Packaging is Important

Don't get so focused on your product that you forget the total user experience. You may have a powerful and usable product, but if the packaging poisons the user's initial experience with it, it affects her overall impression of the product and your company.

In comment on a previous entry, I wrote:

Dell seems to have a pretty good metrics-oriented approach to improving their overall customer experience. With stopwatch in hand, they visit customers and observe as they unpack, set up, and begin using a new Dell computer. I imagine they include customer support calls in their observations.

Formulate holistic requirements and tests that encompass the entire user experience. That way you ensure things like packaging don't turn off your customers.

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