There are times when posting about a really bad user experience is simply an effort to amuse myself and my friends in usability, and so we can perform the all-important task of acting snotty and superior for a little while. Then there are times when posting about a really bad user experience is to draw attention to something which truly has a terrible and awful effect on the human condition. What I’m about to post is an example of the latter.
So I was calling up Blue Cross / Blue Shield to get pre-authorization for something, when in the middle of the phone tree, there was an option for “If this is a life-threatening emergency, press 1 now.” This is all well and good – an insurance company’s goal is to keep you in good health no matter what the situation, even if it’s only so you can continue to pay your bills – expect for the fact that by the time I reached that option, I had already done the following:
- Listened to several options on the phone that totally did not apply to me, including “Press pound if you are a provider or a non-member”, and “If you’re calling for some other program, the number has changed to this other phone number” – all spoken in a voice that was a tad on the slow side
- Entered my birth date in month month, day day, year year year year format, with those instructions spoken out in detail, followed by the pound sign
- Entered my eight-digit insurance identification number, which is on my insurance card that I had to dig out of my wallet, followed by the pound sign
All told, I reached this option after about two minutes on the phone. I have to say that it felt rather long even calmly sitting in my office – can you imagine if it had really been a life-threatening emergency? And having to wait for that long even after looking up the phone number for the insurance company and dialing it?
I also wonder what would happen if someone actually DID get to that option and select it My hope is that they would immediately be taken to an emergency operator, but I almost wouldn’t be surprised if it just sent you deeper into the phone tree. Repeat after me: “If you have been shot, press 1. If you are being digested by a bear, press 2. If you are on a boat that is sinking, press 3.”
In short, a good general rule of thumb (and this applies for lots of things, not just UX!) is that if your behavior resembles a Monty Python sketch – you’re doing it wrong!
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