e-service
If you want it done right,
do it yourself
Eric Reiss
UX London
15 June 2009
London, UK

Four things you need to know...
I am passionate about service (I will rant)
I am pissed off at British Airways
I am pissed off at eBay
I am pissed off at Wine.com
I will present three 100% unbiased cases:
British Airways
eBay
Wine.com

Four things you need to know...
I am passionate about service (I will rant)
I am pissed off at British Airways
I am pissed off at eBay
I am pissed off at Wine.com
I will present three 100% unbiased cases:
British Airways
eBay
Wine.com

So, is service design relevant for UX professionals?
Rant #1 ...

Service is 100% about user experience
UX is not 100% about service

H.L. Mencken
Editor: The American Mercury
Author: “Americana”
(the first blogger?)

We are constantly applying
old techniques to new technologies

George Santayana
“Those who cannot remember
the past are condemned
to repeat it.”

Let’s start with a definition ...

“Customer service is a series of
activities designed to enhance
the level of customer satisfaction –
the feeling that a product or service
has met expectations.”
Turban and King, 2002

Dissatisfied Satisfied
Did not meet met Exceeded

“Hockey-stick” satisfaction
Loyalty
90%
Satisfaction

“We have an
83% customer
satisfaction rating!”

7 6 5 4 3 2 1
100% 83% 66.4% 49.9% 33.3% 16.6% 0%

“Here at NN/g,
customer satisfaction is
83% irrelevant!”

Not Somewhat Very Completely
Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied
1 2 3 4 5

Your competitors are only a click away. This stuff is important.

Long before we had Jakob
we had a whole different set of gurus...

John Tschohl
Ron Zemke
Ray Considine
Philip B. Crosby
Karl Albrecht

(me)

So, what can we learn?

Lesson #1
Service management is a process, not a program.
And it’s NOT a buzzword!

Marketing alert!

Marketing alert!

Why I no longer fly British Airways
Fact: luggage lost 11 out of 12 flights

And when they don’t lose baggage...

Why I no longer fly British Airways
Fact: luggage damaged 3 out of 12 flights

There are 15 brand touchpoints

Source: Davis and Dunn, 2002

BA touchpoints
In the air

BA touchpoints
In the air
On the ground

(Spin)
Source: British Airways

(Reality)
Source: Flickr

BA touchpoints
In the air
On the ground
Through correspondence (e-mail and snail-mail)

BA touchpoints
In the air
On the ground
Through correspondence (e-mail and snail-mail)
In cyberspace

• No Mac
“Apple doesn’t support our technology.”
• No AOL
“We are IE compatible, the world’s leading browser.”
• No dial-up
“Your system is outdated.”
• 24-hour limit
“I don’t make the rules.”

Lesson #2
Unhappy customers are dangerous

Lesson #3
Service happens at the moment of experience.
It is not a thing, it’s a perception.

When
Moment of truth Moment of truth
Where

“We have 50,000
moments of truth
each day”
Jan Carlzon
CEO, SAS
1981 - 1994

Fact: eBay has millions of on-line visitors each day
Amazon has millions of on-line visitors each day
Yahoo has millions of on-line visitors each day
MSN has millions of on-line visitors each day
FatDUX has dozens of on-line visitors each day

Lesson #3
When moments of truth go unmanaged,
quality of service regresses to mediocrity

Elizabeth I
(queen with dry feet)
Carpe diem
Walter Raleigh
(subject)
Cloak
(expensive)
Mud
(wet and dirty)

So, what is a service?
An intangible event that helps us achieve something.
(and you heard it here first – a UX London Unique Event ®)

Question: what do these services have in common?
(Well, not Paul and Bette...)
Today, we’re doing them ourselves!

10 reasons services are
tougher to manage than products
1. A service is first “produced” at the moment of delivery.
2. It cannot be centrally produced, inspected, or warehoused.
3. The “product” cannot be demonstrated. You cannot send a sample.
4. There is nothing tangible. The experience represents the value.
5. The experience cannot be sold or passed on.
6. If the service sucks, it cannot be recalled.
7. Quality assurance need to happen before production.
8. Delivery requires some interaction between the buyer and seller.
9. Expectations are directly related to the degree of satisfaction.
10. The more people the customer must encounter during the delivery
of the service, the less likely it is that he or she will be satisfied.
Source: Albrecht and Zemke, 1985

Fragile items Heavy can
(at bottom) (on top)

10 reasons services are
tougher to manage than products
1. A service is first “produced” at the moment of delivery.
2. It cannot be centrally produced, inspected, or warehoused.
3. The “product” cannot be demonstrated. You cannot send a sample.
4. There is nothing tangible. The experience represents the value.
5. The experience cannot be sold or passed on.
6. If the service sucks, it cannot be recalled.
7. Quality assurance need to happen before production.
8. Delivery requires some interaction between the buyer and seller.
9. Expectations are directly related to the degree of satisfaction.
10. The more people the customer must encounter during the delivery
of the service, the less likely it is that he or she will be satisfied.
Source: Albrecht and Zemke, 1985

and the Dead Password
March 2006
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4
Discover Autoreply
problem. eBay.com
Write eBay
5 6. Write 7 8 Info request 9 Autoreply 10 11
eBay.com Autoreply eBay.de eBay.co.uk.
again eBay.com (in German) Reply.
Reply.
12 13 14 15 16 17 Info request 18
Info request eBay.de.
eBay.co.uk. Reply
Reply (in German)
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Autoreply Personal note
eBay.com eBay.co.uk.
Reply
26 27 28 29 30 31
Password reset Problem
notification solved
eBay.com

Interaction? Bah! Humbug!

