Try to fill in this form

Customer Story 1

Title: “Try to fill in this form”

[The story]

I’m sure that many of you have recently received a new driver’s licence and are aware of the new security feature, the Drivers Licence Card Number. Paul got his and didn’t pay too much attention to it until he tried to renew a licence that he holds with another Government entity. The online form looked straight forward - Name, DOB etc but then it asked for either the drivers licence card number or Medicare card number. Paul tried what he thought was the drivers licence card number but that was actually his Drivers licence number. No luck. So he moved to use his Medicare card number, again no luck.?

Paul then called the service desk. They told him that the Drivers licence card number was on the back of his Licence in teeny tiny font under the date on the right. Oh and by the way, the best way to see it is to take a photo on your smart phone and then blow it up. If that doesn’t work, use your Medicare card number but when it asks for the date on the Medicare card the required format is DD/MM/YY.??As the Medicare card doesn’t have a DD on it, you need to use 01 for the day! Yes, seriously these are the instructions from the service desk.?

Paul’s an old farmer and technology isn’t his strong point, he doesn’t have a smart phone camera he can use to zoom in, not to mention, like some of us, his eyes aren’t what they use to be.?

[How the customer felt]

Paul felt puzzled as to why it had to be so hard, why with all the data that agencies hold, that we have to use something that is in 2-point font on the back of a clear card, or partly obscured by the date on that card. He’s also bemused that - if that fails, we have to use another form fudge the date from his Medicare card by adding a 01 to the DD field.?

[The underlying contributors to these experiences]

When we consider what contributed to this poor customer experience, we have to question the organisation’s design and testing processes. Did they involve customers in testing the useability of this 2-point font number? What are their design principles? This could not have passed the ‘easy to access’ test. We all understand the importance of security and identification, but making it so difficult kind of defeats the purpose.?

[The business impact]

For this organisation, the impact is that many customers seeking to do the same renewal as Paul, will be calling into the service centre to seek help. This is the definition of ‘failure demand’. The organisation’s form design has caused the need for customers to call into the centre. which is an unnecessary and very much avoidable cost to the business.?

[In summary]

When designing solutions - make them easy. Make them safe. Make them accessible and do-able, for everyone. It’s in your control to avoid driving failure into your business.