Customer loyalty and experience design in e-business

Design Management Review, Spring 2004 by Long, Karl

It is important to remember here that knowledge of the customer is the factor that underpins every design activity. For this reason, the user research methods practiced in experience design are the foundation of successful designs. These methods can be as diverse as the users themselves, so there is no perfect "prescription"-the method chosen depends very much on the complexity of the interactions involved, the sophistication of the customers, the diversity of the customer base, type of access to users, and so on. Constraints of time and budget will also factor into which user research options are available. If a researcher can afford to spend some time as a true ethnographer, living with and documenting customers in specific contexts, that's great-but user research can also mean in-depth interviews with customer service representatives, listening to recordings of customer support calls, or looking at Web server log files. It is not just about listening to customers; the researcher must develop a level of empathy for what customers "need," as well as what they want. The hierarchy of customer experience is focused on supporting human needs that can support a deepening relationship between a customer and an organization.

Trust "

"Without good experiences there can be no trust."3

Trust is the foundation upon which relationships are built, therefore it forms the base for our hierarchy of customer experience. Trust is the factor in the framework that must be put in place before anything else-without trust, not even the most basic transactions can take place.

Many clues are used to establish trust, initially through visual evaluation (Does this look like something I can trust?), and then through behavioral clues (Did this do what it looked like it would do?). It should be noted that all these clues are filtered through the context of our past experience; if we have no direct experience with something, we draw on analogous experience. Things that look or behave in a familiar way gain our trust faster than something that is novel and harder for us to fit into our existing mental model of the way the world works.

Trust is referred to as "the lubricant of cooperation." In the context of a customer and a business, the level of trust required to build a relationship varies with the value of the exchange. Very little trust is needed to underpin my relationship with a candy store selling me a pack of gum. Much more is necessary when I consider purchasing a car from a dealership.

Online, trust is a process that must be continually reinforced. It begins with visual indicators and is renewed through behavior. When an action looks like it will have the outcome we desire, we attempt it, and that action either confirms or denies our supposition. Here, graphic design and interaction design work in concert (table 1). Appearance and function must work together seamlessly to avoid any incongruence or contradiction.

Even if a customer has had no direct personal experience with a company, customer reviews, for instance, can offer a visual representation supporting the reputation of a brand. Online, a company's reputation is crucial-and even a good reputation can be undermined by problems with the visual design or the behavior of the company's Web site (figure 1).