ExperienceCurve by Karl Long

It seems intuitive that the creation of a superior user experience should lead to a competitive advantage, certainly it is well documented that Disney, Virgin, Starbucks and others have crafted an experience for customers that makes them difficult to compete against. All of those previous examples the experience is mediated largely by the employees[1] of those companies, those employees can engage, adapt and serve customers with diverse needs, moods and emotions.

In the case of an E-Business where the major mediator of the customers experience are the various web-based interfaces the organization provides. Increasingly it is becoming understood by E-Businesses that they also need web-based interfaces that engage, adapt and serve providing a satisfying, appropriate experience for customers, engendering trust, loyalty and a deepening of the relationship.

This really makes me think one of Steve Jobs design mantras, specifically the design should be anthropomorphic, ie. it should exhibit human characteristics (bare in mind he?s coming at this primarily from an industrial/product design perspective). When I think about anthropomorphic in relation to web sites I tend to think about behavior, I think amazon.com, for instance exhibits empathy when it seems to think ahead, like the text on buttons allaying my fears of what?s going to happen, my possible fear of the unknown. I know the machine is not actually showing empathy, but the person who designed it is and the interface is an agent of that action.

[1]Clearly the employees are supported by an environment, product and communication materials that all contribute to the intended experience. Branding guru Wally Olins describes the aspects of an organization that customers can experience are Behavior (mainly through people), Environment, Communication and Product.