I have noticed a recent change in how Customer Experiences (CEX) are designed. A change for the better.
In the past CEX design was often the domain of the B-school trained consultant or manager. They used a logical, touchpoint-driven approach. Process design (using a variety of process mapping methods) was a big part of this approach. But the results of their work has been mixed at best. Despite a few well publicised successes, most of their CEX designs failed to deliver value to customers in the way they, customers, want it.
More recently, I have seen service design agencies get more and more involved in CEX design. These D-school trained people use a broad range of tools and techniques (including the servicescaping process-mapping method) to create superior CEX designs. Designs that pull the logical, emotional and aesthetic value levers that customers are looking for in a CEX. That create satisfaction, preference and maybe even loyalty.
If I was advising a client today on who are the best CEX designers, I would be pointing them to design agencies like Design Thinkers, live|work or Engine Service Design, not to the CEX consultancies that I might have used only a few years ago.
How things change. We must change with them. It is time to cast off monolithic process-thinking and to embrace holistic design-thinking. Your customers will thank you for it using their cheque books.
What do you think? Are you using design-thinking to create superior customer experiences? Or isn't customer experience that important to your business?
Graham Hill
Customer-centric Innovator, Customer Value Manager, or simply, Design Thinker
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