Karen Cunningham

Fox School of Business

Karen Cunningham

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No APPetite

Although I’m writing this over the Thanksgiving holiday and I am quite literally still stuffed, the lack of appetite I’m referring to here is of the mobile variety.

About a week or so after taking my cat to a new veterinarian earlier this month, I received an email with a rather imperative subject line: “Important Information About Ella’s Records.”  Even if my cat had been to the vet for a well visit, I would not have ignored an email with this reference, so kudos to their team for getting my attention. However, I was annoyed when I opened the message and read, “Please confirm that you can access these records by creating an account and logging in with our mobile app or through the online portal.” Seriously?

While there’s no definitive answer as to whether or not a business should develop a mobile app, there are some clear guidelines. For example, according to a Forbes Young Entrepreneur Council Post, “If the functionality of benefit to the user can’t be implemented on the web, you have a good reason to create a mobile app…If the only benefit is to your company, then it’s a little rude to nag a user into installing an app on their phone.”

Not only can I not think of a single benefit to justify my personal need to download the vet’s mobile app, I’m hard pressed to think of the advantages the app delivers to the business.

Sure, they’ll be able to send me push notifications when it’s time to administer or refill my pet’s maintenance medications, but can’t email be just as effective and less costly? Perhaps, they’re interested in tracking some of my other behaviors by asking me to enable GPS and they intend to use this data to look for trends among customers. Even if they discover that a majority of their customers walk their pets at a certain time of day or even in the same area, how does this data translate into a business opportunity? An advertisement on a park billboard or in the window of a local shop? Will the return on investment justify the spend on the app?  I’m not seeing it, feeling it, and honestly, I’m still annoyed at the deceptive lure of the email.

Even if I was inclined to download the app, chances are I’d delete within a few days, which would be typical according to 2018 study of 8 billion app installs worldwide, which found that on average, apps are deleted within a week of their last use. According to another 2018 survey, if you’re going to build an app, make sure your top priority is maintaining continuous user engagement since 39 percent of users uninstall apps because they no longer use them. See the chart for more reasons why users uninstall apps.

As for my vet’s app, not surprisingly, I haven’t downloaded it. I also continue to ignore the follow-up emails I’ve received – thankfully with less urgent subject lines. It’s not that I don’t love my pet, I just find the app, and even creating an account on their portal, completely unnecessary.

 

Sources:

  • CGK, Team. “Do Millennials Prefer Mobile Apps or Websites?” The Center for Generational Kinetics, 12 June 2018, genhq.com/do-millennials-prefer-mobile-apps-or-websites/.
  • Council, Young Entrepreneur. “Does Your Business Really Need A Mobile App?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 June 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2016/06/13/does-your-business-really-need-a-mobile-app/#5b64334a4345.
  • “Most Apps Get Deleted Within a Week Of Last Use.” EMarketer, www.emarketer.com/content/most-apps-get-deleted-within-a-week.
  • “Why Users Uninstall Apps: 28% of People Feel Spammed.” CleverTap, clevertap.com/blog/uninstall-apps/.

Image Source: 

  • “Why Users Uninstall Apps: 28% of People Feel Spammed.” CleverTap, clevertap.com/blog/uninstall-apps/.

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Signs of Selective Social Listening

While researching Warby Parker’s use of mobile technology to close gaps in the purchase journey, I came across an article that suggests the brand may not be putting enough focus on its social listening practice.

According to a digital finance magazine article last year, poor customer service reviews about product quality, fulfillment and follow-up are commonplace to the point that positive comments elicit responses like “Wow that’s rare,” and “Are you being paid by Warby Parker?”

Compared to converting an old-school bus into a shop and travelling the country for 18 months to collect data, conducting a sentiment analysis and developing an engagement strategy should be a much easier undertaking for Warby Parker. So, what’s going on?

When I scanned the brand’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, I see lots of engagement between the brand and customers. However, with one exception – a comment about a possibly defective contact lens, to which the company responded – all of the comments are positive. I begin to suspect the brand is filtering their owned social media accounts because when I look at Yelp!, Consumer Affairs and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) I see a different view. On these sites, there are plenty of negative reviews, many of which are unanswered. For a brand that claims to view customer service as a brand promoter and lead generator, you would think responding to unhappy customers would be a priority.

Perhaps ignoring, and allowing these sentiments to amplify, is the reason the brand’s once boastful net promoter score (NPS), which measures customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, dropped from a high of 91 (out of 100) in 2013 to 80 in 2018. Although the dip in NPS hasn’t impacted the company’s estimated value of $1.75 billion, it has to be a concern, especially since the company says it measures NPS more religiously than revenue and appointment bookings. If that is indeed true, I would expect to see, in the near future, the brand dedicating as much effort to social listening and nurturing customers in the “care” stage as it has on finding innovative uses for mobile technology.

