Magic Moments for Customers
Every product focused company aspires to create a delightful customer experience. Creating a delightful experience is more important than ever in a world where differentiation through just application of technology, process and cost-based optimization is hard to achieve and sustain.
Magic moments have become a way to think about how to elevate the experience for a customer and make the experience memorable, share-worthy and fun.
We should think deeply about creating a delightful experience each time and focus on those magic moments for a customer which create affinity and preference.
How do you create these moments?
Creativity and surprise are definitely the most commonly employed tools to manufacture these magic moments. A lot of products have successfully created magical first time experiences. Companies want to present the customer value and deliver it as soon as possible and package it as best as possible.
…… What next?
While the first time magic moment definitely works, there are some things to keep in mind. As customers experience similar magic moments with other competitive products your well crafted magic moment may not be as magical anymore, it’s now baseline expectation for this customer. As the product gains adoption the later adopters have a higher chance of being aware of the first time experience which dilutes the first time magic moment for them.
But before you feel discouraged, why stop at building magic into the first time experience, every successful product is built on repeat usage and customers coming back so shouldn’t the focus be on building magic into repeat usage?
The key — repeat magic moments
It is basic human nature that we all gradually take even the most magical of things for granted and over time lose the appreciation we once had. As an example, try to recollect the first few days of using a smartphone and the first time experiences with today, now it just seems routine and expected.
This shifted expectation level creates a challenge for any product team on how they can make the experience delightful each time or well enough times even as a customer uses the product over a long time repeatedly.
So as we design our products and experiences we should focus on creating aha moments into every possible interaction. This is easier said than done, but one book that really helped me with establishing a framework and method to ideate is the “THE POWER OF MOMENTS” by Chip and Dan Heath. I won’t go into too much detail but elevating experiences, adding pride, developing insight and connections are the kind of key to most memorable moments in people’s life and a good way to think about building a magic moment, but if you wanted to takeaway something it’d be this…
Keep the customer’s state of mind in your mind as you think about product design with a north star towards creating magic moments.
