Value Is Customer Experience, Not Customer Expectation
Author: Jurgen Appelo
The biggest mistake that agilists make is to misunderstand the meaning of value. Thanks to 22 years of Agile, many teams have got better at turning requests into deliveries, increasing the speed of deployments, and releasing as often as possible. But users don't care about agility; they care about value. And value is experience, not expectation.
Three cabins in the jungle
Value is experience, not expectation.
On our way to the jungle of Suriname, I appreciated the little snack we received for our trip. But during our one-flight with a small Cessna 208, flying at a low altitude, not a single passenger cared about the cake. Everyone was looking out the window and taking pictures of the endless forest passing underneath. Apparently, shortly before our flight, a catering team had delivered fresh cakes to the airline. But an Experience Crew might have noticed the difficulty of taking good pictures through the airplane's dirty windows. I think no customer has ever asked the airline to clean the window panes. But our experience was the rolling green hills of the jungle, not a timely delivery of the cakes.
Flying over the jungle in a Cessna 208
On our first day in the jungle, we hiked for two hours to get a glimpse of life in a rainforest. As expected, our guide talked about trees, plants, and animals and some of the strange customs of the natives. I hoped for some sightings of pumas, jaguars, tapirs, sloths, or anacondas, but instead, we spotted caymans, otters, agoutis, capibaras, and various kinds of macaws. We were not disappointed, as they call them wild animals for a reason. But during dinner in the evening, an employee of the resort showed us some personal photos of the jaguars, pumas, and tapirs that she'd seen on the job. I think an experience-focused crew could collect the best animal sightings of all guests and share them with a public photo album. This would undoubtedly have added to our excitement about the animals we could have been spotting.
Hopping around the jungle
On our second day in the jungle, while kayaking on the river, we were suddenly treated to a rather heavy rain shower. This came as no surprise as the jungle is a rainforest, and climate change has led to increased showers. Not surprisingly, the resort team had waterproof ponchos and umbrellas available because customers asked, and thus they delivered. But, as we found out peddling in our kayak, a more adventurous solution than a plastic poncho (which is rather hot and inconvenient in a jungle) was to act like the natives, take our "civilized" clothes off, and continue the kayak trip in just our underwear while enjoying the tropical downpour on our naked, sun-tanned skin. An Experience Crew could have known about this practical option and given us a waterproof bag to keep our clothes dry.
Kayaking in the jungle
On our third day in the jungle, the guides took us on a boat ride and a hike to a beautiful waterfall where a large cayman was sitting on a big stone slab. While we submerged ourselves and splashed each other in the torrents of the cascade, the cayman kept watch and barely moved an inch. The guides told us the animal had been sitting there almost every day for over ten years. In my opinion, this should be plenty of time for an experience-focused crew to figure out how close people might get without disturbing the cayman. No customer dared ask to get a bit closer, but I'm sure it was on everyone's mind.
Cayman in the jungle
Twice per day in the jungle, the resort team made a large canister of pour-over coffee. It was only slightly better drinkable than the other option: Nescafe with warm water and milk powder that we had to use the rest of the day. If they listened to entitled customers like me, they might have attempted to fly in an espresso machine to make real lattes and cappuccinos. But why would they? We came to the jungle for the jungle experience! And that means: instant coffee. From now on, every time I encounter a cup of a lukewarm Nespresso mixture, I will fondly remember our days in the wilderness of Suriname.
Main lodge in the jungle
Finally, on our short trip back from the jungle, I was pleasantly surprised to be allowed to sit next to the pilot on a tiny Cessna 206 plane. An already wonderful trip ended with an incredible experience I will never forget. And I was okay with the aircraft being slower than any other flight I had ever been on because a better user experience is not always about getting everything faster.
Flying over the jungle in a Cessna 206
A better user experience is not always about getting everything faster.
Customers have many expectations, and, for sure, it's essential to try and meet part of them, but not all. Customer value is in the experiences, which are often different from the expectations. Don't mistake agility for giving customers what they want, faster and more often. Sometimes, that's the opposite of a memorable experience.
Me in the jungle
Jurgen
p.s. The food that the cooks served us each night was amazing. The roti on the second day was the best I ever had. That was an unexpected but memorable jungle experience too.
