The Return on Experience…
It always interested me a lot to see how the different personas of one person get to cross and mix. For Microsoft customers, I am a Software Architect. For my friends I am a gamer. Inside Microsoft, I am an Information Worker. All my personas have an impact on my decision when I build architectures… I always think of my mother using the system, or try to remember myself as the dumb user…
Recently I received a new phone as a gift from Bell. I took the Palm Treo Pro. As always when I receive a new phone, I think "ok, how long and how many effort will it take before I actually do my mail on this phone…". What will be my Information Worker experience?
I must admit that this time, I was really pleased with it! Together the Palm Treo Pro and Windows Mobile 6.1 made it completely transparent. I received the phone, called the Bell number on the box, 5 minutes latter my phone was working. I went in Outlook mobile, enter my OWA address, it asked for my company policies, I clicked yes, and 5 minutes latter my mails, calendar and contacts were synchronized. What an easy experience!
I have been using the phone for 2 weeks now, I downloaded some applications, I must say that for a user experience stand point it is the best I ever got with a phone so far. I think sometime we forget that end user wants what I like to call "Return on Experience" and that is quite different from the typical operational "Return on Investment" we IT peoples normally think… I really must remember this simplicity when I design systems! J
The value of an application is determined by the optimization of the RoE and RoI factors together!
