Sohrab Vossoughi, Founder and President of ZIBA Design, writes in BusinessWeek that "It’s all About About Experience".

Many businesses understand that being "new" or "different" is no longer a differentiator. Countless companies are elbowing their way to the top with designs that are also "feature-rich" or "patent pending." Innovation in product design has lost its meaning and, therefore, its value.

There is still one frontier that remains wide open: experience innovation. This is the only type of business innovation that is not imitable, nor can it be commoditized, because it is born from the specific needs and desires of your customers and is a unique expression of your company’s DNA. Yet the design of an experience is often overlooked in the rush to market.

Read the full article here.

via [Putting People First]

Posted in customer experience | Permalink | 3 Comments »

In May 2007 Microsoft introduced the concept of “Surface Computing” (see article here) and it has become pretty quiet since then regarding the first installations of this system. Speculations have been that the first installations will be in restaurants, hotels, retail locations or casino resorts but until today no announcements have been made.

Todd Bishop of The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports today that AT&T will be the first company to introduce the Microsoft Surface concept in selected stores and allow customers to experience and learn about latest mobile phones through interactive applications.

The big U.S. wireless provider says its retail customers will be able to place specific mobile phones on Surface’s 30-inch screen to learn about features, accessories and rate plans. They also will be able to compare two phones at a time, and use their hands to navigate a high-tech wireless coverage map.

It will be interesting to see how customers will be using this device and how the shopping experience will change. The big question will be whether it will be an actual support off the customer in his shopping ties or whether it will be merely a “toy” that is fun to play with but not delivering any additional value to the customer.

AT&T wasn’t among the original customers announced by Microsoft, and it initially won’t be tapping the full promise of the Surface machines. For example, customers won’t be able to finish their mobile-phone purchases on the tabletop computer. Microsoft’s prototype applications were more complex — showing, for example, how people could drag digital icons across the tabletop to order food and later split the bill at a restaurant.

“This to me is a fairly limited usage of the device. It’s not all that exciting in some ways,” said analyst Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates. “But they (Microsoft) know that they’re late. They’re very conscious of time slipping away, so if somebody has an application ready to go, it’s like, ‘Fine, let’s go with it.’.”

On the other hand it will be important to see the larger rollout of this technology because it will definitely reduce prizes for installations like this and pave the way for broader use in other environments.

Read the full story here.

Posted in customer experience, technology | Permalink | No Comments »

One company that is frequently mentioned as a best practice example for great customer experiences is the Hard Rock Hotels and Cafes Chain. In order to design remarkable customer experiences the metaphor of staging service experiences is commonly used. The story about John Resnick, the vibe manager at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, is a perfect example of a company that focuses on staging remarkable experiences.

Q: Let’s start at the beginning: What, exactly, is a vibe manager?

A: The hardest part about my job is describing what I do — and I get asked about it all the time. My job is to create experiences for our guests both musical and cultural that really keep them begging for more, so they know they’re at a Hard Rock [and] not a Holiday Inn. I’m in charge of all the music at the hotel. Literally all the playlists that we make, the thousands of songs in our music library, the energy level in the hotel, and a whole sense of music, from the lobby to the spa to Mary Jane’s [café] to the gym. I can also offer DJ lessons. If a group comes in for their annual meeting, it can be a popular thing [to see] the CEO spinning tables. That’s a meeting that you never forget. [My job] all comes down to the experience.

Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal.

Posted in customer experience | Permalink | No Comments »

Bruce Nussbaum, who is responsible for coverage of design and innovation at BusinessWeek, recommended in May 2007 that Cerberus, the company that acquired Chrysler, should not just focus on cutting costs but use its long tradition of design to reshape the company.

I have some advice for the private equity firm Cerberus that appears likely to buy Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler—don’t just cut costs, the way you always do and then flip the company back out to the public. Instead, use Chrysler’s deep tradition of design and innovation to reshape the company into a 21st century consumer-driven, adaptable and cool auto giant.

It seems that Cerberus and Chrysler are not just focusing on cost-cutting but are indeed focusing on design and customer experience. AdvertisingAge reports that Chrysler hired Peter Arnell as its chief innovation officer. At least he has some history with Chrysler, even though he is probably not proud of that.

That the man who’s won raves for reworking Pepsi cans and bottles and conjuring a fashionable fire extinguisher for Home Depot is taking on a C-level design role at Chrysler opens a new chapter in Mr. Arnell’s rags-to-riches, fat-to-slim, celebrity-drenched biography. But rather than look at it as a chance to make good at the automaker that let his agency go in the aftermath of a 2003 ad campaign starring Celine Dion, he insists the post is about solidifying his reputation in a community that maybe hasn’t taken him as seriously as he’d like.

David Kiley of BusinessWeek’s BrandBlog sees the whole story from a different perspective.

The presence of Arnell in such key areas as product planning and design tells me that CEO Nardelli doesn’t yet have his arms around the auto business. If he has issues with his chief of design and chief of product planning, then he should replace them, as has been widely rumored for months anyway. Adding an ad-man who has Celine Dion on his speed dial is not going to make these guys get smart.

One of the areas Arnell is said to be consulting on is interior design. For more than a year, it has been clear that Chrysler lost the plot on interior design, opting for cheap looking materials on all of its new vehicles. Memo to Mr. Nardelli. The designers didn’t procure interior materials that look like they were from a 1994 Hyundai parts bin because they thought it looked hip. They did it because former COO Wolfgang Bernhard and CEO Dieter Zetsche told executives they had to take 40% of the cost out of the interiors regardless of the outcome. The result is a flock of products that have been panned by consumers in J.D. Power APEAL ratings, which judge such aspects of the vehicles.

Even though Chrysler has realized that they need to focus on design, everything depends on the people who design cars that you want to buy. Only time will tell wether Chrysler is already on the right track.

Posted in customer experience, innovation | Permalink | No Comments »

As a teaser for their upcoming CRM Summit, Gartner published a short article on seven initiatives to improve the customer experience.

Targeting, attracting, and retaining new customers will remain a top priority for chief information officers (CIOs) in 2008, according to a worldwide survey of 1500 CIOs by Gartner Executive Programmes (EXP). CIOs will need to help sales, marketing and customer service to enhance the customer experience to meet this goal.

The seven initiatives that they introduce in the article are:

1. Act on feedback, deploy changes and communicate actions to employees and customers
2. Design processes from the outside in
3. Act as one organisation to ensure consistency
4. Be open
5. Personalise products and experiences
6. Alter attitudes and employee behaviour
7. Design the complete customer experience

Nothing spectactular here but from my perspective it is always interesting to see what the big players are doing in the field of customer experience management. In order to get more in-depth information have a look at their publications in the field of customer relationship management

Read the full article

via [The Perfect Customer Experience]

Posted in customer experience | Permalink | No Comments »