As the saying goes, to get to the other side. She was anything but a chicken and in a wheel chair. I was in my car at the stoplight with a bird’s eye view. As she was just about to get to the other side of the street, her face turned into a frown and she started shaking her head. It was at that point that I could see the source of her dismay – no wheelchair ramp to get onto the sidewalk. This street was incredibly busy and narrow. She sped up the street trying to get to the next block before the light released a wave of cars that would quickly engulf her. Luckily she made it without incident, probably because she had a motorized wheelchair.
The city is very focused on meeting the needs of pedestrian traffic, so it was surprising that there was no ramp at this particular intersection. It got me to thinking about how well business does at understanding and meeting the needs of its customers. There were very well marked crosswalks meant to move people safely across a busy intersection, but one critical element was missing that puts a group of people in danger. While most business cases are not this extreme in terms of not meeting the needs of customers, it is a good reminder to think about how people use products and services.