Experience Design - Optimizing negative space in business.
I tried to find stats about how much of our lives we spend waiting (checkout lines, on hold, etc.) but I couldn’t find one, so I’m making one up. An average North American will spend over 8,000 hours waiting in their lifetime! That’s almost an entire year!
If that were true it would be outrageous, but that was total BS. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was true (Some stats say we spend 6 months just waiting in lineups).
Waiting is an unavoidable part of life, so why have so many companies neglected this experience? In a previous article I wrote about experience design and the ‘moments between’, pointing out how you can find competitive advantages in optimizing overlooked aspects of business. Because waiting is a necessary evil, I want to rant about optimizing that experience.
Besides the mere common decency of our comfort, why should companies care about the quality of our wait?
Waiting is often our first impression of your company.
Having an interview? Maybe a business meeting? Long or short, guests are spending some time patiently in reception until their turn. I’ve met with hundreds of companies, and I can tell you that those first few minutes say a lot about a company.
Is there someone to greet me politely?
Are there distractions to occupy me?
Are there statements or awards on the wall?
Can I hear a manager yelling at someone down the hall?
Is there a giant metal bird that shows a complete lack of artistic taste or value for money?
Really, I want to know if my time and comfort matter to your company. If I matter, I expect a friendly greeting, a place to sit, material to occupy my mind and something that illustrates the character of the company.
My first impression isn’t with the person I intend to meet, it’s with the character of the establishment.
Waiting can impact your overall experience.
The Doctor’s Office Example
There’s a specialist we see a few times a year, and he is routinely 2-3 hours behind. Once we called ahead and our appointment was moved from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM! Guess what? We arrived and still didn’t get in until 11!
Now besides the catastrophic delay, what really bothered me was the waiting room experience.
Terrible seats with napkin-thin padding.
Two small TVs from the 80’s that weren’t working anyways.
No magazines in the waiting room (the ones in the individual rooms were from 2011).
No toys or games (there are almost always children there).
One crappy picture of a flower that I visualize destroying in my boredom-rage.
Hers's a recent photo of the waiting room. Note the lack of comfortable chairs or quality TVs.
When you go through this kind of wait, by the time the doctor sees you you’re so distraught that you can’t wait to get out of there. You're emotionally out of whack, the doctor is overstretched and tired and you’re impatient. Do you really expect to have an accurate medical assessment? Rant complete.
This applies to more than just doctors though. If a potential client comes in and waits in a shabby space for a while, do they really have the right state of mind? We are emotional creatures, and being confined in discomfort impacts us mentally. A terrible waiting experience can cause us to lose confidence in a business, begin feeling less valuable and we're already thinking about leaving before the meeting has even begun.
Waiting is the negative space of your business.
Like a great painting, the empty time between moments in your business are still important. They're a part of your brand. Think about drinking a coke, or more to the point, the time between sips. What does that experience look like?
You're savouring the last sip.
Bubbles sparkle and splash with freshness.
Condensation drips down the glass tempting you.
The straw bobs ever so close, offering you another taste.
The empty space around drinking a coke makes you want more. How can you use negative space to help improve your business?
Here are some examples of negative space optimizing:
Fashion retail - Think of the men waiting for women, are their benches or distractions that make them hate shopping less? Maybe they'll do it more often...
Restaurant - People often wait for a table, offer some sample refreshments or food. It won't spoil their dinner and maybe they'll order the special when they sit down.
Small business - Not much space for a waiting room? Make sure your staff are friendly and engage customers rather than have them awkwardly watch people work.
I’m still blown away with how bad some waiting experiences are when they’re so easy to fix. A little investment in comfort will give you a big heads-up when it comes time to talk. And really, it shouldn’t be hard to discover where you’re going wrong. Everyone has had great and terrible experiences waiting. Use some basic empathy and treat your guests with a bit of respect. It'll pay off.