Zerrissenheit.

Failure Lingers: a Software Parable

The other day I figured I would order something nice for myself. (Yes, in case you’re wondering, it was something gaming-related.) I had some credit left over from a holiday gift card from Barnes and Noble, so I figured I’d use that up. I’d get my book before my Sunday night D&D game and everything would be swell.

However, a problem arose.

Now, I don’t know what caused this problem. Maybe it was a delayed shipment. Maybe it was a software glitch. What I do know is my book order was delayed an entire month. This wouldn’t be so bad except a friend of mine got the same book from a local Barnes and Noble brick-and-mortar retailer without any problems!

And then I remembered that I had problems ordering from Barnes and Noble a few years ago. Similar story. I ordered a gaming book that was readily available in-town and my order got pushed back several weeks. Remembering this makes me wonder what they’ve done to earn my business. I certainly will be more inclined to shop Amazon from here on out.

While the ship date fluctuated again and my book is on its way, my opinion of the experience is soured. And that’s the problem I see with a lot of endeavors. It’s so easy to take a good experience for granted. When things go wrong, that frustration lingers and poisons your opinion of a product or service. Even though their service has improved considerably, do you equate “Twitter” with “Fail Whale”?

I see this in my own work, and it’s something that sometimes gets in the way of sleep. I’ve been on the receiving end of more than my share of “why isn’t this working as expected?” emails over the years. It’s a point of pride to make well-functioning, well-thought-out software, and when something’s not 100%, I take it as a bit of a personal failing. Crap, I say to myself, I should have thought of that.

topherchris:

YO DAWG I HEARD THAT MEME WAS DEAD.

SO I PUT A FUNERAL IN YO FUNERAL SO YOU CAN MOURN WHILE YOU MOURN.