in: Bash; Bash > 2009-06-09;
| # Posted 2009-06-09 19:55:50 | |
| urthbuoy: | It is the land of the Pirate Party after all. |
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| # Posted 2009-06-10 02:07:39 | |
| Bash: | I noticed that, and I'm having a hard time imagining what a Swedish pirate would look like! Do they carry a compass instead of a dagger?
Turns out credit cards are screwed up in Canada too. I phoned Visa to advise them of my upcoming charges in Sweden, but I failed their identity test, i.e. the set of questions they ask to confirm that I am me. The sticking point was the phone number on the account, which she claimed had a Toronto area code and did not match the one I'd given her, i.e. the only phone number that has ever been on that card. She cheerfully advised me that the phone number had been changed 6 days ago, and no, she couldn't tell me what the new phone number was, because I was clearly not the real Barb. But I needn't worry, because they would only have changed the phone number for someone who *had* proven they were the real Barb. So now I was really worried - convinced that my card had been compromised - but she was totally happy and ready to let me go. After some moderate freaking out on my part, she consulted the fraud department, who determined that their new computer system had randomly "assigned" me a new phone number, but in the depths of their records, they discovered my real phone number, so now they were willing to let me charge Swedish Kronors after all. I told the agent that if their new system was randomly assigning phone numbers to accounts and preventing people from proving their identity, then she could have a long week ahead of her. She didn't get my point and assured me that all was well, so I just wished her, "Good luck with that new system of yours." |
| # Posted 2009-06-10 02:10:06 | |
| urthbuoy: | I share the same angst with "systems". "So, who was that designed for?" I often ask, to a blank face. |
| # Posted 2009-06-10 02:18:43 | |
| Bash: | In my corporate life, I did that kind of work for years - sitting on the boundary between business people and techies, trying to design specs for systems that would meet real customer and business needs. It's amazing how many systems are *not* designed for that. One of the reasons is that both techies and management often think they know more than the customers or staff who will actually use the system. |
| # Posted 2009-06-10 02:28:31 | |
| urthbuoy: | You ever read the book by these guys? - http://www.ideo.com/
Brilliant stuff. |
| # Posted 2009-06-10 03:58:26 | |
| Bash: | No, but I read the Harvard Biz review article, and it sounds like good stuff. I used to teach courses in business process re-engineering, and some of the principles of design thinking are the same. (But the new name is catchier!) It makes so much sense - but "good sense" isn't always what people want. Change is scary. |
| # Posted 2009-07-03 17:09:07 | |
| bubo: | It is the land of the Pirate Party after all.
... yo ho ho and a bottle of akvavit ;) ... |
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