Experience Blueprint

The background?

Pine & Gilmore heralded the dawn of the Experience Economy in 1999
Traditional sources of differentiation are eroding while customers are more empowered Organisations recognise the need to compete on the basis of customer experience the internal and subjective response customers have to any direct or indirect contact with a company - Harvard Business Review

The background?

Today, most customer experiences are chaotic and haphazard

Carefully crafted customer experiences lead to:
customer retention increased market share strengthened brand equity greater customer advocacy

Customer experience cannot be left to chanceit must be systematically planned and delivered.
The Experience Blueprint you wouldnt construct a building without a blueprint and neither should you construct an experience without one.

What is the Experience Blueprint?

An evolution of User Centred Design

About the overall customer experience (i.e. more than web) Means we are ideas people and not just problem solvers Firmly at the front end of redesign (does not put us in competition with agencies)

The Experience Blueprint incorporates:

1.Innovative user research methods

2.Co-creation techniques and workshops 3.Visualisation and storytelling

THE PROCESS

find.
Innovative user research methods aimed at obtaining real insight on consumer needs, attitudes, behaviours and trends

form.
Idea generation techniques to find meaning in the data. A co-creation process used to explore options and define value to customers behaviours and trends

focus.
Communication of the recrafted customer experience using pioneering visualisation and storytelling methods

find
Build a rich and meaningful picture of the customer:
traits, behaviours, needs, attitudes, habits, motivations, values, aspirations and trends

Customary research methods but also more novel approaches Both qualitative and quantitative in nature Research undertaken is dictated by industry type, pre-existing research, brand, and customer touchpoints Thorough but realistic This stage is all about curiosity

form
Takes the research and generates ideas from it
Multidisciplinary teams

True iterative development of ideas

Intensive workshoping using co-creation methods

Includes predictive analytics for business cases

This stage is all about ideas

Co-Creation

the direct and active involvement of customers in the design of products and services
pioneered in product development by P&G made prominent by The Future of Competition (CK Prahalad) part of the wider open source movement

participatory design / scenario design on speed

form
Co-creation workshop (1) Co-creation workshop (2)

Experience maps (Creation)

Experience maps (Revision)

focus
About communicating the customer experience
Using visualisation and storytelling methods
Infographics Role plays Comic strips

Will involve outside skills initially In architecture, a blueprint is the foundation for a successful, sound and safe structure
The Experience Blueprint will be a set of deliverables made up of various components

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I could do with a new shirt for work.

Searching & browsing
Influencing factors: - Catalogue imagery - Desire to try it on - Proximity to store - Experience of brand clothing fit - Return and delivery policy - When the product is needed by

Purchasing

Catalogue

Oh thats nice.

Ill pop into the store on my way to work and try it on.

Influencing factors: - Signposting to changing room - Length of queue

Influencing factors: - Length of queue - Behaviour of shop assistants - Other customer behaviour

Store

Now where is it?

That fits well.

Influencing factors: - Knowledge of item (name/item no.) - Store layout and signposting - Shop assistant knowledge

Top in stock?
NO

YES

Website

Oh well, I will look at it again online at work.

Cant be bothered, Ill look online.

Influencing factors: - Checkout process design - Registration required

Decision to buy?
Now what was it called. NO

YES

2 days later

Summary:
NPS: 40-55 Profitability Score: 4 Personas: Ian, Angela

Influencing factors: - Finding the item (usability) - Imagery on product page - Stock availability and price - Delivery details - Returns policy - Contact information Dont use that site it is really hard to find anything. Cant be bothered to register.

find . form . focus

Ethnography
Quantitative Qualitative

What it is: Ethnography is a method used to capture information about behaviour in the context of peoples real world environments. It can be used to obtain unarticulated needs, motivations, and drivers to develop innovative designs. Ethnography is an effective user research method because it gives insights into the elements that constitute an overall customer experience. It brings to the surface significant insights that can otherwise remain hidden using other research methods. It is also useful in helping to map and explain the relationships between the elements of the whole customer experience. When to use: Most effective used at the beginning of a project. The essence of ethnography is that it makes no assumptions about research findings and is a purely exploratory exercise.

Lab

Field

Attitudinal

Behavioural

Ethnography gets to the heart of human behaviour uncovering insights that are simply not possible using other conventional research approaches.

find . form . focus

Heuristic review
Quantitative Qualitative

What it is: A heuristic review is conducted by experienced evaluators (typically 3) who examine a design and judge its compliance against a set of established principles. The result of the analysis is a list of issues/ problems. The goal of heuristic evaluation is to find issues/problems early in the design concept so that improvements can be made as part of the iterative design process. When to use: This method is quick and relatively inexpensive. It can be used to identify major issues early on in the design cycle. Specifically, heuristic reviews can be used as part of requirements gathering and to evaluate competitors in the market place.

