Beyond usability: delivering enhanced customer experiences through application of user centred design techniques

An intensive introduction on how to plan, create, evaluate and refine winning interactions with customers.

The framework, theory and practical exercises will revolve around digital experiences such as web sites and mobile apps but is applicable to any customer interactions (ever more important in our now more joined up, less channel centric world).

Whether you are going to do it yourself, run internal teams or contract out, this course will supply you with the vocabulary and knowledge (and some experience) of a whole range of tools and techniques to help you create profitable customer experiences based on evidence and good practice, rather than assumption and speculation.

It's fun, it's interactive, you will meet interesting people to exchange ideas and experiences with, you will produce something worthwhile and go back to your desk armed with weapons (and a few dinner party tricks) to impress your colleagues and friends.

• What customer experience really means and how to enhance it
• Tools and techniques to evaluate user/customer experience (or to specify standards for user/customer experience): usability assessments, design patterns and more
• Introduction to persuasion marketing and persuasive design
• User centred design from concept through development to launch and optimisation –key techniques all along the way:
  • Introduction to techniques for modelling customer behaviour: personas, scenarios, mental models and more
  • Introduction to techniques for structuring and testing customer journeys
  • Introduction to techniques for ideation and concept formation
  • Introduction to techniques for documenting ‘information architecture’ and the customer experience
  • Introduction to techniques for rapid prototype development (from hand drawn to clickable prototypes)
• The essentials of user testing
• Hands on practical exercises include:
• Honing requirements for a site, app or service
• Group evaluations of sites, apps and concepts submitted by the attendees
• User testing and customer research exercises
• Modelling the customer and their behaviour
• Facilitated group ideation resulting in interactive concept development
• Lo-fi prototype development

After completing the lesson, participants will be able to:

• Describe and discuss the benefits of and key factors for delivering an enhanced customer (user) experience
• Differentiate between good and bad research techniques and be able to specify (and potentially deliver) appropriate research to supply real and actionable customer insight leading to improvements in customer experience
• Evaluate (and/or plan for) the usability and persuasiveness of customer experiences
• Utilise appropriate techniques from user centred design and information architecture to bridge the gap between customer insight and the physical interaction with customers via on and offline channels
• Produce testable interactive prototypes quickly and cheaply
• Build upon the techniques introduced, either through extra in-depth courses or home study using references provided to books and other resources