Mayday: The Diagram

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Mayday The Diagram
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Things that don't work

• Tech vs. User/ Blaming the User
• Inconsistency
• Delays in service
• Diffusion of responsibility
• Lack of accommodation
• Single points of failure

3
Things that work

• Care
• Consistency
• Committment to communicate
• Periodic feedback about outages
• Easy to use communcation tools
• Responsiveness to requests
• Time of completion estimates
• Alternative reporting routes
• Flexibility

4
Communication Modes

• Face
• Phone
• Voicemail
• Email
• Paper

5
Communication Mode Choice Factors

• Immediacy of reporting
• Immediacy of feedback
• Complexity (gotta be there)
• Sophistication of user
• Emotional load
• Audit trail
• Detailed description
• Asynchronicity

6
Questions?

• John Rodkey
• rodkey_at_westmont.edu
• Documentation and source code available at
• http//homepage.westmont.edu/rodkey/abilene

7
Special Thanks!!!

• To Anne Anderson, programmer, kibbitzer, and
  friend. Without her, Mayday would not be a
  reality.
• To Barry Cunningham, my boss, for letting me
  escape for a week to lovely Abilene.
• To my wife and kids, who put up with me.

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Conclusion

• Good communication tools are required.
• Target optimal communication modes.
• Maintain a flexible attitude toward providing
  service.