Thursday, April 17, 2008

No One Asked Me (Again)

I keep forgetting to blog this. It's no longer new or news, but it's still disturbing. Well, the logic, or lack thereof, is disturbing. The City of Chicago this year instituted a tax on bottled water. Hmmm...if it weren't punishment enough to pay for something that comes out of the faucet. 

Of course, it's a greenwashing strategy. It is not described as a tax on water, but a tax on plastic. They claim that the disposable bottles are a big problem and that taxing them will help the environment. Sure. Lots of plastic out there, but only water being taxed? So far.

If the goal is truly a strategy to keep these bottles out of the landfills, make it a deposit. Many states use deposits on cans and bottles to encourage recycling. If you think about it, a tax is paid every time you buy a bottle of water. If you are careful, you pay a deposit only once


Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Design and Voice Mail

In my last post I criticized some bad system design. One was a poorly-designed voice mail system, and the other a poorly designed phone support system. Both result in a company's being perceived as user-unfriendly. 

On the other hand, you have different fingers. Also, there are a few who "get it." Take, for example, American Taxi. I use them all the time for travel to/from O'Hare airport. Their automated phone system is really well-designed, efficient and user-friendly. There is virtually no wait when you call. All you have to know is the phone number(s) of your pickup  location and destination. The system is very clear and easy to understand. Also, you can order a taxi from their web site if you choose. Good design.


Sunday, April 13, 2008

I Don't Do Book Reviews II


One of my favorite topics is design. In fact "design thinking" is a topic I've blogged about in the past. That's why Tom Peters' book Design appealed to me. Tom Peters is not in the landscape business and he's not a designer. But he knows design. 

Not I'm not saying he knows a good landscape design from a bad one. I have no idea whether he does or not. He uses the term "design" to describe a much broader concept. 

In the book he encourages the application of "design thinking" to all aspects of business, product design, marketing, systems and more. 

Here are a couple of examples. 

I recently switched my cellular service to AT&T. That is the same company that handles my land line and internet. I called to inquire about combining the billing. I get one bill with my internet and land line on it. Seems to me they ought to be able to add the cell phone to the same bill. After 10 minutes of  discussion with the rep on the phone, I was told that I need a different plan (with a cost of course), to get that feature. Also, I would have to call the wireless division. Huh? The woman laughed at me for assuming that she would be able to handle it. Nice.  Bad design. 

When someone calls your company after hours, how is he or she greeted? One company I know has the voice mail say something like "You have reached _____.  Our office is now closed. If you are prospective customer, press 1 for the sales department. If you are a current design customer, press 2 for the design department..." and so on through a half dozen departments. Then, at the very end, "For a company directory, press 0." Are you kidding me? That should be the first option. Bad design. 

There are other problems with the message as well ("sales department"? How about "to reach a design consultant"?), but that's another topic

Anyway, consider this an intro. There will be other posts on "design thinking." This book struck a chord.