A bartender’s guide to experience design
— Many thanks to my Secco Wine Bar family.
I will always maintain that bartending is among the purest forms of experience design. A good bartender knows that the enjoyment of their guests is dependent on an ability to understand and anticipate the needs, emotions, and actions of total strangers. This is a difficult and often thankless task, but it is also one of the most fun and rewarding jobs I’ve ever had.
There are a few guidelines that I follow to design a good experience, whether in a restaurant, providing a service, or building digital products. Though there is no one-size-fits-all solution, here is what I learned behind the stick:
Lead your guest along a path, don’t pave a new one
Generally, if you’ve done your marketing right, about 90% of the people who sit down at your bar actually mean to be there. They came because they had an expectation of quality, cuisine style, and ambiance. Use this to your advantage and don’t disrupt their experience by breaking that expectation.
While I don’t believe in jarring the customer, I am the last to say that you should avoid suggesting novel behavior at times. Perhaps coaxing a regular customer to order something new, try a different type of wine, or sit at a different table. Still, helping your guest follow the path of little (not least) resistance is often the best practice.
Product design is no different. There are general design tenets that your audience expects you to follow. Introducing something fresh here and there can be totally pleasing, but people don’t want you to rewrite their world. Your customer won’t thank you (or tip you) at the end.
Ask leading questions
Never forget that the person you’re designing for isn’t your friend…yet. But if you ask the right questions they will be. Your goal is to get that stranger across from you to trust you. You must earn that trust by providing an amazing experience through your demeanor, recommendations, and the product you provide.
Seeing some parallels so far?
Building relationships starts with asking questions, no matter what type of business you are running. Learning to empathize with your customer and understand what they want is fulfilling in itself.
Drink your own Kool-Aid
Getting excited about what you are selling is contagious. Even if you didn’t say a word (and often you don’t), the customer can tell when the details hold passion. In product design, it’s the way you design your packaging, the wording in your instruction manual, or how willing you are to provide in-person support to your loyal customers. Behind the bar, it’s more than how much you sell, it’s how you move.
You can pour a shot with soul, trust me.
Patrons know when you don’t believe in your product. If you sound bored, unconvinced, apathetic, reticent…anything but enthusiastic about the experience you’re about to deliver, you may have missed an opportunity.
Don’t give too many options
Three options…or one, depending on how well you know your customer. When we are given too many things to choose from, the weight of the truly attractive selection is diluted by the relative appeal of things we wouldn’t choose otherwise.
Additionally, this modicum of complexity provides an opportunity to prime the person you are designing for.
Often, I will lead with a choice that I know the customer will deem attractive. Something safe. Next they hear an unexpected option that they might like. Finally, I tell them what I would have. Again, the progression goes:
- Friendly and safe
- Unexpected
- My personal favorite
People will choose what they will, but more often than not, this method works out in everyone’s favor. Just make sure you are okay with the customer choosing friendly and safe 60% of the time.
The psychology of choice is a detailed and interesting subject. If you want to know more, here is a cool article on pricing your products to sell.
Know when to pivot
Every barkeep and designer knows this story: that stranger whose trust you’re trying to earn just isn’t buying it, what’s more, you’re in their crosshairs now. Maybe you’ve used a word the wrong way, maybe you didn’t give enough information, or maybe they’re just having a bad day. Regardless, you’ve got to pivot your approach.
This could be the case with an individual customer, or even for the market as a whole. When you feel in your gut that what you’re doing isn’t working, try a new approach. Bad bartenders often chalk this up to an irrational customer (and sometimes they’re right,) but more often than not people want to enjoy the things they pay for and there has been a miscommunication (e.g. The lady asked for a perfect manhattan, not your perfect manhattan.)
It gets more complicated when you don’t get to stand in front of your customer every time. This is why Don Norman gave us his great Tome The Design of Every Day Things. Using the right signifiers is so absurdly important. I’ve learned the hard way that you should never take it for granted that your customer will just “get it.” Even professionals get it wrong sometimes.
Communicate constantly and consistently
Signifiers are part of your visual communication as a designer, but what other ways are you communicating with your audience? Advertising, marketing, website design, even the individual conversations that your brand ambassadors have, should maintain some level of consistency. Confused customers aren’t just hard to deal with, they also tell their friends about the terrible experience they had.
When I was behind the bar, I made it a point at all times to communicate proactively. This meant letting customers know when they had ordered a dish that takes a while to prepare, following up after I put their food in, and explaining how the wine list was arranged. Problems were communicated truthfully and calmly, and I was (almost) always rewarded with understanding customers.
Experience design is a messy business. It takes failing in your communication and testing new ways to reach your users, but if you engage in meaningful ways you will be rewarded.
My amazing mentors from the restaurant industry taught me just how important the smallest non-verbal cue can be, and I built long-lasting and meaningful relationships with customers.
From the moment a customer walks through the door, until you retrieve their coat and send them out to the real world once more, they are in your domain. I believe this is a privileged relationship that can be as rewarding as you are willing to make it.
The next time you go to your favorite restaurant, I invite you to sit at the bar. Be mindful of the natural but deliberate choices made by your personal experience designer. Also, take note and watch how much fun they have. A good bartender does both.
— Matthew Halpern
