This deck was presented at the "Content Strategy in Service Design" event, hosted by Fjord, a global design and innovation consultancy, and the Content Strategy Southern California group.
15. 15 HOW DO WE DESIGN SERVICE EXPERIENCES THAT MEET OUR LIQUID EXPECTATIONS … AND INTEGRATE ALL THESE SYSTEMS … ACROSS ALL THESE TOUCHPOINTS … WITHOUT RELYING ON MORE MEDIOCRE CONTENT?
19. Content strategy Content marketing strategy Copywriting Newsletters, articles or blog posts (or the production of any other pieces of content) Managing writers Editing Voice and tone guidelines (or any set of artifacts — these are tactical outcomes of content strategy) AN IDENTITY CRISIS
20. “planning for the creation, delivery and governance of useful, usable content” Using the right people, tools, processes and systems to effectively manage it across all touchpoints. Content Strategy is
22. Most people think of content as: Website / app content • Text copy • Images • Videos • Diagrams • Animations • Infographics • CTA buttons • Related content modules • FAQs and Terms & Conditions • Navigation labels and form field labels • Error messages, alerts, notifications, confirmations • Hover text and help text WHAT IS CONTENT? Macro content Micro content
23. But it’s also … A conversation between a service provider and customer Claims forms Bills Internal manuals (e.g. call center how-to guides) Internal workaround documentation from employee (e.g. sticky notes about boilerplate answers) An SMS text message Physical signage Printouts (e.g. boarding passes, concert tickets, etc.) Contracts, licenses and coverage policies Email or direct mail Satisfaction surveys Voice command Audio Music WHAT IS CONTENT?
25. The planning and organization of people, infrastructure, communications and touchpoints needed to facilitate successful services. It strategically addresses the complexity of today’s multitouchpoints in terms of human experiences. SERVICE DESIGN IS
28. “When you have two coffee shops right next each other, and each sells the exact same coffee at the exact same price, service design is what makes you walk into one and not the other.” SERVICE DESIGN DONE WELL
30. ANATOMY OF A SERVICE Content is created and consumed by people, but it is managed through the same complex web of backstage systems and processes. Content is experienced through touchpoints. A piece of content may exist on only only one touchpoint, or it may travel between touchpoints. The sum of this content across all touchpoints comprises a content experience. How well this content works — or doesn’t work — across the entire ecosystem affects the quality of the service experience. The quality of the service experience directly relates to the quality of the brand. CONTENT WITHIN A SERVICE Services come to life through people, but they’re dependent on a complex web of backstage systems and processes. People interact with a service via touchpoints. The sum of all of these touchpoints comprises a service experience. The perception of the service experience directly relates to the perception of the brand.
31. THE UBER FRONTSTAGE THE UBER BACKSTAGE User DB Loca,on Tracking Maps / Direc,ons Ride Analy,cs Big Data Capture Payment Gateway Peer Review System User Driver Touchpoints Actors LINE OF VISIBILITY
35. User DB Loca,on Tracking Analy,cs / repor,ng tools Payment Gateway (PayPal) Peer review system Systems / Technology Content team People CMS & DAM APIs Push no,fica,ons service Guidelines Content Workflows Content assets Content requirements Taxonomies Strategies Analy,cs Stakeholders Customer service reps Uber employees Marke,ng plaNorms Training manuals Metadata Governance plans CONTENT STRATEGY WITHIN THE UBER BACKSTAGE
51. 51 AMERICAN AIRLINES SERVICE FAILS 1. Seat selection online didn’t save due to “glitch” in the system. AA suggests I reserve via phone next time; when I do, rep sends me back to Web to avoid paying a fee 2. Forced to check carry-on, though I had priority boarding and was among first to board 3. Flight attendants arguing in back of plane 4. Ran out of food on a 8 p.m. flight during first round of in-flight service 5. 2 diff. reps told me different information regarding status challenge fees, resulting in me overpaying. 6. Flight delayed 4x, extremely rude rep at gate 7. Wi-Fi went out for half of flight duration during cross-country flight CONTENT AND SERVICE FAIL CONTENT AND SERVICE FAIL SERVICE FAIL CONTENT AND SERVICE FAIL CONTENT AND SERVICE FAIL SERVICE FAIL CONTENT AND SERVICE FAIL
68. When you have two coffee shops airlines right next each other, and each sells the exact same coffee itinerary at the exact same price, service design + content strategy is what makes you walk into choose one and not the other — over and over again. WHEN SERVICES GET IT RIGHT
72. You have been tasked with reimagining the service experience of a Meetup event. The goal is to ideate on how to holistically improve the service experience through content. Using tonight’s experience as a starting point, we’ll guide you through two activities to gather research and map the user journey. THE BRIEF
73. Assign 1 person in your group to be “storyteller” and 1 person to be the “interviewer.” • STORYTELLER (1 person): Describe the process of getting to today’s Meetup. Walk through every step in excruciating detail.* • INTERVIEWER (1 person): Ask the storyteller open-ended questions about the process. Keep the conversation going. (“Yes, And …” may come in handy!) • NOTETAKERS (Rest of group): Using Post-its, document the details from the story. Keep it to 1 idea per Post-It. DIRECTED STORYTELLING (5 MIN.)
74. 1. One by one, combine each notetaker’s Post-its into one diagram, grouping similar ideas together. 2. Collaborate as group to agree on clusters and then name the clusters. 3. Vote on the top three themes from the clusters that could differentiate the service experience if it was reimagined. AFFINITY DIAGRAM (5 MIN.)
75. 1. Using the documented research as guidance, identify each stage of the Current State user journey. 2. Identify the user’s actions, touchpoints, thoughts/emotions and any other relevant stakeholders. 3. Identify the frontstage content elements -- content needs, content types and formats, channels and key messages. 4. IF TIME PERMITS: Focus on one or two areas of opportunity that would improve the experience. UNDERSTAND THE USER JOURNEY (15 MIN)
76. Take a moment to find your group and introduce yourself to your teammates. LET’S GET INTO GROUPS
78. Content Strategy: Books: • Content Strategy Toolkit • Enterprise Content Strategy: A Project Guide • Content Everywhere Organizations / Communities: • Content Strategy Alliance: contentstrategyalliance.com • Content Strategy Forum: csf.community • Content Strategy Google+: https://plus.google.com/1037193103554866816 Other Awesome Books: • The User’s Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love • Design for Real Life RECOMMENDED RESOURCES / THANK YOU’S Service Design: Books: • Service Design: From Insight to Implementation • This is Service Design Thinking: Basics-Tools-Cases • The Service Innovation Handbook Organizations / Communities: • Service Design Network: service-design-network.org • Service Design Tools: servicedesigntools.org • Service Design Books: servicedesignbooks.org Special Thanks: Special thanks to The Noun Project for the icons as well as the the LA User Experience and Service Design meetups for cross-promoting this event.
79. “If something is important enough, you should try, even if the probable outcome is failure.” - Elon Musk FINAL THOUGHTS