Lab

Field

Attitudinal

Behavioural

Experienced evaluators examine and judge designs in order to identify major problem areas best used

early on in the design cycle

find . form . focus

Face-to-face interviews
Quantitative Qualitative

What it is: The process of asking questions is at the heart of most research methods and face-to-face interviews is one of the most frequently used methods for seeking in-depth information from an individual. One of the more personal forms of research, it involves an interviewer talking to an individual in order to understand their behaviour, motivations and views. Depending on the research objectives, the interview style can vary from asking a set list of questions to having free flowing conversation. One of the benefits is that it provides an opportunity for the interviewer to probe the individual in order to get a thorough understanding. When to use: Can be used throughout a project in order to understand the views and opinions of individual people. Through conducting a series of interviews, trends and patterns in behaviour and attitudes can be identified.

Lab

Field

Attitudinal

Behavioural

Speaking to people about their motivations, attitudes and behaviours. Provides an opportunity to probe and question to get an in-depth insight.

find . form . focus

Telephone surveys
Quantitative Qualitative

What it is: Telephone surveys are a means of following up and surveying customers after an experience. It involves carefully selecting a sample or by generating randomly so as to reduce bias. Can be integrated with CATI (computer assisted telephone interviewing). Its more expensive than web surveying but the advantage is that its possible to engage in a dialogue with the customer. Emotion is therefore more easily assessed while clarification and expansion of responses is possible. When to use: Best used soon after the experience so that the experience is fresh in the mind of the customer. Its useful to supplement online surveys with telephone surveys in order to delve deeper into perceptions and attitudes.

Lab

Field

Attitudinal

Behavioural

Used primarily as a follow up research technique to understand customer opinions after the fact reaching a wider population than the internet population.

find . form . focus

Co-creation
The evolution of the user centred approach to experience design. Borrowing from the open source movement inviting customers into the design process results in differentiated and market ready

What it is: co-creation is a relatively novel but proven approach to experience design that borrows heavily from the open source movement. Customers play an integral role in the design process and act as experts of his / her own experience. Customers are invited into design workshops and act as advocates for their brethren other customers offering opinions of what would work and what would not. The central idea behind co-creation is that with customers ever present it is possible to explore, discard or develop ideas very quickly.

When to use: used early in the design process co-creation can have positive, long range consequences. Following initial primary research intensive, iterative workshops should be conducted using visual stimuli as aids.

experiences.

find . form . focus

Parallel thinking
A constructive thinking workshop technique which, because it involves building successively on ideas, leads to breakthrough insights that may otherwise have been undiscovered.

What it is: This is the opposite to adversarial thinking in that rather than taking opposing positions participants support the same view to explore all sides of an idea. Confrontation is replaced by a co-operation exploration of the issue and thus energy is expended on developing the ideas through to their conclusions often into new realms of insight. When to use: best used in workshops involving small groups with a narrow set of ideas. The ideas should be moved forward one thought at a time in a sequential pattern.

find . form . focus

Priority matrix
A constructive thinking workshop technique which, because it involves building successively on ideas, leads to breakthrough insights that may otherwise have been undiscovered.

What it is: a charting technique to visualise the discrepancy between those elements of an experience deemed important to customers and those the business performs well in delivering. The data for a priority matrix should be based on customer research and internal measures. It often makes plain where the organisation has misaligned activities and customer needs as expressed by the customers themselves. When to use: typically used after the research has been collected and most often used in workshops to convey the scope of a problem and its scale.

find . form . focus

Critical incident technique

Identifying human behaviours that have an impact on the outcome of an experience either positively or negatively. Can focus a design on the key touch points that impact the overall experience.

What it is: Critical incident technique can be used for collecting direct observations of human behaviour that have a significant contribution to the outcome of an activity or experience, whether it be positive or negative. Critical incidents can be gathered in various ways, but people are typically asked to identify specific incidents which they experienced personally and which had an important effect on the final outcome. The emphasis is on incidents rather than vague opinions.

When to use: Typically used fairly early on in the design cycle in order to identify the key touch points that impact the overall experience.

find . form . focus

PEST analysis
An external analysis tool used to describe the macroenvironmental factors that an organisation must take into consideration valuable in determining market positioning and direction of customer strategy.

