Module 5 - Customer Journeys and Experience Overview In the Age of the Customer, the experience and the journey they following during the engagement with the organisation is of utmost importance. Understand the customer and their interactions provides an organisation with the ability to design efficient and effective ways to communicate and interact with the customer. After completing this module, one should be able to identify and understand the different channels and methods customers interact with an organisation, different methods of user interface and engagement as well as developing comprehensive journey maps. Module Objectives This module addresses the following objectives 1. Understanding of Omni Channel and Multi Channel 2. User interface design and the importance of channel 3. Introduction to service design 4. Understand customer experience maps 5. Customer journey vs business process The Business Model Canvas which was introduced in Module 3 to validate and outline the business model. Module 5 focusses on customer journeys and experience along that journey. Figure 1 – Business Model Canvas Adapted: DIYToolKit (2016) Looking at the Business Model Canvas it is easy to identify that the Customer Journey or interaction and experience with an organisation will happen when a specific Customer Segment accesses the products and services to gain value through a Customer Relationship via a Distribution Channel. Organisations may have multi channels to deliver products and services. In module 3 we introduced the concept of a value chain. This value chain is the set of activities which provide value to a customer. This value is delivered through a sequence of activities. To realise this value in the value chain the customer needs to interact with the organisation. Depending on the organisation these activities may be delivered by a single or multiple channels. Customers could start their experience or journey with your company through one channel and complete the transaction at a different stage of the value chain in another channel. Reading Selected Reading 5.1 Picot-Coupey, K, Huré, E & Piveteau, L 2016, 'Channel design to enrich customers’ shopping experiences: Synchronizing clicks with bricks in an omni-channel perspective – the Direct Optic case', International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 336-68. Read the entire article. The article discusses the challenges of integrating all the different channels to provide and enhanced customer experience. Organisations which have a focus on the customer should be aware of how integrated or dis-integrated their channels are as this directly impacts the experience of the customer. Most organisation struggle with integrating the digital world and the physical world. Organisation providing “Click and Collect” as a way to purchase online but come into a physical store to collect the merchandise is an excellent example of channel integration. Figure 27 below highlights a case study on the issues and challenges which are faced when moving from a multi-channel to an omni-channel strategy. This transition can take some time and requires significant planning. Figure 2 – Evolution of challenges Source: Picot-Coupey, K, Huré, E & Piveteau, L (2016) Assignment Exercise Use your business model canvas you developed for the organisation you selected. Identify the different channels which are required to service the customer segments. Map which customer segments may use which channels. Reading Selected Reading 5.2 Evans, H 2016, Experience Architecture: Testing the limits of Design Thinking, [Web], FromHereOn, USA, . Read the section on Experience Architecture, page 12 – 16. The article discusses the concept that three gaps exist: 1. Brand and customer experience promise gap 2. Brand and employee experience promise gap 3. Internal and external services and the business capabilities highlighting the execution gap The promise gap, Figure 29, is key to ensuring that organisations promises to the market are delivering on creating trust and loyalty. With regards to the promise gap and employees, employees need to believe the promises made are kept. This affects the way in which they behave, the culture and ultimately the service they deliver to the customer. The execution gaps stem from when an organisations capabilities do not exist or are not mature enough to deliver a service to either an internal or external customer. Figure 3 – Promise Gap Source: Evans, H (2016) Customer Journey Every time a customer interacts with an organisation they have an experience. Depending on the experience these can be positive, neutral or negative giving the customer an impression of the organisation. If this impression does not match what was promised, then a gap exists. Figure 4 – Customer journey value chain and channels Source: Martin (2015) The figure 30 above outlines a customer journey / interaction with a fictitious company who has a product centric value chain. From the figure it can be seen as the customer progresses through the process to purchase a product they interact with many different channels. Depending on how integrated these channels are will depend on how the customer rates the experience. If the customer needs to re-capture information and explain information multiple times through the process this could prove to be an issue which in the worst case could make the customer abandon the process entirely resulting in a loss of revenue. As the customer progresses through this process the organisation is investing more resources (people, process and technology) to support the customer through the process hoping it will eventually result in a positive outcome. Assignment Exercise Use your business model canvas you developed and develop a basic customer journey map as described above. Overlay the value proposition which is outlined in your business model canvas and identify by which channels this value proposition will be delivered. Personas Reading Selected Reading 