If they don’t act soon, they could end up with a full-blown crisis on their hands, and there’s nothing that eats away at revenue faster than a social media crisis. United Airlines, for example, experienced an almost immediate $225 million drop in market value after dragging David Dao from his seat in 2018.

Not responding to negative reviews is clearly not the same as forcibly dragging a passenger from his seat, but the brand isn’t building a reputation of trust and transparency either, which can help shield them if a crisis strikes.

So while the direct-to-customer retailer may be at the top of their game when it comes to using feedback and mobile technology to address pain points and move customers more easily through the sales funnel, the brand’s social listening practice, when it comes to customer satisfaction, retention and crisis prevention, appears to be lagging. When it closes this gap and starts listening, it will truly be the brand to watch.

 

Article Sources:

  • Detreville, Lauren. “Bringing into Focus: Warby Parker’s Biggest Mistakes.” Finance 101, Finance 101, 9 July 2019, www.finance101.com/warby-parker/.
  • Forte, Daniela. “Click-to-Brick Success Story Warby Parker Continues to Disrupt, Innovate.” Multichannel Merchant, Multichannel Merchant, 21 Aug. 2018, multichannelmerchant.com/ecommerce/click-brick-success-story-warby-parker-continues-disrupt-innovate/.
  • Rey, Jason Del. “Warby Parker Is Valued at $1.75 Billion after a Pre-IPO Investment of $75 Million.” Vox, Vox, 14 Mar. 2018, www.vox.com/2018/3/14/17115230/warby-parker-75-million-funding-t-rowe-price-ipo.
  • Shell, Adam. “United Airlines Stock Loses Altitude, Sheds $255 Million in Value.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 11 Apr. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2017/04/11/united-stock-falls/100325694/.
  • “Warby Parker.” Experience Benchmarks, 16 Nov. 2019, customergauge.com/benchmarks/companies/warby-parker.
  • “Warby Parker’s CEO on Disruption and Consumer Experience.” YouTube, youtu.be/7BFLO6RTr9o?t=16m6s.

Image Source:

Source: Sprout Social. “#BrandsGetReal: Social Media & the Evolution of Transparency.” Sprout Social, 7 May 2019, sproutsocial.com/insights/data/social-media-transparency/#communication-strategies-for-the-transparent-brand.

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Mobile: Closing Gaps in Customer Purchase

Just a few years after disrupting the eyewear industry with its internet-first business model, some considered Warby Parker’s expansion into physical retail a step in the wrong direction. For the brand’s founders, who believe that buying glasses should be easy and fun, it was a natural progression aimed at providing a more integrated shopping experience.

“For us, we really focused on providing a great online experience but an offline as well,” co-founder David Gilboa said in an interview.

Using pop-up shops and a converted school bus that travelled the country for 18 months, the brand was able to find the ideal locations for permanent stores and collect customer feedback otherwise impossible to capture.

“We have learned so much from face-to-face conversations, feedback that from a purely digital relationship probably would have been impossible to get,” Gilboa told an online resource for marketing research and insights on trends.

This rich qualitative data helped the digital eyewear company identify pain points in the customer online and offline purchase journey. Then, they leveraged mobile technology to address them.

For example, after observing that many customers were coming to stores with the names of frames they found online written on paper, they developed a “favorite” feature on their website and in their app. Not only could customers “favorite” an item, the brand took it a step further by making the information immediately available to sales associates – this way even if the shopper “favorites” items while browsing in the store, there’s no time wasted going back to cases of frames, carrying them around or trying to remember names.

Warby Parker also found the reverse was happening – people stopped in to try frames but weren’t ready to make a purchase. They solved this problem by creating a digital bookmark that allows employees take pictures of a customer in their favorite frames and then send them an email; when the customer is ready to make the purchase, the frames can be added to their cart with a simple click from the email.

The company’s mobile app was enhanced too: A “Find Your Fit” feature uses iPhone 10’s facial recognition technology to allow shoppers to take measurements and get the most accurate frame recommendations whether they’re at home or in the store; “Prescription Check” lets an optometrist assess a customer’s vision through a particular pair of glasses to determine whether a full eye exam or just an updated prescription is needed.

Not only does all of this technology create a seamless omnichannel experience, it provides the brand with continuous data and insight into their customer – their likes, dislikes, shopping behavior, preferences, etc. Armed with this information, the brand can continue to find ways to use mobile technology to improve the purchase journey – a wise decision considering the  increasingly important role mobile devices are playing in both online and offline retail purchases (see sidebar).

