How to choose the right people and the right tools for an amazing customer experience

Nailing the Design Advantage may sound simple. We’re sure you’ve heard many times before (whether from us or elsewhere) that design matters – and not just for visual appeal. Design is helping companies shift from selling products to delivering compelling, omni-channel brand experiences.

If you need any more proof of how design gives you a business advantage, a study by the UK Design Council found that design-led firms outperformed their peers in the FTSE 100 by 231%. Okay, we all know the theory, but how can we put the Design Advantage into action? Let us take you through some interesting principles recently covered by McKinsey&Company and Fast Company.

Principle 1: Bring empathy to the organisation

But it is not good enough to have design at the forefront of a company, just for design’s sake. We need to remember the customer must always be at the forefront of design – and creatives must empathise with their customers. Deutsche Bank, for example, required all staff to use products that its customers used as a way to greater understand the CX. It’s an effort to embrace the right mindset… but also adopt the right tools.

With Creative Cloud for Enterprise, Creative Directors have the world’s best creative desktop and mobile apps at their fingertips. Being able to share assets and files also allows for faster collaboration across creative and marketing teams, ensuring design reminds at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

Principle 2: Really understand the customer

Really understanding the customer will deliver real business results – take the example of marketing leaders Sephora. Sephora watched millennials shopping on their site and realised they would often go to YouTube to look for videos of people using the product. Of course, this learning was monetised by prompting the cosmetics retailer to create their own videos. A great example of how data can help inform creative – something that you can also achieve by adopting Creative Cloud for Enterprise.

Principle 3: Design in real time

Speed in design has never been more important. The brief, work and any amends must be rolled out like a well-oiled machine; of course, without the quality of any project being impacted.

Designing in real time can be made simpler with Creative Cloud for Enterprise. By giving your staff access to the world’s best creative apps and services, they can collaborate seamlessly across desktop and mobile and deliver amazing experiences for any surface or screen. Find out how.

Principle 4: Act quickly

Rapidity, and of course, agility, are essential; and creatives must be ready to react. If you find yourself with a reactive opportunity, Creative Cloud for Enterprise can help to share information with design quickly and ensure departments are communicating in a more agile way.

Principle 5: Innovation comes from talking to ALL customers, no matter big or small

These customers may be showing you that your product is not quite right for them, don’t miss out on a broader opportunity to adapt and evolve to grow. Sparking change in any organisation can be difficult, but ensuring lessons are learnt from all customers will pay huge dividends.

Principle 6: Know your customers’ needs

It’s up to us to deliver solutions to the customers’ ever-evolving demands in a creative and user-friendly way. As cited in Fast Company’s article, Henry Ford said: “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.” But this doesn’t necessarily mean people don’t know what they want – it does mean however that you need to be smart about interpreting what they need. And then give them that. All customers are different but if you get to know them you’ll have a deeper insight directly from the source on what could make their lives better, instead of just assuming and guessing.

Principle 7: Incremental innovation counts

Never be afraid to continue to innovate an established product, combine the learnings from the previous myths and principles and allow your customer to help to drive this process. See how Creative Cloud for Enterprise can help accelerate the design process and ensure you stay ahead of the creative curve.

So what have we learnt?

Getting the customer experience right is not a box ticking exercise. Customers are more demanding than ever before, and even if they don’t know what they want – we should know what they need. Evolution is key to getting the customer experience right, and in an ever-changing world, it’s essential to keep putting yourself in the shoes of your customer. Just because the customer experience was right yesterday, does not mean you’ve cracked it for the next five years. However, arm yourself with the right people, the right tools, and the right principles and you’ll have a steady shot at success.