Not eCommerce but Experience Commerce

Every now and then someone coins a phrase that really captures something.

Bricks & Mobile really works well from my perspective.  A play on the traditional retail store enhanced with mobile.

Now its not eCommerce but Experience Commerce.

Experiences win customers and retain them.

I agree.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Recently, I went on a health kick and stopped going to the [donut] shop entirely. When I finally returned, the woman who runs the shop said, “We thought you moved! It’s good to see you.” I made the decision right then to reinstate my once-a-week doughnut splurges. They were so happy to see me, they gave me my doughnut free, and I was utterly charmed by the interaction. It’s nice to feel seen, and if my business means that much to a sweet couple, then I want to make sure I spend my extra calories on them.

In the world of ecommerce, it can be a bit daunting to make sure customers feel as welcome as I do in that doughnut shop, but focusing on experiences, rather than sales, can mean more personal, and longer-lasting, relationships with customers.

Here is the full story:

https://www.clickz.com/experience-commerce-winning-customers/221080/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Optimizing for Smaller Audiences

Hello folks, I've had a crazy last 6 weeks but have been capturing some stories I marked to blog when I finally carved the time to catch up and get back to my usual rhythm.  Here's the first of several stories.

I've often thought about the practice of A/B testing, or split testing (the practice of providing part of your audience with one design and the rest with another to compare and contrast).  It is especially difficult when your audience is small.  As a statistically driven person I think in terms of scientific sample size when determining the accuracy of results.

Thank about it.  Is your A/B testing useful when you have 5-10 visitors regularly?  100?  10,000?  When your numbers are in the tens of millions or more then ... definitely, but what about the smaller fish in the sea?

Here you go:

https://getuplift.co/how-to-optimize-a-low-traffic-site-without-ab-testing-step-by-step/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Testing is not a matter of opening your testing tool and waiting for that little “Statistically Significant” marker. You need to reach your required sample size before concluding anything or else the insights will be invalid.

That’s where it gets difficult for low traffic sites.

Unless you’re detecting an incredibly large effect, you’ll need to run the test for months. The longer a test is running, the more vulnerable it is to sample pollution, which can rear its head in many ways.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Experience Experimentation or Checkout Optimization?

Any time I read about a sophisticated experimentation effort to optimize some digital process or tool I get all starry eyed.

Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night wondering about the larger meaning.

The folks over at eConsultancy have another excellent entry that goes right down this rabbit hole.  Well worth the read:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/69447-ask-the-experts-conversion-rate-optimisation-trends-challenges-strategy/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

There is a divide taking place in the industry. The businesses at the strategic and transformative level of maturity don't even use the term CRO or conversion optimization. Experimentation is the mindset change they have adopted and made part of their DNA. Brands like Amazon, Skyscanner, Booking.com…

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Which Retailers are Mobile?

The advent of the smart phone has done two things that require retailers to respond: taken away some traffic from older internet sources, and opened a new type of opportunity for mobile interactions.

Initial offerings were essentially to offer the same online web experience but in mobile.  Going way back to the introduction of the first iPhone one of the enormous selling points was the ability to view the full New York Times website on your phone.

Wow!

Quickly the limitations of that experience became clear.  A tiny screen you hold in your hand requires a different approach from the interactions one has with a full PC screen.

A few retailers really really get that.  Here is a story on the best experiences:

http://www.mytotalretail.com/article/mobile-cx-study-gives-best-buy-home-depot-and-target-top-marks/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

As consumers spend more time shopping on smartphones, their expectations for mobile experiences have soared. With mobile interactions influencing $1.05 trillion in offline sales in 2016, the successful retailers of 2017 will be those that offer consumers mobile sites with a frictionless path to purchase that also integrates into omnichannel shopping experiences.

Which omnichannel retailers are doing it right and setting the bar the highest for merchants looking to deliver a seamless mobile customer experience (CX)?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0253 Next Generation Stores Today

Best Reading of the Day

Always remember, the folks who want to sell you something will often be willing to write studious analyses to help persuade you to but it.

With that in mind you really should read this, the best read of today, or the month really.

