Ux Rx

User Experience Prescription

Today I had an especially bad experience at my doctor's office.

After thinking about it for a while I decided to analyze why the experience was so bad, and I approached it based on my past experience with User Interface Design, or as it is called these days User Experience (Ux) and Human Factors.

 

The Experience

Last week I received a phone call from my doctor's office that my blood test results were in, and my doctor 'urgently' wanted to see me. I asked when I should come in, and the caller said Monday. I asked if there was any specific time on Monday and the caller said "any time would be fine and she [the doctor] will just see me."

So today I show up about 11:00 AM and announce myself. The receptionist tells me to come back after 2:30 PM. I explain that I was told to come in anytime because it was 'urgent' so she looks up my file and says there is nothing urgent there. Note that this is a very invalidating response, because for most customer service staff, if anything is wrong, they almost always try to blame it on the customer, or someone else.

I explain that I have already paid for parking and she gives me that 'deer in the headlights' look that I also find frustratingly common with customer service staff. She then tries to tell me the doctor has a new policy in that there are no appointments and that people should just walk in, but I have to come after 2:30 PM. I explain that last week on the phone I was told to come in "any time." Again, that 'deer in the headlights' gaze makes me suspect there is very little empathy or compassion operating behind those eyes. She asks if I would like to come back at 2:30 and I say "No, just have someone call me when you can give me at time to come in" and I walk out.

I walk back in a few seconds later to add "I am really angry about this because it has happened several times now, so please tell the doctor to call me when she has time," then I leave.

A few minutes later after I have left I get a phone call from the regular receptionist who knows me quite well. She is very apologetic, and says I am a valued patient, and that some of the temporary staff don't know how to handle things well. Finally, she gives me a time to come in tomorrow, and I agree to come back then.

 

Root Cause Analysis

As a very experienced software developer I am accustomed to facing software, systems, and process defects on a routine basis. In general, after solving a problem I have learned to perform some sort of Root Cause Analysis of the problem in order to understand it, and hopefully prevent it from occurring again. Usually this is some twisted technical issue, but it applies equally well to User Experience issues.

 

Temporary Staff

The first part of the failure was 'temporary staff.' While the receptionist who saw me today was temporary, the regular receptionist also claimed that it was a temporary staff member who contacted me last week.

The basic problem with temporary staff is they are generally incompetent to do the job given because they do not have the experience to do it properly, or the attitude to do it well.

 

Staff Training

Staff training is a constant problem, especially for front-line people like receptionists who have to deal with other people. They are generally not trained well, and tend to be especially poor at dealing with people, especially frustrated people. Training is even less likely for temporary staff.

 

Business Processes, Ux, and Human Factors

The quality of a business is directly related to the quality of the processes the business uses. In most doctor's offices, making appointments with patients is the norm. It is not really important why my doctor implemented a policy of no appointments, but the failure was to consider how this change in a standard business practice would affect other business processes as well, in particular staff training and customer relations.

In most doctor's offices it is generally understood how to make an appointment, and what the process is. However, it is not well understood how other processes need to change when there is no appointment system. In particular, the staff need to be better trained to explain the new process to customers (patients), and the new process has to be tested and refined until the defects are worked out.

For example, if you are going to run a non-standard business process, then document it, and train your staff in how to implement it. For temporary staff, make sure they have the document, or at least a cheat sheet near them. When calling a patient, here is what you say... When responding to a patient, here is what you say...

For non-standard processes, there needs to be Quality Assurance process to make sure the non-standard process is giving you the result you want, and not giving you results you don't want, such as frustrated customers.

 

First World Problems

Check out the video above on First World Problems. Every business that has customers, clients, patients, etc. really should watch and understand these issues. The main problem is that most business contribute to these problems because they have no motivation to consider them. This is especially true in my field of technology with computers, mobile devices and web applications; but just as important with mature businesses such as a medical practice.

 

Great Doctors and Great Businesses

To be sure, I really have a great doctor. In fact, I chose her after researching various doctors on the web, and she had the highest ratings, and number of excellent patient testimonies. My medical experience with her also confirms she is an excellent doctor.

However, running a medical practice is more than just being a good doctor, it is also running a business. But having business experience is also not enough, as it is clear the most CEOs and other business leaders do not care about User Experience either. Having an MBa is only going to give you insight into increasing profit, it will never give you insight on the importance of Human Factors or User Experience Design.

I am not really sure what the answer here is, but I suspect it is related to First World Problems, and how people don't take these seriously. We often joke about first world problems, like "OMG, there is a fly in my wine" while in the back of our mind we know there are people starving around the world.

Basically, it is a first world problem that many business, including medical practices, do not take the time to fully understand the User Experiences of their customers or service users. This is a cross-cutting concern that everyone should study and understand in school, college, university, etc.

There are models for success. Consider Apple, for example. Much of the quality of Apple products and services is based on the fanatic perfectionism of Steve Jobs. Apple customers are some of the happiest, most satisfied, most loyal in the world. Largely this was because Steve Jobs actually used his own products and services, routinely had to demo them to other people, and would become passionately upset if something was less than perfect.

If you are responsible for any kind of product or services, try actually using that product or service the way your customers do. Talk to your customers, and ask them how your products and services are. Make it easy for them to give you feedback, and act on that feedback.

The Doctor