Fix the Watermelon Effect

What good are green IT service level agreements (SLAs) if end-users are unhappy with IT services and support? HappySignals helps you to deliver services that are both green on the inside and out. 

 

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Chat with Sami

Our CEO has spent 8 years of his career to understand the watermelon effect. Book a meeting to hear his thoughts on the topic.

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Look beyond your SLAs to find out what your end users are experiencing

HappySignals Experience Management Platform helps IT organizations get a real-time view of how different IT initiatives impact end-user experience. Certain symptoms are typical when a Watermelon Effect exists.
 

This combination is typical when a Watermelon Effect is present:

  • Key IT metrics look green, implying that everything is going well
  • But end-users are seeing red and talking negatively about IT
  • IT has a bad reputation in the organization, but the IT team doesn't understand why

Exposing this mismatch can seem like a bad idea, but it is, in fact, a good thing. It allows IT teams to stop playing SLA games, focusing on vanity metrics. Transparency around the actual end user experience helps IT focus on helping your end-users. It fosters the feeling in IT teams that they're contributing to making their colleagues – enterprise IT end-users – happier and ultimately more productive.

If you're not familiar with the Watermelon Effect, learn more about it in our article: "The Watermelon Effect of SLAs on ITSM and IT Service Experience".

 

Our customers have been able to improve, on average, end-user happiness by 24% and productivity by 26%. Those improvements come from facing reality and focusing on providing services that make end-users happy.

 

"Experience Data gives us visibility into the Watermelon Effect."
- Nina Remes, Cargotec

 

 

What is in it for you?

Solving the Watermelon Effect starts with facing it

Your teams might be reluctant to begin continuous measurement of experience due to fear of what the data might reveal.

You, as a leader, can use HappySignals as the platform that provides a shared understanding of how IT delivery can improve. Using the same data for all stakeholders creates trust, leading to better alignment and outcomes.

Collaboration starts by agreeing on what the issues are

Service review meetings involve enough complexity as it is. HappySignals provides real-time experience data and intuitive drill-down analytics on the platform, giving a single shared view for all participants – so it is easier for everyone to agree on what to improve based on end-user needs.

One view of experience for all stakeholders

Exposing the watermelon makes your work easier with IT when you no longer have to rely on "experience data" when it measures devices or processes. HappySignals can become the one tool you can use with all stakeholders regardless of their position in the enterprise.

 

One metric that naturally leads to better performance

What gets measured gets done. Agents with a real-time experience feedback loop feel more motivated as they see how they serve people rather than SLAs. HappySignals data makes agents know the value of their work. The positives become much more visible, and factors uncover the real reasons end-users give feedback.  Share success stories to people outside of IT through shared real-time reports or in-office HappySignals live screens.

 

Solving the Watermelon Effect starts with facing it

Your teams might be reluctant to begin continuous measurement of experience due to fear of what the data might reveal.

You, as a leader, can use HappySignals as the platform that provides a shared understanding of how IT delivery can improve. Using the same data for all stakeholders creates trust, leading to better alignment and outcomes.

Collaboration starts by agreeing on what the issues are

Service review meetings involve enough complexity as it is. HappySignals provides real-time experience data and intuitive drill-down analytics on the platform, giving a single shared view for all participants – so it is easier for everyone to agree on what to improve based on end-user needs.

One view of experience for all stakeholders

Exposing the watermelon makes your work easier with IT when you no longer have to rely on "experience data" when it measures devices or processes. HappySignals can become the one tool you can use with all stakeholders regardless of their position in the enterprise.

 

One metric that naturally leads to better performance

What gets measured gets done. Agents with a real-time experience feedback loop feel more motivated as they see how they serve people rather than SLAs. HappySignals data makes agents know the value of their work. The positives become much more visible, and factors uncover the real reasons end-users give feedback.  Share success stories to people outside of IT through shared real-time reports or in-office HappySignals live screens.

 

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From gut feelings to actionable data

Understanding what causes the Watermelon Effect starts with continuous experience data measurement.

Not knowing which IT touch points end-users struggle with doesn't change their perception; it just makes you unaware and unable to do something about it.

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Share the data in meetings and reviews

The worst mistake IT can make is to start measuring experience but not use the data.   

Our research shows that organizations that regularly use HappySignals in stakeholder meetings are more likely to see rapid improvements in end-user experience.  

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Identify root causes of poor experiences

Our IT Experience Management Platform contains Factors from our Global IT Benchmark report, which show the most common reasons for good and bad experiences. 

The Happiness Score data is combined with operational data from your IT service management (ITSM) tool, making it easy to identify and flag the root causes of bad experiences. 

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Celebrate and communicate improvements

It’s gratifying to find improvement areas through experience data, take steps to fix the issues, and see happiness in different IT areas go up.

Fostering a culture that celebrates improvements to end user experience will motivate teams to be more human-centric in their efforts - thus fixing the watermelon effect one IT improvement at a time.  

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One platform, many solutions

Discover other HappySignals solutions for common IT challenges, or see how our Experience Management Platform works.

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Schedule a Meeting with an Expert

 

Fix the Watermelon Effect

 

Does your SLAs look all green on the outside, but you still get the feeling they are not telling you the complete story of the state of your IT? Book a meeting to discuss how to fix the watermelon effect in your IT organization.

You'll learn:

  • What the watermelon effect is and what consequences it has for your business
  • Why SLAs don't tell the full story
  • How experience data and XLAs complement operational data and SLAs to give you the full picture of your IT

 

Schedule a meeting with our CEO, Sami Kallio, to learn more about how to fix the watermelon effect.