As we went to press this week, we awaited the imminent release of a long-awaited new iPad device from Apple. This will join existing published content consuming devices available in the UK which include Apple’s own iPhone, the Sony eReader and the Amazon Kindle in vying for the eyes of readers worldwide.

One unique selling point of these platforms is that they were built to store and display large volumes of published content and digital media within a single portable device. In the case of the iPhone and presumably the new iPad, they are also adept at consuming rich multimedia and running third-party applications. They have their differences of course, and from a customer experience point of view people want to know how to get the most from each of these devices and which are supported by the best content model. Amazon offers 1-Click ordering from a trusted, familiar, comfortable storefront. Apple offers its iTunes software and the highly marketable AppStore.

Apps are relatively new concept in mobile content consumption. Earlier this month, Penguin UK launched its first iPhone app and promptly secured top spot in iTunes’ free books apps chart just five days after release. The ‘digital sampler’ for novel ‘The Left of God’ has now been downloaded by more than 10,000 users. The obvious attraction to Penguin UK of taking the app approach is that they learn about consumption figures immediately, rather than waiting for reports of sales from either iTunes itself or Amazon. Sales control is back in the hands of the publisher – as a customer can purchase the remaining chapters from the app, avoiding the need for Penguin to pay a middle-man for the sale.

Penguin’s digital publisher Jeremy Ettinghausen said: “When Apple changed its policy to allow the purchase of a full title from a free book app we knew that this could be a great way of distributing a sampler and encouraging purchase of the full title. We hope that the success of this app has a positive effect on sales of both digital and physical editions – its success on iTunes has certainly provided the perfect launch pad.”

So there are certainly new published content consumption models available for old media like books, newspapers and magazines – but a little work and thought has to be invested in their success. The Guardian is another example of a title that has successfully launched its own iPhone app, this time using a slick push model that allows users to pay just once then browse content online and offline. Just last week the New York Times announced plans to make paid-for content available in 2011, while the Wall Street Journal is exploring ‘Professional Edition’ avenues. How quickly will we see these models and other paid-for strategies that involve monthly fees for premium content copied in the UK for mobile internet users?

Beyond developing content management services, delivery models and revenue plans though, there are clear barriers to widespread adoption associated with some of these devices themselves. iPhone and potentially new iPads look likely to be adopted readily, but Kindles and eReader are making a much, much smaller impact in the UK. How many do you see on the train, bus or tube? I work in central London and own an eReader myself, and yet I have only spotted two others and one Kindle in the past year. Capital cost is huge barrier to entry for what are seemingly one dimensional products costing £200-300. Consumers compare this unfavourably to the cost of more flexible iPhones, tablets and eBooks. The cost model for content is also extremely high in the UK, where eBooks incur VAT and often work out at close to ten pounds a title – more expensive than many physical books cost these days.

There are both exciting developments and disappointing realities ahead in the world of mobile published content consumption. Making costs more realistic is crucial, but the experience of downloading content, connecting to a service provider and actually physically using the device itself must also be intuitive and enjoyable, otherwise adoption will continue to falter. The good news is that it’s extremely likely that the future will be bright – as well as proving less expensive for end-users. The rapid rate of change in the mobile world is such that book publishers, the media and device manufacturers will drive the market and make it work. With the help of customers input and feedback, they will create new attractive delivery models and lower price structures that will appeal to a wider and more receptive audience of mobile content consumers looking for both value and an excellent customer experience.

Back to January newsletter

Looking at the user experience of all these developments, for those who are happy to read a book on a back lit device, smart phones seem to offer a good experience. If you’re like me however, you may be willing to put up with the seemingly clunky eInk technology (which drives the eReader display) in return for a larger page display and more importantly, an eye-strain free read.

Once you have decided on your device, convenience and price remain the paramount drivers to the purchase of  eBooks. However, I hasten to add these factors need to be measured against the experience of using the interface from which you are purchasing and managing your eBook collection. From what I’ve seen in this arena, apps for smartphones are way ahead of eReader software. In the past 9 months of having my eReader, there hasn’t been any updates to the pc based Sony interface that manages my collection (where books are displayed in a Windows Explorer style text interface). This display appears dated in comparison to the iTunes interface that allows books to be downloaded to your smartphone and displayed via cover (allowing for visual recognition) wherever you have an internet connection.

