On the one hand, airlines have financial incentive (additional revenue, which they prioritise over customer service) to make you suffer. As customers get steadily more frustrated, where will the implosion point be? The airline industry is a complicated one for many reasons, not least of which is the rising cost of fuel and taxes, but similar problems beleaguer many industries: manufacturing businesses have labour laws and union problems, for one. De-prioritising the very people who are the reason for being is incredibly short-sighted: if a commercial airline were to solely depend on business class customers, they better watch out for the likes of Netjets and Privatefly.
On the other hand, Patagonia has financial incentive to keep their employees happy. And banks like Simple have financial incentive to build intuitive, beautifully designed services that have the user front and centre. They ‘build for the way people think, rather than the way banking actually works‘.
I know which sort of businesses I’d place my bets on for sustainable success.
Here’s Toby Sterrett, Simple’s Director of UX, on designing for delight.
