The importance of people in experience design (or, why most people hate bike shops)
by Henning FischerIt’s National Bike to Work Day, and the Adaptive Path offices are filled with bikes of all shapes and sizes, from fixies to cruisers to racers. Some of us have been riding for years, other are more recent converts. One person even bought her bike this week.
One of the worst things to confront new bike owners isn’t city traffic, it’s the dreaded trip to the bike shop. What a miserable experience. You’ve just purchased your new (or used) bike and something doesn’t work right. You’re not happy. You walk in to the local shop and the guy (inevitably) behind the counter gives you a look that makes most people’s stomachs drop. Something like Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, but with tattoos and three times the attitude (grease coating optional). You feel unworthy. You feel stupid. He unnerves you with the smug condescension that most shop guys have. This is what happened to Rachel. And she’s, um, upset. This scene is played out thousands of times a day in shops around the country. I’ve been hanging around bike shops for the better part of 15 years and this still happens to me all the time.
That’s a giant opportunity.
Over the last 10 years, most of the innovation in the bicycle industry has occurred in the supplier-retailer relationship. Integrated POS systems, concept stores, mass customization, etc. have redefined what’s available. The retail experience has remained stubbornly suck in the stone ages, and a lot of that has to do with the human element.
Why is this important in experience design?
People matter more than technology, process and systems. Something that we see overlooked by a lot of our clients is the impact of the person-to-person experience. It’s the same thing that the independent bicycle retailers of America have missed as well. No matter how good your shop, product or service, if the people staffing and supporting you aren’t focused (or able) to deliver good experiences, you’ll get the equivalent of the bike shop we all know and hate. Nothing is more poisonous. A bad human to human interaction can cut the best product or service design off at the knees.
Think about the human elements of interaction. Move past wireframes, flows and technology. Design not only for the end customer, but also for the people that will support your design. Create personas, tools and opportunities for the people them too. They’re critical and often overlooked factor in delivering truly great experiences. Do that and you’ll be on your way to delivering the “Long Wow.”
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May 15th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
As a lifelong cyclist and off and on again designer, I’d agree wholeheartedly. I call it the “High Fidelity Effect” where the staff of a specialized shop takes umbrage at having to help or offer service to lowly customers. I spend thousands of dollars a year on bike stuff and there’s a list of shops I never go to because the attitude is so thick once you enter the door.
Lance Armstrong recently opened his first bike shop and it was geared towards commuters first and foremost, with none of the typical high-end road and mountain bikes offered for sale. It looks like a cool place to shop (they have an espresso bar) and they are open during commuter friendly hours (very early and after work). They might be the experience design solution that bike shops need:
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/lance-armstrongs-bike-shop-open-for-business-16248
May 15th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Find a better bike shop, and give them all your business. I exclusively go to (and recommend) Bike America on 95th street. If you are in the KC metro area, at least. Everyone else is out of luck.
Oddly, some people I know seem to enjoy being punished, and keep going back to the smarmy Trek stores, for example, despite poor quality, rude service. They have awful nice floors, though.
May 16th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Its the small things that matter.
See this especially in hotel stays - hotels can offer same facilities across the board — but a smile, a useful tip, an easy check out, bending a rule for a customer, prompt service behind the front desk all helps to make the experience that much nicer and makes you want to visit again.
Yep, its the small things that matter
May 16th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Steven -
I agree completely, go find another bike shop. The hitch, for me at least, is that in theory there should be more, better bike shops out there due the generally lousy service out there. While every market has standouts at both ends of the spectrum, I suspect something else might be at play, and I think that has a lot to do with 2 things:
1) The economics of bicycle shops: feast/famine cash flow, massive inventory overhead, supplier contract riders (if you carry my bikes, you have to carry my accessories), skilled but underpaid workforce, etc. There isn’t much motivation for management and staff to stay on board over the long term unless they REALLY LOVE bikes. This leads to large disincentives to change the current model. The shops that invest in their staff experience are generally the ones that deliver superior customer experience.
2) The paradox of choice. In speaking with dealers, one of the largest problems they face is the sheer number of makes and models available on the marketplace today. In terms of types, there’s a bike for every day of the week and two on Sunday. With accessories it’s even worse. What ends up happening is that consumers get confused, insist on and then buy the wrong thing. Coupled with some of those nasty economic incentives, this leads to service issues and returns, which fosters the “I told you so” attitude so pervasive among staff. And this is the opportunity to change the human aspects of interaction. Good shops, with good curation, and smart manufacturers, with well managed product portfolios, have made steps in the right direction. I have great relationships with shop staff that have been cultivated over years. It shouldn’t take that long though.
