In a recent episode of the What If? So What? podcast, May Habib, CEO of Writer, shared valuable insights on the barriers organizations face when it comes to embracing generative AI in their digital strategies. She also discussed how Writer is addressing these challenges and empowering businesses to leverage the power of AI. In this blog post, we will highlight the key takeaways from the discussion and explore how organizations can overcome these barriers to unlock the full potential of generative AI. (Full disclosure: I used Writer to create this blog post)

1. Risk Perception: One of the main barriers to adopting generative AI is the perception of risk. Many organizations are hesitant to integrate AI into their workflows due to concerns about the quality of the output, data security, and the potential for inaccuracies or hallucinations. However, May emphasized that the risk associated with trying out AI tools is minimal, especially with the availability of enterprise-ready platforms like Writer. These platforms offer AI guardrails, reusable modules, and built-in governance features that mitigate risks and ensure accurate and reliable results.
2. Quality and Customization: Another challenge organizations face is the perception that generative AI tools produce generic or low-quality content. May acknowledged that consumer tools may not meet the quality standards required for business applications. However, she highlighted the importance of building custom solutions that address specific business needs and connect to internal sources of data. By leveraging AI guardrails and brand guidelines, organizations can ensure that the content generated aligns with their brand voice, style, and messaging.
3. Data Privacy and Security: Data privacy and security concerns are significant barriers to adopting generative AI. Many enterprises are reluctant to share their data with external platforms or models. To address this, Writer offers a solution that can be hosted within the customer’s private cloud, ensuring that data never leaves their environment. This approach provides organizations with the benefits of generative AI while maintaining control over their data and complying with privacy regulations.
4. Starting Small and Building Confidence: May advised organizations to start their AI journey by experimenting with AI tools on a small scale. Whether it’s using free AI tools for personal tasks or implementing AI in specific workflows, starting small allows businesses to gain confidence in the technology and understand its potential. Additionally, reaching out to peers and learning from their experiences can provide valuable insights and guidance for successful AI rollouts.

Generative AI has the potential to transform work and drive significant improvements in customer experience and operational efficiency. By addressing the barriers of risk perception, quality, data privacy, and starting small, organizations can overcome these challenges and embrace the power of AI. With platforms like Writer offering AI guardrails, customization options, and data security features, businesses can confidently integrate generative AI into their digital strategies and unlock its full potential.

To learn more about the insights shared by May Habib and how Writer is empowering organizations with generative AI, listen to the full podcast episode on the What If So What podcast.

Many of today’s digital experiences are powered by intelligent content management and marketing automation platforms that deliver personalized content to individuals based on their unique profile, behavior and interests. This is a huge leap forward from the traditional one size fits all approach, where everyone gets the same content no matter who or where they are. But what if content isn’t what you are looking for? What if you really want a conversation?

Content in The Real World

Picture this scenario. You visit a car dealer, hoping to learn about the latest model. You meet a friendly salesman and tell him that you want to know all about the car’s features and technology. And then… he hands you a brochure to read. While it may have all of the content that you need, it’s probably not the way you want to get the information. You’d probably prefer to have a conversation, where you could ask questions and get direct answers. At the same time, the salesman would also prefer to steer the conversation based on your questions and responses. This would allow him to get the most important information to you quickly and easily so that you don’t have to search for it. 

This is the promise of conversational experiences. To get past the TL;DRs and enable an efficient exchange of information. For a car dealer, one-to-one conversations are feasible. They have a small set of customers that visit a showroom, which can typically be supported by individual sales team members. But what if you had to support thousands of conversations per hour? You would need an automated, scalable solution. You would need artificial intelligence.

Conversational AI

Often known as virtual agents, autonomous AI-driven programs have the power to deliver conversational experiences at scale. They can be trained to understand user intent and provide dynamic responses in a conversational manner. However, the real challenge is doing it convincingly, so that the user feels like they are in a conversation.

The word “conversation” originates from two latin words “con” (with) and “versare” (to turn about). It is a two-way dialog in which information is exchanged in an alternating fashion. There should be a natural ebb and flow as each party takes turns communicating and listening. So, if a virtual agent isn’t asking you questions, and gathering information, then it isn’t really having a conversation.

Anatomy of a Conversation

In order to create truly conversation experiences you need a powerful platform that is capable of cognitive processes and machine learning. But you also need to teach it how to have a conversation. In order to achieve this, Perficient has developed a conversational framework that breaks down dialog into individual elements that can be stitched together to form a conversation. Described below are the core elements of the framework.

Greeting – A phrase that is used to initiate a conversation. This typically includes an introduction and context of the AI’s capabilities. “Hello, I’m Alexis. I can help you find the perfect pet”

Prompt – Phrases that elicit user input. Prompts are used as part of the information gathering process. “Are you interested in a dog or a cat?”

Disambiguation – Terminology that is used to clarify/confirm a user’s intent within a conversation. This is typically used to ensure the system understands the request and responds with the appropriate information. “Did you mean, small breed dogs or dogs that are currently puppies?”

Modifier – Transitional phrases that acknowledge the user’s input and prepares them for the next step. “Ok, let’s figure out which puppy is right for you.”

Humanizer – Supplemental phrases that reinforce the intended tone and voice of the AI persona. “Good news, I’ve found some great matches”

Response – Content delivered by the AI that supports the user’s intent. This is the information sharing part of the conversation. The conversation element may be supported by additional content or results of the query. “There are 3 puppies near you that meet your criteria!”

