Surface Ripples

“Cognitive Overhead”

I came across one of the most informative and clear explanations I’ve ever encountered about why customers may not always react the way we hope they will.  It’s called “Cognitive Overhead”. 

Simply put, it’s how much they have to think and/or do something to take action to get something.  The easiest way to understand this is to think about two simple examples:

The words “click below to subscribe”. 

The word “subscribe” used as a direct link (known as a “Uniform Resource Locator” or URL) to a page to fill in details.

In the first case, a customer reads the instruction and then must find a link somewhere below (maybe lower than the part of the screen they can see).  In the second, they simply click on the word “Subscribe”.  This may seem simple but the fact is that the first example requires two steps whilst the second only requires one.

If we imagine our processes in a similar way, how many steps do customers have to go through to obtain a product or service through our website?  There will be a minimum number, but the question is how low will that be?

Sometimes customers have commented that they didn’t follow a process through because it was either:

1. “Too long”
2. “Too complicated” 
3. “Unintuitive” or
4. All of the above.

If the third (let alone the last) answer comes back too often, our business has a serious problem.  All it’ll take is one competitor with processes that are shorter, less complicated more “intuitive” or all three to take our customers from us.

As an example, my wife and I have both found that installing eSIMs from a certain provider comes under the “all three” category. We’ve given up using their eSIM.

As businesses, we need to minimise the “cognitive overhead” for our customers.  As technology and complexity grow in our world, this is going to become harder.  Developers need to understand how the customer works and how to blend this with how their business works. 

The first question we should always be asking ourselves is, “Will this process benefit the customer?”.  If the answer is “not much” then we shouldn’t institute it.  People will try to justify complex processes for reasons like “legal requirements”, “regulations”, or similar.  All businesses are subject to rules, but building processes around these rules or around what the business needs isn’t the way to go.

In short, “the simpler the better” is the way to go.  Our problem is, how do we get there?

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. 

Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Selling, Strategy

posted by William Martin @ 09:11