 

Article Sources:

  • Forte, Daniela. “Click-to-Brick Success Story Warby Parker Continues to Disrupt, Innovate.” Multichannel Merchant, Multichannel Merchant, 21 Aug. 2018, multichannelmerchant.com/ecommerce/click-brick-success-story-warby-parker-continues-disrupt-innovate/.
  • “History.” Warby Parker, www.warbyparker.com/history.
  • “Why Mobile Is Central to Omnichannel Customers.” Latest News, www.mobilemarketer.com/ex/mobilemarketer/cms/opinion/columns/17359.html.

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  • Nikunj SanghviFollowDigital Advisory. “How Technology Impacts Omnichannel Experiences for Consumers.” LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-technology-impacts-omnichannel-experiences-nikunj-sanghvi/.

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UX is More than Good Looks

At the risk of sounding superficial, or worse, ignorant, I must admit that before reading Don Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things (DOET), I thought design, and even user experience (UX) design, focused exclusively on the way something looked.

I was truly humbled when I checked Webster’s dictionary and found that only one definition of the word design even mentions aesthetics.

My self-esteem lifted ever so slightly however, when I learned I wasn’t alone in my preoccupation with visual appeal.

In fact, studies have found that people are actually more tolerant of products that don’t necessarily work well as long as they look good. The misperception that things that look better work better — the aesthetic-usability effect — was first observed by Japanese researchers at the Hitachi Design Center nearly 25 years ago and explored in depth by none other than Don Norman in his 2004 book Emotional Design: Why we love (or hate) everyday things.

But as in life, good looks will only get you so far. The Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g), preeminent leaders in the field of user experience research, warn that aesthetic-usability effect has its limits, “A pretty design can make users more forgiving of minor usability problems, but not of larger ones.”

Still, aesthetically pleasing interfaces are undoubtedly important; users are more likely to interact with designs simply because they look easy to use. However, the NN/g stresses that form and function must work together. Especially on the Web where users are quick to leave a site or abandon a shopping cart if something is difficult or takes too long.

Precisely why when Norman coined the term “user experience design” in the 1990s, his intention was to “cover all aspects of the person’s experience the system including industrial design graphics, the interface, the physical interaction and the manual.”

And while the term is relatively new, and is typically associated with digital applications and websites, UX design is actually an ancient practice.

The Fascinating History of UX Design: A Definitive Timeline, traces the origins of user experience design all the way back to 4000 BC to the Chinese practice of Feng Shui, which focuses on harmonious spatial arrangements to optimize the flow of “chi” energy. The ancient Greeks, Toyota, Walt Disney and naturally, Don Norman, are among those credited with contributing to the practice of user experience design.

Thanks to Norman and the many others before him, I now understand that aesthetics are one of the many factors that play a part UX design — the deliberate design of an all-encompassing, multi-sensory experience that is both meaningful and useful for people.

 

Sources:

/@coffeeandjunk. “The Aesthetic-Usability Effect: Why Beautiful-Looking Products Are Preferred over Usable-but-Not-Beautiful Ones.” Medium, Coffee&Junk, 26 Apr. 2019, medium.com/coffee-and-junk/design-psychology-aesthetic-usability-effect-494ed0f22571.

“The Aesthetic-Usability Effect.” Nielsen Norman Group, www.nngroup.com/articles/aesthetic-usability-effect/.

Freeman, Patrick SpennerKaren. “To Keep Your Customers, Keep It Simple.” Harvard Business Review, 1 Aug. 2014, hbr.org/2012/05/to-keep-your-customers-keep-it-simple.

“The Fascinating History of UX Design: A Definitive Timeline.” The History of UX Design – A Definitive Timeline, careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/the-fascinating-history-of-ux-design-a-definitive-timeline/.

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5W1H

It may not be a post code, but 5W1H can help you find what you’re looking for.

The 5W1H acronym, which stands for five Ws and one H, represents a systematic method of asking questions to help you find the most critical details about a process, project or a problem.

I first learned about 5W1H – Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How – while studying journalism. News stories, I was taught, must include 5W1H in the lead – the first sentence or two – of the article. Good news stories compose the five Ws and the H in a compelling narrative that keeps the reader reading. For the journalist, 5W1H is a formula for getting all the pertinent facts on a subject to present a complete picture for the reader.

Sometimes referred to as the Kipling method after the English author Robert Kipling who paid homage in a poem to the questions for helping trigger ideas in his writing, 5W1H is commonly used to stimulate creative thinking or to find and develop new ideas. However, its use isn’t limited to the writing or creative process.

Since none of the questions can be answered with simple yes or no, 5W1H is also used as a basis for information gathering and problem solving. Asking who, what, when, where and why – no less than five times – in early stages of problem solving elicits detailed answers that support a complete analysis of the problem. It can also uncover additional opportunities, if they exist, so that better solutions and decision can be made.

In project management, the 5W1H questions are used as a checklist to ensure a project is covering all the necessary basis as well as ensure the overall effectiveness of project delivery.