Next Best Action – A recommended action a user can take as their next step in the journey. This can either extend the conversation or help users complete a task. “Would you like to meet any of these puppies?”

Error Handling – Syntax used to indicate that an error has occurred. This is an essential part of communicating limitations and/or failing gracefully. “I’m sorry, I don’t have access to that information”

Transition – Messaging that supports the transition to a human. A smooth transition is essential to any AI solution. “I need to connect you to a live agent to help with that. I’ll let them know where we left off, so you can pick it up from there”

Sample Conversation

A conversational framework is a great starting point for crafting conversational experiences. It identifies the various conversational elements and how they interact with each other. But in order to effectively communicate to your audience, you must also clearly define the tone and voice of your solution. Is it going to be formal or informal? Will it be loquacious or matter-of-fact? Defining these attributes will help you stay true to your brand and better support the needs of your target audience.

Better Conversations, Better Experiences

As digital content is continuously published and individuals are overloaded with information, it becomes increasingly important to find ways to simplify interactions. Conversational interfaces have the ability to bring information directly to the user, which saves time and reduces the user’s cognitive load. This ultimately leads to better customer experiences. After all, as Kramer once proved in an episode of Seinfeld, being able to simply tell a system what you’re looking for is a lot easier than hunting and pecking. That is why conversation is destined to be the next step in the evolution of content.

AI-driven personalization is an advanced method of creating and delivering customer-focused experiences at scale. It leverages machine learning to deeply understand individuals based on their preferences, behavior, and journeys.

Personalization Evolution 

The basics of personalization include segmenting audiences into a number of groups and applying rules to create different experiences for each. Although this basic use of personalization is better than nothing, it won’t carry your organization into the future. In order to deliver real, relevant personalized experiences, you will have to utilize AI. 

Our partner, Magento, recently published a guide “The Future is Now,” which explores what it means to shift and evolve with the digitally advanced customer. Customers now demand seamless, personalized experiences across channels. To do this, we must leverage cognitive solutions to understand where the customer is in their journey and the many different factors that go into their buying habits. Merchants can no longer simply segment and consider the who, but they must also look at the where, when, and how someone is engaging with their brand. 

Personalization Platforms

Some platforms provide built-in AI capabilities that may help interpret and understand intent. However, the technology on its own can’t figure this out. Merchants must train it to perform and operate in a way that best suits their needs. It’s best to start with a narrow use case and then expand upon it. Once a merchant begins to see success with AI, they can identify other challenges to resolve and prove value over time.

Download the guide to learn more about my thoughts on AI-driven personalization and how Netflix is a great example. Also, see more lessons from Magento about the blueprint of eCommerce success in 2020 and beyond.

Delivering seamless, consistent, and engaging experiences starts with a customer-centered digital strategy. This ongoing series explores the characteristics that make up a great digital strategy and how to deliver powerful brand moments that solidify customer loyalty and drive differentiation for your organization.

Technology is infused in every part of our lives and is only becoming more ubiquitous, moving beyond the constraints of screens and into our environments. New capabilities embedded into the physical world around us remove friction from our tasks, making our lives easier in ways we might not even notice. These capabilities are also changing customer expectations for the experiences brands provide, which is why we consider awareness and understanding of Zero UI to be essential for brands’ digital and customer experience strategies.

What is Zero UI?

Named for its lack of a traditional user interface, Zero UI experiences rely on ambient technology embedded within an environment. This allows users to interact naturally with the technology without the need for training or a special skill set. According to Andy Goodman, who coined the term,

“Zero UI is an idea that living services are going to trigger a change in the way we interact with devices and services. [They take] us away from the screen to a more natural way of interacting with things. Our body movements, our gestures, our words, maybe even our thoughts, will all be able to trigger the kind of results we want from a device, rather than having to … take your attention away from what’s around you and become absorbed in the screen.”

The goals of Zero UI, as described by Sean Beaubien, are to:

• Eliminate as much as possible from the user’s view so they can get on with their lives
• Reduce time spent on computers while still achieving the same outcomes
• Have machines understand users in their own natural words, behaviors, and gestures

Basically, Zero UI is technology within our environment that reacts to us and makes our lives easier while bypassing traditional input devices such as touchscreens, keyboards, and mice.

Voice: A growing trend

One of the most ubiquitous examples of non-traditional user interfaces are those powered by voice recognition technology. Examples include the smart speakers popping up in homes around the world and voice assistants like Siri, Alexa and Cortana that are built into smart devices.
eMarketer estimates that 111.8 million people, more than 33% of the total population, will use a voice assistant at least monthly in 2019, up 9.5% compared to 2018 usage. Consumers are getting used to the convenience of these devices and assistants, which make interacting with technology and accomplishing tasks easy while driving, when your hands are full or dirty, or when your smartphone is out of reach.
Companies can join in the growing sphere of voice by making resources available to their customers through voice assistants. Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), for example, has made it easy for customers to manage their energy usage by making account information accessible through Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. Once they connect their I&M account to their voice assistant, the customer can simply begin a question with “Ask Indiana Michigan Power” to learn about his/her energy usage, check his/her account balance, receive tips on saving energy, and accomplish other tasks, all without using a screen.
Voice recognition technology is not without limitations. For example, a voice assistant may not work well for users with impaired hearing and/or speech, or for users with accents not accounted for in its programming. Voice technology also runs into problems when sensitive information (such as passwords, account balances, and medical information) should not be stated out loud to everyone within hearing range. Despite these limitations, more than 33% percent of the US population are making regular use of voice assistants. Companies cannot afford to ignore voice in their customer experience strategies.

