the professional's guide to customer experience (cx)

Design, Create, and Deliver Experiences in the Real World

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The Professional’s Guide To

A new era of business is upon us—an era where the consumer is in control. In large measure, consumers now control when, how, where, how often and why they buy. Nonetheless, companies must still set the stage for positive interactions and focus on managing, not controlling, the customer experience (CX). Why? Businesses large and small are realizing that in order to survive, they must win the hearts and minds of their customers by providing more engaging and meaningful experiences. After all, creating better customer experiences may be just about the only remaining way to effectively differentiate, compete and win in the marketplace.

The Professional's Guide to Customer Experience:Design, Create, and Deliver Experiences in the Real World© 2014 by InReality

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The Professional's Guide to Customer Experience / 3

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

What Is It?

This guide is a comprehensive collection of practical

advice about what it takes to imagine, design and

bring intentional customer experiences into the real

world to make a positive impact on your business.

For the first time, the InReality team has compiled

its knowledge on this topic into a single, easy-to-

use guide to help guide you through your customer

experience (CX) projects. This guide represents the

cumulative knowledge of strategists, designers,

technologists and implementation specialists with

decades of collective experience. More importantly,

the knowledge, strategies, and CX management

tools offered in this guide have all been tested in

actual projects—they are not just theory.

Who Is It For?

This guide is for practitioners, team leaders,

consultants and anyone whose goal is to design,

create, and deliver customer experiences in retail

and other physical customer-facing spaces. This

guide will be especially useful for practitioners for

whom this kind of project is a first, either in scale

or scope—it has all the information you need to get

started.

How To Use It?

This guide is introductory and interdisciplinary.

It is designed to serve as a reference tool for

practitioners and a tool for team communication.

Parts 1-3 of this guide will help you develop a CX

strategy, design the solution, and deliver the project,

respectively. A Tools section has also been included

to help you through this process.

How Can InReality Help?

InReality helps clients measure and improve their

customers' experiences, allowing them to fulfill their

purpose to customers. We do this by identifying

and shrinking the inevitable “reality gaps” that exist

between brand promises, customer expectations

and actual customer experiences, which occur

within retail environments and other physical

spaces.

InReality's unique CX innovation services include:

• Strategy—Consulting, Summits, Research

• Design—Service Design, 2D, 3D, Digital, Store/

Showroom Design, Digital Media

• Solutions Management—Project Management,

Prototyping, Production, Implementation,

Servicing, Digital Content Management

• Measurement—Reality Gap Analysis, Digital

Analytics, Whole-Store Analytics

http://www.inreality.com

http://www.inreality.com/what-we-do/reality-gaps/

http://www.inreality.com/what-we-do/strategy

http://www.inreality.com/what-we-do/design

http://www.inreality.com/what-we-do/solutions-management

http://www.inreality.com/what-we-do/measurement



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

05 / Customer Experience in Physical Spaces: Still Crucial for Retailers & Brands

Developing Your CX Strategy

08 / Lay the Foundation

14 / Define the Customer Need

Designing CX Solutions

23 / Collaborating with the Design Team

26 / Prototyping & Reviews

27 / Considering Technology

Delivering CX Solutions

36 / Producing, Deploying, & Managing Your Solution

38 / Collaborating with the Solution Management Team

40 / Roll-out & Installation Considerations

Conclusion

44 / Key Takeaways

CX Tool Kit

46 / Pre-Mortem

47 / Customer Journey Map

49 / Empathy Map

51 / NUF Test

53 / Design Review

55 / CX Requirements Document: Content Guide

InReality

57 / About InReality




The focus on the customer and CX is at an all time

high. According to a recent global study of senior

executives on CX1, 93% of executives say that

improving CX is one of their top three priorities for

the next two years. However, while 91% want to

be CX leaders, 37% of companies are just getting

started with a formal CX initiative. The good news?

You’re reading this guide, which you can use to help

your company embrace a CX-driven approach.

Professionals working with CX strategy and design

must deal with a plethora of digital and physical

touch points (mobile; e-commerce; physical spaces

such as stores, showrooms, etc.). This process

can be difficult to manage systematically, and

while e-commerce has grown to become a force

in countless product categories, the importance of

real-world, in-person interactions has not lessened.

Rather, the importance of these kinds of interactions

has remained critical to most customers and

brands.

According to one study, more than 90% of sales still

take place in physical stores. In fact, 71% of

1 Source: Oracle 2013 Study: Global Insights on Succeeding in the Customer

Experience Era

Generation X and Y customers say they would

rather shop in brick-and-mortar stores than online.

Furthermore, 84% of Generation X and Y customers

say they enjoy getting face-to-face help and advice

from store associates.2

So what's the takeaway? The importance of

creating unique and meaningful experiences in

physical spaces should remain a key priority for

both retailers and the brands that sell in their stores.

Often, the in-store customer interaction with the

product or service is still the last chance for a brand

to make an impact before purchase.

Although planning and implementing CX projects

may be part art and part science, it can be highly

rewarding for everyone involved, if done intentionally

and strategically. To deliver these impactful

experiences, executives and managers must

become mixologists of the CX world, possessing

the ability to create a well-balanced cocktail of

CX strategy, design, execution, and continuous

measurement and improvement.

2 Source: The Curve Report by NBC Universal

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN PHYSICAL SPACES: STILL CRUCIAL FOR RETAILERS & BRANDS




Part 1: Developing Your CX Strategy




Why are you developing a CX solution?

What are you trying to accomplish?

How do you define success?

As with any complex project,

the best first step is to start with

a plan, or better yet, a customer

experience strategy. There is no

technology panacea for successfully

creating a compelling experience—

the technology doesn’t drive the

strategy. Rather, the strategy must

determine how processes, solutions

and technologies are used to

implement a successful customer

experience project and program.

When the CX strategy comes first,

companies have a greater chance

of success. This chapter will walk

you through the steps necessary

to develop such a strategy.




LAY THE FOUNDATION

Define the Purpose

What is an Experience?

Thus far, we have discussed the importance

of customer experience as a key competitive

advantage, but what is an experience?

Fundamentally, an experience is an internal

sensation of change, of which the person is

aware.1 As it relates to commerce, it is also a

sensation for which a customer is willing to pay.

Think about concepts like beauty, validation,

enlightenment and justice. These are some of

the experiences and meanings that people seek

throughout their lives. While brands cannot easily

create those experiences, they can design a series

of mechanisms and media to trigger them. In the

CX world we call such mechanisms touchpoints.

The coherence, consistency and combination of all

touchpoints ultimately constitutes an experience.

CX Projects

Throughout this guide, we refer to “CX projects”,

by which we mean specific initiatives with a well

defined beginning and end, lasting from a few

months up to two years within a customer-facing

physical space. However, it is important to note that

a CX project is just one component of an overall

customer experience management ecosystem.

1 Source: Shedroff, N. Diller, S., Rehea D. Making Meaning: How Successful

Businesses Deliver Meaningful Customer Experiences, New Riders,

Berkeley, CA

Additionally, although this guide focuses on creating

experiences in physical spaces, you must just as

intentionally design and integrate all your other

touch points (i.e. social media, web site, mobile,

etc.) to deliver a seamless and satisfying customer

journey. You must also design and align your

organization to effectively deliver those experiences.

Ask the Right Questions

There are many reasons to develop new customer

experiences, but which ones make the most sense

for your company? Think in terms of what you want

your customers to know, believe, feel, or do before,

during, and after this experience. Here are some

questions that you can ask yourself and your team

to guide your thinking:

• What customer needs and expectations will this

experience address?

• How should the experience represent your

brand?

• What specific business goals are you trying to

achieve by building this experience?

