Here in Chicago, we have dozens of outdoor concerts and festivals throughout the summer. Tourists love them, but they can be a real pain for those of us who live in downtown. Here are a few reasons why: – You can hear the music (especially bass) from blocks away. – The entire area around the […]

A few weeks ago, Trader Joe’s started selling their own brand of hand sanitizer. I asked the people at the customer service desk about it, and they said a lot of customers had requested hand sanitizer, and that it was selling well so far. In fact, I was one of the people who asked for […]

When people fly into Chicago, it seems like most of them take a taxi from the airport to the city, or rent a car that will probably sit parked at the hotel for their entire trip. Since a cab will run you $30-50 or more and the train is about $3, I’m always baffled by […]

In theory, targeting ads across multiple websites should lead to high conversion rates. For instance, say that someone goes to a hotel site and looks at room prices for a trip they’re considering. Then, they start seeing ads on unrelated websites promoting the same hotel chain, destination and time of year. Would this person be […]

After thinking about the long lines at a nearby tourist attraction, I began to wonder: does the venue have an obligation to take care of those people while they wait to get inside? In other words, is there some rule — written or unwritten — that says they need to provide water on hot days, […]

When I look at products that are sold in liquid form, at least half of them come in opaque bottles or containers. This gives the package designers more freedom, since you’re starting with a clean slate and don’t have to worry about the product itself showing through, or the impact of ambient light that passes […]

The only thing more annoying than getting the same error message over and over again is getting no error message at all. In other words, you’re trying to complete a certain task, everything looks normal, but you don’t get the results you expected. Maybe you click a button and nothing happens, or you send an […]

1. Raise prices. 2. Raise prices and tell customers they’re getting a better value (when they’re not). 3. Raise prices, tell customers they’re getting a better value, and try to twist the truth when they call you on it. Come to think of it, this type of behavior is always a bad idea, no matter […]

Want to piss off your customers in a big way? Just tell them you’re increasing the monthly or annual recurring costs, and that everyone will have to pay the higher prices — including existing customers. 9 times out of 10, companies are smart about this. They grandfather in the increases, thus making long-time customers feel […]

Most of us probably take it for granted that cell phones have a “silent” mode for when we’re in a meeting. Similarly, we’re accustomed to being able to mute the sounds on our computer (or a specific program) when we’re on a call or don’t want to be bothered by chimes and beeps and alerts. […]