Part 2
Be Here Now
5 Ways to Create Revolutionary Experiences
Read Part 1 of this series here.
The page below was taken from the book Be Here Now by Ram Dass, a man who — while on a spiritual journey — discovered the power of living in the moment. The book was admired by Steve Jobs during his younger years.
Here we are. Here and now. That’s all there is. And if it isn’t beautiful, man… there’s nothing. This moment is all we have. There is no past, no future. There is just the now.
In this age, people interact with brands at various moments over time. These interactions are called touchpoints — as consumers travel about their journey with a brand, they form an authentic relationship that ultimately defines the holistic experience. Every individual interaction, or touchpoint, either adds or subtracts from this holistic experience.
In this ever-connected world, attention is becoming a valuable resource. Brands are constantly fighting to win the attention of consumers. If we only have a moment, how can we really connect with people? We have to make that one moment count.
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed knowing people. Humans interact with brands through many channels, including mobile phones, computers, TV, billboards, social media and through customer service.
Each channel contains multiple touchpoints. For example, a customer might interact with Apple via their mobile website and mobile app — both are touchpoints within the mobile channel. Brands are expected to offer a seamless experience across all touchpoints.
90% of people switch between 4 core devices to accomplish a goal. — Michal Levin, Designing Multi-Device Experiences: An Ecosystem Approach
Let’s turn our gaze to Uber. Although the company has taken a lot of heat for its business practices and for disrupting the industry, it still exists to solve a real need for people. People were fed up with dealing with unpredictable cab services. They also also had no way of rating their experience or providing feedback about negative cab experiences.
Uber provides trustworthy drivers, trackable cabs, pre-paid fare with no cash exchange (including a prepaid tip), fare estimates and no surprises.
It’s very common for a user to switch between multiple devices when using Uber. An individual might hear about Uber from a friend, search for Uber on a laptop, and then order and track an Uber driver on an iPhone.
Throughout this experience, Uber’s visual design and core functionality are consistent across all devices. A key factor of the service’s consistency is that a user can pick up from where they left on their last device — Uber’s context optimized content is available wherever and whenever needed. The company provides a consistent, always available, channel-neutral, context optimized, seamless experience.
By 2020, 85% of customer interactions will be conducted without a human-to-human interaction. -Gartner
As technology continues to advance, an increasing number of brand interactions will be handled by machines. This creates even more opportunities for problems with UX to occur.
“Left unchecked, technology turns people into proxies. That’s why it’s so important that we integrate empathy and compassion into the design process.” -Whitney Hess
Think back to the frustrating experiences we covered in Part 1.
It is vital to utilize our research-lead insights about the people we are designing for to make these robo-human interactions more human friendly. Empathy must be baked into the design of these products, services and experiences, and UX provides us with the tools to do so.
In 1995, The Nielson Norman Group published 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design to improve the experience of human computer interaction. Although these standards helped set the foundation of the User Experience industry and they are a great tool for evaluating experiences, it is apparent that they were written in a different age.
Mobile has completely transformed our world, and with it the holistic brand experience. In order to include omni-channlel experience standards, UX professionals have evolved the standards into a modern set of Heuristics which can be used to evaluate today’s brand experiences.
These standards ensure that each touchpoint in the holistic brand experience is designed to be accessible, delightful, memorable, meaningful, trustworthy and useful for people. Experiences should strive to be successful in all of these categories, keeping the user at the center of the experience. None are more important than the rest. And, in order to deliver a holistic experience, all facets of the experience must be fulfilled.
82% of smartphone users turn to their phone to influence a purchase decision while in a store. — Google
Today’s customer journey is not linear — it occurs at various moments over time. Below is an example of possible touchpoints that a person might interact with when deciding to make a purchase.
In this example, the consumer begins by researching a product on a tablet and then continues researching with his iPhone. While driving, he is reminded of the product and makes a note to continue researching when he returns home. By the time he actually makes the purchase he has interacted with the brand via many different touchpoints. All have influenced his decision.
Studying this customer journey provides us with only a small glimpse into the true brand experience. So, it is neccessary to zoom out even further to see what happens before, during and after the actual purchase or conversion.
The Uber experience is a great example of a holistic brand experience. Every touchpoint displays the brand’s beautiful user interface (UI) elements that offer the same useful features and valuable functionality.
Uber has created a scalable brand identity that can shape-shift based on context.
Half of Millenials ages 18–34 are already using ride sharing services like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar. This is no surprise since studies show that Millennials demand instant gratification. They desire to connect with authentic brands that offer meaningful products and services wherever, whenever and however they want them. Millennials are pushing brands to add mobile offerings, shared services, flexible hours, 24/7 customer support, and on demand social media teams.
Uber has found additional ways to connect with their customers in both meaningful and useful ways. In Toronto, Uber created Uber Safe to help people who have had one too many drinks instantly summon a safe ride home. Uber has also been recognized for providing On-Demand puppies, meals and even weddings.
Uber is expected to hit an annual revenue run rate of $10 billion by the end of 2015. -Quartz
Over the next year, we will see more brands following in Uber’s footsteps to deliver valuable products and services that enhance the lives of people.
When does the consumer discover the brand, product or service? What other touchpoints does he interact with during this time? Is he still engaging with the experience by following on the brand on social media, using word of mouth to tell people about his story, blogging, actively checking the website to see what’s new, or by checking email blasts, etc.? What is the holistic experience?
We have to meet people where they are and create a meaningful connection in the moment.
This is the Part 2 of the series ‘5 Ways to Create Revolutionary Experiences’.
Check back next week on Struck’s Greater Than collection for Part 3, or to read the prologue and Part 1.