• What kinds of experiences do your competitors

deliver?

• How will you know that you have succeeded or

failed?




Additionally, a challenge often arises in the limited

or lack of resource availability to conduct any

kind of customer research. However, by using the

methodologies presented in this guide, you can

quickly determine the basic parameters of the

problem and develop a focused strategy.

Needs vs. Requirements

Understanding the difference between a need and

a requirement, for both you and your audience, will

allow you to build a robust strategy. In addition,

this clarity will make it easier for you and your

stakeholders to benchmark the performance of the

solution down the road.

Often, businesses confuse needs with requirements,

especially when it comes to using new technology.

For example, a bank executive may decide that she

wants to create a new way for customers to form a

line to the cashier desk by using a touch-screen for

customer sign-ins. While a touch-screen interface

may in fact work in this case, other ways may exist

to satisfy the underlying need of improving the

line formation process. A better alternative might

be cheaper, more reliable, faster to deploy, and

possibly doesn't involve technology at all. We will

talk more about technology and implementation, but

differentiating needs from requirements is a good way

to start developing a strategy.

The answers to the previous questions will ultimately

help determine your strategy. An important step in

building an experience strategy is determining the

most important need of the audience and how to

address it. Very frequently, CX projects start with

an urgency to deliver a solution without properly

defining the problem (i.e. the need).




Form Your Team

Form your CX team and clearly outline goals and

expectations early in the process. While team

formation depends on the specific needs of the

project, ideally the team should include a project

manager, a strategist, designers, and solution

management and implementation support. This

exact setup isn't required for every project, but

in most cases these roles need to be fulfilled by

someone on the team. You might also have a

situation where these roles fade in and out of the

project, so plan ahead for when you can and should

use them.

The following is a series of descriptions for the most

common roles on a customer experience team.

The Project Manager’s Role

If you are the project manager or plan to manage

the customer experience, then you already have

one of the key members. Chances of success

without a designated project manager are pretty

slim. The project manager is the point person for

the entire process. They connect the dots, set

timelines, handle team needs and communications,

address setbacks, and ensure that checkpoints are

met.

The Strategist’s Role

A strategist is someone who brings market

intelligence and analytical skills to connect the

company's business goals with customer needs.

They can be an excellent resource for anticipating

and pointing out general insights and potential

speed bumps specific to your CX project. The key

role of a strategist is to inform stakeholders about

possible directions that a project might take and

highlight the risks and rewards of those directions.

This involves developing a body of knowledge and

analysis (qualitative or quantitative) from multiple

sources and presenting them to the stakeholders in

the most effective manner.




The Design Team’s Role

There are many types of designer s—graphic,

industrial, interior, etc. Your ideal design team will

consist of all the members necessary to tailor your

unique customer experience. Designers have a

unique professional language. To really benefit

from their insights you need to be mindful of that

unique language and perhaps develop your own

style of managing and communicating with them.

Many project leaders make the mistake of treating

designers merely as concept generators, ignoring

their insights and recommendations. However,

designers can prove to be invaluable and make a

significant impact on differentiating your company’s

customer experience. Consequently, developing the

right level of partnership with the design team could

definitely give your project a creative advantage.

The Solution Management Team’s Role

The solution management team may consist of

production and procurement partners, digital

experts, packaging and shipping specialists,

installation professionals, and ongoing technical

support personnel, as dictated by your execution

needs. The management of and quality of work

executed by these individuals is essential to the

successful implementation of the solution as

intended by all stakeholders. Supply chain, logistics,

and final implementation requires attention to detail

and careful planning for all possible scenarios.

Coordinating the project on your own offers more

direct involvement and the ability to quickly affect

parts of the process as they are happening.

However, coordinating the project yourself may

result in inefficiencies for your budget in the long

run, depending on the project scope.

Work with Your Stakeholders

A stakeholder is anyone whose functions and needs

are directly and indirectly affected by your project.

Stakeholders may be internal (i.e. part of your

organization) or external (i.e. other departments or

vendors). Another stakeholder type, and the most

important one at that, is the customer for whom the

experience is being created.




CONVERGENT

CONCRETE

DIVERGENTDIVERGENT

ABSTRACT ABSTRACT

START FINISH

Early in the project, try to have a meeting with key

stakeholders to ensure everyone has a chance to

weigh in on specific opportunities, concerns, and

constraints.

The best way to lead a stakeholder conversation

is by using a collaborative working session format.

A key component of a collaborative session is the

facilitator. The facilitator does not have to be the

same person who is responsible for the project

itself, but they need to be comfortable leading

group discussions. In addition, the facilitator

should also ensure that the space is fertile for

new ideas, which may sometimes mean guiding

the participants in the room to ensure a balanced

conversation. To that end, the facilitator needs to

be comfortable managing both the discussions and

the personalities so that the overall session stays on

target in terms of time and scope.

The length of a session like this varies depending

on the complexity of a project, but with multiple

stakeholders, allow at least 2–3 hours. Working

sessions with a moderately complicated agenda

could take a half to a full day to complete.

Collaborative Stakeholder Sessions

When developing a customer experience strategy,

a collaborative session can be used for the

following purposes:

• To digest and synthesize existing or new

customer research

• To develop empathy for the customer

• To develop a common understanding about

what is truly important for the project

• To create a communal list of unknowns

that could impact the project

• To develop an action plan and prioritize

immediate next steps

• To collaborate and brainstorm new ideas for

what the new experience could be

For the most effective use of everyone’s time, a

good collaborative session should accomplish a

combination of the above goals. In general, it is

helpful to structure the overall pattern of the working

session as follows:




As you start the discussion, try to promote

divergent, exploratory thinking in the group, and

frame questions in different ways. This is where the

discussion is very abstract, and therefore can be

uncomfortable. As the session progresses, start

converging on possible ideas for solutions. This is

where the discussion is more concrete. Repeat the

pattern, diverging and converging as many times as

necessary, until you arrive at the right quantity and

quality of ideas. The reason for this structure is that

strategy development is a creative exercise, and

you need to allow the group to explore possibilities

outside of the normal field of vision. This can be

a challenging task. If you diverge too much, you

may find yourself and the group in an impractically

abstract space from which actionable insights are

difficult to derive. However, if you converge too early

you run the risk of “leaving money on the table”,

by not exploring truly innovative and effective ideas

and strategies.

One of the obstacles you may encounter during

your session is resistance from your internal

stakeholders—due largely to a lack of experience

with working in this style. However, if you have been

charged with creating a truly unique and engaging

experience, you can take that as a mandate to do

something differently.

The key is to manage your stakeholders’

expectations and let them know why you are doing

it differently this time. If your stakeholders are

already used to working like this, then you’re in luck.

If this sounds overwhelming, feel free to test,

at least, parts of the process before you use

it full scale. In addition, you can always hire a

professional facilitator to organize and manage this

process.




DEFINE THE CUSTOMER NEED

Understand the Need

A clearly defined purpose and target audience will

help you stay on track as you carry out the

remaining steps. Once fully defined, you can

move to defining the parameters of your customer

experience. In this section, we will explore some

methods and approaches to understanding

the customer need in order to build engaging

experiences.

A Human-Centered Approach

In an environment where customers seek emotional

engagement and authentic experiences, a human-

centered approach to experience design is critical

to produce the desired results. Here are some

characteristics of this approach:

• Starts and frames the conversation focusing on

a human need

• Does not make technology an end in and of

itself

• Seeks insights in human stories and interactions

in their day-to-day environment (at work, at

home, with families, shopping, etc.)

