Video
January 18, 2018
General Assembly, Chief Product Officer
Member
In the end, mitigating friction and understanding pain points for customers will add a human touch to your product. As product management teams, our goal is to create user experiences with minimal friction. Said differently, we do our best to remove discomfort or interruption in service when people use our products. With this, I will cover different types of friction that can affect your customer’s user experience.
Let’s start with micro-friction. This is a delay in the outcome that you are expecting from a specific service. This occurs with many of the apps that we use every day. For example, I’m sure you have used Uber or Lyft and the driver is waiting for you at a different location than you requested.
Another example of micro-friction is when a bank locks down your account after losing your debit card. While it’s essential to secure your account, it’s virtually impossible to get money when this happens. For example, if your card is lost at 5 pm, you can’t get into a bank to withdraw money. The intent for these security measures is helpful, but there’s still friction because you can’t get money for a period of time.
During my time at Weight Watchers, our product management team was faced with a common customer issue involved online and in-person services. For example, we had app-based content online and in-person meetings that people could attend. Many people would buy the online product thinking they had reserved a spot at an in-person meeting.
As a result, customers would arrive at a class and had to call customer service to make a new reservation. This created an uncomfortable situation for our customers, especially because they’re already taking a big step in trying to improve their lives.
In the end, we need to apply a human approach to understand pain points. In doing so, we can create solutions that resonate with customers.
Shiren Vijiasingam has spent the last two decades building product experiences that use technology to amplify the human impact. As Chief Product Officer General Assembly, he leads the product, design, learning, and engineering teams in blending live instruction with personalized, augmented digital learning. Before GA, as SVP of product at Weight Watchers, he led a major digital transformation to engage and motivate a global community of members toward lasting behavior change.
Member
Andrea is the VP of Product and Engineering at One Kings Lane, a digital-first resource for making your home an expression of your personal style. She has spent over fifteen years in Product and Tech, and has led teams at startups and Fortune 500 companies, including Rent the Runway, Zappos, Time Warner, and Verizon. Andrea is passionate about solving hard (seemingly impossible) challenges, developing simple yet delightful products, building teams of entrepreneurial critical thinkers, and creating strategic outcomes with impact. She is a hands-on leader with a player/coach style, diving into the details with her team to partner, advise, and guide them to success.
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