Insights

Our latest POV on how customer experience drives everything from concept and creative to design and technology

The Digital Transformation Opportunity: Turning Products Into Services

By Jim Bass, Director Customer Experience The term “digital transformation” has become the new popular buzzword of the 21st century. You’ve probably heard it used at your company in the context of new initiatives being launched or strategies your competition is executing to gain an advantage. Everyone is engaging digitally The advent of Smartphones and […]

Read More

Using Social Signals For Search

Earn the top spot on page 1 of Google search results and you’ve got yourself a competitive advantage. The top 3 positions on page 1 of Google search results account for 54% of clicks, with a 31% click through rate for the top spot. If you’re at the top, you can be sure your competitors […]

Read More

Designing Cross-Cultural Digital Experiences: 2 of 6

In my last post I outlined a framework to improve cross cultural communication in the digital realm utilizing some of the concepts from the field of cultural anthropology.  In this installment, I will focus on the first construct that I discussed in my last post – cultural context. According to Edward Hall, the pioneer of this concept, […]

Read More

Designing Cross-Cultural Digital Experiences: 3 of 6

The field of chronemics is another branch of cultural anthropology that can be applied to digital communication. It relates to the way we structure and use time. Chronemics is frequently defined as the study of the role of time in communication. As I mentioned in an earlier post, notions of time play a significant role in the […]

Read More

Designing Cross-Cultural Digital Experiences: 1 of 6

A few decades ago Chevrolet had a much publicized failure rolling out their model the Nova in Mexico. It turned out that “no va” means “doesn’t go” in Spanish. Not really an ideal name for a car. Years later in Italy a campaign for Schweppes tonic water translated the name into Schweppes toilet water. Sales […]

Read More

Ramifications of the Inverted Bell Curve

In my last blog post I introduced the concept of the inverted bell curve.  The ramifications of the inverted bell curve are many, but primarily focus on how it no longer pays to be “middle of the road.”  In addition to cultural affects like the hollowing out of the middle class, the inverted bell curve impacts […]

Read More

Innovation Is Killing Your Business

It’s 1900. Hawaii becomes an official U.S. Territory, L. Frank Baum publishes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the American automobile industry consists of 500 luxury automakers producing handmade vehicles that start at $1,500 (roughly $41K today). By 1906, the automobile industry is so unattractive that it divides a nation. “Nothing has spread socialistic feeling […]

Read More

The Value of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is possibly the least understood type of primary research at most companies. In fact, most companies have never performed it before. If you grew up in the user experience or service design disciplines, you will likely be familiar with qualitative research and in-the-field ethnographic studies. Unlike quantitative statistical studies, which attempt to reach […]

Read More