• Business and human needs reinforce each other

• Takes multiple stakeholder needs into account

• Involves the users for which the solution is being

designed in the development process

• Doesn't assume that the solution will be perfect

on the first try—the design process is iterative

Try to find ways to incorporate a human-centered

approach into your project to the best of your ability.

Our experience shows that most solutions in the

field are not designed this way. Many solutions are

driven as a direct response to market competition

and trends, or purely driven by quantitative

insights (like market segmentation). The upside

of pursuing a human-centered approach is that it

gives you an advantage over the competition. The

downside of using this approach is that many of

your stakeholders may not be used to or willing to

work in this manner. We will continue to explore this

theme in the upcoming sections.




Understand Your Audience

To help you better understand the audience for

which you are designing the experience, here are

some factors you may want to consider:

• The audience’s education, professional

experience, knowledge of company or product

(a skeptical audience may require a lot more

evidence gathering for a convincing experience)

• The audience’s personal characteristics

preferences and cultural qualities

• The audience’s attitude toward your

company and the product or service

• The audience’s expectations about the

company's product or service

• How the audience will use the product

• The physical environment in which the

audience will use the product or service

You may want to classify your audience into

categories—such as primary, secondary, and

tertiary—but regardless of whether you classify

them using a scheme such as this, you need

to understand what is most important to them.

Tally what you already know and what you don’t

know about your audience, then use primary and

secondary research to fill in the gaps.

Develop Empathy through Research1

One of the key decisions you need to make early

in the project is whether to conduct new research,

beyond your current research reservoir, and if so,

what kind. As mentioned earlier, the most effective

solutions and the most engaging experiences

are those that are built to address specific user

needs. Your understanding of customer needs is

based on being able to step into their shoes and

feel what they feel. In other words, you need to

truly empathize with them. The way you do that

is through some form of primary research, which

involves talking to customers. In this case, we are

referring to qualitative research (also referred to as

design/user research) and not quantitative research,

such as market segmentation.

Developing organizational empathy for the

customer is one of the most complex challenges in

experience strategy and design. However, without

empathy, products and solutions can end up

being uninteresting and even useless. Fortunately,

over the years, market researchers and designers

have developed tools to help develop empathy for

customers and uncover insights. On the following

pages we have compiled a summary of some of

the most common research methods. Each method

works better in certain situations.

1 Source: Design Research, Edited by Brenda Laurel, MIT Press 2003




Focus Groups This family of research methods involves a trained

facilitator speaking to a person or a group following

a script. The methods included in this family are:

Traditional focus groups: 8–12 people in a group

with a discussion lasting 1–2 hours.

Mini focus groups: A smaller version of the

traditional focus group with 5–6 people.

One-on-one interviews: A researcher interviews 1

person for 30 minutes to 1 hour following a script or

a loose guide.

Dyads: Two people, sometimes friends, are

interviewed by a researcher. This format is very

effective when the research subject involves looking

for needs that are hard to articulate in an interview

format. Instead, the insights are gathered from the

friends’ interaction with each other.

Super-groups: In this format groups are gathered

in large auditoriums and researchers lead the

discussion from a stage. Feedback is often provided

using special devices, but there is little user-to-

user interaction.

Triads: In this format, three people are chosen due

to their similarity or dissimilarity in a very specific

way. Triads can provide the same level of depth as

one-on-ones, but they can also provide even more

depth.

Party groups: In this format, a group of people,

usually friends, are gathered in a party at someone’s

home to talk about a topic chosen by the

researchers. The researcher observes interactions in

the users’ home environment.




Ethnography

Unlike focus groups, ethnography refers to the

study of human behavior in a natural environment.

(Therefore, party groups, mentioned previously, are

very similar to ethnography as a method.) Here are

some of the ethnographic methods:

Field ethnography: A user or a user group is

observed by researchers as they go about their

normal lives and interact with each other in their

daily routine. This method produces a lot of insights,

but is very time consuming.

Digital ethnography: This is an off-shoot of field

ethnography, but it relies heavily on digital tools

(smart phones, digital cameras, virtual collaboration

sites, etc.) to record and analyze data.

Photo ethnography: The researcher gives users

a camcorder or a digital camera and asks them to

record and describe moments of their daily life. The

images are then sent back to the researcher for

analysis and synthesis.

Ethnofuturism: This method combines other

ethnographic tools with a futures perspective

to explore the impact of systemic changes

(technology, society, environment, politics, etc.) on a

product, interaction or experience.

Personas: In this method, data from ethnographic

research are synthesized into a handful of profiles

embodied in an actual persona. Personas don’t

represent any specific person, but they combine

attributes (physical and personal), characters, and

stories from many similar people.

Participatory Methods

In recent years, research methods that involve

potential users in the product concept and

prototype development process have evolved. This

method can involve various mediums including

panels, role-playing sessions, and play and “design

jams”.




Mobile Market Research Methods

In recent years, internet and mobile technology

have created completely new ways to collect user

research data. Collectively, these data collection

techniques can be described as mobile research

methods. In general, there are two types of mobile

research:

User Research

In this case, using various platforms, researchers

can recruit users/assistants to perform certain tasks

or record moments of their lives, much like digital

ethnography. The key difference is that in mobile

research, users report their data asynchronously

for an extended time. This reduces the cost of

researchers attending multiple sessions in person.

For example, a researcher could remotely recruit a

particular segment of the population (e.g., women

between 30-40 years of age with children) and

ask them to document an interaction in a day.

Research subjects may be distributed across a wide

geographical area, but all of them upload the data

onto a central repository for analysis and synthesis

by the researcher.

Crowd-Sourced Research

In this approach, researchers use mobile technology

to recruit other people to conduct simple research

tasks on their behalf. This method works well when

research needs to cover a large geographical area,

but the questions themselves cannot be complex.

For example, at InReality we have used this

methodology to successfully collect feedback from

retail sales associates about a digital experience in

hundreds of stores. You can also use this method

to document how your competitors’ products are

displayed (e.g. in a retail environment) or how they

are used.

You can find more information about mobile

marketing research through the Mobile Marketing

Research Association at:

www.mmra-global.org.


http://www.mmra-global.org



Defining and documenting success metrics

early in the project is crucial. This clarity not

only helps establish common expectations

for the team, but also helps with project

continuity down the road when it’s time for a

new version or update.

Common metrics include:

• Sales

• Visibility (e.g. on a retail floor)

• Average ticket price

• Social media engagement

• Industry recognition

• Inventory (e.g. less inventory

on hand by switching to a

digital catalogue)

• Quantity and duration of

customer engagements

• Customer loyalty

• Longevity of CX solution

Choose the Right Methodology

As you can see, there are many methodologies

to study people and their needs, and we have

only given you a brief introduction to the overall

landscape. At this point, you may feel overwhelmed

about choosing the right methodology. However, it

is important to remember that there is no hard and

fast rule about research methods—it all depends

on the experiences you are thinking about, the

context of a person's life in which the need exists,

and the available resources. However, based on the

human-centered design principles discussed earlier,

you need to select a method that focuses on the

customers in their most natural environment, where

their needs arise. Customer needs exist in a social

context, and the research method must delve into

that context in the most accurate and unobtrusive

way.

If you are still feeling overwhelmed at this point, it

might be a good idea to consult with your marketing

colleagues to either leverage existing research or

help your team conduct new research, if necessary.




Document Your Strategy

Once you’ve completed all the necessary research

and stakeholder conversations, you should have

more than enough information to determine what

your customer experience needs to achieve. One of

the most effective ways to document this information

is to use what we call a CX Requirements Document.

This document is the single most important output

of your strategic work, because it incorporates all

research insights and outlines design goals for the

design team.

The value of documenting your intention in a

comprehensive document is quite compelling.

