Toilet Training to Understand Clients

Rick Segal needed a new toilet seat.  He removed the old one and planned to take it to Home Depot so he could find another that fit.  Then he had this though:

On the way over I started thinking about how normal (aka comfortable) it will be to wander around home depot with a toilet seat.  Everybody in the place is there to do something involving the installation or repair of something. Indeed one might think of it as a sign of pride or a badge of honor that I, lowly VC/Bureaucrat, had the macho chops to be DIY in the bathroom business. Oh, yeah.  In fact, to be Joe “I’m bad” Fix-it Stud Muffin, you haul around the whole toilet but that’s for another day.

I was, at the same time, pretty certain that if I walked around the grocery store with a toilet seat, the reaction would not be the same.  I was sure of it, but as a service to my now loyal readership of 20 (thanks to all the cousins out there), I endeavored to prove this theory.

I swung by the grocery store (Sobeys, if you must know), hopped out and proceeded in with my toilet seat.  I dropped it into the basket, wandered around, grabbing a few things, and then headed to the checkout. Stares, looks, snickers from kids, right on cue.

Next, I headed over to the Home Depot and did same. Nothing. Everybody, including the kids with parents, were all busy doing whatever.

So, what’s the point of this bathroom humor?  According to Rick:

Developers of products and services spend way to much time thinking that whatever environment they are in, it’s the same comfort zone as everybody else.  So, the next time you want to remind a developer/designer to remember the target, send em out for a case of soda and a bag of chips while carrying the office toilet seat.  That feeling of being uncomfortable, stared at, etc, is what some people feel like when a software and service isn’t comfortable for them. 

I think he’s absolutely right.  As lawyers, we tend to forget just how uncomfortable our clients are when they meet with us, give a deposition, or go to court.  To remind ourselves just how uncomfortable they feel, perhaps we should take Rick’s toilet seat advice.  Next time you are about to appear with a client for the first time on “just a routine matter” in court, think about how you’d feel standing there in front of the judge with a toilet seat in your hands.  That should come close to approximating your client’s unease and discomfort.