Few years back for Diwali my sister and I went out for shopping to buy 300 Earthen Diyas to Kumbharwada! Kumbharwada is famous for pottery items. ‘Kumbhar’ means Potter and ‘Wada’ means area. This is the place where we get the most beautiful Earthen handicrafts.
We went to one of the shops which had simple round earthen diyas in the quantity which we wanted. Since its a street market, we had to squat and choose the lamps from where the potter had displayed them. After only 5 mins of sorting the Diyas we started getting sweaty and a bit annoyed. The old man noticed it and to our surprise, he invited us on the other side of the shop where it was little shady and he had stored his major stock there. He got out his stocked lamps out and said ‘ OK, here you go! Now sit comfortably and sort-out rest of the lamps you need. I know you were getting annoyed over sitting under the sun!’
I looked at the old man, he had Ganji and Dhoti on him. He was very thin stature and his skin was tanned and wrinkly due to working under the sun. Anyone could have guessed that his business was not doing that great regardless of the efforts. Now a days we have moulded, machine made lamps which have detailed and variety of designs. Most of the people prefer those lamps over the simple old fashioned round earthen lamps. Apart from all his struggles, he was being kind to us. Trying to understand our issues. Yes, we were buying from him, but even if he wouldn’t have offered to help, we would have done that anyway. But I do remember the gesture till the day.
I think thats what the basic of UX and CX is about . Being kind to the user, when they are dependant on you makes their experience beautiful!
Simple gestures go a long way.