First, this document can be used to communicate

necessary information to newcomers (e.g. new team

members). Second, it can be used to work with third

party vendors (e.g. creative agencies), saving time

and money on multiple meetings and phone calls.

Third, months later, it can serve as a reference tool to

show what decisions were made and why.

Here is a quick outline of the CX Requirements

Document, which you can use as a starting point.

This document is also sometimes referred to as a

“Design Brief”, but the provided version is a bit more

comprehensive and therefore defined differently.

We've also provided a detailed explanation of each

part in the Tools section of this guide.

CX Requirements Document Outline

Overall Objectives • Problem overview• Product/service overview• Brand overview• Competitive positioning,

constraints, opportunities

Project Overview

• Overview • Production budget • Approval process• Scope • Timeline

Design Objectives

• Requirements + Customer experience + Content + Technical + Business & strategy

• Expectations & Considerations

+ Customer experience + Content + Technical + Business & strategy

• Measures of Success

+ Customer experience + Content + Technical + Business & strategy


Part 2: Designing CX Solutions



What kinds of interactions are you trying to elicit?

What senses do you want to activate?

What do you want customers to do?

The design team joins the project

to bring ideas to life. They are

responsible for everything from how

the experience looks and feels to

how users will interact with the new

experience. Designers come in many

different flavors: user experience (UX)

designers, 3-D designers, graphic

designers, industrial designers,

etc. Together they work to create

something tangible or visual that

represents the experience. Much

like a chef in a kitchen, they try to

create the perfect CX dish using

various ingredients, given the project

objectives and constraints.

To maximize their creative potential

for your CX project, you must

understand how to work with them.

This is where all of the strategic work

you have completed up to this point

will be very useful. In this chapter,

we will walk you through the ins and

outs of working with the design team

to achieve your ultimate goal.




Guiding the Design Team

Understand the Problem

To start working on a solution, the design team

needs to understand anything and everything

that might be relevant to the problem. During

your conversations, with the design team ensure

to explain the forces at work (i.e. pain points)

surrounding the project. These concerns can range

from industry trends, economic forecasts and limited

budgets to lack of thought leadership. Identify both

the inherent problem areas and opportunities for

innovation. For example, there could be under-

utilized real estate, a need for a visual refresh,

pressure to close a market gap, or a desire to reach

new customer segments. Much of this information

can and should be communicated through the CX

Requirements Document discussed in Part 1.

Set the Context

Understanding context is key for a designer.

Be prepared to provide as much information as

possible about where the experience will take

place. As a general example, for an experience in

a physical environment, important information for a

designer includes:

• Overall scale of the project—number of locations

or stores

• Space planning—layout, traffic and

merchandising (if applicable)

• In-store communication hierarchy—from brand

positioning to product

• Customer expectations—who they are and what

they are used to seeing

• Other users—who else will interact with the new

CX solution (e.g. store associates)

• How the actual results will be measured against

the intended result

COLLABORATING WITH THE DESIGN TEAM




If this is the first time your company is deploying a major in-store customer experience project, you will likely find yourself making important brand decisions for the first time. Even if you have a sophisticated and well- documented brand, many of the aspects of a customer experience in a physical space may be new and unprecedented. For example, what are the right materials to represent your brand? What kind of textures should represent your brand? How big should your logo be in a physical space? Be ready to face such decisions, because chances are you may be the one driving and making them.

Develop Brand Knowledge

In addition to understanding the overarching

problem, designers need to understand the tone

and personality of your brand, as well as, the

desired interaction and result of the experience.

What do you want customers to do? How do you

want them to feel as a result of the experience?

What do you want them to remember about the

experience? Answering these kinds of questions

helps your design team plan a space and system to

allow for these interactions to happen.

An experience is not just about customers;

other stakeholders—anyone whose functions and

needs are directly and indirectly affected by your

project—may also play a key role in the interaction.

For example, think about an interaction in a tire

store. When a customer enters the store to buy

a product or a service, chances are that they will

interact with the product as well as the service

associate who speaks on behalf of the product

manufacturer. Consequently, your design team

needs to think about the interaction between the

product and customer, the experience they are

designing and the brand representative who may

assist the customer in the field.

Establish Strong Communication

By nature, designers are inquisitive. So, at the

beginning of a project be prepared to face

questions that cover a range of topics. Questions

are the most direct way for a designer to begin

to understand the ecosystem around a particular

project and plan.




As the design team starts to generate ideas

toward a final solution, they will need to assess

the appropriate, actionable and tangible strategies

that are gounded in business viability, market

desirability and operational feasibility. This calls for

an open channel of communication for questions

and feedback. Consequently, establishing a strong

communication system at project initiation helps

keep the project on-track and everyone informed.

Also, be prepared for iterative reviews of the

concept as it becomes more and more defined.

Concept Reviews

Throughout the project you will find yourself

providing a lot of feedback to designers about the

direction of the concept. Much of this feedback

will be requested during multiple sessions called

concept reviews, where you and the rest of your

team will need to provide direction intended

to move the design team closer to the desired

solution.

The best type of feedback designers can get during

concept reviews comes with a ‘why’ explanation.

For example, “This works because…”, “I don’t think

this fits the brand because…” Simple statements

such as, “I don’t like it” are very difficult to

translate because they do not go beyond personal

preferences. When reviewing concepts with the

design team, try to remember where you started,

where you’ve been and what you want to achieve,

and construct your feedback in alignment with that

information.

In the Tools section of this guide, we have included

a Design Review tool to help facilitate an effective

communication process with your design team.

Distributing this tool to the rest of your team can

also help them understand what kind of feedback to

provide during concept reviews. This understanding

is especially important as more stakeholders join the

conversation in the later stages of the project. Team

members who are unprepared to give the right

level of feedback to the design team can cause

confusion and exhaust valuable time.




PROTOTYPING & REVIEWS

Prototyping

As you move through the design phase, a

prototype is an important tool. A prototype can be

as simple as a folded piece of paper or as complex

as a production-ready solution complete with

working electronics. Both serve different purposes

and are typically used at different stages of a

project. This can be visualized or thought of on a

‘fidelity curve’. On one side you have paper models,

and on the other you have a production-ready

version of the final solution. In general, the closer

you get to the end of a project, the more fidelity can

be expected in a prototype. This also relates to the

amount of time it might take to develop the actual

prototype; from simple to complex—from 5 minutes

to 5 weeks or more.

There are many benefits to creating prototypes. We

recommend prototyping fast and early. The quicker

you can get a sketch off paper, the quicker you can

start acting out how people might use the solution

and thinking of ways to improve it. In addition,

you can begin to see how all the components are

working together from a production standpoint.

Thus, you can start exploring different material and

assembly options.

The Final Review

The last review round should not be about individual

opinions, but about making the system work better

and looking forward toward implementation. As

a project leader, youwill likely spend most of your

effort directing the team in this kind of holistic

thinking.

Make sure you know what kind of prototypes are needed to make the appropriate decisions. Most companies need to see a full build-up of a prototype before investing in a scaled version of the solution. Knowing what resources you have to invest in a prototype can save you time and money down the road. As a rule of thumb, assume that the cost of a prototype will be three to five times the target per unit roll-out cost.




CONSIDERING TECHNOLOGY

There are many ways to improve customer

experiences. One way is to use technology, by

which we mean computer technology and digital

media. Although it is not always the right answer

to a CX challenge, technology allows you to

design engaging customer interactions and deliver

your message in new and increasingly relevant

ways. It can also help differentiate your brand

in the marketplace. Depending on the project

requirements, the technology for your solution may

be determined early on in the process, or explored

during the design phase. In this section, we will

cover some basic technology considerations such

as hardware and software, and discuss some of

the more advanced technologies. You don’t need

to become an expert on this topic, but knowing the

language will certainly be helpful. However, if your

CX design will not employ technology, you can skip

this section.

