Customizable is good, but the need to do less of it is better

It always surprises us when software companies dismiss concerns about the usability of their UI with the response, “It’s fully customizable. The customer can do whatever they want.” In our minds, that’s like delivering a pile of bricks and telling someone to build their own dream house.

The worst example seen at NRF was a frighteningly complex point-of-sale (POS) touchscreen that was intimidating even in the tradeshow environment. Imagine having a customer glaring at you from behind your register while you take caution not to touch the wrong button, set off any alarms, etc. Yet the salesperson very emotionally insisted that this was the best on the market, and “You will find no better design!” Um, right.

The oft-cited reason for not delivering a more usable out-of-the-box experience is the complexity and individuality of each retailer’s business — especially established retailers with proven and competition-defying processes in place. We’re told it’s just impossible to deliver an interface that satisfies everyone’s needs. With all due respect, we say “hogwash.”

It’s time all software developers accepted the responsibility of building usability, not just functionality, into their systems. It’s not fair to demand clients invest the extra man hours not just fine-tuning, but designing the interface — this is too far out of their realm of expertise.

If building a more usable out-of-box experience seems too daunting, perhaps developers aren’t looking at the problem the right way. Maybe it is impossible to deliver the perfect UI for everyone, but is it possible to make the process of adjusting that UI unavoidably easy? Even for retailers?

“There’s no user experience in kiosks.” *

We were thrilled to see the presence of two firms offering related services to those dished up fresh by your friends at projekt202.

The first was WD Partners, a full-service architecture and design company specializing in retail store environments. These guys definitely had the best-designed booth in the hall (no offense to our friends and clients at other booths…), emblazoned with the intriguing question, “What will it take to compete with Wal-Mart?” and visitors’ responses attached to the booth on Post-Its. Our favorite answer: “A better customer experience.”

The “no user experience in kiosks” quote is theirs, when asked if WD Partners also designed retail kiosks. “…At least most kiosks don’t offer a good experience,” they said, just excruciatingly slow wait times, non-intuitive user interfaces and, in short, poor customer experiences.

Nanonation, the second company, might take a little offense at that sentiment. These guys develop retail kiosks and interactive demonstrations focused on delivering higher-impact customer experiences. As with WD Partners, we were pleased to meet the acquaintance of these fellow purveyors of design and good experience who are tailoring their service to the retail sector.

(* Well it’s there, it’s just not always good experience.)