As a corporate communications professional, I use the questions as the starting point for just about everything I do – from writing organizational announcements to developing manager talking points and naturally, building frequently asked questions. I also use them when I’m developing new programs and initiatives as the foundation for my business case. Answering the 5W1H questions helps me answer and organize all the key points my leadership team will need in order to decide if the program is worth funding.

Whatever your profession, project, process, or problem, you can use 5W1H to structure your thinking. Answering the 5W1H questions will give you a complete fact-based story and give you the facts you need to make an informed decision about what to do next.

 

Sources:

“Check out This Minilesson: Asking and Answering the 5 W’s and H Questions.” K, 6 Nov. 2015, k12.thoughtfullearning.com/minilesson/asking-and-answering-5-ws-and-h-questions.

Ipma. “5Ws 1H: A Technique to Improve Project Management Efficiencies.” IPMA International Project Management Association, 15 June 2018, www.ipma.world/5ws-1h-a-technique-to-improve-project-management-efficiencies/.

Kipling, Rudyard. “The Elephant’s Child (Poem).” Short Stories and Classic Literature, americanliterature.com/author/rudyard-kipling/poem/the-elephants-child-poem.

Markov, Sergey. “Sergey Markov.” Genvive, 7 Apr. 2019, geniusrevive.com/en/the-kipling-method-5w1h/.

Mindjet. “Five Ws and an H: 6 Questions All Project Managers Should Ask.” Five Ws and an H 6 Questions All Project Managers Should Ask Comments, 12 Apr. 2013, www.mindjet.com/blog/2013/04/6-questions-all-project-managers-should-ask/.

Mycoted, www.mycoted.com/Five_Ws_and_H?mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile.

“Using the Five W’s and One H Approach to Six Sigma.” ISixSigma, 15 Oct. 2014, www.isixsigma.com/implementation/basics/using-five-ws-and-one-h-approach-six-sigma/.

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How Show & Tell Improves User Experience

I recently had the chance to speak with Jennifer Barton, Senior Director Product Management, and Toni Lo Sasso, Principal, User Experience, who both work for Accolade, a high-touch healthcare technology company, about the techniques they used to improve a claims interface for their internal customer service team.

To address the interface’s shortcomings, Barton and Lo Sasso started from scratch. They began by conducting interviews with the Accolade Health Assistants who rely on the system to answer claims questions for their users and to help them navigate the complex world of healthcare.

“We were looking to uncover the top pain points for Health Assistants and apply the 80/20 rule,” says Barton. The 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle, focuses on finding and fixing the 20 percent of causes that create 80 percent of the effect.

But getting that information isn’t always easy. “I feel like half of the job is getting people to tell us the problem without solutioning it for us,” says Lo Sasso.

“We get a lot of solutions,” she says. “People say, ‘just change this to that or that to this,’ and it’s our job to push back and say, ‘but I really want to understand your problem because your solution may not scale or your solution may not solve two or three other problems we know we have.’”

Lo Sasso says the three most important things to identify at the outset of a process improvement project are, “What problem needs to be solved, why is it a problem, and who is it affecting?”

As a user experience designer, Lo Sasso gets users to reveal problems by observing them. “I get them to show me what they’re doing,” she says. “It adds a lot of value to be able to see someone use their tools…to see what they’re doing and the shortcuts they’ve created for themselves. I always want to see it…show me what you’re talking about.”

For Barton, it’s all about asking the right questions to solicit the kind of responses you want. “There are techniques like the five whys,” she says, “where you keep going and digging deeper until you get to the actual problem.”

“It’s an art,” Barton continues, “a skill you have to hone over time to make sure you are getting to the actual problem.”

Barton asks questions like, “If you say you want to get this done, tell me the process you would normally walk through to get to that point.” She says she takes on the role of a student: “I say, ‘just teach me, you’re the expert, tell me what you think is going on here and walk me through that.’” When users start talking about what they do every day, Barton says, “They are released from responsibility of giving me a solution, and they can start to just openly and freely talk about things.”

Barton and Lo Sasso both say their version of show and tell helps them get to the real problem, while uncovering the user’s thoughts, feelings and emotions. This gives the team a complete picture of who they are designing the improvements for.

Using show and tell, Barton and Lo Sasso learn what needs to be solved, for whom it’s a problem, and why it’s a problem. They’re then ready to compare notes and start working toward a scalable solution that works for everyone.

 

Sources:

  • Koch, Richard. “The Pareto Principle: Achieving More With Less.” Process Excellence Network, 25 May 2018, www.processexcellencenetwork.com/lean-six-sigma-business-performance/interviews/the-pareto-principle-achieving-more-with-less.
  • “The UXer’s Guide to User Personas.” Justinmind, www.justinmind.com/blog/uxers-guide-to-user-personas/.