Charles Wiedenhoft on Digital Design and Experience Strategy

After shutting down yesterday to get baristas on-board with fixing what has become a broken commodity experience, I didn’t really expect to see any changes during my routine coffee run this morning, nor did I experience any.

I don’t remember when Starbucks entered my life. I suppose it was through mid-morning coffee runs with co-workers back in Cincinnati, when the first location opened its doors downtown on 4th St. It was a novelty back then, something new and different, seemingly high-end. As more and more Starbucks locations were opened, and I after I moved to San Diego, I began to realize that no two stores were really all that different. Just like a McDonald’s hamburger, you could expect the same consistent quality of service from one location to another, and that was fine with me.

The popularity of Starbucks is probably what changed my perception of the good old morning coffee run. Something that I enjoyed, to some degree, had now become a chore because of crowded stores with long lines - all for a grande cup of coffee (black and nothing fancy). My fellow consumers were changing too. Mothers with crying babies, city construction crews, a herd of cattle. Things had definitely changed, and not for the better.

When the breakfast sandwiches rolled out things only got worse. The lines got longer and the stores smelled like burnt hair. Still, I showed up at least once a day. It’s probably because of what is now required caffeine intake, convenience, a habit.

Starbucks probably won’t go back to what I once felt was a unique experience, something valuable. It’s simply too big for that now; however, subtle changes might get Starbucks closer to its former self. Getting rid of the convection egg sandwich ovens is a good first step. A meaningful brand would be another.

Bring a check list of design trends and start checking them off at Intuit’s 2008 Turbo Tax Web site. As usual, design features and functionality are implemented very well and provide a great user experience. Customer reviews, ratings, lightboxes, home page “hero shot” demographic product segmentation, DHTML right-column sliders for promos, product comparison tools, calculators - and the list goes on. I think that 8K + customer reviews are the most I’ve ever seen for a single product. Well done.

I stumbled across Getsatisfaction.com several weeks ago after seeing a link on Rosenfeld Media. Today, a story featuring the site, founded by Lane Becker emeritus Adaptive Path, appeared in the New York Times. At first glance Get Satisfaction seemed like a better Epinions.com, but it’s actually quite different. 

Get Satisfaction is focused on consumers’ post-purchase support needs. It’s a one-stop-shop for getting help with all the products you own and companies you do business with. So, instead of having to visit Sony.com for help with your new Blu-ray DVD player, or Apple.com for iPod support, you would instead visit Get Satisfaction’s Web site. A unified experience seems like a good idea, but I don’t see the quality of information surpassing what would be found on a corporate Web site. In the case of a smaller company Get Satisfaction might be a good substitute for an on-site knowledge-base or discussion forum. We’ll have to wait and see.

Get Satisfaction promises marketers an effective weapon against the fragmentation of brand messaging  at the hands of consumers, their blogs and social networks. It’s pitched as a customer insight engine, although one that must be closely monitored and maintained. If a company fails to respond to a customer complaint or question, it makes the situation worse than pretending to participate in the conversation in the first place.

A customer’s experience after a sale will determine long-term loyalty and advocacy. For Americans, it’s more important than the quality of product in the first place (read Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille). Get Satisfaction is a tool for cultivating these relationships by participating in the conversation.

Visit Get Satisfaction and share your voice.