This chapter really interested me because I am very intrigued by crisis management and that is pretty much what this chapter goes over. It is a short chapter but it is very concise and easy to read. Reading the first couple pages I asked myself: This seems to be about apologizing after problems happen how does design tie into this concept?

It went on the explain that the best way to handle a problem is to communicate swiftly and honestly about what is going on. That is something we have always learned as future PR practitioners and it is good to reiterate it from time to time. I knew they would eventually bring design into the equation somehow and it gave the example of Flickr. The company had a small crisis when the uploading system got backed up and people couldn’t upload photos they wanted. Well in short Flickr made the problem into a contest where members could win a free year membership of Flickr Pro. It got peoples minds of the website being partially down and it was communicated within a timely manner. This was a very interesting and pretty much brilliant way of handling things the way I see it. It is like a clever distraction while the problem gets solved in the background.

What I took away from the chapter is that things need to be communicated clearly and in a timely manner when there is a crisis. Emotional design is what keeps the customers hooked. A company can have small hick ups but as long as they have engaging design to keep its loyal customers and they respond to the problem appropriately everything will be fine. 

Originally posted at Spenser Hicks's Blog