There are a lot of metrics out there we can use to gauge how positive a user experience is. We can look at “time on site” to see how long someone uses a web site. We can look at “return visits” to see how many times someone returns to a web site.
Here’s a simpler but just as interesting metric you might try to measure:
How long does it take for a new visitor/customer to be delighted using your product or service?
This sounds like a silly thing to do, but let’s consider why this might be valuable. The faster you can delight someone the faster you build your relationship with them and the more momentum you have for them continuing that relationship with you. If you aren’t delighting people early, the less likely they are to continue on with you.
Here are a few things you might measure:
- Time to positive feedback - How long until someone gives you a thumbs up?
- Time to smile - If you interact with people face-to-face, how long does it take for someone to smile at you?
- Time to share - If you have a sharing feature, are people using it? Or, are they sharing it with social media or word-of-mouth?
- Time to create & save - How long until someone saves something that you let them create?
These are just some ideas. Your product or service will probably have unique delightful opportunities. Look for those moments when people become happy…not just how often they use or how much time they spend.
As our work becomes more about emotion and less about usability, time to delight might become a metric that has real meaning. The faster we can delight someone the first time, the faster we can re-delight them a second time.
