I was at the dentist recently. Don’t worry, my dentist is nice and my teeth are fine. I was in the chair for about five minutes. But the admin!
Until recently I had to fill in two or three forms: to confirm my health (good, no change), sign as an NHS patient (again), and possibly a marketing form for the dental practice (yawn). A couple of years ago they started sending me the forms by SMS in advance. But I never did them, far too fiddly on a phone screen.
Now the practice sends the forms in e-mail before hand. But their system didn’t recognise me I tried to complete them and I gave up. At the practice they have me an iPad with the form. That didn’t work well either and the receptionistists had to get involved.
Digital
The thing is: the dental practice has gone – or is at least trying – to go digital. Get rid of the paper, streamline the processes. But they’ve done it really badly. The technology they have put in doesn’t work, doesn’t enhance my experience as a customer patient, doesn’t save reception time and can actually make more work for the dentist!
Nor is there any point in complaining, sorry, make suggestions for improvement: there is nobody to listen.
In the “digital” world of today throwing technology at a problem fundamentally fails to appreciate how today’s digital is different to yesterdays IT. Being digital is more than having an system on a computer for people to use.
My dentist is not unique, either as dentist or as an example of how digital technology makes things worse – my gym/pool is just as bad. They have the most annoying app. Too often companies buy, or are sold, digital technology as a “point solution.”
Paper forms? – buy an app to send e-mail, box ticked, job done. (Although, if the system doesn’t integrate with the management system, confuses customers and makes work for staff there is no benefit.)
Booking need to be taken? – give people an app, box ticked. (Although, if it is slow, temperamental and posts too many notifications it won’t enhance the customer experience.)
Security needs to be improved? – ask for the password a second time, send them a SMS, give them a custom app. (Even if that means the average day starts with six password entries, four text messages and another four authentications in the app.)
Yes, all these problems existed in yesterday’s IT centric world and that is part of the reason things needed to change. In the Digital world the technology is not just a bag on the side, its part of the whole offering.
On the one hand this is everyones job to get right. But, there is one specific role which should be looking at this, connecting technology and business, thinking about the whole offering and putting customers first: the Product Manager role.
Let me suggest the common theme here is: Product Management is Missing in Action.
Failuring to think Product
Its not just that such companies haven’t hired a Product Manager or given them responsibility for the whole, it is that so many companies don’t even know they should have a Product Manager. They probably don’t even understand what the role is or why they exist. Someone needs to think about the whole product – the dental service, the gym experience.
Sure some of what I am describing is work for Business Analysis, some is work for Designers, some is simple technology, and there is work for User Experience Researchers. But where does all of that come together? Who owns it? Who connects it with the company agenda?
It is not just the Product Manager role which is missing, it is Product thinking that is missing. There is a failure to appreciation that technology is the business now. There is a product here, part technology, part physical or experiential and someone needs to consider the whole. If that doesn’t happen end result is not going to be good.
Take my morning swim: the pool operators repeatedly fail to refresh the app when opening times change. It is so bad I’ve given up using it, I take my chances. So what benefit are they getting?
This is more than just saying such companies need Product Managers. Those Product Manager needs to lead others to see that digital technology changes the customer experience and changes the product/service itself. Hence why I talk about Product thinking.
If a business is going to embrace digital it needs to do more than just use digital technology. It needs to think of the whole product and the whole customer experience. This applies too AI as well, AI is still digital technology and if AI is deployed without due thought to the whole product and digital experience, both customer and provider are going to miss out on benefits. It might even make things worse.
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Photo from Caroline LM on Unsplash.