“Design Meets Research” is an article in published by AIGA, the American Institute of Graphic Arts which discusses the challenges when market research methods are used for validating design decisions.

There is a group of brand consultants and cultural anthropologists alike that believe now that it is not the actual research itself that is the problem. It is rather about how research is often misused, what type of design concepts and stimulus are tested, and how data is analyzed that is most often at fault. When used correctly, research shouldn’t stifle creativity but rather offer designers stronger inspiration and focus.

The authors further explain the advantages and challenges of modern market research methods (ethnography, focus groups, quantitative eye tracking, online testing) and deduce 6 golden rules for market research.

1. Focus on testing communication effectiveness vs. design appeal.
2. When testing, make allowances for familiarity.
3. Market research is an art, not a science.
4. Focus on what consumers like about the brand or product first.
5. More is definitely merrier. Do not test designs in isolation.
6. Never ask consumers how they would improve a design.

Read the full article.

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The article “What Was I Thinking?” in The New Yorker presents the latest reasoning about humans’ irrational ways. The thesis is that people make bad decisions but they do it systematically and therefore it is possible to explain why they act like this. Some of the insights are extracted from the book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Dan Ariely, a professor at M.I.T., offers a taxonomy of financial folly. His approach is empirical rather than historical or theoretical. In pursuit of his research, Ariely has served beer laced with vinegar, left plates full of dollar bills in dorm refrigerators, and asked undergraduates to fill out surveys while masturbating. He claims that his experiments, and others like them, reveal the underlying logic to our illogic. “Our irrational behaviors are neither random nor senseless—they are systematic,” he writes. “We all make the same types of mistakes over and over.” So attached are we to certain kinds of errors, he contends, that we are incapable even of recognizing them as errors.

When you walk into Starbucks, the prices on the board are supposed to have been determined by the supply of, say, Double Chocolaty Frappuccinos, on the one hand, and the demand for them, on the other. But what if the numbers on the board are influencing your sense of what a Double Chocolaty Frappuccino is worth? In that case, price is not being determined by the interplay of supply and demand; price is, in a sense, determining itself.

People aren’t just loss-averse; they are also effort-averse. They hate having to go to the benefits office, pick up a bunch of forms, fill them out, and bring them all the way back. As a consequence, many eligible employees fail to enroll in their companies’ retirement plans, or delay doing so for years. (This is the case, research has shown, even at companies where no employee contribution is required.) Thaler and Sunstein propose putting this sort of inertia to use by inverting the choice that’s presented. Instead of having to make the trip to the benefits office to opt in, employees should have to make that trip only if they want to opt out.

Read the full article.

Why do I blog this? In order to understand the drivers of technology and service adoption it is necessary to have a deep understanding of consumers. Tapping into the field of behavioral economics and consumer behavior can be the basis for extraordinary services and consumer experiences.

Photo courtesy of Anne-Sophie Leens

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Everyone likes to talk about delighting customers and how to create remarkable experiences. Only a few people get actually in a position when they have deliver these experiences. Paul Hemp, a senior editor at Harvard Business Review, stepped into the role of a Waiter at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston and tells the story of his experiences when delivering world’s best service.

So what’s the key to the world-class service at Ritz Carlton?

Empowering employees […] is a sign of the respect with which the company vows to treat them. And employees are expected to treat one another the same way. Yet another Gold Standard is the corporate motto: “We are Ladies and Gentleman serving Ladies and Gentleman. In terms of human dignity, the argument goes, Ritz-Carlton customers and employees are equals. “You are service professionals, not servants,” a video we watch on company values tells us. “If you feel good about yourself, you’ll treat others, including colleagues, well”.

As I leave the hotel and walk across the Boston Common in the gathering dusk, I reflect on what I’ve learned about teaching and motivating employees to provide truly memorable service. On thing seems clear: Great customer service should be based on dynamic principles rather than a rigid formula. […]

For staff to delight customers, managers must do more than grant their employees freedom to do what is necessary, they must motivate employees to exercise that freedom.

Read the full article here or buy reprints here.

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I have an account on Facebook for quite a while now but I actually don’t use it a lot. The main reason for this was that I didn’t get it - I just didn’t understand why I should poke or superpoke someone.

On the other hand I could see the benefit of a huge number of friends (like Robert Scoble, who frequently complained about the limit of 5000 friends) because by “friending” you, they give permission to receive updates from you which can be used as a new communication channels. Nevertheless this reasoning didn’t explain why millions users spend time on Facebook when you are not trying to sell something or spread ideas.

And then I heard the speech from Robin Hunicke at lift08, a researcher at Electronic Arts and suddenly it made sense. When you play computer games like World of Warcraft your fantasy is to be a “warrior who wants to fight in a land of war”. Facebook also helps its users realize a fantasy - the fantasy is “I am a person living a fun life……and I am loved”. And just like in other computer games where you can collect points and stars for for certain activities, in Facebook your score is determined by the number of friends, graffiti, gifts, hugs, laughter, wins and photographs on your Facebook profile. The most important aspect is that everyone of your friends can see whether you are “living a fun life and are being loved”.

How many other applications do you know that make you feel loved?

Watch the speech online:

 

 

Posted in customer insight, idea worth spreading, lift08 | Permalink | 2 Comments »

Jesse James Garrett, Director User Experience Strategy, Adaptive Path published an articles in the Design Management Review in Winter 2006 titled “Customer Loyalty and Elements of User Experience“.

He stresses the importance of emotional bonds for building sustainable relationships and explains the considerations that go into creating great user experiences as a set of five planes along a continuum from abstract to concrete.

The savviest marketing strategies and the most efficient customer service processes won’t deliver loyal customers if those customers don’t have a positive experience with your product.

Download the full report.

Posted in customer experience, customer relationship management | Permalink | No Comments »