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Seek first to understand: Applying Covey to kiosks

November 7, 2013 by Laura Miller — Director of Marketing, Kioware

In his book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People," Stephen Covey discusses the importance of seeking "first to understand, then to be understood." The need for this, the fifth habit, carries over to the usage of technology for self-service purposes.

As we look to kiosks in an effort to streamline the customer experience, provide additional services, communicate information to customers, and gather information from purchasers, it is important to remember that we must first understand our audience and their needs and expectations.

Understand customer needs of a kiosk

What are they interested in?
What are their needs?
What do they expect the kiosk/program is going to do for them?

And further:

Does the technology provided service those needs?
Does it meet their expectations?

Determine organizational goals of self-service

As we begin a website, application, or program design, we tend to first think of what we (organizationally) need to accomplish. Whether the vendor/retailer/corporate goal is to communicate information, to gather information, or if the kiosk is meant as a way to improve the flow of customers and decrease wait time, we must keep in mind our customer's goals in using the kiosk as well.

Are they trying to save time?
Do they want to learn?
Are they trying to order/buy/return?

More importantly, does the self-service station meet the customer needs or are we merely serving our own intended goals? Are we seeking to serve our own purposes without first trying to understand our customer's needs?

One example of understanding customer needs is found in the implementation of a bank kiosk. A self-service banking kiosk may be intended to serve the bank's goal of providing account balances, serving basic transaction needs and/or providing information about various bank services. A customer, however, will view a bank kiosk with an entirely different set of expectations. They might expect privacy and security. Is the kiosk placed out of the main traffic flow of the bank? Is the screen oriented to provide privacy? Are the kiosk screens with ample depth to block a user from prying eyes? These considerations may be counter to the bank needs (for instance, being out of the path of traffic), but important to the customer's comfort and desires.

In another example, a customer may walk up to a kiosk with the intention of using it, but leave disappointed if the communication on the kiosk screen is less than clear. The "attract" screen serving information about the kiosk's intended function will serve as a way to set expectations for the customer, allowing them to understand the purpose of the application before they invest time and effort into something that does not do what they expect.

If we first seek to understand customer needs, we can better determine how we can meet those needs while keeping an eye toward our own agenda and ultimately, seeking to be understood by more consistently managing customer expectations.