Now onto price, publishers are driving much of the development in the UK market in regards to driving sales of eBooks – where the cost of an individual eBook remains high. Penguin is the most recent publisher to launch an app (a clever way for publishers to increase their revenue) by cutting out the traditional consumer buying avenue of the book store. These apps also allow publishers to have greater control over the ‘try before you buy model’ that is fast becoming the norm in popular release eBook publishing (where a user can download the first few chapters of a newly released book before deciding whether to buy it) giving publishers have real-time awareness of the success of any eBook that is offered through their app.

I’d like to see the eReader software replicate some of the user experience I have seen in the apps and the iStore. Ensuring the software connects to the web, will ensure updates are sent to users without them needing to search for them. Any developments in the display of the eBook collection will allow for increasing visual cues to aid in cross-channel recognition of books and make selections that much easier.

In the absence of these, I see no let-up in the rise of the consumption of smartphone eBook purchasing.

Focusing customer experience strategy goes further than the long-standing ‘if you liked this, you might like this’ e-commerce device used successfully by Amazon and many other online retailers. Instead it might entail offering distinct website access or functionality based upon customer history, or even what they choose to input or how they navigate during a single session. It’s all about giving the right customers the most value. One example might see a chat-window or voice call popup offered to top level customers that seem to be having trouble completing a particular action. Human-based interactions that, for example, ensure a customer has understood a process, installed a product correctly or been able to upgrade a service, are highly valued by loyal customers, and can be linked to financial rewards by a savvy business.

So what research methods would allow businesses to identify particular types of customer and target their strategies accordingly? Expert ethnographic research would certainly be an effective way of informing customer experience strategy by capturing information about customer behaviour in context, and it can be used to discover how those individuals reach purchasing decisions or interact with websites and other touch-points online and off. Likewise, analytics of website journeys can help businesses to understand their customers’ online behaviour and steps that contribute towards purchases. It’s possible that using analytics customers can be mined further, profiled, and even ranked according to the value a business places on their interactions. In addition, if the channel exists, studying call centre data can provide deeper understanding through feedback and reasons for contact.

Many companies are developing their existing customer experience strategies, yet very few are likely to go public on whether, and how they are choosing to target key customers. What is certain is that if a business is weighing up the decision whether to take this route right now, they must first ensure they have a research and analysis platform in place that enables them to make those informed changes in strategy – putting building blocks in place to gain that deeper customer understanding will pay rewards in years to come, as investment can be tailored to those that are engaged, loyal and therefore (hopefully) offer financial reward.

Back to October Newsletter

Figures that ComScore released this summer highlight the increase in UK mobile Internet use: there has been a 26% increase in mobile Internet subscribers over the past year (they now make up one fifth of all UK mobile subscribers). This suggests that there are a lot of people who have been accessing mobile Internet for less than a year – and this trend is likely to continue with the announcement this week of both Orange and Vodafone both gaining the rights to sell the iPhone.

So it was with great interest that I recently observed a series of iPhone one-on-one evaluation sessions. It was captivating to observe the range of skill (or lack thereof) when surfing the Internet on an iPhone, especially for new mobile Internet browsers and new iPhone users. Just like in the early days of the Internet for PCs, navigation offered on websites viewed via mobile is not standardised. Nor are the mobile browsers that people are using to access the content. So this makes simple tasks such as moving back, moving forward and searching tricky for some.

In addition to loads of novice users, developers are faced with the difficult task of building mobile sites for multiple browsers, phone capabilities and screen widths. Clearly, the mobile Internet brings its own unique challenges that can only be solved with rigorous user research. But I am glad the UX community is rising to the challenge – and products like the App Sketchbook (if a bit gimmicky) will assist us usability professionals, designers and developers alike.

With 85,000 apps available from the Apple App Store, ultimately it will be the user-friendly and useful apps that become the most popular, and from the wisdom of the crowd, I hope we see some standardisation emerge – for the iPhone anyway!