Forget everything we know or think we know about the retail store.  Given the technological shifts we've seen in recent decades with online, social, integrated fulfillment, seemless customer service through digital, mobile, and more, what should the store look like today.

Here is a snippet that provides one view:

Over the next three years, outdoor lifestyle apparel retailer Toad&Co. plans to open 20 new brick and mortar stores.

With news of store closings by powerhouse brands likely swirling around in your head, you may be tempted to make sure you read that number correctly. It’s been dizzying for sure. So why would an apparel retailer be looking to expand its brick and mortar footprint in this environment?

Santa Barbara, CA-based Toad&Co. lives by a simple truth: People enjoy shopping and being in the store, and still want that experience. They just don’t want it to be disconnected from the rest of their purchasing journey.

“We don’t believe brick and mortar is dying,” explained Kelly Milazzo, VP of operations for Toad&Co. ”But we do believe that the consumer expects, and will soon demand, a seamless interaction with the brand.”

Here is the full article:

http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/how-make-next-generation-store-right-now-store

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0252 Google's Mobile Behaviors Analysis

Best Reading of the Day

Google is out with another excellent study that is worth your time.  Here's the title:

The Consumer Behaviors Shaping the Next Generation of Mobile Experiences

Now if that doesn't sell you on the read I ... why are you here?

No reason to quote more on this one, just go read it:

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/advertising-channels/mobile/consumer-behavior-mobile-digital-experiences/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Too Good, Too Efficient?

Is this possible?

Have you ever used a physical typewriter before?  If so you may know a bit more than the current generations know about this question.  The old long-handed key typewriters had one problem when the first "keyboard" was laid out: it was too fast for the physical hands to keep up.  The reason the letters were jumbled up a bit in to the current version of a keyboard is because the typists were too fast on a more straight-forward set of keys and the old typewriters couldn't keep up.

Fast forward to today with modern UI work for websites, mobile apps, etc.  Can these interfaces be too fast and efficient? Is there ever a benefit to slowing down?  That is the question posed in this excellent article:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/69101-why-increasingly-efficient-ux-might-not-always-be-a-good-thing/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

A recent leader in The Economist raised my interest in the little discussed area of ‘facile externality’.

The Economist summed up the concept as follows:

"Efficiency is at the heart of progress. Yet just as too much of a good thing (travel, say) can yield a bad (congestion), so excessive ease in transactions can generate costs, known in the jargon as a “facile externality”, such that less efficiency would actually be more efficient. In academic circles…. the notion is well established that innovations which eliminate too much hassle could do society harm."

The article continues, stating that "a few companies have recognised the benefits of restoring friction. Research into “the Ikea effect”, named in honour of those happy hours spent with an Allen key, a Billy bookcase and a rising hatred of Sweden, shows that people put extra value on things when they devote their own labour to them."

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Do Customers WANT to Engage With You?

This headline really caught my eye.  Plenty enough to get me to read it and so should you.

Newsflash From Big Nerd Ranch: ‘Customers Really Don’t Want To Engage With Your Brand’
Here is the story:

http://www.cmo.com/interviews/articles/2017/3/20/the-cmocom-interview-aaron-hillegass-big-nerd-ranch.html#gs.vV1TDPM

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Aaron Hillegass, founder and CEO of Big Nerd Ranch, was involved in one of the most important mergers of our lifetime: He was working at NeXT when it was purchased by Apple. Eventually, though, he left Apple to create Big Nerd Ranch, a training and consulting firm that specializes in creating mobile apps and other emerging technologies.

Nineteen of the top 25 most popular apps, such as Facebook and Spotify, were created by teams who got their training from Big Nerd Ranch. Based in Atlanta, Big Nerd develops native mobile apps and web apps for some of the world’s most respected brands, including Airbnb, Smithsonian Channel, and Nextdoor.

Hillegass is the author of three popular books on software development, including “iOS Development: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide."

