Hello, friend.
Last week I visited a new but unremarkable medical office building set in the middle of an unremarkable development on the side of a highway. It was built for function, not beauty—the sensible shoe of the architecture world.
It was my first time there; my doctor had referred me to an orthopedic surgeon for chronic shoulder pain—the result of a tumble I took on a snowy Boston street last winter.
My right arm had tried to save me from breaking my face on the asphalt; my shoulder got the worst of it.
As I approached the building, it was the sign that got me. "Northeast Orthopaedics," it read. Well, that was remarkable... that "ae" in the middle of the word is an old British spelling of "orthopedics."
It was a curious and unexpected choice, especially on such a modern building in a sterile location.
Was it just a misspelling? A random choice? Or could this medical specialist actually be something kinda...well, special?
Maybe something akin to Ye Olde Orthopaedics Shoppe?
"Will the good doctor greet me in a topcoat and breeches?" I thought as I walked into the lobby. "Perhaps with a top hat—like Anthony Bridgerton? Or as a life-sized Jiminy Cricket?"
"I say, my dear woman," he'd query. "What unfortunate happenstance brings you here this fine day?"
"My shoulder has been vexing me for far too significant a span of time," I imagined myself replying. "Might you offer some satisfactory resolution?"
Then he'd use his quill to pen a prescription to the apothecary—maybe a wormwood potion.
Or perhaps he'd refer me for some bloodletting?
* * *
But once inside the building, I saw right away this was no different from any other medical office. A sign directly inside the door told me the Wi-Fi password is CALCIUM.
Wi-Fi! In Olde England! If there is to be Wi-Fi, people of the Orthopeadics, might not, pray tell, the password be more on brande?
Maybe BOILED_RED_NETTLE?
Or LEECHES?
I sighed and took my place in the check-in line. I stood on a piece of blue tape affixed to the floor, six feet behind someone wearing tube socks that read FIRST CLASS BITCH.
When I was called to see the doctor, he was on the short side.
But nowhere near as tiny as a cricket.
* * *
I'm having a little fun, of course. But only just.
Orthopaedic vs. Orthopedic: Such a small thing to sweat.
Or is it? It's often the smallest things that set the tone for the that high-minded concept we call "customer experience." It's the smallest things that signal a brand. A personality. A point of view.
The throwaway things are often the very things that shape a customer's experience the most.
-The first screen or landing page they encounter.
-The greeting in the first email they open.
-The first bill they get from accounting. (h/t Jeannie Walters)
-The first Wormwood prescription they fill.
Ha. I really am just kidding you now.
* * *
How do you start? UX expert Nick DiLallo offers a few ideas in
this terrific piece on how to write digital products with personality. His thoughts apply beyond digital products, too.
1. Build a brand voice from the start. What's your customer's first glimpse? First interaction? Are you shaping expectations right from the get-go?
2. Consider your vocabulary. From Nick: "A single word or two can completely change the perception of the product."
3. Seek small moments. "Loading screens, error messages, footers.... Each is an opportunity" to add brand voice, Nick says.
4. Clarity first. Some things don't need personality, and misplaced attempts might come across as just weird, too cheeky, side-eye suspect.
* * *
Here are a few things I'm thinking about this week:
▶️
Pasta Playlist. The orthopedic/orthopaedic surgeon referred me for an MRI. My question as they rolled me into the tube...
Why haven't hospitals partnered with Spotify for an MRI playlist? Even our
pasta has one.
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