How to create award winning digital experiences

Sharing tips and busting myths

In the past 12 months the way we work, connect, collaborate, inspire and get stuff done has changed forever. We’ve been forced to move everything online and it has changed the way businesses are able to connect with their teams, communities and especially with their customers. The need for brilliant, engaging digital experiences has blown up. Having had the pleasure of working with some fantastic clients to totally reimagine their digital events and conferences (some of which are award winning) and recently holding a five-day digital festival, Work Reimagined, we thought we’d share some tips and bust some myths on designing and delivering unique, audience-centric digital experiences.

#Myth: There’s no need for change, it will all go back to normal soon

The changing state of work was already happening, the pandemic has simply accelerated it. One thing’s for sure — the future of work is hybrid and we won’t go back to how it was before when everyone was in the office full time. Remote collaboration and communication tools will still have a big part to play in making hybrid working work. The need for connection, cohesion, closeness and the ability to collaborate is growing; remote and hybrid working will become a deliberate choice rather than a necessity, and the time to experiment and define the ways of working that suits individuals and businesses is now.

#Tip: Plan and deliver internal digital experiences with as much consideration as you would an external event

Social interactions on a personal level and connectivity with a business’ purpose can be lost when everyone is working from different places. That’s why having a regular rhythm of well thought out internal meetings and rituals are essential to lifting spirits and helping people feel connected to the business and each other. Last year we used our design thinking approach and some classic Fluxx tools to design a virtual away day for our people. We’re customer centric designers, so in true Fluxx fashion we did our research, gathered intel and created sessions around the needs of our audience and our business objectives. We put a lot of thought and creativity into the experience, making it feel unique from the first interaction to the last. Read some more tips in our article — Fluxxfest2020.

#Myth: You can run a meeting online in the same way you did offline

This is a big no-no. We believe every time we connect with someone through virtual means it should be thought of as a digital experience and focusing on the audience/attendee experience makes all the difference.

We have an ever growing toolbox of technology at our fingertips, each suitable for a different digital experience and a different customer need. There’s so much more to it than presentation slides on a Teams call. Have you tried Around? We’ve been using their ‘room’ function to hang out as a project team and we’ve created a virtual kitchen for people to drop into. Shoutout to Glyn Britton for the recommendation.

#Tip: There are some tried and tested formats, principles and activities you should try

Different meetings and events call for different formats and tools; we should always consider the attendees, the objective of the meeting and how we can get the most out of the experience.

• The roundtable discussion is a good way to get under the skin of a topic. Organic group conversation can be tricky through a screen, but once that group gets into a rhythm it can be really effective. This requires a structure and behind the scenes facilitation that looks really light to the audience — to the point where you hardly notice it’s happening — and allows a steady flow of discussion so the group can have a truly meaningful conversation. Come along to one of our Fluxx Exchange roundtable discussions to see how it works.
• The working session — need to get some stuff done and collaborate online? Consider a focussed meeting using a digital collaboration tool — Miro, the online whiteboard, is our go to tool. You can collaborate, share ideas and have a brilliant working session virtually (if you need help with Miro shout and we’d be happy to help!).
• The stand up — a brilliant daily ritual to keep teams connected. Get together for a short stand-up meeting to update on progress and blockers, or even just to check in and talk about the weather. Consider taking Zoom/Teams on the go and have a walking stand up — good for mind, body and soul!
• The ritual meeting — You can recreate those spontaneous office corridor chats with online ‘roulette-style’ coffee meetings — at Fluxx we do this every week. Fluxxers come along and we use Zoom’s breakout function to pair people up randomly to chat about anything they wish!
• The festival — creating a moment to come together as a business to reflect, connect and set up with a clear business purpose and some social and team interaction works wonders. If you want to know more, here’s that Fluxxfest2020 article again and more on the virtual five-day festival Work:Reimagined we kicked off 2021 with. We’re currently designing a digital festival for a business with 77,500 employees, stay tuned for more on this!

#Myth: You can’t connect with your customers, intermediaries and suppliers remotely

Yes you absolutely can. We’ve been helping our clients do this before and throughout the pandemic.

We developed a webinar series to inform and engage a broker community in a time of uncertainty — it had brilliant feedback from the community and picked up Best Webinar Series at the Health Insurance and Protection Awards. We’ve reinvented the sales conference format for a digital setting, bringing together a 180 strong global team for the first time. And we’ve connected teams spread across APAC, AMESA and European time zones for 3 days of digital collaboration.

#Tip: Testing testing 123

There is one essential role for smooth a digital experience— the tech support. Key principle? We shouldn’t be trying to host an online meeting and manage the tech at the same time. Having someone to cover the ‘tech support’ on an online meeting will improve the experience — it’s a simple addition with an invaluable effect.

What’s the role? Tech support should monitor the audience, mute any accidental background noise, check the chat, open up the breakout rooms. Think Tracey from Handforth Parish Council but a little more diplomatic. Even having someone to play background music can have a brilliant effect on the atmosphere.

If you’d like to chat about our myths and tips and how we can help design a brilliant digital experience, drop me a line at annabel.staib@fluxx.uk.com.

Annabel is a consultant at Fluxx, a company that uses experiments to understand customers, helping clients to build better products. We work with The Economist, Mars, Bupa, Condé Nast, National Grid, BEIS, Severn Trent Water and others. Check out these links for more info.