There are plenty of sites vying for participation, in the form of user generated content: some offer to pay up front for the content, while others hope that by linking into other successful social networking sites, that they will boost their usage, and a confident few are content to start by carefully seeding, hoping that the community will grow, simply through brand, interest or both.

However Simon Seeks offers rewards based on both conversion and loyalty. Registered users of the site write reviews. If their review leads to other users booking a holiday, they are then given financial rewards back. Conversion and loyalty are not new, but it’s a model of encouragement that I have never seen before.

I guess the hope is that if reviewers are rewarded with something in context, it should lead them to have another experience, and in return, for the site can hope for loyalty, and more crucially, another review posted of that new experience.

In the interview he discusses Citi’s approach to customer experience, how they measure and score their efforts internally and, when it’s important to maintain a UK focus vs a global focus.

• Episode title: David Lengen on Customer Experience
• Episode number: 3
• Series: on Customer Experience
• Duration: 25 minutes

Listen now: Download audio file (david-lengen-edited-for-sign-off.mp3)

or Download the David Lengen podcast (12mb)

Alternatively you can read the David Lengen podcast transcript

I was heartened to hear from the majority of those attendees working in house, their plans for 2009 are largely intact, as budgets concerning customer experience are still available – this is in line with a recent US based article I read from Forrester. And it is not surprising in the current climate, that for some, measurements are moving more to customer engagement, rather than simply conversion.

Multi-variant testing was discussed, as some attendees currently use the technology; while others appeared sceptical of investment (financial outlay, design, technical) – they are more interested in placing their efforts into refining concepts and copy as a part of an iterative design process, engaging with customers along the way.

Lastly,  the discussion I valued the most was on measuring customer experience using more than just the online channel. For example, looking at channel management from call centre to web, click to call functions, and the total cost of a sale. Here I got the feeling that the industry is moving in the right direction, but there are few organisations out there who have really taken the time to define comprehensive channel management programs. At the moment the majority of approaches are of a more tactical nature, focusing on particular products. Let’s hope that with maturity, will come broader approaches.

In the interview he discusses Dell’s approach to customer experience research, innovation in tough times and how they are using social media to reach out to their customers.

• Episode title: Angus Cormie on Customer Experience
• Episode number: 2
• Series: on Customer Experience
• Duration: 25 minutes

Listen now: Download audio file (angus-cormie-podcast-final-edited.mp3)

Or, Download the Angus Cormie podcast (11.4mb)

An abridged version of the conversation between Angus Cormie and Lead Consultant Clare Mitchell Crow can be read in our April Newsletter.

You can also read the podcast transcript.

I assumed ebooks would be universally available, like downloading movies. However, unfortunately for us in the UK, ebooks aren’t so easily available right now – not helped by restrictive proprietary file formats. Sony, who makes the reader, has not even launched a store in the UK, only in the USA. This store is only available to residents of the USA the Canada – believe me, I tried unsuccessfully to use it. So I had little option but to purchase an ebook from Waterstone’s UK, Sony’s ebook partner this side of the pond. Here begins my journey.

I’m a loyal Amazon customer, and expected my first experience with Waterstone’s to match what I have come to expect from Amazon – or like downloading a track on iTunes. But my feeling of trust was soon reduced when, from the ebook section of the site, I searched for a title, only to be offered paper book results. Turns out you have to add ‘ebook’ to every search.

Once over that hurdle, I tracked down the ebook and added it to my basket. As a new customer, I then needed to sign up before purchasing (all pretty standard stuff). On to the checkout – and then I noticed a link at the top of the screen urging me to download some Adobe rights management software prior to purchase.

Now, with no expectation of a smooth journey, I diligently clicked on the link, but the Adobe software took an age to download, install on my pc and then register, so when I returned to Waterstone’s to complete my purchase, my visit had expired; I was logged out and my shopping basket was empty.

Having had enough for one day, I took a break, and a day later attempted to purchase again, with the Adobe software firmly in place, I was able to confidently click on the ‘submit order’ button, only to be faced with a screen telling me I was “unable to contact to the ebook fulfilment service”.

