Welcome back. U.K. soccer clubs and the government are trying to find ways to let enthusiastic fans stand up at games without risking injury. Match rolled out another feature that might engage its subscribers—and generate new fees. And companies are still making familiar packaging missteps, but there is a way out of their rut.

The U.K. government is backing a trial of “safe standing” areas, in which new railings separate rows to prevent fans from falling forward, reversing a policy for all-seater stadiums that was introduced in the 1990s, Katie Deighton writes for the Experience Report.

The test, which will begin in January across five soccer stadiums, is a response to fans’ persistent standing in seated sections at games, putting themselves at risk of toppling onto spectators below them. 

In addition to heading off accidents, the U.K.’s test also represents British soccer’s broader strategy to prioritize the fan experience, said Ken Scott, head of inspectorate at the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, the U.K. government’s official adviser on safety at sports grounds.

“Going to football matches in the U.K. 20, 30 years ago wasn’t necessarily a pleasurable experience at many of these places because customer service didn’t really feature highly on the agenda,” he said.

“Now we’re following very much the example of the American spectator experience, looking at things like the Super Bowl and seeing how it’s very much fan-driven.”

The dating app Match is pitching a new premium add-on to its membership: human matchmakers to supplement its usual dating algorithm.

A 50-member team will select two profiles for participating users each week, guided partly by users’ answers to questions such as what a person would change about their dating life, Ann-Marie Alcántara reports. 

Match added the feature because the pandemic has created an urgency for singles looking to find a long-term relationship, said Amarnath Thombre, chief executive of Match Group Americas. “People have had enough time to reflect on what really matters to me, what makes me happy,” Mr. Thombre said.

At a price of $4.99 per week, however, the new feature also expands Match’s list of extra services for members to buy.

Match lets users set up profiles, look at other profiles and chat with the system’s “top picks” for them at no cost, but it charges subscription fees before members can communicate with the full pool of users.

Further optional add-ons include sending unlimited “likes” to other users and the ability to boost one’s profile in other members’ search results.

Companies continue to annoy and alienate their own customers through classic packaging mistakes—plastic shells that are hard to open, resealable packages that won’t reseal, dispensers that clog or leak, and containers that keep you from emptying every last drop.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, Kate Murphy writes for The Wall Street Journal. Avoiding pitfalls requires preparation, foresight and imagination.

To save time and money as launch dates approach, for example, packaging is often tested by technicians in a lab or by company employees in a conference room, rather than by people in real-world situations.

Companies also fail to envision the downstream effects of tweaking an existing product.

The good news is that companies are trying to pay more attention.

“There is a lot more packaging design going on,” said Daniel Johnson, chair of the department of packaging science at the Rochester Institute of Technology.“It’s a great time to be a packaging engineer.”

Chatbots are fine if customers need something simple done, but if the consumer is already angry, a chatbot will make them even angrier. (WSJ) 

Instagram is experimenting with allowing users’ Stories to run a full minute in length, up from the current 15-second limit. (Tubefilter)

Amazon will test interactive fan polls during streams of Thursday Night Football. (Variety) 

Spotify removed the shuffle button from album pages after requests from Adele and other artists. (BBC) 

Hostess Brands named Kimberly Clark's Arist Mastorides as chief customer officer. (Food Business News) 

Google redesigned the web page of its Play Store to look more like a mobile app. (Engadget) 

Apple delayed the roll-out of its digital driver's license and state ID feature. (MacRumors)

The new Mobile Phone Museum recalls an era before phone design became almost entirely black rectangles. (Input)