Hardware

The most common hardware components for a CX

project with digital technology are a display/screen,

mounts, player technology, and a power supply. We

will briefly explore each of these components.

Display/Screen

The most important consideration for digital

displays is the screen size. Based on your CX

Requirements Document from Part 1, you should

be able to determine whether the primary objective

of the screen is “one-to-many messaging”, where

one screen is intended to be seen by many people

at once, or “one-to-one messaging,” where one

screen is intended to be seen by one person

at a time for a more personal interaction. Every

screen will have a primary and secondary function

depending on the objective. These functions

determine the size of the screen.




Another consideration for digital displays is

orientation. Certain screen technologies (e.g. thin

film transistor [TFT], in-plane switching [IPS], etc.)

are better suited to a landscape orientation and

some to a portrait orientation.

Additionally, a third factor to consider is whether

to use commercial- or consumer-grade devices.

Commercial displays are designed for constant,

24/7 operation, and they generally have more

connectivity options and use higher quality internal

components than consumer-grade devices.

However, commercial displays are more costly.

Touchscreen displays may be also appropriate

for your CX solution. These displays allow users

to directly interact with the content displayed on

the screen. In some system designs, this could be

the primary method of getting user input, but not

always.

Mounts

If you have a screen, chances are you need to

mount it on something. A major consideration

for mounting is to make sure that all displays are

compliant with VESA MIS (mounting interface

standard). This will ensure standardization of

details such as proper mounting hole size, distance

between holes, and orientation to the screen.

Player Technology

Any digital media on a screen is enabled by player

technology—the software that tells the screen

what to show. Digital signage media players come

in many sizes and configurations, so there a few

things to consider.

The first consideration is the platform or operating

system (OS) on which the player will run. Choices

include Android, Linux, and Windows, but can

include embedded or proprietary systems as well.

Often, the media player application will often drive

the choice of OS, but cost may also be a factor.

Another factor to consider is network support and

processing power. In some cases, a GPU (graphics

processing unit) will be required, in addition to the

CPU (central processing unit). If space is limited or

offers limited air flow, you can use special player

devices designed to dissipate heat.




Power Management

Even if the device used in your CX solution has a

battery (e.g. a tablet), you still need to ensure that

it has access to 24/7 electrical power. Also, the

personnel who work in the space need to have

access to some type of on/off switch. This switch

allows for advanced troubleshooting if a problem

cannot be addressed remotely. Usually the best

approach is to position the switch in such a way

that access to it is limited to ensure that the device

cannot be turned off accidentally.

Software

Any piece of technology will require a computer

program to operate it. Such a computer program

can be a stand-alone product or embedded into the

hardware. We generically refer to such computer

programs as "software". The following are some

common types of software.

Media Player

A media player is a software application (“app”) that

drives the content, and it can be a dedicated app or

web app. A web app typically uses a web browser

to display HTML/HTML5 content, and a dedicated

player application typically works in conjunction

with a dedicated back-end server for content

management.

One thing to consider here is whether the content

will be interactive. For interactive content, both a

web app or a dedicated app can work, but issues

of responsiveness will play a factor. In other words,

some apps are faster than others.

Another consideration is data collection or “play

logging”. On an interactive system, it is important

to log every interaction for later analysis. This can

help determine how new content is scheduled and

where it is placed on the screen.

A third consideration is "single-zone" and "multi-

zone" layouts. This refers to whether you are

displaying just one thing or many things on a screen

at any given time.

Additionally, you also need to think about how to

store the content: locally on the device or streaming

from a centrally located server. Whenever possible,

it is better to store all media assets on the local

device and display it as needed, versus pulling

everything from the cloud through a wireless

internet or cellular connection. This is because

maintaining a reliable internet connection introduces

a whole new level of complexity and cost to the

project.




Content Management

This refers to the layouts and schedules that the

media player app uses to display content. Typically,

instructions for how the player app should behave

are delivered from a remote server and can be

changed at any time. One consideration here is

whether you want content to be changed by a

person, a data trigger or both. It is not uncommon

for a content delivery system to be set up so that

inventory levels, date and even weather conditions

can dictate content changes.

Device Management

For most deployments, it is preferred that the media

player device be controlled by a remote application

that can monitor the device in real-time. This

requires a “client” app on the device and allows

for things like performance monitoring, storage

capacity and remote alerts. Command intervals

can be set so that data usage does not become a

problem. In other words, if the device management

app is constantly communicating with the server

24/7, it may require significant bandwidth to support

all the data and commands.

Connectivity

In some cases, you may want to have your solution

communicate with a central server. Consequently,

here are some things to consider regarding

connectivity.

Ethernet cable: If possible, use a hardwired

connection, because it tends to be more reliable

and less susceptible to outside influences.

Wi-Fi: This is the second best option if a wired

ethernet connection is not available. Wi-Fi routers

are secure and reliable when commercial-grade

components are used. One consideration here

is the distance between devices and necessary

coverage. In some cases, devices called repeaters

are necessary to boost the signal so that all devices

have proper bandwidth.

Cellular modem: This option is least desirable,

because it relies on a connection to the closest

cell tower. Depending on cellular traffic, it is

possible for the connection to be briefly interrupted

or delayed at a time when a constant connection

is required (e.g. downloading new content). This

option can also be expensive, and uploading files to

the server or downloading files from the server can

use up large chunks of data.




Content

Media Assets

We refer to images, videos, text, etc. as “assets” that

can all be used to populate a screen layout. A layout

refers to the way images are composed on a screen,

and a "template" refers to a standardized layout. For

example, one screen could have a template that splits

in half, thus creating two separate “zones” on the

screen. One consideration here is the resolution of the

template, versus the resolution of individual zones.

In a typical 1920 x 1080 resolution, the template will

cover the entire height and width of the screen, but

individual zones may be much smaller. This means

that individual elements may need to be resized

before being placed them in the template.

Another consideration is whether things like

transitions and interactive buttons will be

incorporated into the asset itself or as an overlay

in the template. Some media player applications

handle this well, while others do not.

Yet another consideration is the anticipated dwell

time of the device—the length of time the assets

are displayed on the screen. The number of assets

you can show on the screen will be a function of

screen size and average dwell time. For example, if

the chosen screen size can accurately depict four

elements simultaneously, and the average dwell

time is 60 seconds, then the system can display 40

assets (i.e. 4 assets every 6 seconds).

Advanced Technologies

When adding a technology layer to any interaction,

the goal should always be to make that interaction

better, more useful and more engaging for users.

To achieve this goal, use better content or better

hardware as previously discussed. But there are

also ways to design completely new interactions

and relationships by building experiences that have

more "awareness" of the world. Here we discuss

some of the more advanced technologies. They can

offer you the potential to build experiences that can

“sense” the world around them.

Tablets

Already popular with consumers, these devices

provide a very cost-effective way of building

interactive experiences by wrapping a touchscreen

display, computer, and software all into one

package. Building a CX solution around a tablet

doesn’t automatically solve all the infrastructure

challenges discussed above. You still need to make

decisions about power management, connectivity

and content management. However, there are

plenty of options already available for configuring

and managing content on the Android, iOS and

Windows platforms. On the other hand, you will




have to consider issues unique to tablet

technology such as operating system updates (of

which you don’t have full control), theft prevention,

and others. So while tablets are an attractive

technology, because of cost and availability, creating

a seamless customer experience with tablets is as

challenging as with any other technology.