To me, the opportunity for good shops like yours seems to be the fit between a revised model of bike shop economics (there are examples out there) as well as a designed take on the customer experience that takes into account the human element. The human element can turn the best business and experience strategy into something truly transformational (a la Chip Conley). Simply switching shops, as you suggest, is an option, but one that is subject to a high rate of failure given the crowded landscape of sub-par experiences out there.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Hey Henning - sounds like you’re not familiar with the work that IDEO did for Shimano.
Coasting bicycle design strategy
http://www.ideo.com/portfolio/re.asp?x=19004998
One of things they focused on was “The purchasing experience - independent bicycle dealers need to learn to engage with a new customer base that may include more women, amateurs, and inexperienced bikers.”
May 16th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
[...] Henning crafted a great post on the Adaptive Path blog drawing and analogy between customer service in bike shops and the people in technology organizations. “You walk in to the local shop and the guy (inevitably) behind the counter gives you a look that makes most people’s stomachs drop. Something like Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, but with tattoos and three times the attitude (grease coating optional). You feel unworthy. You feel stupid. He unnerves you with the smug condescension that most shop guys have.” [...]
May 16th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Brad -
Definitely quite familiar with it. Thanks for pointing it out though. It’s a great case study.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
[...] The importance of people in experience design (or, why most people hate bike shops)Henning Fischer talks about redesigning person-to-person interaction [...]
June 11th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Just happened upon your post and I really got a kick out of it. Just yesterday I went to a certain bike shop and got the exact same treatment and attitude. I tried to buy a used, beat up, 15 year old, nothing special part from their junk yard and they wanted a ridiculous amount of money for it. I went home and bought a new, better, part online and it cost me the same! I suspect they were trying to screw me because I’m not a member of their elite fixed gear clique. Anyway, you hit the nail on the head and I appreciate the venue to vent.
People in all business need to realize how important good service is.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I have bike commuted for the past four years. One year in the traffic of Taipei, Taiwan and three years including the coldest winter days in Minnesota. I have been an active biker since the days of Biopace chain rings. I purchased my first good bike in 1984.
As the owner of 5 bikes from a full suspension mt. bike to 1950’s racing bike to a homemade doubl- decker, I ride often and spend a lot of money on bikes. I know what I want most of the time and ask thoughtful questions when I don’t.
I try to be patient when some inexperienced bike shop worker gives me a line of b.s., tries to sell me a product I don’t want or says I can order it for you. However, I’m often outraged by some jerk who sees my gut and sizes me up as being unworthy.
Until this changes, I will go to your shop, try on the Sidis for fit and order them online without remorse. I will tolerate you and your crappy service so long as it serves me.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I fully agree with Heath, and am a fellow Minnesotan. I just recently got back into cycling, and at the wise words of my older brother, went to 4 different shops to test ride the bikes i was considering buying. The first two were the dreaded Erik’s bike shops… The employee i worked with was your stereotypical bike snob and refused to let me test ride a sub $1000 Specialized bike unless i paid $35 for a fitting that “would be refunded when i purchased the bike” Even after i repeated that i knew the final fit would fine tune everything to make the ride alittle better. I left that store upset. Spoke with a friend whose a mechanic at another Erik’s who promised i could simply give a CC and ID to the staff and test ride whatever i wanted. Went to a different Erik’s and sure enough (at my mention of CC and ID) was able to test ride the bike. And guess what, i didn’t like the ride or the component group as much as i thought i would. And now vow to never buy anything from Erik’s.
Long story short, i ended up at Now Bikes and Fitness and had hands down, the best customer service i’ve ever had in my life. I test road bikes for 3 hours and finally found the right bike for me. Their staff is knowledgeable (most do Tri’s and the owner custom builds high end bikes) and not once treated me like an inferior being. I walked out of that store $1800 lighter than when i walked in. And i was more than happy to do it because of the experience I had and On my return visits, have been able to relax, shoot the shiz and drop copious amounts of money.
The Consumer Experience is the #1 most important thing retailers can get right.
Good article.
September 25th, 2008 at 3:19 am
[...] 낼 수 있지 않을까 싶습니다. (최근 관심이 많아진 자전거에 대해 IDEO나 Adaptive path의 접근도 이런 맥락이라 할 수 [...]