Computer Vision: Powering a new level of frictionless shopping

Another technology driving Zero UI experiences is computer vision, which enables computers to see, identify, and process visual information the same way that human vision does, and then provide appropriate output.
Computer vision is one of the driving forces behind Amazon Go stores. Customers can walk into any of the 15 Amazon Go locations (now in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle), pick up the meal, snack, and grocery items they want, and walk out – no waiting in line and no checkout process.
A customer scans the QR code in her Amazon Go mobile app at the store entrance. Beyond that, no other direct device interaction is required. Instead, the smart store uses computer vision, artificial intelligence, and sensor technology to track the items the customer removes from the shelves. If a customer changes their mind and puts an item back, the technology embedded in the environment recognizes that, too. Once the customer leaves the store, their purchases are tallied and charged to their Amazon accounts.
Scaling these high-tech shopping experiences still remains a challenge, but as developments in computer vision and sensor technology continue, we’ll likely see an increase in the footprint and impact of these frictionless brick and mortar experiences.

Want to see another example of computer vision in action? Check out this recent project by Perficient Digital Labs! In this product customization experience, computer vision is used to identify which colors the user selects.

Voice recognition and computer vision are only two of the many technologies companies can use to create Zero UI experiences. Others include:

• Thermal sensing, which enables smart thermostats and smart vents to manage temperature throughout a home or office without human intervention.
• Geolocation, which allows technology to understand the user’s position in real-time. Examples include geofencing and beacon technology.
• Spatial Awareness, which allows systems to maneuver through an environment and around obstacles. The robots now roaming around my local grocery store are great examples of spatial awareness.

Why is Zero UI essential to your digital strategy?

Among the key emerging trends around customer experience, we’ve observed that the more a brand can incorporate itself into the customer’s lifestyle, the better the experience will be. If your products or services are ingrained in your customers’ daily tasks and activities, you have more opportunities to improve their lives and gain their loyalty than if you are viewed as a commodity or one-time purchase.
Zero UI experiences take that a step further by lifting the burden of certain tasks from customers, making their lives easier and often saving them time and money. Google, for example, uses the tagline “Welcome to the helpful home” to market its smart home devices, including Nest products, positioning itself as customers’ partner in managing their households.
Customers notice when you provide an easy and pleasant experience. Identify ways to improve your CX through Zero UI technology, whether its integrating your existing virtual agent with voice assistant technology (as I&M did) or using sensor technology to better understand and improve your in-store experience.
Another reason to keep Zero UI, particularly voice technology, on your radar is that it’s changing the way customers consume content and, therefore, marketing. As eMarketer revealed, the rise in smart speaker usage is cutting into other channels’ traffic.

Source: eMarketer

Designing for Zero UI

The name “Zero UI” is actually a bit misleading. In reality, technologies like voice assistants, smart thermostats, and sensor-laden smart shelves do have user interfaces. The key difference is that the user does not interact directly with those interfaces as they would with a device-based experience like a website or mobile app. Because of this, the user will not have the same insight to the range of paths or options available through the technology.
When a user uses a search engine on their phone or computer, they receive an extensive list of results from which to review and choose. When that same search is conducted verbally using a smart speaker, the user will only receive one result (which may or may not be what they are looking for).
Andy Goodman explains, “As we move away from screens, a lot of our interfaces will have to become more automatic, anticipatory, and predictive.”
When designing experiences powered by Zero UI technology, you can’t lay out all the options for the user to see at once. There will also likely be multiple variations of the customer journey to take into account, rather than a single linear, sequential path. To make the experience pleasant and effective, you have to create a system that will understand the user behavior (which could be conveyed in many different ways), recognize intent, and respond accordingly. Combining Artificial intelligence (AI) with continuous customer research, testing, and iterative improvements will help you bridge the gap between the users’ needs and what your experience can accomplish.
If you decide to implement Zero UI technology, it needs to be built into your long-term customer experience strategy. Brands that treat these technologies as the latest fad or gimmick to try out and discard will not be successful. You have to develop experiences that make sense for your customers and improve their lives so you can sustain and build upon them going forward.

Considerations to keep in mind

I’ve already talked about some of the limitations of voice technology, such as it’s ineffectiveness for users with impaired hearing or speech. Regardless of the technology you choose to implement, you need to be aware of any constraints and consider every segment of your audience.
You also need to respect users’ privacy and avoid intruding too much in the customer’s environment. According to a recent Microsoft report, “41% of voice assistant users have concerns about trust, privacy, and passive listening.” Facebook has also recently faced scrutiny and legal action for its use of facial recognition software. These examples show that while many customers are open to streamlined experiences, transparency and data security are important factors brands will need to include in any Zero UI efforts.

The Key Takeaway

Zero UI technologies can be powerful tools for improving your customer experience, but don’t try to incorporate Zero UI just to do it. Look for opportunities where one of these technologies can really enhance your customers’ experience and make their lives easier. These improvements may be a major endeavor like Amazon Go stores or just one small piece of your product or solution. Whatever you decide to do, keep your customer in focus, be transparent, and continually work to improve the experience.

Creating stand-out digital customer experiences that attract, engage, and retain customers is a tall order. Perhaps you’ve already done some of the foundational work, and you need help with the next step.
When working with clients, we help make sure you know your customers and understand their journeys. Through design-thinking tools, industry research, and pragmatic ideation to execute from end-to-end, you will have what it takes to deliver experiences that surprise and delight your customers.
Ready to get started with your digital strategy? Dive in for more resources.