Gesture Control

This refers to a method of interactivity where a

sensor (a camera) is capturing hand movements

and converting them into commands that change

content on the screen. This allows for extending

the interactive experience and may allow the

user to control or “grab” certain media objects,

rotate them and view them from different angles.

Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360, is an example of

such technology. Originally developed for video

games, the system can also be used for custom

applications and build compelling experiences.

Wireless Triggers

This refers to wireless transmitter and receiver

devices that can communicate with each

other. Examples include RFID (radio frequency

identification), NFC (near field communications)

and BLE/iBeacon (Bluetooth low energy). Typically,

these types of systems have two components: the

“reader” which is where the sensing happens, and

a tag that triggers the “reader”. Both the reader

and the tag could be part of a fixture or a device.

For example, the latest iPhones have iBeacon

compatibility built into them. This means that your

customers could be walking around with iBeacon-

compatible devices and trigger certain content and

interaction built into your space.

Ultra-High Frequency Audio

Ultra-high frequency (UHF) audio uses pings to

“connect” two devices. In this scenario, a beacon

can broadcast to a mobile device, which triggers

specific content. UHF is similar to the other wireless

triggers we discussed above, but it relies on sound

instead of a radio signal. And, since it is an ultra-

high frequency sound, customers won’t hear it, so

to them it’s just like any other wireless signal.

Audience Tracking Software

This refers to software that is designed specifically

to use special algorithms that can identify objects

in a field of view and make decisions about what

content should be displayed. There are many

benefits to using this type of technology. For

example, you can target messages to specific

groups, restrict messages that may be inappropriate

and capture usage data about how and when

costumers are engaging with your CX solution.




Augmented Reality

This technology uses camera-based object

detection to trigger additional content on the screen

that “augments” the original object. For example,

the solution could respond to the presence of an

actual product and display additional information

about that product. Alternatively, you can build a

mobile app that allows the customer to use their

mobile phone camera to capture an image of a

product and display new information on their phone

in real time.




Part 3: Delivering CX Solutions




How will your CX solution arrive at the destination?

How will all of the elements of your CX solution be

assembled into an experience upon delivery?

What ongoing support will your CX solution need?

At this point you have developed

your CX strategy and designed your

new CX solution. Now, you need to

produce, roll-out and implement it.

This calls for a whole new skill set,

very different from what we have

covered so far. Broadly, we call this

skill set “solution management”,

but it is sometimes referred to as

implementation or production, which

in our opinion are more narrow in

their definition.

Solution management, like much of

the work we have described in the

CX strategy & CX design phases, is

a team effort. In this stage, stakes

are high—there is little room for

costly errors. In this section, we will

cover some of the basic themes and

considerations that go into the final

steps of successfully delivering the

intended experience in the real world.

We will also discuss what it takes to

manage your CX solution and what

logistical challenges you might face.




Your Solution Management Team

Depending on your available resources and

experience with these types of executions, you will

likely need a solution management team in some

capacity. The solution management team handles all

of the final steps in the process of creating the CX

solution. This helps you ensure quality and maintain

consistency between the desired result and the

actual result. However, it is possible that you will

have multiple teams (both internal and external) who

will handle different parts of the process.

Regardless of the kind of a team you have at

this stage, you’ll find that solution managers and

implementers are an invaluable resource that can

save you a lot of stress when handling the final

steps in executing your CX solution. Here are some

of the roles of a solutions management team.

Production Specialists

• They have knowledge of a broad range

of possible materials, equipment, and

fabrication methods

• They can ensure that components are

constructed and shipped to yield the most cost

effective use of materials and shipping sizes

• They have numerous established manufacturer

partnerships and experience in vetting vendors

for the highest quality and best prices

PRODUCING, DEPLOYING & MANAGING YOUR SOLUTION




Roll-out Specialists

• They engineer and test packing procedures to

ensure safe delivery, minimizing damages

• They know the most economical ways to

ship, offering logistical plans of consolidating

shipments for savings

• They can help determine the most efficient

shipping dates to meet deadlines

• They coordinate delivery and installation

schedules with the destination

• They provide shipping tracking, inventory, and

placement reports as appropriate

Installation Specialists

• They can provide professional installers for

cases where deploying your CX solution is

technically complicated, physically demanding,

or requires a two or more persons

• They can provide detailed installation guides and

in some cases training videos for self-installed

solutions by a product representative or store

associate

• They can provide post-installation support for

the digital and fixture hardware




COLLABORATING WITH THE SOLUTION MANAGEMENT TEAM

As we mentioned earlier, the solution management

team possesses a unique skill set and needs

specific types of information to be most effective.

In this section, we will discuss some of the primary

pieces of information the solution management

team will need.

Solution Management Team Needs

Roll-Out & Installation Budget

Once the budget is determined, the implementation

team can work toward meeting the budget goal. It

is easier to achieve success using a plan set from

the beginning than a plan that changes multiple

times throughout the project.

Some things to consider when planning an overall

budget are: labor, material rates for design,

production, shipping, installation (if needed)

and maintenance/support. Some of these

considerations should be made as you go through

the prototyping process. As you might expect,

the quantity of items such as display fixtures to be

produced will also influence the budget. Typically

price breaks are available on materials at higher

quantities.

Delivery Date Guidelines

Rush dates can increase prices, not surprisingly. If

the dates are known early on, the team can work

to minimize costs. It is also important to consider

the business cycle of your manufacturing and

fulfillment partners. If you have not secured their

capacity early enough, you may not be able to fit

into their schedule which will impact the delivery

and deployment date of your solution.

Installation Preference

It is important to consider the required skill level

and available resources to produce and enable

your CX solution. There are generally two routes for

this: hiring installation professionals or tasking the

employees who normally work with customers and

CX solutions in the store environment. We call the

latter "self-installations”. If the installation reaches a

level of complexity that may make it difficult for an

average person to execute reliably, consider hiring

a professional installation company. They are very

experienced in unpacking, assembly, electronics

wiring and testing, setting up Wi-Fi enabled devices,

and cleaning up after their work.




For self-installations, often the preferred choice

is local sales representatives, as they are visiting

these environments often. However, they may be

stretched too thin (with other responsibilities or

geographically) to effectively take the responsibility

for installations. In the case of a store, retail sales

associates may be capable of simple graphic

updates, but implementing an entire solution may

be too complex and/or their attention may be

on other things. Consequently, relying on these

employees to assemble the solution effectively

may be difficult. In some cases, companies are

able to develop a dedicated internal team for

the installations. As they install more and more

solutions, their expertise level and speed will

improve. However, a dedicated internal team is not

always available.

Preferred Shipping Procedures

Preferred shipping methods can influence the

engineering of the solution. Weight and length

of materials influence shipping processes. By

identifying the preferred shipping method early,

proper steps can be made earlier in the life of the

project to satisfy shipping requirements. Generally

speaking, shipping services can be classified in

two methods: Federal Express/UPS (packed in

boxes) and LTL (less than truckload) freight carriers

(strapped to pallets). Once determined, the solution

will sometimes undergo a series of “test shipments”.

These test shipments allow the team to see if

components will be harmed in shipment, and make

modifications to protect the solution for shipment

during the scaled roll-out.




ROLL-OUT & INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS

As you begin to nail down some specifics for your

solution management team, there are few things

you will need to consider prior to roll-out.

Rollout Considerations

Customs clearance: For international shipments,

allow time for detailed paperwork and potential

delays in customs. Such shipments will require a

customs broker. You will likely incur import taxes

and potentially face regulations around packing

materials and labeling.

Weather: Season and geographic locations may

have significant impact on the timing of the roll-out.

Urgency: Speed of delivery is a key factor in the

cost of the shipment.

