[Happy Birthday to me! Heck, what's the point of authoring a blog if you can't send yourself wishes?]

I'm following up on Bob's post today with the unanswered question, "When does an experience end?" My answer: when you're done. The problem is some companies end an experience based on some parameter other than what the reasonable expectations might be for a customer (or other relationship). Let's consider a few common ones:

• The end of 'scope' for a particular initiative

• The end of budget for a particular project

• The end of attention/patience of a manager responsible for implementing a service

• etc...etc...etc.

So I have a question for Target: what was the reason you stopped short of this particular scenario? Don't get me wrong. Target is one of our favorite companies for paying attention to design...just not particularly to interactions (hmmm, and now that I think about it...I have a cherished colleague that's a designer there...maybe I need to ask him this question). So this isn't about pointing a finger -- this is truly about, what are the reasons experience designs fall short?

Scenario

• My weeks of late have been beyond hectic (thus, not covering for Bob when he was gone -- I barely had time to talk to myself, let alone do blog posts).

• I have an important wedding shower to go to later this week.

• I learned that the bride-to-be is registered at Target.

• I go to Target.com.

• Fabulous: quick access to the gift registry.

• Easy access to her registry via her name.

• I spin through her list and my attention is drawn to some items listed with "free shipping".

• I find that I can order two of the items in the list and still be within my budget (that makes me look good).

• The order can be shipped directly to the bride-to-be without me knowing her address or Target having to tell me what it is (tremendous).

• I get a confirmation on the screen and a nice html email.

• This is all great! But I am sorely disappointed...

What happened? Target didn't finish the scenario. I wasn't just buying a gift. I was buying a gift for a shower. I still have to go to the shower. I will be going without the gifts. I will bring a card...but what can I put into the card? Target did not offer me (the template for which would be next to nothing to design and could be reused repeatedly) a simple printout that listed the pictures of the items, with their titles that I could include in my card to announce my soon-to-arrive gift! A simple solution would have sealed the deal on my otherwise 'exceeded' expectations. Instead, my expectations were exceeded all the way to the end...and one simple action turned my experience into a disappointment (I now have to take the time to create my own 'gift announcement' -- like I have time for that...).

I don't offer this to 'complain' about my situation. I offer this as an example of just how minor the big things are. Somehow, real world examples are better at illustrating the points we're trying to make than us talking about them endlessly.

So...for one rule of thumb, the experience ends when the scenario is over (satisfied) -- not at the end of the scope, the budget, or the patience of the manager.