You will never need to attend expensive Agile courses or learn alien terminologies. MacDonald's perfected customer experience design and working in agile before they became buzzwords.
If you can get to work for some time — perfect! Otherwise, please visit a busy McDonald, and observe everything from the front counters to the kitchen in the back. Enjoy the masterclass!
Caution
You will learn the concepts of experience design and agile. It is a common-sense approach to working together and problem-solving.
You will become a believer without a book, without the dogma.
Lesson # 1: Understand the basic customer needs
A customer, say John walks into a busy MacDonald. He has to pick one of the queues to order. This is his first decision point. After a moment of mentally calculating the time it may take in different queues, he finally decides and picks a line.
His hunger is increasing due to the aroma in the atmosphere. The longer he stays, the worse it becomes.
The fact that he is in the restaurant, he wants to eat. However, until he commits himself, he can change his mind and move out.
But is he ready to wait forever?
Provide an experience to the customer which makes him want your product. However, do not push your luck beyond a point.
Understand what a typical customer wants and design for that experience first. Don’t overthink. Solve for 2–3 key obvious pain points, keep it simple. Bring him closer to a decision.
Lesson # 2: Make the sales experience easy and friendly
The wait is finally over. John is at the counter. He was sure what he wanted to buy until that point. Now he is in two minds. He has seen the order of the person before him. He tries to enquire. However, he does the mental math of the price of the new meal. This seems of lesser value than his usual preference.
He is feeling the pressure to decide. He is looking at the glum face in front and too scared to look at the person behind him. He is intimidated.
Now there could be many scenarios.
The helpful salesperson is quick to figure out John’s dilemma. With a beaming smile, he puts him at ease and provides some choices that feel good. John makes a decision!
The salesperson is a rookie. He is waiting for John’s response in stunned silence. John feels trapped. He can either leave but that means he needs to find another place to eat. So he takes his usual choice and kicks himself for missing a chance to try something different.
The salesperson is unhappy after getting late to work. He was up late the previous night and needs rest after standing for 2 hours. He gets annoyed at John and asks him to stand aside until he decides. John feels humiliated and decides to leave.
These scenarios are not exclusive to John as a customer. All customers will go through these emotions over and over again.
Think about scenarios that can occur at the point of sale. Design solutions such that customer finds it easy to decide. Personas are important for documentation and storytelling but have a limited role in solution design.
Lesson #3: Remove anxiety between payment and delivery
John is waiting for his meal. He can see his token number on the display. He is now sure that he has not been forgotten. He notices, that others who ordered after him have been served.
John ordered a less popular item from the menu. In addition, it needs a few extra steps to prepare adding to the delay. He is not anxious.
Make the process transparent, provide an ETA, and, share the reason up front. Customers are willing to wait once you tell them why!
Lesson #4: Organise your teams around workflows that deliver tangible business outcomes.
The order is flashed in the kitchen or shouted by the team leader. Everyone in the kitchen now knows that an order is to be delivered. They know the items to be prepared but do not care if it is for John.
Someone picks up a patty to cook. Someone pours a medium Coke. Someone assembles the burger. Someone prepares the salad and someone puts a fresh batch of fries.
All hands are on deck. No one is distracted. This is only one goal — deliver the order as quickly as possible.
John gets his food within minutes of ordering.
All members of the team have the same goal. Everyone is skilled in his/her job. The instruction is precise and everyone understands it clearly. This is agile in action. No coaches, no ceremonies — just 100% pure execution.
Lesson 5# Develop clarity on the organization’s mission before designing customer experience
MacDonald's mission statement is to make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone.
Easy is the operative word. It is not Michelin-star quality food for the customer, it is not the best food in town — it is easy.
It took only minutes for John to get his food neatly placed on a tray alongside sachets of ketchup, tissue papers, and a straw.
John has everything he needs to enjoy a delicious meal. He does not need to run around. All he needs to do - walk to a table and enjoy his meal!
Make product selection easy: Offer clear and simple choices. Build trust so that customer feels confident while exercising them.
Make ordering and payment easy: Make it stress-free for the customer. No glitches, No emotional drama.
Make delivery faster: Measure the time for each order and improve over time. Be consistent and keep the information flow going.
Make the use of the product easy: Ensure the customer has everything to enjoy the product or service. Refrain from making the customer run around.
The above principles are valid for any company. It could be a financial services company, an e-commerce company, a fintech, or a brick-and-mortar supermarket.
Understand the physical and emotional needs of customers. Trust your instincts.
Organizing your teams that can deliver a customer outcome is agile.
PS: I have no financial interest in MacDonalds. These views are based on my experience as an observer and a customer. I am an ardent believer in eating sensibly and responsibly.
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