Shape: Consider the footprint of the pallet or

package and if stock or custom pallet or package is

best. You should try to keep footprint as minimal as

possible to safely deliver goods.

Stack-ability: If the palleted items will be damaged

when stacked, consider using ‘Do Not Stack’

signage atop the completed pack-out, to prevent

inadvertent damages.

Weight: This is a key factor in the cost of the

shipment. Ideally, some of this will have been

addressed in the initial design of the solution.

Delivery: Time, date, and location. All of these

details will factor into the cost of the shipment, so

pay close attention to them.




Final destination infrastructure: If the solution

is palletized you will need to consider how it will

get into its final destination. This starts with the

presence of a loading dock. No dock will mean the

truck will have to have a lift gate. From there, it is

possible that a fork lift, pallet jack, or hand unload

will be necessary. Plan ahead of time for this at

each location.

Bill of Lading: This legal document will accompany

the shipment to track the handover of goods.

Damages: It’s unfortunate, but shipping damages

are likely to occur to some degree. It is best to

be prepared. Address damages quickly and with

thorough documentation. Insure each shipment for

its value and claim the appropriate loss amount.

Installation

Installation is that final moment where the solution is

actually deployed in the real world. From a project

lead's perspective, this is where you have very little

control of what happens in the field, so preparation

is of the utmost importance. It is critical during the

planning process not to underestimate the budget

required by this last crucial step.

As we have discussed, based on the complexity of

the experience or resources available, a professional

installation company might be the best option.

These professionals will typically inccur travel

expenses (airfare, rental car, parking, tolls, lodging,

per diem meals, etc.) in addition to their professional

fees. These incidental costs can accumulate quickly

and are highly variable based on the final location(s).




Managing the Life of Your CX Solution

How you support the life of your CX solution

depends on how long it is expected to remain

in the field. There are two ways to look at life

expectancy: from a hardware standpoint, and from

a technology standpoint, which somewhat depends

on the consumers’ expectations. Typically, from

a hardware standpoint, a display lasts 3–5 years.

However, with technology changing as quickly as it

does today, and people adapting to new technology

as quickly as they do, a consumer experience life

expectancy can change in as little as six months to

a year. Using Apple as an example, many people

expect a new version of the iPhone at least twice a

year, making the previous model obsolete in some

people’s eyes. The focus should be to make a

relevant solution design that lasts, while making the

technology component easily replaceable without

changing the overall look. Additionally, the life-cycle

of your CX solution will determine what kind of field

support it requires.

Field Support

Field support is a commonly overlooked component

when companies implement customer experience

solutions in a physical environments. Think about

how many times you have seen a digital display

or other technology in a store and it did not work

properly. Setting up maintainenance/support for

your solution in the field is the best way to protect

your investment. Often, budgets are not allocated

to this crucial component of the project. Depending

on the nature of your project consider the following

field support action items:

• Develop a protocol for how staff in the field can

reach someone to fix a problem in a convenient

way, and investigate the proper avenue to

communicate it fully to the people who use the

experience on a daily basis

• Establish the frequency of updates of

your solution

• Create a plan and estimate costs for cases

when someone requests to move the solution to

another area in the space

• Consider what will happen to your solution

in the event that the store/venue that hosts

the experience closes. Will the solution be

repossessed or relocated? Who should be

responsible for that?

Ongoing Measurement

One of the most common mistakes that a project

leader makes is underestimating the ongoing

measurement of the effectiveness of the solution.

Often, managers are inclined to deploy the

customer experience solution, finish the project and

move on to the next most urgent thing.




Ongoing performance measurement is a key step

in delivering relevant and impactful customer

experiences. It allows you to (a) monitor whether

you are actually delivering what you intended and

(b) calculate the return on investment.

If your solution has a constant connection to a

network, you may be able to set up a system to

measure performance and usage. If your customer

experiences are not connected, you need to

establish other ways to collect data and insights

from the field. You may deploy small-scale field

research projects, surveys and interviews with the

field team. You can use some of the methods we

discussed in Part 1.

No matter what the methodology, collecting data

consistently and regularly will put you in a much

better position to understand your customers,

effectiveness of your CX solution, and how your

solution impacted your business. In many ways,

ongoing measurement connects your project from

implementation back to strategy. It can not only

help you improve the existing solution, but provide

valuable insights for the next project you are

charged with.




IN CONCLUSION

Key Takeaways

To be competitive, companies must pay careful

attention to each touchpoint in their customer

experience. They can no longer focus on

just one single interaction or a unique feature

of their product. Today, they must track and

understand the customer’s entire journey, from

realizing a need, to researching a product or a

service, to purchasing it, all the way through to the

post-purchase relationship.

In this guide we tried to demonstrate the kind

of thinking and action it takes to build engaging

customer experiences in the one place where you

can still control the customer experience—physical

spaces. This kind of thinking and action is a

laborious process that requires a dedicated look at

the world through the customer's eyes and a lot of

collaboration throughout the entire project. Strategy,

design, implementation, and measurement are all

intertwined in the creation of impactful customer

experiences, and hopefully you have seen how

these disciplines work together.

Although we focused on CX solutions in physical

spaces, hopefully you can see how this approach

can be used in other contexts that focus on

CX. Despite the complexity of delivering such

experiences, we think it’s definitely worth applying

such an intentional approach for your customers,

your brand, and your team. We hope you found the

advice in this guide useful, and we encourage you

to share it with your colleagues, teammates and

other stakeholders.




TOOLSTools make our jobs easier by facilitating progress and providing clarity. In this section, we offer a few tools that might be useful to you during your CX project. The purpose of these tools ranges from planning the project and understanding the customer experience to working effectively with your design team.




A Pre-Mortem is a way

to proactively and openly

address a project's risks

from the start.

Unlike a more formal risk analysis,

the pre-mortem asks participants

(often the client) to directly tap into

their experience and intuition, at a

time when it is needed most.

Gray, D., Brown, S., & Macanufo, J. (2010). Gamestorming, p. 117-118.

After the goals and plans have been laid out

for the current project, the facilitator should

ask the simple question, “What will go wrong?”

This may also be elevated by rephrasing to ask:

“How will this disaster end?”

The stakeholders should reflect on their

collective experience and directly name risks

or elephants lurking in the room. This is their

chance to voice concerns that might otherwise

go unaddressed until it’s too late.

The facilitator should write down all the risks

and concerns.

Have the stakeholders vote on the list of

concerns and risks to determine priority, which

the facilitator should record.

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Reference

Materials

Duration

Number of Players

5-7

PRE-MORTEM

5 min. per player




A Customer Journey

Map provides a

vivid, but structured,

high-level overview

of a user’s experience.

The touchpoints where users interact

with the service are often used in

order to construct a “journey”—an

engaging story that illustrates the user's

experience. This story details user

service interactions and accompanying

emotions in a highly accessible

manner. The overview map enables

the identification of both problem areas

and opportunities for innovation, while

focusing on specific touchpoints to

allow the experience to be broken

down into individual stages for further

analysis. The structural visualization

makes it possible to compare several

experiences in the same visual

language.

CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP





Reference

Materials

Duration

Number of Players

If a large group is participating, it may be

a good idea to divide the team into smaller

groups of 5–7 people. Organize the groups

so as to mix conflicting voices with each

other. Each group should have a co-

facilitator.

The co-facilitator should guide the process

of identifying the touchpoints where users

interact with the service. This identification

process should be done with user insights

from the client. The goal is to have them

identify all the steps and start to understand

all the aspects that need to be considered.

To make the customer journey map more

personal, it may be a good idea to base

the map around one chosen actor (create a

fictional character within the group).

