#FAILURE, the system is down

I’m dripping through the customs line at the Toronto airport… along with hundreds of my closest allies this past hour.

We’re together in this frustration in a way that makes us compatriots. Everywhere around me I hear the whispers of spouses, “Do you think we’re going to make it? The boarding had already started!”

People are frustrated, people feel helpless.

To forget about my aching, bag-laden back, I started thinking over my past few days. Just a quick user research trip, visiting and speaking with some Yammer users about their lives, their work, their realities. There were so many little delights and joys on this trip, but all my mind can remember right now is the frustration with Uber.

FAILURE. That’s all the system told me. FAILURE. Just that one word and a disastrous ❌. What I wanted simply would not be possible. Why?

😶😶😶

“Oh, this is your first work trip! Yeah, just add your corporate card to the Uber app. They make it super easy. You just scan!”

Right… it IS really easy, you just scan the card, add the expiration date, cvv, & zip code, and hit “Save”

That’s the 80% case they designed for. (Or maybe the 95%… or even the 99% case, it’s Uber after all) but what about those extra cases? The edge cases? Me.

Failure is an expected case. Design for it.

Why did my credit card fail?? Low connectivity? Zip code incorrect? The cc number didn’t scan properly? Uber doesn’t accept AmEx? Where in my 31 digits should I look for the answer?

Nope. Just FAILURE.

When your users hit a fail state, they most need the attention of your designers.

Oh! Gotta dash… final boarding call and I’ve JUST made it through customs.

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