With calm thoughts I attempted to purchase again. This time with success. I will leave my journey there, but take note that I had to endure three or four more steps (download into the Adobe program, transfer to the Sony software, upload to the reader) before my first ebook was available on my reader.

From the gushing reports I’ve read, the Kindle sounds to offer a far superior purchasing journey – and if Sony wants its reader is to build any sort of following in the UK market before Kindle arrives, the ebook purchase customer experience needs an urgent re-write.

Read update on my eReader user experiences

While scoping or developing interest for their brand in new markets, global companies will nearly always consider developing e-commerce before any other channel. Understandably, online payments preferences that secure sales are usually one of the very first considerations. Consumers and businesses around the world often have varying conventions when using payments systems, and you don’t have to travel far to find significant cultural differences. In the UK on the whole, we are happy to enter personal details into secure websites, and so credit cards have become the norm. A short hop to Romania though sees cash on delivery as the usual method of online payment, while in Germany bank transfers are still common place, and some of the very biggest German brands continue to run thriving catalogue stores, with their website acting as only a front door.

Something as seemingly straightforward as filling in address details can quickly provide customers in some regions with unsurpassable problems if they are expected to use generic ‘international’ websites. Many countries have no concept of postcodes or zip codes, for example, while others have developed convenient methods of putting entire addresses on a single line. If a business adopts a ‘standard’ payment screen and doesn’t see any value in localisation, it’s inevitable that it will lose a large percentage, if not all, sales from some regions. Even if this is changed at a later date, that decision to initially ignore local practices can inevitably lower trust and brand expectations for years and affect returning custom.

Of course customers in some countries actually assume that businesses will ask them for a lot more information. How would you feel if a UK mobile phone company asked for your National Insurance number, for example? It’s a common practice in Romania, and consumers in this country might even lose trust not to be asked such a level of information.

We find that another invaluable way to engender trust in potential customers is to ensure all online content is translated by someone who lives and deals with businesses in each region. A UK or US citizen may have fantastic academic Spanish, but that doesn’t mean that their skills would be appropriate in a Mexican, Puerto Rican or even Spanish sales environment. I recall one example when an excellent Polish speaker from the UK found their translation ridiculed by local Polish focus groups because of an extreme formality in their style that just wasn’t suitable for the casual nature of the website. The site required a different tone, that was understood by the target market – local Polish speakers.

When developing expansion plans, some companies are unsure whether to launch the full offering of their core site in the new markets, or to develop slimmed down versions. Will local customers be annoyed that they don’t have access to a company’s full stock, or will there be demand for more? The only answer in these circumstances is for those companies to do their research and to make sure, rather than make assumptions. Look at the uptake of social networking among children, for example. It’s not at all unusual for kids in the UK to have phones, email addresses and online community logins at ages as young as 11, but businesses cannot simply assume that this is acceptable in other countries. Whatever the market, companies must develop the right online environments for the right regions if they want to produce successful sites.

You’d be surprised to hear some of the diverse considerations people have in the many countries in which Foviance and its partners conduct experience testing. What about something as fundamental as a URL for example? Sure, consumers in some countries prefer to trust a local URL suffix, but others feel safer with a .com, while still other countries may have restrictions on registering local URLs dependent on demonstrable local investment. Nothing, not even a website address, should go without some analysis. Pictures, graphics, colours even – some are perceived to be the right fit for products in some markets but not in others. Does a red and yellow banner promise value or just look cheap?

Ultimately, international user testing is all about caring enough about local customers to establish brands soundly and develop the best environments possible in which to encourage repeat business, sales conversion and site stickiness. There’s little point getting the marketing push right if the customer experience is impractical or simply engenders the wrong reaction. Global brands encountering some of the pitfalls discussed, soon see the economic effects through analytics, site traffic numbers and sales figures. We would never recommend that even the strongest brands extend their reach until they have conducted thorough local research with a team of customer experience experts.

If you’re still in doubt, let me remind you of Travelocity’s first attempt to launch in France with no local research. When the numbers failed to add up, the company finally asked local focus groups for a reason why this might be so. It turned out that customers just couldn’t get past the ‘local’ translation of the company’s name – Travelo. French consumers were apparently put off by the idea of booking their holiday through a ‘Drag queen’…