<story><title>A former Egyptian engineer found the secret to building a big gas-station chain</title><url>https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/station-master-how-an-engineer-from-egypt-built-one-of-the-biggest-gas-station-chains-in-the-northwest/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dmix</author><text>&amp;gt; Even the handles on the gas pumps get buffed down regularly so that “the customer does not put his hand on something dirty,” he says&lt;p&gt;This is what most UX designers do for a living. They think about the small details which get overlooked while everyone is in a rush to build out x feature&amp;#x2F;functionality.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s what creates emotional connections to products and services which builds strong customer loyalty and helps word of mouth.&lt;p&gt;Just like how they used to know your name at your local  small grocery store, those intimate details go a long way. And in commoditized situations people are willing to spend more time&amp;#x2F;money or go out of their way to use your product.&lt;p&gt;Dan Norman talks a lot about this in his &amp;quot;Emotional Design&amp;quot; book. It&amp;#x27;s the design stuff that goes beyond merely functionality and most efficient problem solving (ie, obsessing about fewest clicks to do x, instead of the wider experience where adding a communication step might improve the emotional experience).&lt;p&gt;But often it is a luxury for many smaller firms struggling to just get the functionality part right, which is why this person buying up gas stations, providing time and capital, and giving them the attention they needed is working so well.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>doodliego</author><text>This guy is putting customers first, which is the exact opposite of most UX design philosophies I&amp;#x27;ve been on the receiving end of. The entire discipline prioritizes minimalism, copying Apple, and making random changes to the interface just so they have &amp;quot;accomplished&amp;quot; something, which is how you get randomly broken messes like Youtube.&lt;p&gt;If UX designers made a gas pump, it would be a featureless white pillar with a single button and a hose and it wouldn&amp;#x27;t work.</text></comment>
<story><title>A former Egyptian engineer found the secret to building a big gas-station chain</title><url>https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/station-master-how-an-engineer-from-egypt-built-one-of-the-biggest-gas-station-chains-in-the-northwest/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dmix</author><text>&amp;gt; Even the handles on the gas pumps get buffed down regularly so that “the customer does not put his hand on something dirty,” he says&lt;p&gt;This is what most UX designers do for a living. They think about the small details which get overlooked while everyone is in a rush to build out x feature&amp;#x2F;functionality.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s what creates emotional connections to products and services which builds strong customer loyalty and helps word of mouth.&lt;p&gt;Just like how they used to know your name at your local  small grocery store, those intimate details go a long way. And in commoditized situations people are willing to spend more time&amp;#x2F;money or go out of their way to use your product.&lt;p&gt;Dan Norman talks a lot about this in his &amp;quot;Emotional Design&amp;quot; book. It&amp;#x27;s the design stuff that goes beyond merely functionality and most efficient problem solving (ie, obsessing about fewest clicks to do x, instead of the wider experience where adding a communication step might improve the emotional experience).&lt;p&gt;But often it is a luxury for many smaller firms struggling to just get the functionality part right, which is why this person buying up gas stations, providing time and capital, and giving them the attention they needed is working so well.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cushychicken</author><text>&amp;gt;Just like how they used to know your name at your local small grocery store, those intimate details go a long way. And in commoditized situations people are willing to spend more time&amp;#x2F;money or go out of their way to use your product.&lt;p&gt;Additionally - it also shows how there are things that you never expect that have a positive impact. Suggests to me that there are &lt;i&gt;so many&lt;/i&gt; factors that affect people&amp;#x27;s product choices, and that many of the factors that drive a certain choice are not fully understood by either the buyer or the seller.</text></comment>