Author: Jurgen Appelo

Many product teams fail to understand the customer experience. For example, if you force me to go on a treasure hunt to find the invoices, you already failed the First CX Test.

It has become a monthly ritual.

Many online tools and platforms waste my valuable time by forcing me to log in and plunge into the Abyss of Agony, deep down into some Admin, Account, Billing, Payments, Whateverthefuck sub-submenu, to retrieve my monthly invoices. With two-factor authentication being a requirement on almost every SaaS tool I use, this can easily cost fifteen to twenty minutes of my time. Why not send me these invoices via email?

I consider this The First Customer Experience (CX) Test.

It is also an excellent example of product teams (and, by extension, their Product Owners or Product Managers) not fully understanding the difference between product versus experience.

Customer Experience

In today’s digital age, customer experience (CX) has become a crucial factor in determining the success of a business. Providing a seamless customer experience can lead to increased customer loyalty, positive reviews, and, ultimately, more sales. If I don’t find an invoice in my mailbox, you’ve already annoyed me before I even started.

As a customer with a business to run, I require two things after paying for an online tool: access to the tool (a login screen) and evidence of payment (the invoice). Vendors are required to offer an invoice to their customers. The invoice is not a nice-to-have feature like “mute a foul-mouthed team member” or “upload a mugshot as a profile picture”. I must have a login screen for my users, and for my bookkeeper, I must have an invoice.

If I don’t find an invoice in my mailbox, you’ve already annoyed me before I even started.

Imagine, after renting a car, the rental car company doesn’t give you the car keys but expects you to search the building as part of a spontaneous treasure hunt. Imagine, after a visit to the doctor, you leave empty-handed, and you need to go online to print the doctor’s prescription (after mandatory identification with your correct birth date, social security number, and body-mass index). Imagine, after paying for a vacation, you are required to go to the local office of the travel agent to receive your original plane ticket. (Oh wait, it did work like that — SEVERAL DECADES AGO.)

Your customers deserve a hassle-free experience when it comes to paying for your products or services. I should not have to go through the trouble of authenticating, logging in, and completing an expedition through the Dark Lair of Account Settings to gain access to a simple document that should have been sent to me immediately after payment.

Playing a Stupid Game

I know exactly which people to blame for wasting my time: Finance departments and Product Teams.

The Finance department knows they are legally required to offer invoices to customers. Unfortunately, they don’t see themselves as a touchpoint in the entire customer experience, which is a mistake. Instead, they delegate invoicing to Product Owners or Product Managers who receive the Finance department’s “request” to make invoices available to customers.

The second mistake, made by Product Teams, is to see invoicing as just another feature, like all the others they have on their backlog. With little empathy and understanding, they “enable” me to travel, at my peril, deep into the stinking underworld of Admin settings. After several minutes of fighting the Evil Witch of Authentication, the Skeletons of Profile Settings, and the Balrog of Billing, I may find my invoices tucked somewhere between the crypts of the Vampires of VAT and the Chimera of Company Registration.

I know exactly which people to blame for wasting my time: Finance departments and Product Teams.

Each month, I am forced to play this stupid game at least a dozen times.

Requirements versus Features

Offering me an invoice is a legal requirement. It is not a feature.

Want to know a nice feature? Instead of sending me the invoice as formatted HTML, it would be nice if you send me a PDF. That makes it much easier for me to simply forward it to the inbox of my bookkeeping software (which only accepts PDFs, not HTML). When I get a formatted HTML, I first have to generate the PDF myself. This is annoying but much preferable over being forced to descend into the Monstrous Caves of Credit Card Charges.

Offering me an invoice is a legal requirement. It is not a feature.

What is another nice feature? I’d appreciate it if you gave me the option to send these PDF invoices to an alternate email address so I don’t have to forward all these bills manually. Instead, they go straight into the accounting software. Now, that’s a great experience! Instead of fighting all kinds of evil, I would be able to spend that time actually using your product.

No Treasure Hunts, Please

If I want a treasure hunt, I will ask for it. Okay?

Please don’t force me to start a search for invoices. I’m happy you don’t tell my users to go and do a search for the login screen after payment. Likewise, don’t tell me (or my bookkeeper) to bring our boots, pick axe, and flashlight to go and search for the invoices either.

You don’t understand my experience as a customer if you don’t send me what you owe me.

It is The First Test of CX. Don’t fail it.

Jurgen

p.s. The unFIX shop is live. It sends you an invoice with a PDF you don’t have to fight for.

p.p.s. This is the reason why the unFIX model suggests you consider an Experience Crew.

p.p.p.s. For a great treasure-hunting game, I recommend Clank! A Deck-Building Adventure.