Total Customer Experience
The total customer experience of a product, system or solution is the collective experience of various parts or components that users interact with. The word 'interaction' here involves how we perceive, process and respond to information received through our senses of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste.
Our user-centred design process seeks to improve the overall customer experience by focusing on 5 key areas which we call the 'AEIOUs of user-centred design', namely Aesthetics, Ergonomics, Innovation, Operation and Usability. We believe this approach improves customer experience because it focuses on delivering the same values that customers desire.
As an illustration, let's say a user is shopping for a compact digital camera.
The first thing that catches his attention is the looks - attractive and desirable (good aesthetics). Upon picking up the camera, he is impressed with how snugly and comfortably it fits in his hands with all the controls within easy fingertip access (good ergonomics). Turning on the camera, he finds he is able to understand and easily navigate the menu options, features and functions on the display (good usability). He is impressed with the fast start-up time, precise focusing and low lag time between shots, while photos taken have low noise and little distortion (good operation). Then he discovers an adjustment ring around the lens that is used to choose different filter effects like starburst, polarizing, soft focus, colored tints and kaleidoscope (good innovative features).
Each of these experiences add up to a very favourable overall impression of the camera and help to sell the product at point-of-sale.
In today's marketplace, excellence in these five design areas are critical if products are to do well in their competitive product categories and price segments. Our 'AEIOU' user-centred design approach includes competitive benchmarking and goal setting to help you stay on top of the competition.