5.3 Nielsen, L 2013, Personas user-focused design, Human-computer interaction series ;, Springer, London Read the introduction. Selected Reading 5.4 Personas, 2016, U.S. Department of Health & Human Serv, viewed Oct 31, . Read the entire web page. Personas are ways which you can visualise your customers or users. By developing personas you represent the behavior and characteristics of a group of customers. These personas are best developed / synthesized from interviews and data collected from actual customers or users. These personas have been historically used to by web development teams to understand customer or user requirements. However, expanding this technique allows one to further describe the customer segments outlined in the business model canvas. Personas can also be derived from external sources by data providers. Market segmentation is a method of grouping the population based on demographic data usually used for targeted marketing. Although useful this is not as insightful as data obtained and analysed from actual customer behavior, needs and interviews. Human Centered Design Reading Selected Reading 5.6 Meroni, A 2011, Design for services, Gower, Burlington VT, Read Section 2.1 Human-centred Design and Design for Experience Selected Reading 5.6 Goodwin, K 2009, Designing for the digital age how to create human- centered products and services Read Chapter 11 Human-centered design and design for experience focuses on developing experiences from the context of the user. The concept of this is to start with the people you are designing for and end with a solution that is tailored for their needs. Goodwin, K (2009) identifies a nine step process on how to develop personas. • Step 1. Divide Interviewees by Role, if Appropriate • Step 2. Identify Behavioral and Demographic Variables • Step 3. Map Interviewees to Variables • Step 4. Identify Patterns • Step 5. Define Goals • Step 6. Clarify Distinctions and Add Detail • Step 7. Fill in other Persona Types as Needed • Step 8. Group and Prioritize User Personas • Step 9. Develop the Narrative and other Communication Personas can be used for internal and external customers / users. Overtime you will create a set of personas which can be reused across multiple projects. Figure 30 below introduces an empathy map. This map is used to identify the customers perspective on the initiative. When developing the persona (face in the middle of the empathy map) it is important to give the persona real details (name, age, demographic information) so that people can relate. Similar to Module 1, Travis D (2016) with the diffusion of innovation. Figure 5 – Customer Empathy Map Source: xplane (2016) Assignment Exercise Use the information you have on your organisation, application and stakeholders. Develop a set of personas to convey the different customers of the application and their perspective. Remember to name the personas and give then some details. Module Review Questions 1. How does human-centered design differ from the traditional product centric design business model? 2. How can interface design influence customer journey maps? 3. What it the difference between customer and employee experience? 4. How does the employee and customer experience interact with the organisation capabilities and processes? Module Review Questions Responses 1. How does human-centered design differ from the traditional product centric design business model? a. Human-centered design focusses on the customer perspective rather than a product perspective. 2. How can interface design influence customer journey maps? a. Building interfaces disparate interfaces across different channels reduces the customers experience. A good interface design will provide consistency, transparency and the ability to move seamlessly across different channels. 3. What it the difference between customer and employee experience? a. Both are customers to ICT. The functionality differs. Customer experience needs to fulfill a need or desire; employee experience needs to fulfill a function. 4. How does the employee and customer experience interact with the organisation capabilities and processes? a. Capabilities are the organisations ability to deliver on a need or desire for a customer. Processes are the way in which capabilities are combined to deliver the service or product. Module Summary Module 5 introduces you to the concept of the customer journey and experience. This is an emerging discipline within the industry. Developing and implementing solutions focused on personas increase the customer experience. The required experience can change by channel, value proposition and customer segment. Understanding the need for customers to have a consistent experience across multiple channels is core to ensuring consistent customer experiences. Moving from a product centric solution development to a human or design centric solution development model is a fundamental change for many organisations. References Personas, 2016, U.S. Department of Health & Human Serv, viewed Oct 31, . Evans, H 2016, Experience Architecture: Testing the limits of Design Thinking, [Web], FromHereOn, USA, . Goodwin, K 2009, Designing for the digital age how to create human-centered products and services, Wiley Pub, Indianapolis Ind, . Meroni, A 2011, Design for services, Design for social responsibility, Gower, Burlington VT, http://ezproxy.usq.edu.au/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/unisouthernqld/Doc?id=10478323 >. Nielsen, L 2013, Personas user-focused design, Human-computer interaction series ;, Springer, London, http://ezproxy.usq.edu.au/login?url=http://library.books24x7.com/library.asp?^B&bookid=54139 >. Picot-Coupey, K, Huré, E & Piveteau, L 2016, 'Channel design to enrich customers’ shopping experiences: Synchronizing clicks with bricks in an omni-channel perspective – the Direct Optic case', International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 336-68. Xplane 2016, Empathy Map, viewed 11/10/2016,