Experience Design: how to work user’s needs in favor of business
Understand what is Experience Design, how to build the consumer journey, user-centric steps and how it is related to emotion and usability.
Today’s consumer behavior sets the tone of business strategies. And in a world of volatile information and full of different brands selling the same products and services, how do you attract and retain customers? Experience Design is a set of methods that aims to provide complete and unforgettable consumer experiences.
Experience Design: what it is and what it is for
Experience Design is a set of methods that, when analyzing the complexity of customers behavior throughout their buying journey, allows to devise strategies that delight and increase the possibility of conversion.
As the focus is to explore that customer’s mindset in depth, the more extraordinary the experiences with the products and/or services presented, the greater the confidence in the brand: by empowering people and their needs, the methods turn these users into true fans.
How to Work the Experience Design concept
A complete consumer experience does not necessarily mean buying the most expensive or luxurious product. Experience Design consists of knowing how to approach what the customer wants and thinks it is ideal for him. For this to happen, it is essential to involve the client in the whole process and create channels where he can be heard, so that with all the information at hand, it is easier to create connections, developing products and services that meet the user’s wishes.
Social medias are an example of focal points of research for both sides: the consumer – who wants to know more about a subject and gives tips and suggestions, as well as complains of what does not satisfy. And the side of the brand – that can see in real time what works and what can be decisive and influential to the customer at the time of purchase.
Current researches in digital marketing show that 80% of people who download apps, uninstall them in 3 days of use. This defines well when complex usability interferes in the product retention in the users minds, and makes the relationship with the brands quite exhausting.
Discovering the right trigger and implementing product and service customization is, first of all, the best way to offer more user-centric solutions. Knowing what is required, delivery is assertive.
Customer Journey
Map the customer journey is important to define which efforts should be employed in the retention, as long as possible. And by applying methodologies centered on the steps of these experiences, such as Design Thinking, it becomes enriching to reveal specific details and make planning happen.
User-centric steps
∙ Requirements identification – stage in which the users needs and challenges are raised, through observations, surveys and interviews – qualitative and quantitative;
It is important to emphasize that when evaluating the main problems, we must analyze them in the three complementary areas: the user’s vision, the vision of the system in which it is inserted and the business vision.
∙ Creation of alternative solutions – moment to define hypotheses solutions for raised requirements (Phase of ideation);
∙ Building testable prototypes – creating testable models, from the selected main idea.
∙ Tests with users – It’s time to test the prototypes directly with users and gather feedback for improvement and implementation.
Emotion vs Usability
The most desired companies are those that have already understood that the customer journey starts long before thinking about acquiring the product or service. Instigate the desire for the brand as a status symbol for those who use it and/or want to relate completely transforms the consumer experience.
Brands like Apple, Harley Davidson and Nespresso provoke the senses and carry out experiences in which the customer’s status quo is taken to heights, simply by being a sympathizer or user: the consumer feels part of a select group, delights even the packing or the tasting of a coffee in specially prepared environments because they give you excitement and provide value.
More than its usability, the way a particular product becomes an object of desire, is directly linked to the multisensory experience of different users, and ultimately defines the behavior of an entire group.
Successful cases
A great example of well-done Experience Design is developed by Tinder company: the relationship site has implemented five major innovations, plus subscription features, that made in 2017, the number 1 app in the category Top Profitable App Store North American, and number 2 in Brazilian.
By investing in swipes tools, matches, anonymous likes, quick registration and 100% mobile format, the company has been able to focus on the needs of different user types, making a more peaceful navigation without the characteristic rejection of other competitors in the segment.
Functionality aside, the way the product and/or service makes us feel is vital to the success and guarantee of competitiveness in the market. Companies that invest in “Phygital actions” for retention by empathy and contact, not simply direct sales, will always be at the forefront of all innovation processes.
Want to know a little more how Experience Design, when well structured, can leverage your business? Access our new ebook User Experience: why and how to steer your business towards the user?
