How to Lose Friends and Alienate People: The High Cost to Business of Poor Information Experiences

Abstract

Every day, businesses are creating information experiences for themselves, their customers and key external stakeholders, which have the potential to promote shared understanding and effective communication, create strong relationships and support the efficient achievement of important business outcomes — or equally, to deliver the exact opposite. In practice, most businesses pay little attention to the information experiences they are creating and are oblivious to the significant negative impacts that result across many different parts of their operations.

Drawing on practical examples from my work as a management consultant specialising in information design, this chapter will provide compelling examples of the poor information experiences that businesses perpetuate, and the significant frustrations, inefficiencies and substantial financial losses that can result for four specific audiences — their customers, staff, leaders and external partners. It will also highlight some of the processes and experiences we have had in creating more effective information experiences by focusing on the needs of the user and applying core principles of information design.

Citation

Jenkins, J. (2014), "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People: The High Cost to Business of Poor Information Experiences", Information Experience: Approaches to Theory and Practice (Library and Information Science, Vol. 9), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 189-202. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1876-056220140000010000