Xperience This!

Back in June, I was a guest VIP blogger at the World Innovation Forum here in NYC. As you might intuit, the theme of the conference was innovation, or rather the lack of innovation within many companies today. While there were many ideas and reasons why a company should innovate, one of the recurring themes for how they should innovate was through Measurement. The most passionate speaker on measurement was the opening keynote speaker Dr. Michael Porter. Dr. Porter “had me at hello” as he jumped right in and began talking about measuring outcomes in the health care industry.

Dr. Porter pointed out that while the health care industry is a science and evidence-based industry with regard to the products it brings to market, (i.e. hypothesis, testing, measurement, etc.),  when it comes to understanding how well those products actually work in the context of  patient care, the industry falls short of the mark. Why? Because other than cancer remission and organ transplant success, the health care industry as a whole does not measure outcomes of end-to-end patient care. I was surprised to learn that an industry rooted in experimentation, results and measurement does not routinely continue to track things beyond go-to-market. Interestingly, Dr. Porter noted that when the industry does measure, monitor, and optimize outcomes, the results are dramatic in a very positive way. Download Dr. Porter’s slides for details.

While Dr. Porter’s talk was specific to measuring outcomes in the health care industry, the principle is applicable to every industry and organization. While measurement is not a new concept, outcomes-based measurement is still very much an innovation; however, it won’t be for long. Because measuring outcomes has the “magical” affect of getting everyone concerned with metrics to care about what’s really important for both your business and your target audience. More »

So I’m a little late jumping onto the New Year prediction band wagon.  And maybe I cheated a little because my prediction is actually based on what’s already happened in the first couple of weeks of the year. Nevertheless, you heard it here first – 2010 is the Year of the Experience.  This will be the year where Experience Design (XD) becomes widely understood and embraced as a competitive advantage for businesses.  The evidence: Domino’s Pizza’s new ad campaign and Steve Kroft ’s January 10th 60 Minutes story about a multi-billion dollar border security project gone bad. More »

Self promotion is not the intent of this blog, but this accomplishment is notable for a couple of reasons we think our current and prospective clients might find interesting.  What is especially noteworthy about this accomplishment is that ours was an AZ Technology/IS-sponsored study that ended up receiving recognition from the business for the value of its Commercial Insights. Some quick background…

Astra Zeneca presents its Accoladez awards every year to brand teams and partners who produce work that provides the biggest breakthrough in how to communicate about a brand or to address a difficult brand challenge. It recognizes a key finding in market research as well as a unique methodology used to uncover a transformational insight regarding customer behavior.  Accoladez is highly coveted among the Brand teams and the competition is quite fierce.

Our Experience Design group recently won finalist status in the category of Commercial Insight for the Physician Experience Research Study we completed in early 2009.  Our work was recognized because it provided the basis and firsthand validation of what Primary Care and GI Specialists were looking for from the Digital channel, both from a preference and behavioral standpoint.

The study sought to understand how physicians use the digital space in the context of treating their patients. It included detailed 1:1 interviews with over 50 physicians in two cities – the highlight of the research was the “day in the life” diaries we asked physicians to complete to track their digital activities. The goal was to get at what physicians’ digital behaviors REALLY are versus what they claim they are in self-reported surveys or large-scale reports. We wanted to answer the “how” and “why” of physician behavior, not solely the “what.” The insights we gathered helped AZ stakeholders both in digital and traditional channels prioritize communications and tactics.

We think this recognition speaks volumes about the value of having a non-agency with no agenda to push for any particular marketing communications tactics doing this type of research. It frees the partnering vendor to call it as they see it and focus on creating value for the client.

Back in April, several colleagues and I entered a competition by the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Design Trust for Public Space that challenged entrants to envision the future of the Grand Concourse, a boulevard in the Bronx whose grandeur has suffered in recent decades. It was a design competition, so the vast majority of contestants were architects, landscape architects, and city planners. Being experience architects, we were the filly running against the stallions – a long shot to say the least. Two months later, our proposal was selected from over 400 entries from 25 countries as one of seven (7) finalists whose designs are now on display for the fall season at the museum.

Why did our unorthodox entry resonate with the judges? Because we were the only entrants who, instead of immediately diving into a design solution to answer the question, “What should be done to revitalize the Concourse?” considered the most appropriate approach to be the one we would apply to any experience design challenge – ask the audience.

The results of our research are on display at the museum. You can also see facsimiles of some of the deliverables by going to the case study on our website. What I’d like to share here are some of the things we found important when applying basic experience design research principles to this particular challenge. More »

Kathleen Fourte (MISI XD group EA) and I attended the Food & Drug Administration’s Public Hearing on the Promotion of Medical Products using the Internet and Social Media Tools.  MISI had insights to share from countless contextual inquiries and usability tests with patients, caregivers, and physicians (both primary care and specialists).  We wanted to demonstrate how these people’s needs and perceptions shape the experiences they seek when they interact using social media tools. We further wanted to note how core experience design principles can help address questions being asked regarding how pharmaceutical companies should handle key information when interacting with their audiences in the social media space.  More »