RunningAHEAD - Topic: Total Customer Experience

eric :)

posted: 6/23/2006 at 11:36 AM
modified: 6/23/2006 at 11:37 AM

I used to work for a small company, until EMC bought it back in March. During the orientation/assimilation process, they pointed out to us that EMC has a lot of abbreviations and we only needed to know two. One of them is "TCE" and I had forgotten about the other one. So much for being a good worker bee. TCE stands for "Total Customer Experience". It represents EMC's general attitude toward customers; that we should do everything we can to ensure their satisfaction. While my budget for this site is not even a rounding error of EMC's postage costs, I still need to treat the site as a business, and you as my customers. As I add more features to the site, I neglected some other areas. Starting with the update that added avatars, I tried to rectify the situation. One of the areas I failed to improve is the online help. Although I tried to make everything intuitive, I'm sure it's still not as obvious to some users. Some of the pages used to have question marks in blue circles next to certain data fields. When you hover over one, a little help box appears. The main disadvantage of this type of help is that their location may not be ideal, or they might interfere with the text and controls in the area. They are also somewhat unsightly. On the forum preferences page, you may notice that certain words are underlined with a dotted line. When you hover your cursor over it, the cursor changes to contain a question mark, and a tooltip style box appears with an explanation of the underlined text. I borrowed the idea from Google map's API documentation. I find it less obtrusive, as well as localizing the help. Now you know exactly what the help is for, instead of guessing it by its proximity to other text in the area. The plan is to add this type of help to every page on the site. Another idea for user hints that I played with also appeared in the forum options page. Instead of telling the users that they have exceeded the maximum character limit when they save the page, the character count will be displayed next to the text box. I do like the way it looks and works, so I'll be adding it to other text boxes on the site. Writing web pages and being a webmaster are still relatively new for me. I intend to smooth out the rough edges on the site to reach that supposed TCE. If you have suggestions on how to make this site easier to use, or how to make it look more professional, I would love to hear them. eric Smile

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 6/23/2006 at 11:48 AM

You rock! That is all. Smile

k

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

Trent

Good Bad & The Monkey

posted: 6/23/2006 at 12:47 PM
modified: 6/23/2006 at 12:47 PM

Quote from eric :) on 6/23/2006 at 11:36 AM:

Writing web pages and being a webmaster are still relatively new for me.

It does not show! You have a great site! Awesome work!!! T

I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.

Poor baby

Wingz

Professional Noob

posted: 6/23/2006 at 2:38 PM

Quote from eric :) on 6/23/2006 at 11:36 AM:

During the orientation/assimilation process, they pointed out to us that EMC has a lot of abbreviations and we only needed to know two. One of them is "TCE" and I had forgotten about the other one. So much for being a good worker bee.

Perhaps it was ILM? "Information Lifecycle Management?" Heh heh heh. Or maybe it was what "EMC" stood for...

Quote from eric :) on 6/23/2006 at 11:36 AM:

Writing web pages and being a webmaster are still relatively new for me. I intend to smooth out the rough edges on the site to reach that supposed TCE. If you have suggestions on how to make this site easier to use, or how to make it look more professional, I would love to hear them.

Well, I agree with Trent - I had no idea this was new for you. What a great learning project! If you're going for "TCE" I have one more suggestion for you. You know how on the top of the forums pages you have something like Forums>Administration>Behind the Scenes>Total Customer Experience and clicking on them allows you to navagate the forums pretty easily? Can you put that at the bottom of the page too? Sometimes a thread gets pretty long and my poor little mouse finger gets tired scrolling all the way to the top of the page to navigate... (Pity party, anyone?) Smile

Janell

Roads were made for journeys...

aes

posted: 6/24/2006 at 5:30 PM

Seriously Eric, I've become addicted to this webpage. I love everything you do to it!! You're great!

Cyberic

posted: 11/4/2012 at 7:36 AM

I am new to RunningAhead.com. Created my account last night and uploaded my Timex Global Trainer .pwx files a few minutes ago. I have a TrainingPeaks account which I have been using for the last few months. In less than an hour I can already say that RunningAhead.com is more "customer oriented" than TrainingPeaks.

I'm going to use both sites for the next days/weeks but I thought I would tell you my first impression already as it is quite positive.

EatDrinkRunWoman

posted: 12/1/2012 at 8:03 PM

eric -- I'm one of the RWOL refugees and wanted to pop in to say I LOVE this site! Can't believe it's taken me this long to come aboard. (I already know a bunch of people on the forum, after all). I wasn't using the RWOL training log -- just the forum -- but had been content with the basic Garmin Connect site. Yours blows it away, and it was incredibly easy to upload all of this year's workouts. Thank you thank you thank you!

spaniel

Feeling the growl again

posted: 12/1/2012 at 8:13 PM

Now that this pops back up....

I got a good chuckle on another thread earlier today eric when you said you "finally got around" to something....the original post asking the question was 2 WHOLE DAYS old.

Frankly I've never seen such a responsive site owner....anywhere on the internet. I spent a fair number of years in Marketing before I escaped to another business function....trust me, you've got a good bead on the TCE.

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

eddiemoto

Samurai in Training

posted: 12/7/2012 at 8:51 AM

I live and breathe TCE and I'm willing to bet the other was TCO. Working in the Corporate world we have abused, raped and beaten these terms, their meanings and have put hundreds of measures around TCE. The only measures I have ever really felt matter are...

1. Do the customers still come to you for advise and direction. (They still trust you)

2. Do they smile when talking to you. (They have faith in you)

In your case, you are doing excellent in both!

MrFinn

Prince of Fatness

posted: 12/7/2012 at 9:05 AM

If you folks are really happy with the site don't be afraid to donate. It's under options, subscription plan.

Thanks for bumping this thread. It's been a while since I donated so I just went in and made another.

Not at it at all.

Ennay

A Saucy Wench

posted: 12/7/2012 at 9:26 AM
modified: 12/7/2012 at 9:26 AM

Quote from eddiemoto on 12/7/2012 at 8:51 AM:

2. Do they smile when talking to you. (They have faith in you)

Well I give him a hug when ever I see him, so I guess that counts Smile

rrrr. I tried to donate and paypal got hung up again. I need to remember to try again.

I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

EatDrinkRunWoman

posted: 12/7/2012 at 9:47 AM

Quote from MrFinn on 12/7/2012 at 9:05 AM:

If you folks are really happy with the site don't be afraid to donate. It's under options, subscription plan.

Done!

DDXD

Slower than I look

posted: 12/7/2012 at 9:47 AM

Just wanted to say that as a new user (only a few weeks here), the single biggest reason I have decided to make this my running home and main log is my perception of the way you treat your users. You have clearly attracted some extremley knowledgeable and well spoken runners who share their knowledge freely. I have learned more lurking around this site in the last few weeks then I ever came close to on "other" more obnoxious sites.

As to the running log, I figured out how to use most of the functions within 10 minutes without looking for a help option. I would call that pretty intuitive. The log is pretty basic but I actually love that. This is running, plain and simple.

I'm going through some tough financial times but I plan on purchasing a subscription as soon as I get back on my feet. In the mean time I'll click on any of the minimalist adds that interest me. Thanks for providing such a great service.

Total Customer Experience (Read 3776 times)