UX Design 2016: Too Many Hunters— Not Enough Gatherers

This may well be the nicest massage studio you’ll ever see. A lush ring of live tropical plants surrounds you as a team of infinitely serene ‘relaxation professionals’ soothe away all your earthly cares.

Where might you expect to find this room?

• A ritzy day spa?
• An up-market hotel?
• A boutique city gymnasium?

No, in fact, the photo above was taken at the Qantas First Class Lounge at Sydney airport. Qantas employed French botanist Patrick Blanc to design the 8,500-plant indoor garden walls that line large swathes of their elegant airport lounge. Customers are lovingly indulged while a stone’s throw away, mammoth jet engines whine and airport terminals surge with sweaty travelers. The contrast in user experiences couldn’t be more stark.

Of course, Qantas isn’t alone. For years international carriers have been locked in an escalating ‘arms race’ of lounge luxury. For instance:

• Virgin Atlantic’s JFK Clubhouse looks like a space-age casino.
• Turkish Airlines offer a golf simulator and Scaletrix slot car track that includes a scale model Hagia Sophia
• Swiss Air’s Senator Lounge boasts a 5-star restaurant and 120 bottle whiskey bar.

Obviously, this kind of luxury costs airlines a fortune to run yet it is offered free of (direct) charge to many customers.

So, why do they do it?

Getting Customers is Hard

Airlines have come to understand the true value of a customer. Winning them is difficult and expensive, so spending money to make sure they stay is just good business sense.

This is an area we don’t do as well at on the web.

We talk about ‘customers’ a lot — but we usually use phrases like ‘acquisition’ and ‘conversion rates’ and ‘customer funnels’. Like Loch Ness monsters, we spend a great deal more time thinking about how to catch them, than what we’ll do if we succeed.

Flickr is a classic example. I’ve been a member since 2004, yet every time I return, their big blue button is asking me to become a member. Signing in seems to be treated as a boring afterthought.

This week Richard Child wrote a thoughtful piece focusing on one of the few companies that’s doing really well at this — Trello. It’s a very worthwhile read.

While we may have no way to treat returning customers to free drinks and massages, we can make them feel more special by simply recognizing they have been here before (even before they’ve logged in). This is no more than you’d expect from any good cafe owner or publican. A simple smile and nod.

Maybe we’re just scared of being seen as creepy or overly familiar? That’s a reasonable concern.

But I think it’s time we — at the very least — learn to stop pitching current customers chances to ‘Join now’ and ‘Sign Up Today!’.

What do you think?

Originally published in the SitePoint Design Newsletter. Subscribe here.