While doing some product marketing research about 3 years ago I came across the idea of compliance by design. Instead of creating tasks for your users as part of your product (fill out the activity report at the end of the week) you build the product or process so that there’s no way the user can avoid it. In the activity report example a solution would be sending out all assignments via Salesforce.com and then you could monitor and report on activities without the user having to do anything beyond the job itself.
This can be even more useful in products, having parts that only fit together in the correct configuration, making it impossible to assemble incorrectly. Superior design means no errors during assembly, no expense from failure due to improperly assembled products, and no support costs during assembly or during use of an improperly assembled product.
One reply on “Compliance by Design”
Your Salesforce example is perfect, but also because it reduces friction during purchasing decisions.
We used to ask people to fill out surveys. Then, we’d combine those with census data, etc to to estimate what someone in a given town might be reasonably certain to want to shop for. We’d then buy a 30-second spot on the local TV station and hope our target demographic sees it during The Andy Griffith Show.
Now, companies like Amazon.com, Google, Apple, et al know so much about us… I bet they know what I’ll buy before I do, because they made sure only the dozen most likely candidates ever came to my attention.
Small companies can still play this game. I think it’d be awesome to read your thoughts on how compliance by design can be baked into, say… A distribution center. Or a clothing store.