Wufoo: UI That Really Cares
I have been using Wufoo free of charge for about a year now and have been a satisfied user. It wasn’t until last week when I had my first little hiccup that I realized how awesome this web app really is. In case you don’t know about Wufoo it is:
… an Internet application that helps anybody build amazing online forms. When you design a form with Wufoo, it automatically builds the database, back-end and scripts needed to make collecting and understanding your data easy, fast and fun. Because we host everything, all you need is a browser, an Internet connection and a few minutes to build a form and start using it right away.”
If you need anything from a contact form to an online survey, Wufoo is a wonderful solution that drops right into your site adapting seamlessly to your design. Their product, however is not what prompted me to write this post. After having a few e-mails get lost in the shuffle I decided to submit a support request. I described my problem and made it to the bottom of the form fields to find something very interesting: they wanted to know my “Emotional State”.
I clicked on the drop down and asked myself “How DO I feel about this?”, a question I overlooked asking myself earlier in the pending situation. As I scanned the drop-down menu this conversation with myself raced through my head:
“No I am not excited.
I am delightfully distracted by the Dino in the upper right hand corner of their site, but not excited about this situation. “Rarrr!” Cute.
Confused?
No, I am certain there is a problem. I troubleshot every possibility on my end and I know there is nothing I can do.
Worried?
Well, concerned. What if there is an important e-mail. I know the Chief of Staff has nothing important to talk to me about, but what if someone important like Dooce wants to get in touch with me. Oh, that is concerning.
Upset?
If I have missed something urgent in my e-mail box I will feel upset.
Panicked?
No, There must be a solution.
Angry?
Of course not. I have been using this service for free for a whole year, how can I really be angry?
Worried, Hmph.
I am surprisingly worried about this situation.”
As I made my selection and moved the curser to hit the submit button a feeling washed over me that was unlike anything I had ever felt with a webservice online. I felt like they cared. I felt confident that my problem would be solved. I felt like I was contacting PEOPLE who have beating hearts, and families, who had felt worried about their missing contact e-mails too. How very humane of them!
Shortly after this experience my problem was resolved with a giant clump of e-mails to my box and all was right in the world again.
Now here I am, blogging about an incident that could have gone downhill very quickly but was positively effected by a detail in their User Interface. A drop down menu that ignores corporate jargon, came to terms with the fact there may actually be a flaw in THEIR system, and inquired about my emotional state. Imagine if Comcast asked you how you were feeling when your cable went out. Would you think before verbally attacking that poor overworked repair guy? I would love to see a Health Insurance provider have an emotional state Check-in as part of their interface. Imagine feeling like someone actually wanted to help you. Why are humane details like this so often ignored online? I challenge UI designers and Information architects to consider this more often and maybe even track the satisfaction of their customers. As Naz Hamid said at SXSW, “Design is in the Details”.
This is fantastic! I couldn’t agree more that this small detail matters a lot- especially considering the total lack of customer service (caring) generally expressed by providers of all services. Wufoo has got it right.
Great point, Samantha, and a great thing to keep in mind throughout the process—planning, copywriting, design, development, QA ... Not only are these details powerful, they’re often the easiest to implement / add if you just think about them.
Thanks for making this post, Samantha. It really made our day.
As a programmer, sometimes my Google search terms are a little odd, so I frequently run into Google’s “Did you mean ___” helper links. One night when my Emotional State was Angry, I was seeing a lot of these, and I started getting the idea that Google thinks it is smarter than me. Now, it’s a completely different debate whether Google is smarter than me and just what exactly is smarter, but if Google cared at all about my Emotional State, there would be a little red “X” or “no” or maybe even “NO, I meant exactly what I typed, but thank you” which, when clicked, made the “Did you mean ____” helper link disappear.
In a final twist, I used Google’s online contact form to send them this very anecdote. Even though I’ll never know if Google really cares about what I have to say, Google is smart enough to provide me with a contact form which, in turn, provides Google plausible deniability of techno-hubris.
Well, personally, it just seems quite cheesy to me. It would do a lot towards annoying me if I saw this in a form - I’m trying to contact people professionally about a problem I have, my emotions on that problem are none of their business, and I’d just like it if they handled my problem professionally and responsibly, irrespective of any feelings.
It doesn’t bother me, although I can see how it could seem annoying and/or cheesy depending on your preference/mood. It’s not a required field and it falls as the last item in the form, which gives it the right level of importance to me. From a marketing standpoint, it seems to be in line with the “fun” vibe that Wufoo has created. From a service provider standpoint, I appreciate having even the smallest of insights into the disposition of a client when a problem has surfaced. With all of that said, though, it simply comes down to responsiveness (getting the problem addressed quickly and fixed). The key to me is that “shortly after this experience [Samantha’s] problem was resolved.” I’m sure the fun little user experience would have quickly turned into a larger source of frustration had the problem not been resolved quickly.
GetSatisfaction.com also has this feature, which is really nice when you’re upset because you can express that without getting nasty. I’ve been in many situations where I’ve only gotten help from the customer service reps if I’ve gotten upset or angry at them. Now it’s almost my default to be angry when talking to someone in customer service because of how many times I’ve been ignored while being polite. However, when I see something like this it calms me down because I get the sense that the company will listen without me having to be a jerk. I much prefer being able to leave a courteous and informative message and I’m sure the people working in customer service prefer it as well.
I wonder if the emotional state is one of the factors they use to prioritize emails in the backend (Angry - High). =)
I’ll probably make those checkboxes as I might be angry and worried or angry and confused and panicked.
Cool post, but I think the parallels break down when you start talking about Comcast. In Wufoo’s case, it’s a free service, and you presumably had no trouble getting to their support form and filling it out.
If my cable tv/internet service is down when I need it, it’s a much larger inconvenience, and one that I’m paying closer to $100/mo for. By the time I dig up their phone number, punch through some voice menu system, wait on hold, and finally get to a person—guess what? I’m pissed. Whoever they are, they should know this, or if not, be able to figure it out right quick by the situation itself. If I said my service was down and they asked me “how does that make you feel?” that would make it 10 times worse. I’d probably ask their manager to close out my account on the spot.
@Vineet Kumar I am not sure the comparison is that literal. I have spent a lot of time on the phone with cable companies and I have had lots of different operators… some who have been understanding, courteous, and personable, others who have been totally un-phased by my situation. The courteous personable ones are rare enough that they stick out as exceptions to the rule. Why not make it the rule?’I’m not saying over-exaggerated emotional inquiries but subtle small signs that you are dealing with other humans worked into the interface. I just think it is easy for a user looking at a cold online entry-form to think that their input is going into a giant automated robot rather than to a person who relates to their situation. Why not bridge the human factor and have it translate to the interface through design?
Admittedly, this feels a bit self-promotional, but I couldn’t help myself after reading “I challenge UI designers and Information architects to consider this more often and maybe even track the satisfaction of their customers.”
Over at Get Satisfaction (getsatisfaction.com), we are trying to make a place for this kind of human discourse available for every company. I’m not a marketer or anything, I’m actually one of the software developers. I feel really passionate about our product because we’re making it possible for people to speak frankly, and include their emotional state when talking to companies about any issue.
WuFoo? this is the the first time I heard of this,and I checked it out,found it really good if I want to desing a form,like a WP conmment,Thanks:-)
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