Delivering seamless, consistent, and engaging experiences starts with a customer-centered digital strategy. This ongoing series explores the characteristics that make up a great digital strategy and how to deliver powerful brand moments that solidify customer loyalty and drive differentiation for your organization.

Ever-increasing and evolving customer expectations pose a challenge to businesses, regardless of their industry. Earlier in this series, we explored smart personalization as one approach to help brands provide more meaningful, relevant customer experiences. 
Artificial intelligence (AI) is key to advancing personalization. It unlocks the potential for deeply understanding individuals, their preferences, and their journeys to create customer-focused experiences at scale. Organizations that want to maintain their competitive edge realize that embracing AI is a must. 

31% of companies want to use AI to significantly improve the customer experience – Forrester 

Among AI’s major benefits is the visibility it provides. Machine learning capabilities make it possible to cater to customers’ needs and exceed expectations. At the same time, AI’s predictive analytics can spot trends and opportunities for growth. Applying these insights ultimately makes it possible to create hyper-personalized messaging, deliver effective content, and precisely target customers. 
To bring AI into your digital strategy, I’ll talk about the role it plays in delivering exceptional customer experiences, especially around the topic of customer support, and highlight examples of brands that are getting it right.

Get in the game with AI 

AI is here to stay, but we’re only scratching the surface of its full potential. With an increasing number of experiences powered by AI, such as voice search, it’s reshaping how consumers behave and purchase items. This puts the impetus on leaders to continuously identify growth opportunities to meet the ever-evolving consumer expectations.
AI is also making an impact on the workplace. In fact, Gartner estimates that 70% of organizations will integrate AI by 2021 to assist with employees’ productivity. CMOs and others in the C-suite should recognize that embracing AI will make their brands relevant not only for customers but also for the teams they lead. 
Much of the time-consuming, manual data analysis tasks marketers handle today can be alleviated with AI. Its ability to sort through large amounts of data and provide analytics is a game changer. 
However, this aspect of AI also “requires a workforce with a higher level of digital aptitude than what most organizations have today. Employing digital marketing talent that can adapt to the shift of AI as well as leverage and properly interpret insights from AI is essential.” Before fully launching AI into processes and operations, you must have the right organizational structure in place – with the right roles and people to fill them.

Making sense of embedded AI capabilities

AI is also embedded in nearly every platform now, whether it’s to drive personalization, support asset management, or provide sentiment analysis. For example, Adobe has built Sensei AI services into a variety of its solutions, including its Experience Cloud, Creative Cloud, and Document Cloud. Within Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), you can classify images and the built-in AI capabilities recognize and automatically tag images or allow you to look for very specific images within your repository. 
Considering this, you might need help understanding how to take advantage of these AI features within the platforms. That’s one area – among many – where we help clients maximize AI’s potential.

Boosting customer experience with AI 

A few of the solution areas that fall under the AI umbrella include machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), predictive analytics, cognitive computing, and signal services. These solutions help companies improve understanding of customer intent, support customer service agents, and spot growth opportunities.

Machine learning to understand intent

Many solutions you encounter today are trained to provide results but not answers. Chatbots and virtual agents are common examples we’ve seen within the past few years. However, there’s a significant difference between the two. The “intelligence” behind chatbots has been mostly scripted by developers, creating scenarios to anticipate common questions asked by customers. 
For example, if you’re shopping for a new car, then you’ll likely start by visiting the auto manufacturer’s website. The chatbot on the site may prompt you with the usual, “How can I help you?” And you answer, “Which vehicles have all-wheel drive?” In this case, the chatbot responds with a list of results that show all the vehicles available with all-wheel drive. However, this puts the effort on you to refine and narrow your choices from this list.  
If the website used a virtual agent instead, you could speak more conversationally and say, “I want to take this vehicle to the mountains.” Or, you might respond with a specific location in mind, such as, “I plan on driving to Pike’s Peak.” 
The machine learning that powers the virtual agent understands the intent of your response. It learns and begins to understand the context of specific requests so that it presents you with options for all-wheel drive vehicles instead of you having to specifically ask that question. 
You could try to manually script answers to every possible question a user could ask, but it would probably be an impossible task. Machine learning technology understands intent and how people ask questions. And over time, it gains that understanding so customers can engage virtual agents as if they’re talking to someone at a dealership. These agents understand what you mean and can make recommendations as you would have in real-life conversations. 

Machine learning to improve search capabilities

We’ve also seen intelligence evolve with search engines. When you think of Google, you know you can ask the search engine a question and you’ll be presented with real answers, or even “people also ask” prompts to help you find the best answer. 
Considering the intelligence behind search, you could use this to improve effectiveness of your internal applications or intranet solutions. You could ask, “How much PTO do I have left?” The search application would connect to your workforce solutions, see the time you’ve used and the total time you can accrue for your role, and come back with an answer. Then, the solution could connect you to a PTO request process because it realizes you’re probably asking about your PTO balance with the thought of requesting time off.

Listening tools to assist customer service agents 

Some AI solutions lend an extra hand for customer service agents by listening to conversations with customers and presenting recommended answers, policies, and so on. 
Rather than having the agent navigate between three or four applications at once, an AI solution embedded within the system can query multiple databases in real-time and present relevant information to the agent. This eliminates a step for the agent, allows them to focus on the customer, and reduces the call time needed to resolve or address the customer’s needs.

