how Frequently they ordered, and how much (or the Monetary value of what) they were spending. It was a way to direct our marketing efforts more effectively.
As we were learning this strategy and weeding our way through new ways (well, new for me) of viewing this type of customer behavior through pivot tables, I began to hear Ben asking me the same question. I would go to him asking for some data to be pulled a certain way and he would often come back with, "OK, Heather, what are you trying to do?"
After I got over being perplexed or frustrated that he would often answer my question with a question (because I have NEVER done that), I realized that he wasn't just interested in what I was saying I needed, but he was interested in discovering what I was trying to do, what the actual task was I was trying to carry out.
His question always led to uncovering the reality of what my need was, whether or not I had articulated that need clearly up front.
And so it is with understanding our customers. Unless we realize what our customers are trying to achieve, what tasks they are trying to carry out, our understanding of them will always be limited to one angle of their experience, what they've shared.
Since we've begun learning about user-centered design, we’re realizing how much more we can do for the customer when we understand what our customers are trying to do (either through interview or observation) and what they require in order to carry out their tasks. This principle and this process is taking the phrase understanding people to a whole new level. It is taking customer service and more importantly, customer CARE to a whole new level.
And it begins with that small little question from Ben that seemed to always come back to me (like the puck on an air hockey rink that seems to come right back after you send it over to the other side).
The official "What are you trying to do, Heather" Air Hockey Table
The truth and power of this question continues to grow for me and actually has become the starting point for understanding the needs of others that I work with now. I've realized that one element at the heart of product usability and ultimately guides a user-centered design process is making it possible to answer the age-old question: "What are you (or your customers) trying to do?"
Thank you Ben Nagel-