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Reinventing Printed Publications

I recently subscribed, digitally, to the Washington Post and was struck by the mobile app experience on my iPad.  Had I known how good it was I probably would have subscribed sooner and that struck me.  Traditional media publications are reinventing themselves and some are having great success.  The Washington Post just posted a profitable quarter, hugely profitable, and announced the hiring of many dozens of journalists.

So maybe the traditional newspaper isn't dead yet. What I really love about this app is how it respected but updated the traditional newspaper browsing experience.  Just like reading a paper you merely continue "turning the page" to get deeper and deeper yet you have sections ready to grab as well.  Take a look:

Here is a little story on that mobile app:

http://www.talkingnewmedia.com/2015/07/14/first-look-at-the-new-the-washington-post-app-for-ios/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

...the new iOS app for The Washington Post cannot be expected to radically change the formula. What it can do, however, is play around with design and navigation, rethinking the way it wants to present its content.

Here is a great story on how the New Yorker is reinventing itself:

https://www.poynter.org/2017/how-the-new-yorker-brought-the-soul-of-the-magazine-to-the-web/447007/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

...The New Yorker has undergone a massive digital remaking. It's established a separate web operation that's unchained writers and editors from the time-intensive print edition. It's colonized platforms like podcasts, YouTube, mobile applications, Instagram and Snapchat. And it's built a digital staff of about 40 people, hiring several full-time journalists tasked with writing primarily for the website.

The north star for this transformation: Breathing the soul of the 92-year-old magazine onto the internet without compromising its essence.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Mobile UX by Google

Great little article over on eConsultancy about user experiences on the mobile web.

https://econsultancy.com/blog/68226-23-mobile-ux-mistakes-that-google-doesn-t-like/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

What mobile UX mistakes should marketers be looking out for?

Here are 23 of them for a start.

The information is taken from a variety of Google resources and includes both factors that Google has explicitly stated could be detrimental to search performance, and other factors for which the same could be implied (e.g. from Google's developer guides).

Of course, many factors are used to judge page quality and ultimately if Google judges a page to have the best quality content, it may survive these UX errors.

So, on we go...

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

UX for Mobile - Menu Navigation Methods and the Hamburger Stack

I've referenced the following article a few times in my professional life and found I hadn't grabbed it for my professional blog.  I'm correcting that oversight now.

Ever wonder how and why we build the ways we choose to navigate in your favorite apps?  Have you ever used an app, or website, and thought you had a great "experience" using it, or, more likely, a terrible experience?

Read on:

http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/04/08/ux-designers-side-drawer-navigation-costing-half-user-engagement/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

So, you have a mobile app where there are more pages or sections than can fit on a mobile screen at once. Your first thought might be to create a tabbed design, with a row of tabs along the top or buttons along the bottom.

But wait… that extra row of tabs or buttons wastes a lot of valuable real estate on a small mobile display, so let’s not do that. Instead, let’s move the options into a side menu, or side drawer, as our Android team keep reminding me it’s called.

Here is one more article on this:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/24/before-the-hamburger-button-kills-you/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0237 Forrester Research on 2016 for Business

Best Reading of the Day

One thing I've learned over the last few years, when the researchers over at Forrester speak you should listen.  These guys are far, far beyond merely having their finger on the pulse of technology in the world.  Their data analyses take them in to the realm of forecasting.

Read on:

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3000335/it-management/forrester-s-top-10-predictions-for-business-in-2016-and-what-they-mean-for-tech.html

Here is a snippet from the piece:

2016 will be a year of action for companies. It will be the year that the companies that thrive will be those advancing down the customer obsession path — while those that downplay their customers’ needs will start to wither away.

The good news? You and your technology teams have a critical role in helping — and in some cases, leading — your organization in adapting and thriving in the age of the customer.

Here are the top trends Forrester sees shaping your business in 2016, and what you can do to advance them.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0218 Netflix Redesign

Best Reading of the Day

I've been sitting on this one for a few days since finding it over the weekend.  It is a great read though. Which digital video streaming service do you currently use?  Hulu?  Amazon?  Netflix?  HBO? YouTube?

Here is a great read on Netflix.

