Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The Customer Long Walk

We are en route to Vancouver via Toronto airport. As we deplane we are guided towards passport control and customs. My daughter really needs the bathroom. We walk and walk. There is no bathroom. There is one tantalisingly close behind the glass but we are not allowed that way. So we walk fast, my daughter and I, then we run. She is desperate. Finally we see the sign as we reach the passport control area. A relief for all concerned.

Whoever designed this airport obviously did not have small children of their own. Not that I hold this against him or her, but some user experience testing should have shown that little girls often need to go to the bathroom upon deplaning.

And that's why we test our websites - for every eventuality.

2 comments:

  1. You are probably right about airport design but as a parent didn't you think about just waiting another couple of minutes on the plane and have her go to the bathroom on the plane?

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  2. Good idea, wish I'd thought of it at the time! Guess I thought going to the bathroom in a stationary 'plane wasn't allowed for some reason. I can put this down to growing up in the UK when you were asked not to use the facilities while the train was standing still and especially not in a station...

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