Lydia_8_I

I thought the portion about the differences between designing for products and services was interesting. Building a specific tangible product is such a different concept than creating a service. When I think of services my mind tends to go straight to the restaurant or hotel industry. At a restaurant even though you are buying a tangible product you are also paying for the atmosphere and the treatment you receive. An example of one situation where I think the designers had completely mapped out the product but forgot about the service was at a new restaurant that opened here recently in Muncie. The food was great but it took us over 40 minutes to order and another 40 minutes to get our food, then another good wait to pay our bill. (Granted this was the first weekend the restaurant was open.) I think many customers that were there on the first weekend were kind of scared off by the poor service. If they would have taken a good look at the service needs before opening the store they might have secured a few more regulars or at least returning customers. I have been back one time since my first experience and the food was still good and the service was getting better.

If you are starting a new product or company I think it is imperative that you at least have a good handle on the service aspect of your business. Customers understand people will run into problems when they are first getting started. But if you can perform somewhat well in both the product area and service area, then continue to improve on both as your company grows, I think you have a much better chance of succeeding.