Here’s how *not* to do error messages. I pasted a confirmation number into the Hertz website and received this response:
So many things wrong with this.
“Severe Application Error”
3 Replies
Category Archives: User Experience
Dear ConEd… It is 2012. Love, Greg
OMG! Soon we’ll have usernames!
Hit Me Up on My Two-Way, United Air!
Yes, I receive email on my one-way, two-way, mobile, and PDA. Because I’m a 1990′s business executive!
Pinterest’s Signal to Noise Problem
When my mom is an early adopter of something, I tend to think it’s important. She’s been raving about Pinterest for many months now and as of this writing has pinned 1,990 items on the site. (Here she is, if you’re curious). My sister and a few other friends – mostly women – are also in love with Pinterest. It’s giving them a spot to record and remember the creativity of others to inspire more creativity in their own lives, which I think is awesome.
But my sister tells me that Pinterest has a problem, and it seems to me that it’s going to be a fairly tough one to solve. Now that the site is gaining users more quickly, their tastes are diverging just as quickly, severely reducing the relevancy of common pages like Women’s Apparel, which my sister claims is now full of ugly, unfashionable clothes. For a site built on collecting peoples’ tastes, this seems to me to be a major scaling problem. Continue reading
Online Dating Sucks Because People Are Like Wine
Very interesting perspective from Dan Ariely. Online dating sucks because it’s too tough to identify what really turns you on.
(via Patrick Appel)
How Budget Can Fix Their Customer Experience
So, Budget Truck and I have put our bad experience to rest. I’m not totally satisfied, but hey, that’s life.
But being a user experience consultant, I’d be remiss if I didn’t offer some advice to Budget for the future. Because I’m not the only one having issues with them. And as nice as social media outreach is, it’s a band-aid if you’re not fixing the underlying problems, of which I think there are three. Continue reading
The iPhone and Starbucks’ AT&T Hotspots
If you live in New York City, you know there’s a Starbucks on every corner, and sometimes on the blocks in between as well. They’re as ubiquitous as street vendors, and with AT&T’s new smartphone data plans, you have free and automatic access to the “ATTWifi” networks at each of them.
Which should be a boon for iPhone users stuck on AT&T’s overloaded 3G network. But instead, the auto-connected wifi hangs on for just long enough to be annoying. The signal is too weak to do anything with, and yet you’ve got to go through a few screens on the iPhone to switch off the wireless so you can get 3G service.
It may seem trivial, but it’s one of my biggest user experience complaints about my phone. And I don’t think there’s necessarily an easy solution from AT&T and Apple’s perspective. AT&T wants to offer good service, which means keeping people off of 3G when there’s a faster (and free) option in-range. Apple wants a strong wireless antenna that does a good job holding on to a hotspot connection.
From my perspective, I set the phone not to auto-join ATTWifi networks… but I see that as a band-aid.
Never Rent From Budget Truck
I don’t often use my blog or other social media outlets like Twitter to complain about companies, but Budget Truck is just too shady to keep quiet.
As friends know, I recently moved downtown and rented a Budget Truck. My plan was to move to Chelsea and put some stuff into storage in New Jersey. I compared two rates – a one-way rental for $257 or returning it back to Queens for $185. Easy decision.
When moving day came, Budget Truck in Queens told me my bill would be $399 plus a $300 deposit, which I immediately disputed. The Budget Truck representative in Queens told me to call the 1-800 number and we could resolve it. Things happen, computers get quirky, and I’m an easy guy to get along with, so I was happy to.
As I’m standing inside Budget Truck, the phone rep. tells me that indeed I have a reservation for $184.99. So I put him on the phone with the guy at the counter. They can’t seem to agree or figure it out, and no one is empowered to honor the rate that the phone rep. is seeing on his screen at that very moment.
(PS, the phone reps, of whom I spoke to no less than three, tried to transfer me to “customer service,” which was closed. Says a lot right there.)
Eventually, after waiting well over an hour (with the movers and my friends at my apartment waiting to load the truck!), the counter rep told me the only way I could get a truck was to pay him $330. I agreed, because honestly what else can one do in that situation?
On the next business day, I contacted Budget Truck customer service, confident that they’d figure it out. I’ve got a lot of faith in people; it’s just how I am. They got back to me and told me they have no record of either the $257 reservation or the $185 reservation.
Ridiculous. Here’s what I’ve done.
- Instructed Citibank to deny the $337 charge from Budget Truck.
- Sent Budget Truck’s counsel a certified letter describing the situation and requesting them to honor the rate of $185, minus all costs, including my time, associated with resolving this situation. I’ve also requested that Budget Truck find and turn over audio recordings of all phone calls I’ve made to Budget, as well as all electronic records of my original reservation and all modifications made to it.
- Filed a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau against the Queens location of Budget Truck, as well as a BBB complaint with national Budget Truck/Avis Rentals.
- Filed a complaint with the NYC Bureau of Consumer Affairs.
- Filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission for both misrepresentation of price and consumer coercion.
Budget Truck – let’s rumble. Here is a copy of the letter they are receiving from me.
Avis Budget Group Rd
Two Screens: Huffington Post and Livestream
Hey everybody – just a quick Two Screens post, which is where I point out two screenshots that recently caught my eye.
First, I was watching Leo Laporte’s talk at the Online News Association conference and was underwhelmed by the Livestream player. It’s a great service, but I think the player could be easier. Actually, I think this about a lot of video players. Check out the “on-air” and progress boxes on Livesteam’s player. Both are really small and tough to read or understand. Vimeo is the gold standard for me. 
Alright, next up is Huffington Post. I was browsing on Tuesday and noticed that the words “Professional SEO” appeared right below my profile photo. I have no idea why, but it looked like the site had been hacked by malware.
AND a bonus screen. This ad for enterprise network services came up and the word survey is spelled “servey.” Not exactly inspiring my trust.
The Future of Human-Computer Interaction?
This is a really well-thought-out view of what might be next to replace the mouse. I’m sold and want this now! Be sure to watch until the end as they do a great demo.