Rounding Errors and the Customer Experience

Don’t destroy a business

I’ve been thinking about the customer experience recently. I think it’s important to try to give the best experience possible.

It sounds a little contrarian, but I’d like to share a real-life example of where I have been subjected to a less than brilliant user experience.

Destroying the Customer Experience

In the past I’ve given away computing lessons for high school kids. I used an online platform for doing so, and to be clear I wasn’t employed by the organisation that listed these resources rather I posted up some lessons (much like you might sell your possessions on Ebay). Similar platforms are used to sell Apps (the Apple app store or Google play store), or platforms for selling people’s time and skill (for example Uber).

The main function of these platforms is to bring sellers and buyers together so there are effectively two types of user (the customer/seller and the end consumer). It is important to differentiate the two, but the platform needs to treat both well in order to create a viable market place.

The user journeys might be different, but the performance of both on the platform are important to keep a platform vibrant and running.