DESIGN & CONTENT IN
CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Consistency & Quality Across Multiple Channels
Customer UNinterrupted, 2009
Colleen Jones
Partner, User Experience & Content
threebrick
www.threebrick.com

Who Is Colleen Jones?
 Customer self service lover and customer
advocate.
 Author of a column about content and
communication.
 Former senior manager of human-centered
design at Cingular Wireless, advancing
strategy for customer self-service.
www.threebrick.com

“PEOPLE DON’T RELATE TO
COMPANIES, THEY RELATE TO
PEOPLE.”
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com
www.threebrick.com

People Helping People Is the
Power of Customer Service
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TODAY, THAT HELP IS HAPPENING
NOT ONLY FACE-TO-FACE…
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But also face-to-WEB-to face…
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…face-to-PHONE-to face...
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…face-to-KIOSK-to face….and more.
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HOW DO WE PRESERVE
PEOPLE POWER IN
HIGH TECH,
MULTICHANNEL
CUSTOMER SERVICE?
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It’s hard. But these can help.
Content
D esign!
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What Is Design?
“Design is the human power to conceive, plan,
and realize products that serve human beings in
the accomplishment of any individual or
collective purpose.”
Dick Buchanan
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How Can It Help People Power?
Good design is both an art and science that…
 Considers how people experience technology.
 Specializes in interaction design, information
architecture, and information design.
 Creates channel-appropriate flows and patterns.
 Reinforces brand and creates visual tone.
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Forrester Agrees
“…customer experience professionals need to
design experiences that provide users with…
choice, consistency, and continuity.”
Cross-Channel Design, One Channel Pair at a Time
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QUICK EXAMPLE
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CosMedix.com
Adding e-commerce and
account management
functionality to website.
 Flows, site / component map,
wireframes.
 Thinking through all possible
customer scenarios and
interaction states.
 Interaction patterns to re-use
for other Astral Brands,
creating consistent quality.
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“Your insights and clear documentation
have really helped us move this project
in the right direction.”
John Stiles, Chief Information Officer
Astral Brands
www.threebrick.com

So, What Is Content?
It’s what you’re saying to customers—and
how you’re saying it.
“Content is the text, graphics, video, and audio
that make up an interactive experience.”
Kristina Halvorson
Author, Content Strategy for the Web
www.threebrick.com

How Can It Help People Power?
Quality content…
 Gives customers information they want and need.
 Sets the tone of customer service.
 Builds trusting relationships with customers.
 Brings brand personality to life and taps into
emotions.
 Communicates efficiently and consistently.
 Influences customers subtly and naturally.
www.threebrick.com

In Other Words
“Content that supports customer relationships
is…an extension of a company’s best people.”
“The more a company’s content acts like its best
people, the better customers will relate to it.”
Colleen Jones
Using Content to Grow Customer Relationships
UXmatters
www.threebrick.com

Forrester Agrees
We “…can drive significant improvements in customer
experiences. How? By putting more emphasis on using
content to help customers….rather than simply focusing
on how to create, manage, and search for content.”
Use Persuasive Content to Improve the Customer Experience
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2 QUICK EXAMPLES
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Cingular Welcome Experience
Multichannel content
for reducing calls and
promoting self service.
 Reduced amount of
content and improved its
focus.
 Customers remembered
and used the content –
statistically significant.
 Huge scale.
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IHG Interactive Voice Response
✗ “If you would like to make a new Flows, scripts, and prototype
reservation, press 1. If you would for phone self service.
like to manage an existing
reservation, press 2. For all other  Word choice: Conversational,
inquiries, press 0.“ understandable, memorable,
actionable.
✔“Okay, tell me, do you want to  Created friendly, human tone
make a new reservation, check and consistency with other
your current reservation, or do channels.
something else?”
 Voice talent will continue to
bring tone to life.
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“threebrick helped us …. [with] a very important
channel, our IVR. With good ideas, careful
prompt wording, rapid prototyping, and user-
focused documentation, threebrick moved us
forward in our multichannel efforts.”
Karen Bennett, Manager of User Experience
InterContinental Hotels Group
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TO PLAN INTERACTIVE CUSTOMER
SERVICE, WHO SITS AT THE TABLE?
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The Givens
Customer Ops
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They usually do tasks like these…
 Assess technical feasibility.
 Plan application development or platform
purchase.
 Identify business priorities.
 Track customer inquiries and handling time.
 Plan for and govern special offers.
 Preserve brand characteristics.
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….not tasks like these…
 Assess customers’ mental models and priorities.
 Plan a research and testing approach.
 Design and plan content for customer emotions
and contexts.
 Explore design and content ideas systematically.
 Form design and content requirements.
 Craft useful, delightful content.
 Organize, track, and govern channel content.
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Doing ALL
those tasks
alone is
hard.
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Doing them while balancing these
perspectives is nearly impossible.
Business
Customer Service Channel
Customer Technology
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The Givens
Customer Ops
Design Content
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ADD PEOPLE POWER TO EVERY
CUSTOMER SERVICE CHANNEL.
INVITE DESIGN & CONTENT
TO THE PLANNING TABLE.
www.threebrick.com

Thank you!
Colleen Jones
threebrick
Email: colleen@threebrick.com
Twitter: @leenjones
Website: www.threebrick.com
www.threebrick.com