Tech Customer Feedback Session

[clazman]

there was silence ......

 

[TheRealTMA]

there was silence ......

Good to see Qantas' new attention to tech issues take the fore.

 

[clazman]

may be there email went down ....

 

[Red Roo]

Thanks for all the great entries, and also for the feedback received so far.

I'll update the successful members via private message by COB tomorrow.

 

[Simo]

Great Opportunity for a your aspiring IT Guy or Girl to get in front of some QF Geeks and have the opportunity at maybe a position in QF geek world

 

[Ansett]

there was silence ......

Hi clazman.

With respect submissions closed at 4pm do you really expect to have answers from any one so quickly given that the submissions will need to be read and reviewed by perhaps a number of people in order to finalise the participants. I do believe you are being a bit harsh here.

 

[harvyk]

Great Opportunity for a your aspiring IT Guy or Girl to get in front of some QF Geeks and have the opportunity at maybe a position in QF geek world

Strongly disagree, QF don't need aspiring up and comers at this stage, they need experienced IT people whom have experience getting IT systems up and running properly. Once things are running smoothly, then you can get the up and comers to add in the icing so to speak.

This is not to say that the up and comers don’t need their entry into the industry, it’s just building a really good business website takes more than “out of the box thinking” and “new directions”. It requires an understanding of the business, a whole of IT plan, and an understanding of what has worked and more importantly what has not worked in the past. You need to get these basics right, before you start adding the bells and whistles.

One of the big problems I’ve seen is that everything in QF has been “silo’d“. Different teams are all working on different projects, completely independent of any real centralized management, for proof of this just look at the difference between the Qantas website and the Qantas Cash website. A question could even be asked, why are they two different websites? Why not have a single portal which can manage your flights, your FF account and your cash even if they connect to different backend systems. Another question could be asked, why have fares which can only be booked over the phone? Surely the phone should be limited to people whom either don’t want to use the Qantas website, or don’t have internet access at that point in time, or whom want directions for finding things on the website.

Just to give a bit of background on where I’m coming from, I’m the principal software developer for a Canberra based IT company. Many times I’ve been involved / responsible in getting projects away from the brink of an expensive disaster, and finally I have personally employed many people from very junior to very experienced people, and I’ve personally seen the different capabilities which each level brings.

 

[medhead]

I strong disagree about needing IT specialists. That's the last thing they need for a "focus group". Those are the people they should employ to implement the findings from the tech savvy people.

In fact they haven't even asked for IT specialists. They've asked for people who are tech savvy and asked for that to be self defined. Sounds to me like they are looking for ideas not solutions.

Of course, I'm not surprised IT specialists equate that with being tech savvy.

 

[clazman]

Hi Chazman.

With respect submissions closed at 4pm do you really expect to have answers from any one so quickly given that the submissions will need to be read and reviewed by perhaps a number of people in order to finalise the participants. I do believe you are being a bit harsh here.

Who is Chazman?

Just to clarify, my comments were made against the previous posters ... who were waiting / asking if anyone had heard anything......

 

[Pushka]

They just need people who use the booking engine a lot and who experience issues. Then it will be up to the tech people to sort. I agree with medhead - IT people are not the ones needed here but customer experience is.

 

[harvyk]

I strong disagree about needing IT specialists. That's the last thing they need for a "focus group". Those are the people they should employ to implement the findings from the tech savvy people.

In fact they haven't even asked for IT specialists. They've asked for people who are tech savvy and asked for that to be self defined. Sounds to me like they are looking for ideas not solutions.

Of course, I'm not surprised IT specialists equate that with being tech savvy.

I can think of many non IT people whom are tech savvy, so don't assume that us IT people feel that non IT people are not tech savvy.
However there is a difference between a tech savvy person (aka the early adopter whom always has the latest flashy iThing, is the first to sign up to "youface", and always has the "app for that") and a person whom delivers IT on an enterprise level.

In any case, no doubt we'll see the sort of people QF wants when the list of invitees is known (I'm personally betting it's not going to be me, since in my PM I put down what I thought QF needs to hear rather than what's likely to get me an invite)

 

[wandering_fred]

Interesting diversity of opinion. :shock:

Which in itself is an indication of where in the general scheme of things, QF's web site problems originated. Or where the transportation "multi" card issues in the Australian eastern states started. That is, a technical project (especially one involving an IT user interface) will never have an outcome better than its specifications. In that regard, I think most people participating on this site will have seen a nine frame cartoon of a child's swing.

