Making Memorable Experiences Inside and Out

Experiences, where we achieve our goals effortlessly and seamlessly, are memorable. They place the user at the center—whether that’s designing a product, a service, or work place experience.

Many industries are catching on to the importance of a user-centered approach. Banks, insurance companies, and retail, to name a few, are hiring more user experience researchers and designers. The goal is simple: create great experiences that differentiate your business.   

For example, the average life insurance application was 25+ pages. Now, insurance companies are rolling out 2-page applications. As a result, they’re seeing a steady incline in the number of people enrolling.  Car owners’ manuals are notoriously big and bulky. To help drivers quickly find their car information, Mercedes designed a personalized app. It not only replaces the manual but tracks everything about a car and driver. It allows drivers to easily see data about their car from anywhere.

How we create great experiences

The process of creating great experiences begins by:

• understanding the goals of each party;
• discovering where there’s friction with current experiences; 
• identifying the gaps between the current experience and an ideal one, and;
• brainstorming solutions that best address the friction and bridge gaps.  

The value of providing great experiences is undeniable. A recent Harvard Business Review study revealed that 70% of consumers buy from businesses that have great experiences. Furthermore, delivering unique experiences and remaining close to customers is critical for growth

Most often, we think of these experiences in terms of our customers and users—which is essential. But the experience of your employees is also vital.

At ArtScience group, we help businesses and leaders reimagine existing experiences—for customers and employees—by identifying unmet needs. We turn those needs into opportunities that drive growth.

Our approach in action: SaaS Platform for Farmers

We recently worked with a pharmaceutical client who provided a software platform for farmers that wasn’t getting much traction. We were hired to learn why. 

Through extensive interviews with farmers and professionals in their ecosystem, we learned that the profit margins for farmers were very thin. The farmers expressed concern about the benchmarking and other aspects of the platform. They believed their proprietary information could be shared from it. We also learned that this concern wasn’t exclusive to our client’s platform. Some farmers were spending up to two years developing their own platform to get off the competitor’s product for the same reason. 

With the farmers’ experience top of mind, we came up with a solution: develop a white-label platform the farmers can customize to meet their needs and goals. As a result, the farmers can use the platform without having to build their own. We hope this would also gain their loyalty.

Designing human-centered service solutions

We use the same process to evaluate a service. We first look at all the touchpoints a company has with a client and the customer’s experience with each one.  

Some key questions we ask about each one include:

• How do these experiences expedite the achievement of the customer’s goals?   
• Are there redundancies, delays, or unnecessary steps?  

By scrutinizing each touchpoint, we can identify opportunities to create better experiences. It also helps identify processes that may have outlived their purpose.  

The medical industry is one group recognizing the importance of service design. For example, the growth in outpatient and in-home renal and dialysis centers demonstrates how understanding the patient experience and their challenges has led to new, more convenient alternatives.  

The hospitality sector is another industry that is embracing service design. It continually identifies ways for technology to help create personalized experiences for guests. If a guest is in the hotel bar, they could receive a push notification about a deal on drinks. The Hilton uses location-based services at some of its resorts to alert guests to events and activities that might interest them based on where they are on the property.

Coaching leaders for better employee experiences

When it comes to helping others become better leaders, we begin by understanding:

• your goals;
• the steps you’ve already taken;
• the challenges you’re experiencing in reaching those goals; 
• how others (e.g. colleagues, board members, employees) may influence achieving those goals; 
• the perception of others who have a stake (direct or indirect) in coaching outcomes; 
• where there are gaps between perceptions and reality, and 
• strategies for closing the gaps and achieving desired outcomes. 
  

Our approach in action: Helping the head of sales for a Fortune 500 company

One of our clients was head of sales for a Fortune 500 company. We’ll call him Colin. Colin’s team met their sales goals and then some. But the sales team had mixed reviews about his management style, which resulted in complaints to human resources. After a second complaint, Colin began questioning his approach and engaged in coaching.  

Though pleased with his work, the senior team noted that he could be gruff at times.  Colin’s leadership style was “command and control,” which didn’t consider the social styles of his colleagues (e.g. goal-oriented vs. analytical vs. storyteller). Additionally, Colin learned that he was reactionary. He took certain behaviors as an affront to his leadership. He also needed time to assess whether certain interpretations were real or perceived. 

Once Colin understood what behaviors caused friction, we helped him find a new approach. He was able to put these into practice and saw great results.  His relationship with his team improved, sales targets were still met, and his stress level reduced significantly.  Colleagues noted a remarkable change in Colin and the way he interacted with others.

Disrupting experiences

Creating great experiences sometimes means disrupting existing experiences. Disrupting anything involves understanding change as well as resistance. 

This is where the science in ArtScience comes into play. Resistance takes a lot of energy—energy that could build solutions instead of obstacles. By gathering data from users, synthesizing it, and building evidence, it’s hard to refute it. The idea of “this is how we always did it” and gut feelings lose their influence. Data is key to shifting our own minds and those of others. 

The Art is in the ability to listen to others, to what they do and don’t say. Then meet their unmet needs in ways they can’t (yet) conceive. It involves reading people and recognizing behaviors that could be read as resistance but are likely discomfort.  The art is also in our combination of techniques for helping people surrender rigid or outdated approaches. To help people feel comfortable moving forward even with uncertainty around the outcome. To move people from reacting to others to trusting themselves.  

It’s this combination of art and science that we bring to our work. We help leaders and companies better understand the existing experience so they can create great, memorable ones.  

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If you would like to discuss how we might work with you, find a convenient time to chat here