Jan Carlzon, former chief executive of the SAS Group, coined the phrase "moments of truth" to describe the interactions that an airline employee has with a customer, and the detrimental effect these can have on how that customer perceives the company and whether their expectations have been met. Although still highly relevant today, these moments of truth are no longer confined to the contact between an organisation and its customers. They are now spread far and wide, from the way employees interact with customers to the usability and quality of a product. All of this is integral to creating a strong user experience, or UX.
Know your audience
At the heart of any user experience is the user. Users determine the success of an organisation, but how can a business make sure that each and every customer is satisfied with the experience they are receiving, when all customers have different needs, wants and expectations?
The starting point is research: finding out what customers want, and how many customers want a similar thing. Segmenting a customer base and categorising individuals into groups with similar requirements can highlight what type of experience is expected. Take a budget airline as an example. A customer may simply want a cheap seat on a plane to their chosen destination with minimal fuss, while another may want a specific seat, or to be on the earliest flight, or may require travel insurance or a hotel. A well-designed user experience accommodates these different needs, allowing choices to be included or set aside so that each customer can move smoothly through the process.
User experience is not simply about the usability of a product, service or website; it goes much deeper. Consideration must be given to how a user feels during an entire process. Some customers may be frustrated by being presented with multiple options, whereas others appreciate being reminded that their choices require specific travel services. Both experiences are possible outcomes from exactly the same customer journey, and they represent the customers' expectations, opinions and emotional attachment. An organisation must stick to its overall business proposition and offer a user experience that matches this to stand any chance of maintaining a UX that is true to the brand.
From purchasing a cheap airline ticket online to the functionality of a smartphone, every step, transaction, communication, function and design is part of the UX process. This can become complex for an organisation to control, and from a consumer's perspective we quickly take some elements for granted. Unlocking a phone with a thumbprint, for example, once seemed futuristic, yet it has become second nature and ergonomically more attractive: a key feature that is now commonplace in the UX of a smartphone.
What is your strategy
For UX to be successful, it is not just the end user that must be taken into consideration. Internally, there must be synchronisation and an understanding of the main organisational objectives. Without this, creating an experience with real value becomes increasingly difficult, because experience is complex and ever-changing, shifting alongside attitudes, opinions and developments in technology. The larger and more complex a business is, or intends to be, the more important it becomes to ensure that every department and every individual understands and is working towards a UX that fits the brand and its ethos.
Two organisations that highlight this well
The online retailer. Imagine an online store without reviews, without a one-click checkout, without recommended products or an email system that tells you when your product will be delivered or is out for delivery, and without a clear returns policy. The experience would be poor. A retailer such as Amazon is almost tailored to individual requirements, but this is only possible where employees work together and understand what makes an excellent online shopping experience. A web developer must work in line with the design department, who in turn must be in sync with the distribution team, who must work with sales and returns, all of which is unseen by the customer but vital to producing the UX an organisation requires.
The service business. When operating in the service industry, the experience a customer has can be even more central to an organisation's success. A hotel is rarely the cheapest option, but it is precisely because of the quality of their UX. Everything from the basic expectations, such as the cleanliness of rooms and a shower that works, through to the elements that set a hotel apart, such as a loyalty scheme, ease of use, friendliness of staff and the promptness of dealing with any request, contributes to the whole. These details are often turned into benefits when everyone in the organisation works together, from front-of-house staff and housekeeping to the sales team and administration.
These examples show only some of the possibilities, and much depends on consideration, budget and time. Regardless of this, a customer's experience can still be classed as excellent when the focus is on what people want rather than on anecdotal evidence. A useful checklist for assessing a user experience asks: is it useful, is it usable, is it desirable, is it findable, is it accessible, and is it credible?
The challenge of the information age
Much of what has been discussed focuses on what can be managed and changed from within to make a UX the best it can be, but there are elements that remain uncontrollable regardless of how good a strategy is. We live in a society where everything is content and content is everything. It is easy to find out anything today, and this can be both a help and a hindrance where UX is concerned.
Although advances in technology have introduced elements into a UX strategy that were never previously possible, it is the sheer volume of information readily available that can do more harm than good. Consumer perception can be altered without any direct interaction with an organisation, product or service. Take a review site, for example: when looking for a place to stay, a consumer may well want to see what others have to say about a particular establishment. Depending on their own UX, this opinion could be positive or negative, changing how another consumer may feel. The issue is that one consumer may have very different expectations to another, so feelings can be swayed by what has been written by someone whose standards may never be known, in turn shaping another person's UX either positively or negatively. If there is one lesson from the digital age, it is that not everything you read is true. For any organisation that relies on a solid UX to survive, that reality cannot be ignored.
The whole truth about moments of truth
Jan Carlzon was right: organisations need to consider every moment of truth, those interactions between employees and customers that can influence how an organisation and what it offers are perceived, and that can even prove detrimental to its survival. User experience goes further still. It is not just a single moment and not just a single truth; it is all-encompassing, stretching over every part of an organisation and its stakeholders, and taking into consideration the emotional, tangible and experiential expectations individual consumers have or expect to have. As the well-known saying goes, you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time. With a solid UX, however, an organisation can give it a very good attempt.
How Professional Academy Supports Your Journey
Understanding user experience is an increasingly important part of a well-rounded digital marketing skill set. If you would like to improve your digital marketing skills, a CIM marketing qualification that includes digital strategy is an excellent next step. To discuss which qualification is right for you, the qualification advice team is on hand to help.
Find out more about CIM marketing qualifications or speak directly with the team.
