Have you ever met a customer of the Uber ridesharing service who would go back to using a conventional taxi? Neither have I. While Uber has been praised for its technology, its low-overhead business model and its scalability, I think its biggest competitive advantage is customer experience. Once you’ve ordered up a clear, well-maintained vehicle operated by a courteous driver who doesn’t take cash or scowl at the size of the tip, why would you want to go back to anything else?
Uber is an example of a business that has used technology to remove friction from a distasteful experience. It’s one of many examples of companies that are transforming their markets by making it easier and more pleasant to do business with them.
We usually think of design as something we do to products, but customer experience can be designed as well. In many industries it’s the only thing that differentiates one competitor from another. And these days it’s a front-and-center concern. IBM’s recent C-suite studies have repeatedly found that crafting engaging customer experiences is one of the top three senior executive priorities.
A positive customer experience doesn’t just have to ease pain, as is the case with Uber. There are several approaches you can take to designing a unique experience, depending on your need and the customer’s. Examples include:
Solve your own problem. Capital One is one of several banks that are recasting some branches as coffee shops. These bank are using experience design to attack a structural problem in their industry: People don’t go to bank branches anymore. Worried that electronic banking will lead leads to brand dilution and lower customer loyalty, companies like Capital One are rethinking the branch as a comfortable destination where customers can hang out and perhaps talk about college savings as well.
Save time. Domino’s Pizza is in a business where frequency is king. People don’t want to spend a lot for pizza, so the challenge for fast food companies is to drive repeat business and that means removing friction. Domino’s makes it possible for customers to order by TV, PC, smart watch, phone, Amazon Echo and Ford Synch. Its latest innovation is a mobile app that can place a pizza order automatically. Customers with online profiles merely tap once to open the app. Ten seconds later, their pizza is in the oven. This and other digital initiatives have contributed to a 50-fold increase in Domino’s stock price since 2008.
Become a destination: Jordan’s Furniture is a legend in my home territory of New England. The company shook up the largely undifferentiated retail furniture business by turning its stores into thematic destinations with thrill rides, big-screen movies and immersive fantasy experiences. Jordan’s cooks up stunts, like offering free furniture to customers who bought products during a Red Sox championship season. It doesn’t matter that Jordan’s has some of the highest prices on the market; on a winter weekday its stores are packed with families seeking to get away from the cold and snow. Many buy furniture, too.
Offer peace of mind. L.L. Bean and Land’s End are two examples of companies that accept customer returns at any time for any reason – or for no reason at all. You can send back a pair of pants you’ve worn for years and get a full refund with no questions asked. Few customers ever take advantage of this generous offer, but knowing that the option is there removes one of the biggest impediments to catalog and online purchases.
Customer experience design starts with understanding your customers very well. But don’t ask them to design the experience. Start by asking them what frustrates, inconveniences or annoys them, and look for ways to apply technology to create something better.
Observing them in daily life can help. Customers didn’t tell Procter & Gamble that they needed the Swiffer. Rather, representatives of P&G’s design agency watched customers clean house and noticed that damp paper towels were a frequent part of the process. Today, Swiffer is a half-billion-dollar business. P&G solved a problem customers didn’t even know they had.
Image Credit: Capitol One
