Customer Experience Matters

Here are some items that I found interesting over the last couple of weeks:

• Daryl Cagle’s Pro Cartoonists Index: Cartoons in memory of Tim Russert amasses a great collection of cartoons that are dedicated to Tim Russert’s life; a great way to remember him. As I’ve mentioned, I was a huge fan of Tim.
• BusinessWeek’s ManagementIQ: An About-Face at Netflix discusses NetFlix’s decision, and the immediate reversal of the decision, to eliminate profiles.
• Google: Ten principles that contribute to a Googley user experience provides an insight into how Google looks at user experience. Here’s how the site introduces the 10 items: “Achieving a harmonious balance of these ten principles is a constant challenge. A product that gets the balance right is “Googley” – and will satisfy and delight people all over the world.”
• TimesOnline: Barclays banks on funky design to lure customers is a very interesting article about how Barclays is redesigning its branches.
• Metacool: Benjamin Zander on Leadership offers a video of an awesome presentation by Zander who integrates music into a discussion about leadership. 
• Innovation Playground: Are You Trained To Tell Good Stories? Do You Understand The Power Of Narrative in Business? provides insight into a very important, yet under-appreciated skill in business: Storytelling.
• Comedy Central: George Carlin Video Tribute is a set of videos that are a nice way to remember George Carlin.
• Reuters MediaFile: Gates/Ballmer – Saying goodbye is hard to do is an interesting Q&A with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer; a tribute to Gates’ retirement from active involvement with Microsoft.
• New York Times: Solution, or Mess? A Milk Jug for a Green Earth looks at a new packaging for milk that is eco friendly and cheaper, but it is hard to hold and often spills. I don’t think usability can be overlooked; even in the name of “green.”

The bottom line: Enjoy the reading!