Consider all touchpoints during the

experience. A touchpoint can define

anything from face-to-face contact between

two people to virtual interaction with a

website or physical trips to a location.

Once the touchpoints have been identified

with the client, you can translate this content

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into a visual representation. This overview

should be visually engaging enough to make

it easily accessible to all but it should also

incorporate enough detail to provide real

insight into the journeys being displayed. So,

it may be a good idea to consider adding

more details than acquired with the client.

Another idea is to “personalize” the map

by incorporating photographs along with

personal quotes and commentary.

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5-7




The object of this

exercise is to quickly

develop a customer or

user profile to reveal

the different points of

view that appropriate

participants (or

"actors") may have.

This tool can be used as homework

for the stakeholders. By gathering

information before the session,

the stakeholders are given more

time to consider the challenges

and comment. During the session

the stakeholders can review the

information and add additional notes.

EMPATHY MAP




Gray, D., Brown, S., & Macanufo, J. (2010). Gamestorming, p. 65-66

Define which actors would be relevant to

discuss for the specific client. An example

could be the manufacturer, the retailer,

and the end user.

It may be a good idea to have one third-

party co-facilitator and one stakeholder

paired up, so the co-facilitator can record

what the stakeholder says on sticky notes.

If a large group is participating, it can be a

good idea to divide the team into smaller

groups of 2–3 people. Organize the

groups as to mix conflicting voices with

each other.

Ask the groups to describe the different

actors' experience, moving through the

categories of: thinking, seeing, hearing,

saying, doing, and feeling.

The co-facilitator should record

every comment on a sticky note for

later reference.

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The goal of the exercise is to create a

degree of empathy for the actor. Ask the

group to empathize: What does this person

want? What forces are motivating this

person? What can we do for this person?

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Reference

Materials

Duration

Number of Players

5-7




As a group is

developing ideas in a

brainstorming session,

it may be useful to do a

quick “reality check” on

proposed ideas.

In the NUF Test, participants rate an

idea on three criteria: to what degree

is it New, Useful, and Feasible?

NUF TEST (NEW, USEFUL, & FEASIBLE)





Create a matrix of ideas using the

following criteria:

New: Has the idea been tried before?

An idea will score higher here if it is

significantly different from approaches that

have come before it. A new idea captures

attention and possibility.

Useful: Does the idea actually solve the

problem? An idea that solves the problem

completely, without creating any new

problems, will score better here.

Feasible: Can it be done? A new and

useful idea still has to be weighed against

its cost to implement. Ideas that require

fewer resources and effort to be realized

will score better here.

Have the group rate each idea from 1 to

10 for each criterion and tally the results. A

group may choose to write down scores

individually at first and then call out their

results on each item and criterion to

create the tally. Scoring should be done

quickly, as in a “gut” check.

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( )

Discuss the uncertainties about an idea or

previously underrated ideas. The group may

then choose to make an idea stronger, as

in “How do we make this idea more feasible

with fewer resources?”

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Reference

Materials

Duration

Number of Players

5




Working with a team to

bring an idea into reality

is a truly rewarding

experience. Follow these simple guidelines to

make sure your team stays on track

and focused.

Start with an overview

Make it a common practice to start every

concept review with a review of the CX

Requirements Document you made in Part 1.

This may seem redundant at times, but it is an

extremely important step in keeping everyone

focused and mindful of the project goals and

parameters.

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DESIGN REVIEW

Remember your role and why you are

in the room

Try to keep critics to a small group of people

who are closely tied to the project and, in

the best scenario, who have been involved

from the beginning. Each person in the room

should hold a specific perspective (designer,

project manager, marketer, engineer, etc.),

with little to no overlap. This way everyone

can have an independent voice without

stepping on someone else’s toes.




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so they will be protected and not inadvertently

thrown out.

Don’t design in the review session

Providing possible solutions to a problem during

a design review meeting is a critical part of the

process, but it is important to stop there and let

the designer(s) take that feedback forward after

the meeting. This will allow them ample time to

think through all aspects of the solution, rather

than hastily proclaiming a victory. As you end

the review session, clearly list out the next steps

for each person involved. This task list will then

provide a starting point for your next review.

Have a schedule, and stick to it

No one likes being in meetings that run

over time or jump from one topic to the

next haphazardly. It is important to state the

structure of the meeting so that everyone knows

what to do and when to do it. If needed, assign

a facilitator to keep everyone on track. This is

also a great time for designers to communicate

the type of feedback they are looking for. For

example, a designer could say, “At the end of

this session, I’d like to have a material selection

and color selection agreed upon so we can start

a conversation with our manufacturing partners.”

It’s OK to be negative, sort of

Let’s face it, we can’t all love a particular design

100% of the time, every time. Finding flaws in

early prototypes is the sole purpose of their

existence. So if you find yourself in a situation

where you need to give negative feedback,

remember that you are in the room to solve a

problem and reach an end result. Couple your

remark with a "what if" or "have we thought

about this" statement. This will allow the rest

of the team to hear the negative critique, but

also give you the opportunity to quickly turn a

negative into a positive. On the flip-side, be sure

to identify the elements that are working well




CX REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT CONTENT GUIDE

Overall Objectives

• Problem Overview Describe the key business challenge that the company challenges.

• Product/Service Overview Describe the specific product or service for which the CX solution is being designed.

• Brand Overview Describe the key attributes of the brand and the company's brand promise.

• Competitive Positioning, Constraints, &

Opportunities List some of the other business and competitive challenges that the company is facing.

Project Overview

• Overview Describe how the project originated and its overall business goal and benefits to the customers.

• Production Budget Describe the overall budget or how the budget is going to be developed.

• Approval Process List the key stakeholders who will approve the project at various stages.

• Scope Describe the scope and limitations of the project, what it should and shouldn't cover.

• Time-line Describe the key time-line considerations and milestones relevant to the project.

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Design Objectives

Requirements

• Customer Experience: Describe the

absolute requirements from a CX

perspective (e.g. features, interactions,

messages etc.)

• Content: Describe what kind of content

is required in the experience (digital or

analog).

• Technical: Describe what technical

requirements you may have (e.g. the

experience should include a touch

interface)

• Business & Strategy: Describe how the CX

solution should improve the company's

competitive position and how it interfaces

with the company's strategy.

Expectations & Considerations

• Customer Experience: List other

considerations or team expectations from

a CX perspective.

• Content: Explain other considerations

relevant to the content.

• Technical: Further elaborate other

technical considerations, constraints and

uncertainties.

• Business & Strategy: Further elaborate

on business & strategy implications and

considerations.

Measures of Success

• Customer Experience: Outline how CX

success will be measured

• Content: Provide detail on how success

will be measured for content.

• Technical: Outline what success means

from a technical standpoint.

• Business & Strategy: Discuss how

success factors will be measured form a

business strategy standpoint.

Appendices & Supporting Material

The appendix needs to provide supporting

material for the team's reference. These may

include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Customer profile

• Research notes from the field

• Customer journey map

• Empathy maps

• Examples from competitors

• Market research report

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InReality Enabling Experiences that Matter.SM

About InReality

InReality is a customer experience strategy and

design firm. Since 1995, InReality has been

working to help companies understand and

improve how customers experience their brand

by identifying and shrinking the reality gaps

that exist between what their brands promise

and their customers' actual experiences and

expectations.

Through a unique combination of strategic

thinking, turn-key design, execution and

analytics services, InReality empowers its clients

with measurable and meaningful results and

builds stronger, more enduring relationships

between brands and their customers.

Visit www.inreality.com to learn more about our

services, team, work, and latest insights on CX

strategy, design, and solution management.

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useful. If you have questions, comments or

suggestions please contact us!

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