Your customers know your online services (and their problems) best

I am currently working on a redesign project aimed at improving the user experience of my client’s website. According to Siteefy, there are currently 1,097,398,145 websites in the world (18% of which are active), and every minute 175 new websites are created, meaning many others are thinking about the same issues right now.

From an organization's perspective, the main reasons to embark on a website redesign are:

• Low conversion rate, meaning customers aren’t doing what we want them to do on the site: making purchases, bookings, or contacting us.

• High bounce rate, which indicates issues with the site. These problems may be technical, but often they relate to the visual design: users can’t find what they’re looking for, or the site’s appearance doesn’t inspire trust, etc.

• The desire to offer a better user experience – this is closely related to the previous reasons but contains its own universe of considerations.

  
  

Belinda Gerdt has summarized the development of customer experience in the digital age into four key areas: speed of service, personalization, user-friendliness, all supported by a well-built technological environment.

Observe, Understand, and Solve

It is crucial for organizations to notice what is actually happening with their services: don't fix what isn’t broken – what works well? On the other hand, what aspects, moments, or functions are difficult, complicated, or frustrating for customers, causing them to leave the site prematurely? If you don’t know, ask your customers! Websites offer many effortless ways to collect feedback: customer portals, feedback forms, chat, pop-up windows, etc. In addition to information, you gain something else valuable: dialogue with your customers. This strengthens customer-centric culture in your organization!

Take the necessary time to understand the answers. Analyzing website traffic data can also lead you in the right direction. You will likely find recurring themes and problem areas, which are good to address first.

There are many ways to implement a website. Some prefer a completely customized site tailored to their company’s needs from the start, while others find a subscription-based platform more suitable. While the latter may have limited customization options, it offers integrated analytics and customer management tools, as well as “ready-made” solutions. In my opinion, this is a good option for a new business due to its ease of use: a quality website can be ready in just a few hours.

Redesigning a website is both easier and more challenging than creating a new one from scratch. It’s easier because at least some of the content and functions already exist. It’s more difficult because the existing site may restrict the redesign process too much. Resistance to change, you know!

When redesigning your service, remember the temporal nature of customer experience. It is a broad concept that encompasses the consideration of a purchase decision, the actual purchase, and the use of the product or service. Along the customer journey, there are many touchpoints with your organization. These moments are multi-dimensional cognitive, social, and emotional encounters, where your ability to anticipate, learn from, and respond to customer needs provides you with a genuine competitive advantage.

Organizations must keep in mind that they exist for their customers. This sounds self-evident (and it is), but it can still be forgotten in day-to-day operations. Studies have shown that expert organizations, in particular, run the risk of starting development work based on their own interests – for example, creating services that they enjoy offering or services that may be too far ahead of their time, and that customers do not yet realize they need. I believe development work should not be done cynically, with only a bigger profit in mind. In the long run, this will likely drive customers away. Instead, improve your services with your customer as your guiding star, and they will reward you with stronger loyalty!

Inspiration for this post came from Miikka Sarviharju’s thesis Improving Customer Experience by Collecting Customer Feedback, published earlier this year.