What do you do if you design a system that is used by 10 people?  Chat with them and see how it works, maybe make some minor adjustments, and plan on the next big update to help them out.  What about if you have 10 million people using that system, or many more like say 62 million?

That becomes a pretty big challenge right?  Sure is.  Read more here.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/22/8642359/the-science-behind-the-new-netflix-design

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Back in March, a developer named Renan Cakirerk wrote a small piece of code that made a big impact on Netflix. Cheekily named "god mode," it addressed one of the most annoying aspects of trying to use Netflix in your browser: scrolling through the company's ever-growing list of movies. Once enabled, it would simply give you one, big list. Instead of sitting there, holding your mouse in anticipation, you could simply find the title you wanted and get on with watching.

The web lit up with stories hailing it as a crowning achievement of little-guy ingenuity. TechCrunch called it a fix for a "wonderful problem." CNET dutifully noted that it "saves you from the slow monotonous horizontal scrolling." Mashable, meanwhile asked, "Are you listening, Netflix?"

Inside Netflix, though, god mode was old news. In fact, the company had already tried it out on thousands of unsuspecting users years earlier. And it was a total disaster.

Good stuff.  I like the A/B testing at play there.  Release it to a scientifically controlled sample size with a control group and analyze the results.  Is the impact significant?  If so, in what way?  Does it "help" or "hurt" the user experience?

I'm a user of Netflix after coming back in to the fold recently.  I hadn't used them for years since I previously received DVDs through the postal service.  I like the digital service and am blown away by the 4K presentation of shows like 'House of Cards' on my fancy new LG set.  Good stuff and a fun company to follow.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Target's Bumpy Road To Digital Solutions

Mobile Marketer is out with a worthy read about Target. A few of the major retailers are making major moves towards digital and Target has been one of them.  Certainly worth keeping an eye on.  This story lays out some questions around their path so far.

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/software-technology/20552.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Target has earned a reputation as a mobile leader by aggressively pivoting from a traditional bricks-and-mortar retailer to a mobile-centered operation, but the company may have overextended itself in the race to have a presence across multiple platforms, with the user experience suffering in some cases as a result, according to a Mobile Marketer analysis.

Despite the department store chain’s focus on testing, learning and working hand-in-hand with consumers in its digital transformation, its current ratings on app stores reflect dissatisfaction with the user experience, an undesirable development in a hyper-competitive marketplace. The issues may point to Target’s need to hire a bigger and better UX team.

Here is another little article that captures an interview with the Target CEO talking technology and digital:

http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/target-ceo-brian-cornell-talks-tech

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Brian Cornell, CEO and chairman of Target Corp., has focused on digital innovation since he took the top spot at the chain last August. He recently participated in a Q&A at the high-profile tech event, the Code Conference, in Ranchos Palos, California.

Here are some highlights from his conversation, as posted on Target’s very own Bullseye View blog.

When asked about Target's digital priority: “I want to make sure our guests and our entire organization know how committed we are to digital ... We put up that 40% figure (Target’s plan for digital growth) to show that we’re all in. We’re bringing in talent and great engineering to elevate the online experience.”

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Another good story about Target's work towards bricks & mobile.  This speaks to the $1B they are investing on the approach:
http://risnews.edgl.com/retail-news/Target-Addresses-Digital-Channels-After-Overwhelming-Demand-for-Lilly-Pulitzer-Collaboration100396

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0190 Mobile Micro UX

This great little piece on eConsultancy is the best reading of the day.

'User Experience' (UX) is a crucial component to the success of mobile apps and the mobile web.  A new concept called 'Micro UX' is growing and may take a large mind share in 2015.

What is this thing called "Micro" UX?

Here is the article:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/66008-15-deeply-pleasing-examples-of-mobile-micro-ux/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Micro UX design is all about delighting the user by using simple innovative interactions that not only makes a task easier but also creates an engaging, humane experience that’s a pleasure to repeat.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0118 Design at Microsoft

Please forgive the 2nd entry in the "daily" postings but this one is well worth reading as well as entry 117.

Do you wonder how design works?  What is "User Experience (UX)"?  How do the big companies do it?

If they do it well they do it exactly like the small companies.

