Unusable Sinks

I should be talking about the Hotel's decor.  The flat screen television.  The modern furniture, hip fireplace and a service staff that looked like they came out of a modeling agency.  But instead—I'm talking about the unusable sink.  Here's how it works:

1. Fill it up with water
2. Shave
3. Spend nearly 10 minutes trying to figure out how to drain it.
4. Get frustrated, beat yourself up for being an idiot and finally give up.

Whenever the subject of hotels comes up—I'll probably share my experience with the unusable sink.  I can see the story becoming an instant classic with other travelers who will share their own horror stories.  But it underscores a simple and profound message.  People don't just share good experiences—we share bad ones too.  In fact, we're even more inclined to talk about the bad ones.  There's something therapeutic about it.  Experiences are like apples—and it only takes a single bad one to taint the rest of the batch.  Every business wants to be talked about—they just don't want it to be about their unusable sinks.

Comments

[Cam Beck]

I just cracked open Donald Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things." Sounds like this experience of yours would fit well in that book.

[Nathan Gilliatt]

5. Take a picture to illustrate the importance of user experience in your presentations.

[Dave C.]

It was my frustration with the varying usability of hotel shower handles that led me to start photographing each one I come across -- at http://www.43showers.com .

[Dave]

Oh, I've so been there with that sink. I've also yet to find a hotel bathroom that caters for short-sighted wet-shavers; I' nearly always arms length (or more) away from the badly lit mirror, meaning I have trouble actually seeing my face clearly. If I ever find a well designed hotel bathroom I will share the positive experience.

You're right though; in dealing with customers you rarely get messages saying "thanks, what you did was great".

[Dan Schawbel]

Good point here. The issue is that the "unusable sink" will be the first thing mentioned because it provides for a better news story.

[DA]

I took a picture Nathan.

#7 Don't let anything slow you down from getting your thoughts down quickly in a blog post.

:-)

[Chris Wilson]

Here's a question that relates. Is there a time when good aspects of an experience overshadow the bad?

You see this in product design sometimes. Because of its visual appeal, it's lack of features and under-performance is overlooked.

[Mario Vellandi]

Design should make functionality visible to the extent that it's necessary for user cognizance for operation. If we feel somehow frustrated and dumb for not being able to figure it out (as we humans tend to blame ourselves), the design has failed.

[Daria]

I have my hotel frustration with wifi. i can't understand why you have to get some passwords, cards and pay for it extra. it is such a waste of time.

there is still too much bureacracy and too little functionality.

i am staying at the hotel at the moment that us proud of its feng shui design. cool, but it still took me 30 minutes to get access to internet.

[joe Szabo]

Don't feel bad.

Down in Vegas at Caesar's recently I had to call room service to help me figure out how to turn on the shower. Kind of embarrassing, but the customer service rep said they get those calls all the time.

You think they'd get the message...

[DA]

LOL,

Joe, I was *this close to calling downstairs. But in the end, I just didn't have the time. But I really wanted to find out how that damn thing worked!

[chris sandoval]

hotel arts, right?

[dennis]

yep, the sinks are pain in the *ss. but don't go to fast in saying that we are more inclined to share our negative experiences. in fact, recent research has shown that is more likely to be the other way around. in a study we did at InSites, positive motivations to share product experiences are a lot more important that negative ones. when comes to impact of these conversations, that's another story of course :o)