Identifying trends among heaps of data

Other AI use cases include combing through data to pinpoint trends and opportunities. It can analyze interactions occurring on your site, such as which products people view and items for which people are searching. Session replay tools provide funnel analysis and capture every interaction customers have from start to finish. You can review actions taken, where conversions happened, and whether or not the transactions were completed. 
While there’s tremendous value in seeing how customers behave, consider the volume of recordings to review. When you have thousands – or even millions – of sessions, how is it feasible to manually comb through all that data? You can’t have one or two people sit there and watch them. Decibel Insights is an AI tool that can identify trends among hundreds of thousands of sessions. For example, it may see customers having problems on a specific page or viewing a specific product. AI excels in this case because it aggregates data and points to potential issues. 
Similarly, AI is great for sentiment analysis. With the ability to do large-scale processing of datasets and customer reviews, organizations can put these tools in place and spot the trends and growth opportunities.

Infusing AI into your digital strategy

Even though AI is among the technologies that enable remarkable digital experiences, it can be embedded throughout your digital strategy. AI can be included in everything from content management and customer support to front-end experiences. 
AI’s ability to anticipate customers’ needs and be more predictive is among the most significant outcomes. You can identify trends and behavioral patterns and use them to predict next steps. 
Additionally, it can tackle personalization on a massive scale. As personalization has grown in recent years, brands have segmented audiences to five or six groups, and then established and applied rules to create different experiences. But this “basic” personalization won’t stand the test of time. If your organization wants to deliver relevant, personalized experiences to everyone, the only way to do that is with artificial intelligence. Cognitive solutions understand where someone is in their journey and the different factors and traits to deliver truly individualized experiences.

Sorting fact from fiction

Not every company is on the leading edge with artificial intelligence. Some still regard AI as “magical,” so there are some misconceptions to address. Contrary to what some may think, artificial intelligence can’t figure everything out. 
In fact, with machine learning solutions, you need to train them. Some platforms provide built-in AI capabilities that may help interpret and understand intent. However, the technology on its own can’t figure this out. You must train it to perform and operate in the way that best suits your needs. You have to establish a foundation, add some building blocks, and evolve the solution over time.

Start small

We typically recommend starting with a small, narrow use case and then expanding upon it. Once you begin to see success with AI, you’ll identify other challenges to resolve and prove value over time. 
You can implement AI in a small way because most of it is service-based. You don’t necessarily have to invest in implementing an entire platform. If you’re testing out improving a single product or solution using AI, you may not require the buy-in from leadership that larger efforts would need. 
Once you’ve proven the value on a small scale, you’ll see bigger investments in the technology to expand and scale it across the customer experience.

Seeing success with AI 

Automotive

We recently helped one of our clients, a leading auto manufacturer, create a virtual agent to provide a differentiated – and improved – buying experience for customers. The overall objective was to help customers with their research and make the experience less of a hassle. 
The company’s leadership believes that most vehicles made today are built with quality in mind and features that better connect the driver and car. They want their brand to stand out from the competition – not based on their products – but instead with a unique buying experience. The brand is known for its “shopper assurance,” which offers transparency on the pricing of its vehicles.
To provide that level of transparency, the company wants to provide customers with tools that will make this information as easy as possible to obtain. We’ve developed a tool that uses artificial intelligence to help customers find and purchase the right vehicle.
Most customers today are challenged by their limited knowledge and understanding of the terminology dealers use. The dealer view of products relates to model numbers, trim packages, and  options within those packages. 
As a customer, you don’t care about the terminology. Instead, you’re looking for specific features and functionality – leather seats, all-wheel drive, a sunroof, and so on. Wouldn’t it be easier to research vehicles using an online tool that provides choices by looking at your preferred features instead of predefined packages? 
We helped our client look at this situation through the customers’ eyes and develop common questions asked when researching vehicles, such as number of seats and storage capacity. For example, if a customer says, “I need a car that seats seven people,” the tool pulls the list of vehicles that meet that priority. Then, it asks follow up questions around those options to narrow the choices. 
As a result, we’ve helped this client on one phase of the customer journey to ease the car buying experience and stay true to delivering “shopper assurance.”

Communications

While not one of our clients, Verizon provides strong example of a brand that’s seeing success with AI. The virtual agent within its mobile app does a nice job of understanding intent by asking the right questions. Additionally, the agent excels at keeping customers in the experience to accomplish what they need to do, rather than redirecting them to its website or their customer profile. 
For example, you might ask, “How do I add a new line?” And the agent responds, “I understand you want to add a new line. You can do this in your account. Do you want to do that?” Then, it  allows you to continue within that experience and guides you through the end of the process. However, you can also ask questions along the way at any time. 
In this case, AI serves as a copilot to walk you through processes in the same way that a human customer service agent could, but it’s all powered by technology – pretty incredible.

Final takeaway for CMOs and marketing leaders

Advancing technologies, like AI, make it possible to be successful marketers and meet customers where they are. You have to think about the best ways to leverage AI for the experience you’re trying to create. It should be considered for every solution, but there are many untapped applications for AI because not all the use cases are defined.
It’s on you as marketing leaders to understand your customers, their expectations, and their journey to find opportunities where you can incorporate AI and take advantage of its potential for creating better solutions and experiences.