This blog post from Microsoft is a very good read:

http://blogs.office.com/2014/05/22/the-art-of-designing-office-for-ipad/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Hello once again from the Office for iPad team. We’ve hit a great milestone with over 27 million downloads of Office for iPad and we would like to say thank you to everyone who has tried out the apps and provided feedback to help us continually improve Office for you. Today we want to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the design and creative journey we took as we reimagined Office from the ground up for iPad.

From its inception, the Office for iPad project has been a blend of imagination and passion. When we had our first tantalizing glimpse of the iPad, we were intrigued by the huge opportunity ahead: enabling Office customers—over 1 billion around the globe—to rediscover the power of mobile productivity in new and exciting ways.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

News From 2013 and What Will Make News in 2014

If you are in the Boston, MA area as I am you are starting off the New Year with a pretty decent winter storm.  About a foot of snow expected and it is gusting up pretty well right now.

Happy Holidays, Happy Winter Solstice, and Happy New Year to everyone.

First I want to cover a few articles that recap 2013.  There are always quite a few as the year ends and I've found a few that are worth sharing.  Then I'll take a moment to put down a few of my thoughts for what to expect in 2014.

2013

Payments.com has been a go-to site for me and Karen Webster's writings are the best.  This recap of 2013 is a good one for payments:

http://www.pymnts.com/briefing-room/consumer-engagement/Loyalty/2013/looking-ahead-at-the-close-of-2013/

Here are a couple of lines from that one I want to share to help us look forward to 2014:

The payments and commerce space over the next year will be the most interesting we've seen in at least the last five and unleash even more innovation. 

This one from TechCrunch says goodbye to 2013 and welcomes the rest of the world to the mobile internet:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/02/the-late-adopters/

User Experience is important to product management in the technology space.  This article from a blog is a good one:

milestones-and-missteps-in-ux-design-for-2013-winners-and-losers-not-the-usual-suspects/

Last one from 2013 deals with the advent of the "mobile internet" during the holiday shopping season.  The title of the article says quite a lot:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2013/1227/Santa-leaves-smart-phone-steps-in-Mobile-sales-soar-on-Christmas-Day

Here is a bit from that article:

Overall, online shopping continues to make a bigger dent in holiday shopping than previous years. IBM reports that online sales on Christmas Day were up 16.5 percent from last year, and mobile sales made up for 29 percent of all online sales, which is up 40 percent from 2012.

We will use that to segue to 2014...

2014

...speaking of mobile.  IBM is now declaring we must differentiate our data between smart phones and tablets.

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240211774/Retailers-must-distinguish-between-smartphones-and-tablets-says-IBM

This is, of course, old news in this blog.  I wrote a white paper about this subject early in 2013.

Now how about a few thoughts on what 2014 might bring?

• Apple will attempt to make a splash in some arena, wearable devices maybe, maybe TV, maybe payments.  Meanwhile incremental changes will continue in their mature offerings but a move towards the now proven 2 in 1 laptop/tablet style by Microsoft will likely be forthcoming as well.
• This will be the year of the beacon.  Bluetooth 4.1 and Bluetooth Low Energy solutions will finally enable many of the brightest ideas around mobile internet interactions with people.
• Mobile wallets will have a breakout year.  The security breach at Target just might give EMV a push over the finish line and that could save ISIS.  Meanwhile MCX is on its way and PayPal isn't sitting around.
• Facebook will see big declines.  The "services" provided by Facebook have been chipped away at by a variety of other solutions such as Vine and Snapchat.  Overall the next generation of users has no interest in Facebook and this will begin to show itself this year.  Maybe the company will be mostly flat, maybe they'll find incremental ways to monetize their current offering, but the decline will be noticeable this year.
• Samsung will come out with yet another not-yet-ready product and declare itself the first to the top of the mountain once more ... and nobody will care.
• The biggest news I can't yet predict will likely involve a cloud-based solution for something.  I don't know what, but something.  The "internet of things" will take off in some way.  Will it be related to a cloud-based solution?  I don't know. 

Hope your new year brings you much happiness.

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant