Everywhere Customer Experience Issues

Experience Design or Service Design, both requires mindset of HOW customer would behave & WHAT customer would want out of the service /experience. 

These are the major issues everywhere. Service provider neither engages with service designers nor engages with customer experience designers. 

Result: pathetic customer experience, unhappy customer, stressed and frustrated customers & even citizen when it comes to public utilities. 

Be it design, process, experience or communication most business fails miserably. I have a few experiences during last one week. Today I will share one of them.

In Mumbai, Mumbai Central is a station where from out station long distance trains leave. This is also one of the stations for local trains. Therefore many people get down from local trains at Mumbai Central to catch their long distance trains.    

Earlier there was only one bridge and way from local platforms to reach platforms for out station long distance trains. In between there was a ticket window which was also serving people who wanted to buy platform ticket to enter long distance train platforms. 

Since last few years they have built one more bridge , to enter platforms for long distance trains , which is closer from local train bridge than the old bridge. Everyone need not walk long distance to reach the long distance train platforms with their luggage. 

Good thinking. 

Now this new bridge can be used by three kinds of commuters:

- Actual long distance traveller - Need to know on which platform train will arrive to get down on proper platform with luggage

- People accompanying the long distance traveller - Need to buy platform ticket

- People just want to get out of Mumbai Central Station and are not long distance traveler - just need to walk till exit on the other end of the bridge

Now this new bridge does not have sign board indicating on which platform trains will arrive. This is absolute must requirement. 

Ticket window for person wanting to buy platform ticket was quite far & closed. I do not know whether it remains open any time during the day. 

Therefore only people who can use this bridge effectively are people who want to exit the station or want to enter local train platforms through this route.

For first two categories of people in spite of the new bridge there is no option but to travel through old route with their luggage to reach the long distance train platform. 

Therefore so much of investments in bridge just to cater to one class of people out of the three classes which requires this bridge. 

Issue is of design; issue is of applying mind to know who will use this bridge & what people wants while using this bridge. Design & experience mindset both were lacking here. 

No effective use of resources results in public inconvenience.These kinds of service design and customer experience issues are rampant across the industry and public utilities.