Surface Ripples

Who Does Your Documentation?

By this, I mean, who prepares any standard documentation to be used in your company.  Not who fills out the forms that you receive?

Like it or not, paperwork is a necessary part of our daily lives. For most services and even products we usually have to fill out some kind of form.  In some cases, we may be lucky as the form will be online and we can fill it in on our desktop.  At others we have to do it the “old-fashioned way” - on paper.

My question relates to those who design documentation used by customers, or users of their products/services.  Having designed many forms myself, when I look back on some of the earlier ones I produced, I wonder how it was that I thought in such a complex way.  More to the point, I also wondered how much patience those on the “receiving end” had to have in order to fill these in.

When designing documentation, we need to bear two things in mind:

• The needs of the organisation.
• The needs of the customer

In both cases, these will be opposed.  If we take banks as an example, they’re required to know as much as possible about their customers.  This results in account opening forms and due diligence documents containing what customers might often consider to be “intrusive” questions.  Neither side has a choice: if they don’t get or provide the information, the account can’t be opened.  Much as the bank would prefer not to ask these questions, the law requires it.

More to the point, when designing a document, I find myself asking what would be the easiest way for the user or customer to fill it in?  

What do they feel when confronted by this form?  Is it “user-friendly”?  Have I made it as comprehensive as possible to get the information we need?  

Is it as concise as possible so as not to frustrate the customer?

A form may be a customer’s first experience when dealing with our organisation. If the experience isn’t:

• Meeting their needs.
• Easy to use.
• Satisfying

… then this will impact our relationship going forward.

In summary, we’ll never be able to abandon some kind of form filling.  The only solution is to make it as painless as possible for all concerned.  This may mean tempering the zeal of well-intentioned but unaware document designers.

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website  provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  

Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Regulation

posted by William Martin @ 10:36