Creating stand-out digital customer experiences that attract, engage, and retain customers is a tall order. Perhaps you’ve already done some of the foundational work, and you need help with the next step.
When working with clients, we help make sure you know your customers and understand their journeys. Through design-thinking tools, industry research, and pragmatic ideation to execute from end-to-end, you will have what it takes to deliver experiences that surprise and delight your customers.
Ready to get started with your digital strategy? Dive in for more resources.

In this day and age, it can be difficult to stay ahead of the curve, especially in the utilities industry. New technologies are bringing new competition for customer engagement, and staying ahead of those technological advances has become imperative to remain a front-runner in the industry. Exploring new trends and services that provide the solutions consumers want can add value and satisfaction to your customer relationships and, if done strategically, can foster a positive culture of change among internal teams.

Lead Through Innovation

You can remain involved in your customers’ energy decisions by leading the innovation charge yourself. Utility companies across the country are turning to new technology to improve their existing services and processes, providing increased value for their customers, striding ahead of their competitors, and making their existing infrastructures work for growing customer bases. Some ways that utility companies are innovating include:

• Using smart grid meters to provide ready usage information and updates to customers, predict demand, track outages, and conduct preventative maintenance
• Implementing artificial intelligence (AI) in customer support processes, which helps customers find the answers they need while increasing the capacity of customer service staff
• Utilizing 3D printing technology to streamline services and repairs
• Speeding up the repair process by using drones to assess damaged power lines quickly
• Using automatic vehicle location (AVL) and mapping technology to provide accurate technician ETAs for waiting customers and productivity insight for management

Don’t get caught up in the assumption that the ways you’ve been doing things are working well enough, or that changes to your processes are unfeasible. Take the time to examine new trends and technologies in the industry, see what would add value for your customers or improve your processes, and then build them into your new solutions.

Manage This Change with Care

Large-scale changes will not only change the experience for your customers, but for your internal teams as well. In most cases of digital transformation, you’re asking your employees to implement major changes into their regular processes, be more proactive than they might have been previously, and shift the culture of your company.
Changes like this can be disruptive and difficult for an organization, regardless of its size or the demographics of its employees. There can be an enormous amount of fear and uncertainty. Let’s face it, the utility industry has been a stable, unchanging environment for much of its history.
It is crucial that you begin any major changes with full alignment at the executive level, and then put in the work to help the rest of your organization understand why the change is happening, why it is necessary, and the benefits – for the company, for the customer, and (possibly most essential for adoption) for the individual employee.
Earning buy-in from your employees will help make your transformation both smoother in the short term and more effective in the long run, allowing you to reap the desired benefits as quickly as possible.
If you’re worried about how your organization will handle change, consider partnering with an organizational change management (OCM) consultant to help you create and deploy the change management strategy that is right for your company.
Interested in learning more about what digital essentials can help you remain a front-runner in the utilities industry? Download our free guide, 5 Digital Essentials for Succeeding in the Utilities Industry.

In a time where technology is constantly evolving, it can seem that personal connection is becoming more difficult to achieve, especially between company and customer. Consumers are more connected than ever, and as a result, more aware of where they take their business. They’re not only looking at the value of the service they’re receiving, but at their overall experience with the company and what new technologies are being made available to them. Consumers expect more, and by personalizing the customer experience and fostering that relationship, utility providers can stay ahead of the curve and meet customer expectations.

Engage Through Personalization

As you work to better support your customers’ energy and home management journey, use the data you gather through your website, call center, customer accounts, and meters to personalize the customer experience.

• 51% of consumers expect that, by 2020, companies will anticipate their needs and make relevant suggestions before they make contact
• 79% of consumers are only likely to engage with an offer if it has been personalized to reflect their previous interactions with that brand
• 88% of marketers saw a measurable lift in business results from personalization, with 53% reporting a lift greater than 10% and 10% reporting a lift greater than 30%

So what do you do with the data you have? Start by finding a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that will enable you to bring all of your customer data under one roof, where you can truly examine and utilize it. Then look for a content management system (CMS) with personalization capabilities, whether rules-based or learning, and content modules that are optimized for web, mobile, and any apps you may have. This will allow you to put your website’s CMS to work, matching the right combination of content pieces to the users you know will be most interested in them.
Using customer data to personalize your web content will help make your website more efficient, reduce the total number of web pages you need, and provide each of your customers with a web experience tailored to fit their specific needs and interests.
But don’t forget about accessibility. As you’re working to implement changes in your online user experience, don’t forget to include accessibility and inclusive design in your digital strategy. New regulations demand that utility companies provide accessible experiences. Make sure your website’s fonts, tags, images, and navigation are user-friendly for all of your customers, including those with disabilities, and that your online presence complies with regulations such as the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Own the Relationship

Improving your customer engagement through personalization will also come in handy as you compete with industry newcomers (or other providers, if you’re in an unregulated market) for customer attention and loyalty.
As your customers research and implement new technology for their homes, such as alternative energy sources — smart thermostats, high-efficiency appliances, smart bulbs, and more — don’t miss the opportunity to contribute to the decision-making process.
By providing timely and personalized content about the various technologies and options available, you can help your customers educate themselves and position your brand as their go-to resource and first point of contact for updating their home. You can also take it a step further by creating and offering a variety of package solutions that fit your customers’ energy needs and wants.
Keeping up with the latest energy technologies and trends and establishing your company as the one-stop-shop for home updates will not only foster customer loyalty, but will also give your company staying power as new developments continue to take place.
Interested in learning more about what digital essentials can help you remain a front-runner in the utilities industry? Download our free guide, 5 Digital Essentials for Succeeding in the Utilities Industry.