A presentation postscript...
Thirty seconds after I finished this talk, I
was approached by no fewer than three
eBay representatives. They immediately
contacted their development team in
California who worked throughout the
night (on a Sunday no less).
Within 12 hours, they had fixed the basic
problems.
Hats off to the eBay team!
(now they just need to fix things both ways
– more in a moment)

There are only three basic types of service

Help
Enhance
Fix

Help
“Beam me up,
Scotty.”

I need you to help me...
do something
understand something
avoid the horrible “Browser Monster”

I won’t tell you that I need you to...
make my life easier
stroke my ego
make me feel wanted

Enhance
“Milk AND
cookies!”

Ooh! You just gave me...
a useful contextual link
a happy surprise
an unexpected benefit
a better experience
(We’re just now figuring out how to do this)

Fix
“The doggone
printer ate
my homework!”

Please...
sort out my problem
keep it simple
don’t waste my time
keep me out of trouble

Caveat #1
We don’t always understand the true pain points

Case #1
Heathrow Airport
1984/1985

1. Care and concern
2. Spontaneity “We want your frontline
people to be authorized
to think.”
3. Problem solving
4. Recoverability “Does anybody make an
effort to offset the
negative effects of a
screwup?”
Source: Don Porter

Caveat #2
Beware of the easily measurable metrics...

1. Care and concern
2. Spontaneity “We want your frontline
people to be authorized
to think.”
3. Problem solving
4. Recoverability “Does anybody make an
effort to offset the
negative effects of a
5. Flying on time screwup?”
Source: Don Porter, BA

Caveat #3
Make sure you’re really adding value

Processes

People
Technologies
Processes

Caveat #4
Encourage feedback

Caveat #5
Fix everything two ways

10 things customers will tell you
1. Don’t tell me how great you are. BE great!
2. Go the extra mile.
3. Don’t get in my way when I’m trying to shop.
4. If I know what I’m looking for, help me find it.
5. If I have questions, I want straight answers, not a salestalk.
6. Tell me if you’re going off to look for my size. Don’t just turn and leave.
7. If you expect me to buy something, tell me what it costs
8. Are your own affairs so important that you feel justified in ignoring me?
9. Don’t make me feel stupid.
10. If you make a mistake, admit it.
Sources: Paco Underhill, Eric Reiss

Customer Experience Management
Off-line CEM On-line

Case #3
Wine.com
“A hangover in cyberspace”

10 things customers will tell you
1. Don’t tell me how great you are. BE great!
2. Go the extra mile.
3. Don’t get in my way when I’m trying to shop.
4. If I know what I’m looking for, help me find it.
5. If I have questions, I want straight answers, not a salestalk.
6. Tell me if you’re going off to look for my size. Don’t just turn and leave.
7. If you expect me to buy something, tell me what it costs
8. Are your own affairs so important that you feel justified in ignoring me?
9. Don’t make me feel stupid.
10. If you make a mistake, admit it.

10 things customers will tell you
1. Don’t tell me how great you are. BE great!
2. Go the extra mile.
3. Don’t get in my way when I’m trying to shop.
4. If I know what I’m looking for, help me find it.
5. If I have questions, I want straight answers, not a salestalk.
6. Tell me if you’re going off to look for my size. Don’t just turn and leave.
7. If you expect me to buy something, tell me what it costs
8. Are your own affairs so important that you feel justified in ignoring me?
9. Don’t make me feel stupid.
10. If you make a mistake, admit it.

10 things customers will tell you
1. Don’t tell me how great you are. BE great!
2. Go the extra mile.
3. Don’t get in my way when I’m trying to shop.
4. If I know what I’m looking for, help me find it.
5. If I have questions, I want straight answers, not a salestalk.
6. Tell me if you’re going off to look for my size. Don’t just turn and leave.
7. If you expect me to buy something, tell me what it costs
8. Are your own affairs so important that you feel justified in ignoring me?
9. Don’t make me feel stupid.
10. If you make a mistake, admit it.

10 things customers will tell you
1. Don’t tell me how great you are. BE great!
2. Go the extra mile.
3. Don’t get in my way when I’m trying to shop.
4. If I know what I’m looking for, help me find it.
5. If I have questions, I want straight answers, not a salestalk.
6. Tell me if you’re going off to look for my size. Don’t just turn and leave.
7. If you expect me to buy something, tell me what it costs
8. Are your own affairs so important that you feel justified in ignoring me?
9. Don’t make me feel stupid.
10. If you make a mistake, admit it.

10 things customers will tell you
1. Don’t tell me how great you are. BE great!
2. Go the extra mile.
3. Don’t get in my way when I’m trying to shop.
4. If I know what I’m looking for, help me find it.
5. If I have questions, I want straight answers, not a salestalk.
6. Tell me if you’re going off to look for my size. Don’t just turn and leave.
7. If you expect me to buy something, tell me what it costs
8. Are your own affairs so important that you feel justified in ignoring me?
9. Don’t make me feel stupid.
10. If you make a mistake, admit it.

If we do not demand good service, we will never receive it.
Don’t just prevent bad things from happening,
you can make wonderful things happen.

Thanks!

Eric Reiss can (usually) be found at:
The FatDUX Group ApS
Strandøre 15
2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Office: (+45) 39 29 67 77
Mobil: (+45) 20 12 88 44
Twitter: @elreiss
er@fatdux.com
www.fatdux.com