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What was your best experience of 2008?

Happy New Year! This is a great time to look ahead to 2009, thinking of resolutions and themes to create for the year. But before it becomes a distant memory, I thought it was worth looking back to 2008 to recognize the most memorable experiences. Here’s mine…

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EMILY’S BEST EXPERIENCE OF 2008: PET CROSSING ANIMAL HOSPITAL

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My favorite experience of 2008 wasn’t online at all. It was an unexpectedly good experience at a vet clinic. Here’s why:

1. Timing and immediacy: In July, two new kitties joined our household. When I needed to take one to a vet, the clinic fit me in that same day — even though I was a brand new customer.
2. Experience design from the “customer” perspective: When we first arrived in the exam room, I noticed there was a small counter and a sink, along with a comfortable arm chair and cushioned bench, but no typical stainless steel exam table. When the doctor came in, instead of lifting the kitten up to human height, he got right down on the floor with the kitty. Classic user-centered experience design: it is a better experience for any stressed-out cat or dog to have a doctor come into their space rather than being hoisted up onto a stainless steel exam table.
3. Personalization and convenience: A month or so later, we returned for a check-up. We had a similarly good experience, doctor on the floor and all. At one point, a vet tech took a picture of both kitties. Afterward, I was given a whole handbook on the kittens — complete with a photo on the cover! Every detail I might ever need about my cats, plus a lot of helpful info, was bound together in a personalized notebook.
4. Follow-up and request for feedback: After both trips to the vet, the next day brought a personal phone call. Just checking in to make sure the kitties were doing well. A couple days later, a note in the mail to check in and ask for feedback on the experience.

The best part of this whole experience, and the reason it wins the #1 spot on my list, was the fact that I didn’t even know my family was lacking a great vet. The clinic didn’t just meet my needs, they provided an exceptional customer experience that I didn’t know I had been missing. 

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As you look back on 2008, what was your best experience? And, why?

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We look forward to hearing your comments.

Posted in EatonGolden, Examples, User Experience

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Mahtab had her baby!

Many of EG’s clients and friends have been asking about Mahtab, so I though I’d let the world know that her baby was born this past Monday. His name is Omeed, which means “hope” in Farsi.

Omeed Andreas Rezai Church

Born at 2:00am on 8/4/08, 6 lbs – 15 oz, 20.5 in

Mother and baby are both doing great. Welcome, little one!

Posted in Events, People

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EatonGolden goes mobile

A couple months ago I asked Mike, “Can we build a mobile version of EatonGolden.com? I want to be able to help our clients with mobile sites, so let’s start with our own.”

The team proceeded to:

• do a bunch of research on resolution (different on almost every mobile device) and appearance (also different on almost every device).
• create the IA (intentionally simple) and layout (what there is of it)
• write the code (Tony even figured out a way to detect mobile devices and automatically route them to the mobile version of the site — except iPhone users, who have the option to go to either version.)

Our mobile site doesn’t include *all* of the content available on our regular site — just the things someone would want to know if they were on the move… like DIRECTIONS.

If you have been to our office before, you could probably easily find it again. But the FIRST time you visit can be a bit tricky, especially in the summer when the huge trees in front of our building and surrounding the creek make the building hard to see from the street.

So when it comes down to it, our mobile site is really all about providing directions.

And just last week, Peter Merholz of Adaptive Path came to visit EatonGolden. And, unfortunately, the cab driver got a little lost. What did Peter do? He pulled out his iPhone, got to our mobile site, quickly found directions, and successfully arrived. And he said to me, “Kudos to whoever is responsible for your mobile site.”

Yay! It worked!

So I say, “Kudos to the EatonGolden mobile site team!” Your hard work has paid off already.

Posted in EatonGolden, Mobile, Uncategorized

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