One challenge that many utility providers face is that most customers really only think of their provider when they’re starting or stopping utility service, paying bills, or dealing with an outage or other problem. To better engage customers and avoid slipping into the realm of commoditization, utility companies need to provide consistent value throughout every stage of the customer’s journey, including:

You should build programs that support and add value in each of these stages, spread awareness of those programs among your customers, and then consistently deliver on them across your website, social channels, call center, and in-person interactions. This will allow you to transition from just another bill your customers are paying to a partner they rely on to help manage their homes and expenses.
For example, as more and more customers strive to go green, utility providers can position themselves to support that effort by offering alternative energy solutions, providing tips and resources, and leveraging their abundant access to usage data to keep customers informed on their environmental footprint. If you can make it easy to be green and regularly show your customers that what they’re doing makes a tangible difference (to the environment and their expenses), they’ll notice.
Interested in learning what digital essentials can help you remain a front-runner in the utilities industry? Download our free guide, 5 Digital Essentials for Succeeding in the Utilities Industry.
 

The constant evolution of technology and customer expectations impacts every industry across the board, including utility providers. Whether your company operates in a regulated market or competes against other providers for business, you must both understand and meet your customers’ evolving expectations for the solutions and services you provide, or risk being left behind.
Some of the changes that are impacting both customers and providers include:

Customers Are Demanding More

Innovations in retail, social, and service-based digital experiences are influencing customer expectations for every type of B2C interaction. The last great experience a customer has, be it shopping online or ordering fast food, for example, sets the expectation for their next experience, which may be activating utility service or dealing with a power outage. Today’s customers are constantly connected and more in tune than ever with where their money is going and the day-to-day value provided by the companies with which they interact.

An Abundance of Customer Data

While customer expectations are increasing, utility companies’ access to customer data has also grown. Instead of collecting data through monthly meter reads, providers now have access to smart meter data, which provides thousands of data points for each household every month. Utility providers are striving to combine this flood of usage data with the information collected through their websites, customer accounts, call centers, in-person interactions, and social channels, and then use that data to improve the customer experience.

Innovations Are Changing the Norms

Advances in energy technology are changing the landscape of utility services. Solar energy, battery technology, and other green technologies are becoming cheaper, more efficient, and more mainstream. Utility companies are racing to provide the solutions their customers want, and incorporate those solutions into their existing organizations.

New Competition for Engagement

New technology is also bringing new competition for customer engagement in the utility arena. Vendors like Nest and Amazon are introducing smart devices (thermostats, speakers, light bulbs) into customers’ homes and are joining the utility conversation by providing energy-saving tips and other resources.
With some saying that renewable energy could “effectively be free” by 2030, it is clear that major shifts are happening in the energy and utility industries. In the midst of all of these changes in available technology and customer expectations, utility providers need to keep up or risk commoditization or being edged out of the market.
Interested in learning more what digital essentials can help you remain a front-runner in the utilities industry? Download our free guide, 5 Digital Essentials for Succeeding in the Utilities Industry.

While there has been much discussion about Apple TV and its impact on the home entertainment market, Google has been quietly building a digital eco-system that already has game-changing potential. Building upon the success of the Android operating system, Google has developed a Smart TV platform that succeeds where others have failed in the past. Android TV goes beyond the basics of streaming movies and videos. It is a robust multi-media platform, that seamlessly integrates with mobile and other connected devices to create an interactive television experience. Here’s what makes Android TV different than the Smart TV platforms of the past.
A Usable Interface
The first thing you’ll notice about the Android TV OS is how quickly the interface responds. Clicking the home button on the remote immediately loads the available applications. There’s no more waiting for your TV to connect to the network or getting a cup of coffee while Netflix decides to load. The interface provides instantaneous feedback and allows you to quickly navigate the available content. Additionally, the interface features a voice-activated search that displays results from multiple categories.


Applications
The most critical part of an operating systems success are the applications available on the platform. Here’s where Google really delivers. In addition to the standard set of Smart TV applications (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and YouTube), Android TV features the Google Play Store. The Google Play Store is a mature marketplace that features, thousands of movies and TV shows, millions of songs, including a streaming music service and an impressive amount of games that have been converted to the platform. It’s this combination of content and functionality that makes Android TV relevant.

Gaming
Historically, televisions and gaming platforms have been two separate systems. Android TV seeks to blur that line. Much in the same way that smartphones have become mobile gaming platforms, Android TV has the potential to eliminate the need for home gaming consoles. From richly immersive games such as Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic to old school classics like PacMan, Android TV provides over 130 games at a substantially lower cost than typical gaming platforms. As the platform matures and televisions become more powerful, Android TV will become a contender in online and offline gaming.
Device Integration
One of things that makes Android TV a true digital hub, is its ability to connect to other devices. With the Android TV app on your mobile device, your smartphone can act as a remote control. Or even better, you can project content directly from your mobile device to your TV through Google Cast. Android TV also supports bluetooth enabled gaming controllers like the Sony Dual Shock 4 to provide a more robust gaming experience. However, if you don’t have an external gaming controller, there are still many games you can play using the TV remote as your controller. It’s actually pretty amazing, how little Android TV cares about which device you’re using to control a game. It even supports the ability to use your mobile device as a game controller. One application that benefits from this capability is a game called BombSquad. BombSquad is party game that allows up to 8 players to connect from a variety of devices to compete in a series of mini-games including Capture-the-Flag, King-of-the-Hill, Bomber-Hockey and Elimination through a local/multiplayer mode. Chances are, you don’t have 8 gaming remotes lying around, buy you may have 8 mobile devices. Android TV’s device integration allows everyone to connect using their own device and participate in a group gaming experience like no other.

