NFL Coach's Microsoft Surface Frustration Shows Why Listening To Users Is Critical
Submitted by Kyle Alspach on
(NOTE: This story was originally posted to CRN.com Oct. 20.)
How critical is it for a solution provider to listen to user feedback after deploying technology? If the user were New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, you may learn a lot after his experience with Microsoft Surface tablets.
Belichick said he's no longer using Surface during games. The NFL and Microsoft won't discuss what they're going to do about it. But solution providers told CRN the incident underscores the importance of listening to user feedback after deploying technology solutions.
"From my perspective as a solution provider, it's extremely important ... that I have those conversations with the actual users," said Douglas Grosfield, the founder and CEO of Five Nines IT Solutions, a Kitchener, Ontario-based strategic service provider. "Let them beat up [the technology]. They'll find holes, they'll tell you, and that'll only lead to a better end user experience."
Belichick, the NFL's longest-tenured coach with the most playoff wins in the game's history, has frequently aired his frustrations about the technology that culminated with his comments Tuesday—in which he said he "just can't take it anymore" and is now "done with the tablets."
In January, Belichick said that issues with using the Surface were a "pretty common problem" and that "there's really nothing you can do." The comments followed a Surface outage—which the NFL attributed to network issues—during the Patriots' AFC Championship game against the Denver Broncos.
Earlier this month, Belichick was caught on camera throwing his Surface after appearing to become frustrated while swiping on the tablet.
Belichick's agitation was able to escalate to the point of making statements against the technology to reporters this week.
With the high visibility of Belichick as a Surface user, "how could [Microsoft] ignore something like that?" Grosfield said.