The portal concept requires a consistency of presentation and platform. But should not require the monolithic incorporation of every function into a single "program". I think the current jargon is that it should be layered both on the business objective and the IT implementation levels.

Does the Qantas business team have a good understanding of the business tasks to be implemented along with the business common goals and restrictions? I wonder at times.

In the meanwhile, there are IT issues that could be solved to make the life of the QF customers (and employees) easier when it comes to the web site. However I suspect for the most part, QF IT has implemented the policies they were told to implement.

I spent a fair bit of time in IT while wandering.

Fred

 

[harvyk]

The portal concept requires a consistency of presentation and platform. But should not require the monolithic incorporation of every function into a single "program". I think the current jargon is that it should be layered both on the business objective and the IT implementation levels.

When thinking web application, thinking of them as a "program" in the traditional sense is not the way to do it.


Without getting too technical, using one of the various MVC (model view controller) implementations (eg Microsoft’s) you could virtually have each area (eg bookings / cash) build a “program” for the website to interact with the booking system or the Qantas cash system. (Coincidentally enough, inside MS MVC these are in fact called area’s)

By then creating a well-defined model (best way of thinking about models is something which helps describe data), you could have a team made responsible for all front-end aspects of the website. These guys wouldn’t exactly need to have good knowledge of say the booking system behind it (since they only interact with it via the view), but more importantly, their job is to create a consistent look and feel.

By ensuring that there is a single sign on component of the system for all authentication (aka making sure you are who you say you are), it would mean once you’ve logged in all Qantas systems will know who you are and provide the appropriate level of access.

To go back to the “program” terminology, effectively with every controller / area, you’ve created a “program” which does one thing, and does one thing well. By making a single team responsible for how that information is then displayed it would mean the end user would get a consistent experience regardless of device used. By having a well-defined model, it means that everyone would be talking to everyone else using the exact same language.

Since some people feel that IT people should not be trusted with IT projects I have but one thing to say. You’re sort of right, hard core techies should never be given the role of designing UX (user experience). Typically those guys see nothing wrong with overly complex systems. However there are certainly some UX experts out there whom QF really should be looking at offering a job to (and no, I am not a UX expert looking for a job).

 

[GalaxyNexus]

tI think what experienced IT people, or in this case web app (and maybe mobile) specialists bring to the table is the knowledge of the current best practices. Those are the people who can tell you about "your back button behavior is broken", or "you`re storing recent bookings state wrong", etc. In the ideal world those people should be the ones building the thing, but in case that's not the case, bringing some in to give you tips and ideas would be great.

Been in this industry for a long time, it bothers me when I waste time using sites and apps that could've been better had many of the small things here and there are done properly and can be easily fixed (but not).

Depends on what the aim is for really, if it's for user studies then you need your typical user (e.g. tech savvy, non-IT expert customers). I thought this "Tech feedback session" sounded more technical than that...

 

[moa999]

Anyone had a PM?

 

[Colster]

Thanks for all the great entries, and also for the feedback received so far.

I'll update the successful members via private message by COB tomorrow.

Considering this, do we have any winners? Or is this RR stationed in BKK?

 

[snabbu]

I would love it if they could improve

ii) It would be great if when searching for classic rewards, and didn't find any on a particular day, you could click to move to the day before or after, without starting again. i.e. if nothing suitable on Wed, a single click to move forwards to Thursday

iii) When searching for flights, why do you have to choose the class, why can't just show them all.

Much like BA seem to do seamlessly.

 

[medhead]

I can think of many non IT people whom are tech savvy, so don't assume that us IT people feel that non IT people are not tech savvy.
However there is a difference between a tech savvy person (aka the early adopter whom always has the latest flashy iThing, is the first to sign up to "youface", and always has the "app for that") and a person whom delivers IT on an enterprise level.

Pretty sure I didn't say anything about tech savvy being the same as early adopters.

My earlier post was about the below. Perhaps I misread.
But I'll maintain my view that you don't hold a couple of session for tech savvy people if what you really need is to just go out and hire experienced IT people.

Strongly disagree, QF don't need aspiring up and comers at this stage, they need experienced IT people whom have experience getting IT systems up and running properly. Once things are running smoothly, then you can get the up and comers to add in the icing so to speak.

 

[MrJetset]

Thanks RR.

I got in to Monday, but can't attend.

 

[harvyk]

Has anyone else received an invite?