How to Create Good Experiences for Public Customers
For years Mark Hurst, through his strategy firm Creative Good, has advocated for the inclusion of customers in product or experience design. His unwavering argument to include customers is audaciously simple: listen to what they want and identify their un-met needs in the design process. There’s a third critical step in creating solutions that satisfy customer needs or create positive impact. Real impact won’t happen without consensus of the vision and goals of the delivery organization.
Mark’s book, Customer’s Included describes various scenarios to illustrate his point with common every day products and experiences that most of us can relate to. He’s been advising mostly commercial or consumer market clients, including media, healthcare, technology, financial services, consumer products companies how to do this for 20 years. The goal being to help companies succeed in competitive markets.
In contrast, my work at Public Good Consulting has been propelled by a focus on delivering goods and services that are designed to meet needs that private markets fail to deliver because they can’t be easily commodified and priced according to a customer’s willingness to pay. In other words, I focus on things like public education, transportation, and recreation that are primarily financed through taxes and are mandated by law. My work ensures that services such as health care and education can be delivered to anyone who needs it without paywall barriers.
Like Mark, I focus on creating quality experiences for everyone. Because high quality experiences will achieve policy goals and result in better social outcomes. Unfortunately, it’s much harder to put a price tag on guaranteeing that everyone receives high quality education. Although we can estimate the cost of failing to do so. So public goods face the constant challenge of doing more with fewer dollars.
In my 25 years of working within and alongside government, nonprofits and mission-based for profits, I have always challenged our acceptance of the status quo without aiming to do better, to create better experiences for everyone.
I want to explore the possibilities of applying Mark’s approach designing good experiences for the public sector. To the everyday experiences that we all have: riding mass transit, sending our kids to public school, obtaining a drivers license, visiting local parks, and even more specialized experiences such as opening and running a business or doing anything that is regulated by public rules.
In our first conversation, we discuss the case of Prospect Park in the chapter on Unmet Needs in Customers Included. It’s a compelling case for working with the customer (public park visitors) to improve something. I especially like how it started with something simple - the dogs on a leash rule.
It reminded me of an article I read recently in Gothamist about “absurd” rules that prevent many landlords from converting basement apartments into legally habitable ones. The policy goal is to increase New York's affordable housing stock. It’s easy to criticize rules that are set by law makers or government bureaucrats when you're not aware of risks.
In our conversations, we explore the process of designing experiences that are not only good but are at a scale that is non-excludable. How should public customers be included to optimize policy goals of public goods?
A Real Live Chat
Join me and my long-time friend and good experience guru, Mark Hurst as we explore the art and science of creating good experiences that satisfy public needs!
When is it okay to break the rules? Listen here to our 35 minute conversation about NYC public parks!