Manufacturer Adoption
Since its launch in 2014, Android TV has quickly gained support from major hardware manufacturers such as Sony and LG Electronics, as well as a host of new manufacturers announced at the 2016 CES, including RCA, Hi-Sense and Bang & Olufsen. This adoption represents a shift from independent, device-based interfaces to a unified, device-agnostic platform. One only needs to look back on the history of PC’s and SmartPhones to recognize the trend. Which makes a lot of sense in a world where the supporting digital eco-system is more important than the actual interface. Without apps and content, there’s no reason for users to interact with a service.
Summary
As the new breed of Smart TVs emerge, they will significantly shape the way we live. Android TV is already showing that promise today, and as devices become more powerful the impact will be even greater. As we think about strategies multi-platform experiences, we need to make sure we include Smart TVs into our everyday thinking.
 

As I was getting ready for work the other day, my 3-year-old son decided he wanted to help me iron my shirt. First he wanted to touch the iron, but clearly that was not an option, so instead he settled on pushing the spray button and soaking my entire shirt in the process. Well that was exciting enough for him, until he noticed another big button on the iron. That’s when he asked, “What happens when you push the broccoli button?”

No, I do not have a Veg-O-Matic 2000 that shoots out fresh steamed broccoli with the push of a button. It’s simply that from my son’s perspective, the symbol for steam looks a lot like broccoli. Now don’t be fooled, the kid never actually eats broccoli. Actually I’m surprised that he didn’t think it was cotton candy. But regardless, it demonstrates that iconography really is up to the interpretation of the user.
So how do you ensure that the icons you create will be clearly understood by your intended audience? It’s not always an easy process, especially when you’re dealing with abstract concepts, but the key is to closely define the relationship between the signifiers and the concepts they represent. There are two primary types of signifiers, iconic and symbolic. Iconic signifiers are visually representative of an object or a function. For example, a clock represents time or a calculator represents a mathematical function. Symbolic signifiers on the other hand, represent a concept in a more abstract way, such as downward arrow representing a download function.
Typically iconic signifiers perform better on speed of recognition and overall comprehension as users tend to interpret an unknown icon as having the functionality they think it resembles. However for that to be successful, the visual identifiers must be strong enough that the icon is not confused with another object, such as broccoli. In order to design effective iconography, you must understand your audience. Age, gender, culture and language are all key factors that influence comprehension.
For some concepts you may need to utilize a combination of iconic and symbolic signifiers. A good example of this is the “revisions”  icon in WordPress. It consists of a clock, an iconic signifier which represents time and a backwards arrow, a symbolic signifier which represents stepping back in a process. This combination does a good job of communicating an abstract concept and providing clues about the underlying function of the icon.
When creating icons, it’s also important to think about the overall design system. Each icon should be clearly distinguishable from the others, while still working together as a whole. Keep in mind simplicity and recognition and always make sure you validate the concepts with your target audience. They are the ones that will tell you if the icon is successful or not.

At the 2015 Adobe Summit, Todd Copeland of the National Australia Bank described how his organization is able to deliver digital experiences with the speed and velocity that customers expect. As Todd stated, “it’s a pretty simple equation: Less PowerPoints and More Prototypes. Less detailed specifications to justify business cases and more iterative customer testing.”
That “simple equation” is one of the key principles that is driving digital transformation. In today’s world, organizational velocity wins. Companies that are quick to adapt and respond to customers have a clear advantage. Those that are slow to respond are subject to digital disruption (see Blockbuster). In order to effectively compete, organizations must find ways to provide better customer experiences more efficiently. Enter Lean UX.
Lean UX abandons the idea of deliverables as milestones in favor of a progressive working model developed across multiple sprints. This is an important concept when you think about organizational velocity. Because deliverables eat up time. There is time required to create the deliverable, time to develop a presentation around the deliverable, time to present the deliverable and time to review and revise the deliverable. That is time that could be spent developing the actual solution. Lean UX enables the designers and developers to work collaboratively to establish a shared understanding without the need for detailed specifications or other paper-based deliverables. It also promotes transparency and trust, which can lead to a better solution.
The Lean UX process involves 3 core steps:

• Think: In the think stage, designers, developers and business owners collaborate on a particular problem and sketch out ideas for the solution. The goal is to get the core components of the solution visualized quickly so the development team can provide insights on the direction of the design, including feasibility. The initial investment in sketching is so minimal that there is no significant cost to completely rethinking the direction.
• Make: Once a general direction is agreed upon, the team elaborates upon the solution through interactive prototypes. The interactive prototypes define the layout, functionality, relative importance or priority of information of the user interface and allow the team to experience the solution faster.
• Test: Once the prototype is developed, it can be used to test the effectiveness of the design. By conduction usability testing sessions with representative users, the team can collect valuable feedback that will improve or enhance the solution. Based on the feedback received in the usability testing, the team makes revisions to the design concepts. And the cycle continues until all features and functionality are designed an incorporated into the working model.

Through this approach, a small, focused team can quickly prototype a working model that demonstrates the solution within a matter of weeks, instead of months. That difference is huge in terms of velocity, and may be the difference between meeting expectations and leaving your customers dissatisfied.