Customer Experience

My Kindle just arrived. It came in a brown cardboard box, Amazon style, except that this was a different model box from the standard ones – more classy, somehow, with its black band across one end. Tear off the strip of perforated card at one end, and the lid lifts up to reveal the object of your desire: THE Kindle. There’s something of an Apple feel to the experience – white, smooth – lustrous, even? – hard, moulded plastic inside, no frills, and the dark matte grey device nestled, pod-like, in the box. Basic instructions on the screen clearly display a diagram of the device, its USB/power cord and how to plug it in – so clearly in fact, I first thought this was printed on the protective plastic film, and so did a couple of other people I showed it to. So far this is turning out to be a rather good customer experience.

With something like reverence, I take it out of the box.

It is thin, it is light and it feels quite solid. Maybe a tad bigger than I expected – one gets so used to mobile phones – but not much. Definitely an improvement on the brick-like paperbacks I’ve carried around before.

Hiding underneath the device, a concertina leaflet – brown, recycled-like thick paper, adorned with a jumble of printed letters surrounding “Amazon Kindle” and “Quick start guide” – a very understated design – which describes getting started. Beneath this, a deeper recess holds the power/USB cable, also in a brown card wrapper. Full marks for branding and packaging.

The first surprise is that the display does not look or feel like a screen – and this was also experienced by the few people I showed the device to – both asked whether it was on or just the “dummy” print on the plastic cover. By comparison, my computer screen seems positively garish. It really is quite an amazing rendering of black and white text and images, very close to what one experiences on paper.

I’m not saying that the device is perfect. By virtue of being so thin, it takes a while to find the best way to hold it, though one’s fingers do tend to naturally be positioned over the “next” buttons on either side. Unlike a book one holds open, with both hands far apart and holding on to something, here both hands are quite close together (both hands need to be involved, since you need to press the “next” button to turn the pages). It is unfamiliar, but not uncomfortable – though this remains to be tested for an hour at a time. One solution is to invest in a Kindle cover: the drawback is the added cost and weight, but the form factor makes it more comfortable to hold, and also protects the screen from various hazards in my purse, such as keys and pens and sundry items.

The books I purchased on the Amazon UK Kindle store are already loaded, with no delay – since the device was on in the box, they must have loaded as soon as I purchased them online, over the 3G connection. I’m looking forward to reading on the Tube tonight…The actual buying process and usability of the device will be covered in my next post – so stay tuned!

A  few weeks ago, I opened the amazon.co.uk home page to find a splashy ad for the all-new Kindle. A few buzz words caught my eye – free 3G, slim as a pencil, 3500 books, read in sunlight, UK-Kindle store…having so far resisted buying one of these devices (see my earlier post) but with both a professional and a personal interest in them, I read on. Call it great marketing or just the product finally hitting my sweet spot, but I was hooked and ordered one on the spot. Seems I was not the only one: the product is already sold out pre-shipping (launch was announced for August 27) and current orders can expect delivery in the second half of September. Read more…

I am feeling annoyed and frustrated with making bookings on he Internet. I’m off on holiday and thought that rather than drive straight through to the southernmost tip of England in one day, we’d stop off to see some relatives on the way. There’s six of us, so staying with anyone is no small undertaking. This time we decided to look for a hotel or B&B. Read more…

Welcome to this latest edition of your Foviance newsletter. In this issue we look at the changing face of mobile customer experience and the rapid developments we’re witnessing in 2010: the year of the mobile.

Firstly, Xavier expands on the boom in mobile retail apps. Sean opens up the debate on future direction of targeted mobile advertising. And Jamie enlightens us about ‘Yam-Yams’ and the fickle world of mobile gaming.

I hope you enjoy this latest newsletter.You might also enjoy reading and commenting on some of our consultants’ thoughts and opinions on our regularly updated blog pages.

I would be very interested to hear from you directly with any feedback.

Paul Blunden, CEO, Foviance

In this issue:

Making the most of retail apps
Going local with mobile advertising
Cross-channel experience for Yam Yams!

National Complaints Day: The need for ‘honest listening’, re-inventing corporations and Club Penguin…

Today, apart from being Friday 13th, is also National Complaints Day. Research conducted by ComplaintCommunity suggests that over the course of today more than one and a half million complaints will be lodged across the UK.

Against this backdrop, I was fortunate enough to bring together a variety of people from the public sector, retail, financial services, customer experience and social media monitoring to discuss the impact of social media on complaints specifically, and customer service more generally. Read more…

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to browse a website with a visual impairment? Or wondered how your website is perceived by a person with a vision disorder?

There are many different types of vision disorders that can affect a user’s ability to view web pages and way too many to cover off here. However, to give you an idea, I have simulated how the Foviance website homepage might look to someone with cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. These are four of the most common types of vision disorders. Cataracts is the leading cause of blindness worldwide and in the UK, 2 million people are visually impaired with macular degeneration (40%), glaucoma (13%) and diabetic retinopathy (8%) being the three most common causes. Read more…

Background

Alfred Dunhill, the mens luxury retailer identified that their online channel is increasingly important not just as a direct sales channel but also as way to create more engagement with its customers.

As part of their ongoing development of their site, Alfred Dunhill commissioned Foviance to undertake some independent research of its online audience to gather quantitative data on what visitors thought of the current customer experience. This would help them identify strengths and weaknesses of their main site and start to build a much richer idea of what their online audience wanted from an Alfred Dunhill site.

Methodology

Foviance developed an opt-in survey from the Alfred Dunhill homepage that recruited visitors with specific objectives for visiting the site. They then completed their journey and were asked a series of questions once they had completed their intended goal.

The survey was launched during the busy run-up to Christmas and was live throughout the festive period itself to capitalise on the increased traffic rates. In addition the exposure rate of the survey was controlled so that is was unlikely someone returning to the site that had declined to participate in the past would be shown the participation message again on the homepage.

Results

Over 200 responses were gained throughout the duration that the survey was live. Overall over 84% respondents said they would visit the site again and a net promoter score benchmark was captured. The survey captured user feedback on the look and feel of the site and allowed Alfred Dunhill to see if these were inline with its brand guidelines. In addition it highlighted several areas where the site could be improved. This has helped develop the business case for additional development work. Alfred Dunhill intend to use this methodology again at regular intervals to help measure site performance and get regular customer feedback as the site develops and grows.

The biggest events on the sporting calendar always attract a new wave of punters who only have one bet in mind. Highly publicised events suit inexperienced punters who are keen to be part of the fun, even if just for the one occasion.

The standout example of this phenomenon is of course the Grand National, but world title boxing fights and the ubiquitous Football World Cup tournament are others. Punters will open an account, place one (in the case of the Grand National) or a few (in the case of the World Cup) bets and then disappear. The vast majority of these fly-by-night punters never log back into their accounts again in the two months after they join. Read more…