Business Objectives != User Value
I had my first major #cityfail experience today. Which is kinda impressive since I’ve been commuting to the CBD for about 12 months now. These things happen in any sufficiently complex system, but there was one fatal mistake.
Let’s see if you can spot it.
The Annotated Timeline
I got to Town Hall about 5:18pm, well in-time for my usual 5:21pm Western Line pick-up. Announcements of delays, and to pay attention to train details before getting on.
My train arrives at about 5:25pm. I get on and manage to catch a seat. Pleasant surprise.
I get stuck into Chapter 3 of Gone With The Wind, my attention all on the words. Time passes.
5:50pm, we’re slowing down; next stop Granville — I assume we must be approaching. Wow, we’ve caught up on our schedule!
Announcement: “We are approaching Flemington — mind goes: is that even a stop on my line? — and no trains are moving between Lidcombe and Westmead.”
We all get herded off at Flemington. I try to work out what to do next, start walking towards the bridge… and people start saying we’re being told to get back on the train. So I do.
6:22pm, we’ve now been stuck somewhere between Flemington and Lidcombe (adjacent stations) for about half an hour. No idea what’s going on. No announcements.
Around about 6:35pm we crawl into Granville, followed by a crawling pace for the following few stations as well.
Eventually I arrive home at about 7:50pm, 2.5h into what should have been a 50m journey.
Can you tell where the biggest mistake was?
The Answer May Surprise You
What annoyed me most about this whole experience was not the 100 minutes of delay, although I certainly could have done without it.
What annoyed me most was when CityRail decided to get us all back onto the train in Flemington without further explanation, and then proceeded to stick us in a stationary train between two adjacent stations for 60 minutes.
From Flemington to my home is:
- About 35 minutes by car
- About 60 minutes by buses
- About 100 minutes by cycle
I would have rather done any of those things than sit in a stationary train.
And I hate buses.
When they put us back on that train, knowing that there were trains backed up all the way from there to Westmead needing to clear signals before we could move, they robbed me of the opportunity to make alternate arrangements.
They forgot that the purpose they serve is not to move us in the right direction at any speed possible.
Had they considered the actual user value they were pursuing they would have realised the passengers’ objective was not motion, but destination. And they arrogantly forgot that we all have alternatives we might have wanted to pursue instead of their stationary experience.
So, please…
…if ever you get users in a bind… remember their needs before your own.
