OPINION10 March 2021
Auditing sludge: How to reduce friction and boost customer satisfaction
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OPINION10 March 2021
x Sponsored content on Research Live and in Impact magazine is editorially independent.
Find out more about advertising and sponsorship.
‘Sludge', where customers face high levels of friction or are deliberately misled, can be damaging to a business in the long term. Crawford Hollingworth argues a sludge audit could help address the issue.
You’ll have heard of ‘nudge’, and although you might not have heard the term ‘sludge’, you’ll be familiar with what it means in practice. It’s when consumers or businesses face high levels of friction that obstruct their efforts to achieve something that is in their best interest, or are deliberately misled or encouraged to take action that is not in their best interest.
Here are some examples that you’ve probably experienced first hand:
Some are intentional – put in place knowingly to help maximise profits and customer base – but many are unintentional and are simply the result of poor or rushed design or oversight.
The impacts of sludge can be both physical and psychological. Physical impacts include loss of time and money, as well as being saddled with sub-optimal products and services, ...