What it is: PEST stands for political, economic, social and technological factors that should be considered in any assessment of customer experience strategy. While the number of these factors is virtually unlimited the firm must identify and concern itself with those that are a priority for the industry. The value is in knowing how these factors may influence future strategy so that decisions can be taken at a future time in full knowledge of consequences. When to use: best used early in the design process to determine overall strategy particular with reference to positioning vis a vis competitors. Workshops with customers can validate the pest analysis for more confidence.

find . form . focus

Discrete choice
Discrete choice is a very effective means of establishing quickly and cost effectively which attributes of the customer experience are more important relatively than others in the mind of the customer.

What it is: Discrete choice analysis encompasses a variety of experimental design techniques, data collection procedures, and statistical procedures which can be used to predict the choices that consumers will make between alternatives. These techniques apply when consumers have the ability to choose between distinct (discrete) courses of action. When to use: most effective when used in later stages of the idea generation process after different design alternatives have been put forward. Forcing the customer to choose between different scenarios allows you to understand where the customer priorities lie.

find . form . focus

Comic strips
Comic strips aid in the design process by communicating complicated concepts to non-technical audiences using a familiar medium enabling quicker understanding and buy-in.

What it is: Most people are visually oriented and using the familiar medium of comic strips to convey information is unsurprisingly very effective. Comics are effective not only because they are essentially narrative, but also because they are unpretentious, easy to follow, and accessible. Whereas a functional specification document uses words and often tech speak to communicate functionality, comics use pictures and interactions to get ideas across

When to use: can be used to communicate various interaction scenarios in a visual way during customer workshops. Allowing customers to modify the comics in line with needs means that scenarios can be quickly evolved.

find . form . focus

Mental modelling
Mapping out peoples attitudes, motivations and thought processes, within the context in which they are developed. These insights can inform both tactical and strategic design decisions.

What it is: A mental model is an explanation of someones thought process for how something works in the real world. It is based on the belief that good design depends on empathy and understanding what a person wants to get done rather than just studying how a person uses something. Mental models can be developed through an understanding of peoples philosophies, motivations, attitudes and thought processes which can be gathered by using a range of methods, such as interviews or observations. What it is: Mental models can inform both tactical and strategic design decisions, from informing a current design to providing a roadmap to guide future design decisions.

find . form . focus

Storyboarding
A visual story telling technique that can be used to evaluate ideas as well as to communicate them. Often used to bring to life different customer journeys.

What it is: Storyboarding is a technique which can be used to test and evaluate ideas, as well as communicate them to others. Typically, storyboards comprise of a set of frames that illustrate a sequence of events, for example a customer journey. Storyboards can be used as a way of describing the users everyday activities as well as the potential design impact they will have. Even when created very quickly, storyboards can convey a wealth of information, showing a particular order of events in an interesting easy-to-understand way.

When to use: Storyboards can be used at many points during a design cycle. From stimulating a focused discussion in a co-creation workshop to providing the necessary detail to enable designers to understand complex processes.

find . form . focus

Role plays
Acting out a scenario or experience in order to identify key touch points and stimulate idea generation makes the abstract scenario much more realistic.

What it is: Role playing can be used in a workshop format where people act out a scenario or experience. The role play may be based on an actual experiences or alternatively people may be asked to improvise or assume the role/characteristics of a previously developed persona. Role playing can create discussion points for the workshop, highlight key touch points and stimulating idea generation. When to use: Often used in a workshop/co-creation exercise, where the group are invited to take part in the role play.

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Personas
Fictional but realistic character sketches based on segments of the target audience that exhibit common characteristics. Can instil a customer focus throughout the design cycle.

What it is: Personas are fictional - but realistic - character sketches based on segments of the target audience that exhibit common characteristics. They are created using knowledge drawn from previous research, for example interviews and surveys that have been carried out with actual people. Each is given a name, face, and key characteristics as this helps to make the persona real in creating real-life scenarios. However, personas are not set in stone, they change and evolve over time to reflect any upto-data. When to use: Personas can be used throughout the design cycle: They can build a shared understanding, can help generate ideas and can aid proposition development. The creation of personas can inform the focus for storyboarding, journey mapping and the creation of mental models.

What will the Experience Blueprint do?

Reveal what the current customer experience looks like Where there are customer issues Where there are inefficiencies
How the channels contribute to the overall experience consistency Identify which key points can transform the experience Create a vision for the customer experience to be delivered Set customer experience targets (using the FAI team) Establish where and how investments should be made targeting limited resources for maximum impact

What does it mean for you:

More varied and, hopefully more interesting, projects

Working in multidisciplinary teams Big ticket projects
e.g. find: 100k, form: 100K, focus: 80k

Carve out a unique position in the marketplace

Much more strategic company positioning

Thank You!