When Technology is Meaningful

Happy New Year everyone!

It's been nearly a month since my last post, and I apologize for the delay. In just a few days we'll start our new semester, with our recently upgraded ILS. This upgrade opens up several possibilities for us. In a general sense, those whose time was occupied by planning for the upgrade will now have time to work on ILS-based service improvements and in a more specific sense, the upgrade offers several new features we may choose to implement--cool things like text message notices.

Thinking about these potential new features and services has me thinking about the ways we use technology. Over the Christmas break I drove to Massachusetts to see my family. Driving 5 hours is hardly a technological innovation, but it gave me a chance to experience my latest favorite technology: EZ Pass.

For those of you who don't know, EZ Pass is a device which allows drivers to merely slow down at toll booths and have any tolls owed posted to an account linked to a credit card. I love EZ Pass, and as I was driving 5 hours in silence, my spouse and child both sleeping, I had a lot of time to reflect on why. EZ Pass is a technology which meets my needs perfectly. It's like it was designed for me. Here's why:

• My family is in a different state, always at least one toll-road away, and we visit often
  
• I'm a super disorganized person when it comes to cash, and frequently have absolutely none
• I have a kid who, although a great car-tripper, is two, so speed in transit is essential
• I'm a bit of a cheapskate, and EZ Pass gives discounts on tolls
• I get a big kick out of "getting a head start" on others, and EZ Pass often lets me blow by dozens of other drivers waiting to pay their tolls.

So, on so many levels I love EZ Pass. I love it so much that a couple of years ago I gave it to my dad as a birthday gift--I pay his tolls (see above comment about being a cheapskate--I admit my dad rarely has tolls and when he does he's probably driving to visit me). It's a technology that improves the quality of my life and that of my family.

When I think about offering new technologies in Access Services, I try to think about what we could offer that would be as meaningful to our users as EZ Pass is to me. What services have we recently rolled out that are this type of success for certain user groups? What services could we plan that would delight our users?