“I hate it when I realize I’m on someone’s journey.”
Ouch. My husband declared this after he ordered audio equipment from a company for the first time. Within hours of placing his order, he got a phone call from a customer rep to confirm the order and thank him for being a first-timer. Admittedly, he was a little impressed, his order being just a couple of cords – very small and inexpensive in the grand scheme of music equipment. But a call felt like an interruption.
Since it’s my line of work to help people with journey mapping and experience design, I couldn’t help but feel a little defeated by this. My slightly defensive inner dialogue went something like: “…but, but, but it doesn’t have to be annoying.”
Then, I had my own similar icky journey experience. I signed up for Lyft and in the second email I got from them, I noticed a label in the footer: “Welcome Series 2/4.” So, I was on step 2 of their welcome journey. It felt robotic, plastic. None of the 4 messages offered me any real value. I thought, “Well, I guess at least I know these emails are coming to an end.” Surely not the thoughts and feelings Lyft hoped for when they planned out this journey. Just like marketing or sales can run the gamut from awesome to icky, experience design can also go awry.
So how do you keep your planned customer journey from slipping into icky-land?
Get to know your people. You may not have the resources to create non-automated, super personalized experiences, but you can at least equip yourself with research. Before creating a bunch of interactions and touchpoints, get to know what a sample of your real customers actually wants through interviews or surveys. (Related: some tips for conducting awesome audience interviews).
And be sure you don’t let what you want the customer to feel or understand supersede their actual wants and needs. It’s easy to see what we want in research, and ignore parts that don’t support our own narrative.
Don’t overcomplicate things. Look for one or two moments where you could add surprise and delight, generosity, or gratitude. It’s really easy to add steps just because. Experience design is fun! Here’s another possible touchpoint! Let’s jam it full with all of the things! One simple, thoughtful moment may be all it takes to elevate your current experience.
Earn some cred before going intrusive. Do you feel like you have earned an invitation into your customer’s private life? Give something of value before you ask for attention, time, info, or more business from your customer.
Now, This is More Like It
Cut to the afternoon after my husband got the unexpected, unwanted call from the rep. His package showed up at the doorstep, and I took it to him. “Special delivery! Your cords are here.”
This was a different story than the intrusive phone call. Less than 24 hours after placing the order, here it was. He hadn’t paid for, nor asked for, express shipping. It was free – a standard surprise from the company. Now this was a part of their journey he was quite happy to accept. Inside the box, there was a small bag of laffy taffy and a thick, glossy catalog full of all of the latest and greatest music toys. Suddenly, opening up a box of cords was like getting a gift.
It was cool to see how this experience transformed his opinion. I wondered what might have happened if he had gotten the call after the delivery, rather than before. It was a great example of how intentionally creating a customer experience can go either way (no matter your best intentions), and how important it is to understand your people and design with them in mind.