I will start by asking you this one simple question: Who is your customer?
This is the most important question that you need to answer before starting your business. Your customer is the person who will be buying your product or service.
Without customers, you don’t have a business. There are a few things that you need to keep in mind when thinking about who your customer is.
First, you need to think about what your customer needs or wants. What are they looking for?
Second, you need to think about where your customer is located. Are they local, national, or international?
Third, you need to think about how your customer will find you. Will they find you online, in a store, or through word-of-mouth?
Fourth, you need to think about how much your customer is willing to pay.
What is their budget?
Keep all of these things in mind when you are thinking about who your customer is.
Once you have a good understanding of who your customer is, you can start thinking about how to reach them.
What Does the Voice of the Customer mean?
Voice of the Customer (VoC) is a term that describes the process of gaining feedback from customer about their experience with your product or service as well as their expectations and preferences. It’s a market research technique that results in a list of customer wants and needs that are then organized based on their level of importance and satisfaction. Based on this companies are able to adapt their service or the industrial design for a product to improve the overall user experience.
Not so simple after all, right? Sometimes in business, we think we know who our customers are but when it comes down to it we really don’t. We don’t know what they do as a hobby or how they like to relax after work on a Friday night. We don’t know their favorite food or whether they prefer to go for a night out or have a quiet night in. Perhaps all of these things aren’t completely relevant to what your business does but if you really want to provide your customers with the best user experience then you have to get to know them better, and you really have to start listening to them.
So how can you introduce VoC as part of your UX/UI Design strategy? The first step to implementing a successful VoC program is to lay the foundations. If you truly want to utilize the voice of the customer to enhance user experience you need to start by focusing on the following six factors:
- Team Work
- Clear Mission
- Commitment and Cooperation
- Standard Operating Procedure
- Action Break Down
- Patience and DedicationTeam Work
1. Team Work
Adapting a new UX/UI design strategy is a huge task and one that requires a team effort. One man on a mission for change will have very little impact. If you really want to develop a strategy that focuses on user experience then you need the support of the key players.
This means identifying those with the most influence and getting them on your side. First, you need to convince someone on the executive team to back up your idea, if the guys at the top of the ladder aren’t on board the initiative will fall flat.
Secondly, you will want to focus your energy on individual team leaders as they influence the views and attitude of those working underneath them. If the leaders support your initiative to put the voice of the customer at the center of your organization then so will their team.
2. Clear Mission
You need to have a clear idea of what introducing VoC means in your organization so that the rest of your team know what they are working towards.
Think about how you phrase your objectives. A good idea to help you keep things simple and concise is to create a short mission or vision statement about what you aim to achieve. This will make it easier to communicate your idea with others and win their support.
3. Commitment and Cooperation
If you truly want to reap the rewards that come with integrating the VoC process as part of your UX/UI design, you need long-term commitment from your team.
You need to find ways to keep them engaged as this will create more synergy between departments and ultimately result in more successful initiatives for developing a better user experience.
In the same way, VoC requires a deep-level understanding of your customers, in order to achieve this, you need to gain a better understanding of what motivates and engages your employees.
4. Standard Operating Procedure
To collect customer feedback for a VoC process you need to ensure your company can withstand a robust data collection procedure.
It’s likely that you will collect customer feedback via multiple channels such as interviews, online questionnaires, telephone calls and so on.
You need to ensure there is a standard operating procedure for how this information is gathered, stored and implemented into the industrial design.
5. Action Break Down
Once you’ve identified your mission and can be assured that everyone is working towards the same thing, each department needs to work out what individual action they must take.
Essentially you need to break down the main aim for introducing VoC as part of your UX/UI design and set smaller, actionable goals that each team can work towards in order to contribute to improving the overall user experience.
6. Patience and Dedication
The final thing you need to remember throughout the whole process of integrating a Voc process is to have patience and dedication. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a UX/UI design strategy that adopts a VoC approach.
You need to be prepared for a long-term commitment if you want to see real results. This means regular check-ins with teams, reviewing procedures and always being on the lookout for ways to improve. Implementing a VoC process can be tough but it’s worth it if you want to create products that your customers will love.
If you want to improve the user experience for your customers, then you need to put the voice of the customer at the center of your organization.
This means convincing those in power to support your initiative, having a clear mission, gaining long-term commitment from your team, and being prepared for a dedicated and long-term process. By following these steps, you can create products that your customers will love.
