Hi, I’m Simon from Nomensa.
I’m a digital guy. Since 1995
I have been researching and
designing digital
technologies.
My background is biology,
psychology and cognition.
I’m interested in designing
humanistic technology hence
our strap-line ‘humanising
technology.
One of my passions is
understanding why we use
technology and the meaning
it represents in our lives.
This is my presentation from
Viscom 2013 - .I’ve added my
notes to each slide. Any
questions, please contact me
Cross-Channel Design:thinking & practice
Information Architecture has
become ecosystems.
Everything has changed.
Complexity and data now rule!
The physical and digital worlds
are becoming increasingly
‘blended’ and as designers we
need to understand how we
can successfully embed digital
into an organisation
completely.
This idea transcends thinking
about websites, apps, services,
products or even interactions.
We need to take an ‘ecological’
perspective as well as a
healthy dose of architectural
thinking.
Source © Michael Sohn 2013
The inauguration of Pope
Francis on 19th March 2013.
They are not candles but lights
from smart devices.
The world in 2013 is very
different compared with the
previous inauguration of Pope
Benedict in 2005. Today we
can take photos and share
them immediately something
that was harder to do in 2005.
Our world is infinitely more
connected.
So how different is our world
becoming?
In Japan people can shop for
food by just scanning
barcodes.
Not just in stores but places
that once would have seemed
ludicrous to shop from e.g.
underground railway stations!
People can choose a phone by
looking at an image of a
phone and scanning a QR
code.
A Marks and Spencer virtual
boutique in France using
touch screens allowing people
to look at style combinations
which may also be connected
to loyalty schemes and
reward programmes.
Technology allows
relationships to develop in
non-traditional ways.
The world is different.
So, if the store exists online,
on my mobile phone or in a
barcode then...
Where is the store?
We know the store exists
when we look at Google Maps
street view because we can
see stores all over the map
on all the roads and corners.
An example of the Oxford
Street area in London.
Oxford Street area as a
satellite view shows a
different perspective. A
different layer of meaning.
These different layers or views
reveal the importance of
‘data’. It also reveals that
stores are part of a
distribution process.
The House of Fraser store in
my home town of Bristol in
Cabot Circus. It’s positioned
so lots of people pass it and
know where it sits within the
whole complex!
The Physical Store
•Physically: Window displays, layout, visual perspectives, interior displays...
•Informationally: brochures, loyalty cards, disclaimers, how-to info...
•Functionally: sales, checkout, stock, security, complaints, returns...
A physical store is composed
of many layers. There is a
physical layer; a information
layer; and, a functionality
layer.
Human
•Staff needs and considerations...
•Customers may be prospects, repeat visitors or loyal bonded advocates...
•Modes: info seeking, relationship managing, buying, complaining...
There is also a human layer.
In the human layer there are
employees and customers.
Customers also can operate
under a number of modes
including information seeking;
buying; browsing, etc.
Whereas both employees and
customers can be engaged in
relationship management.
Fundamentally, in the human
layer there is a lot of
behaviour going on.
Digital
•Systems: Internet connection, sales, CRM, stock etc...
•‘Bells and whistles’ like the touch screens, scanners, specifically design areas like the M&S virtual ‘boutique’
There is also a digital layer.
This may include websites,
apps, sale systems, CRM
systems, stock systems and
the digital ‘bells and whistles’
e.g. virtual boutiques.
Whilst this represents a good
start it is not what will persist.
We need to think ecologically
and how we relate to places,
systems and people together.
Data
•The golden thread
•The connection and connections between the physical store, the human and digital layers
•Joining up the dotsThe dots between products,
sales and CRM all need to be
joined-up.
This idea is called the Golden
Thread and it was conceived
by Jason Hobbs (Nomensa
Director of Information
Architecture).
Again, Where is the store?
Online or on the high
street?
Apple understand
ecosystems and totally
‘get’ how people,
technology and branding
fit into the ecosystem
equation.
Designing for multiple
devices with a responsive
web design.
Not only is there a connection
between the physical store
and the ecommerce website.
The store can also exist
across multiple devices, in
multiple environments, for a
multitude of purposes.
The idea of ‘multiplicity’
becomes very important
when we take an ecological
view.
A typical Argos store front.
There is a phrase that is
used in the UK - ‘Argos it’!
A close-up of the store
front window promotes a
range of channels to
‘Argos it’ including
brochure, computer and
phone.
Jon Fisher and I conducted
research into the Cross-
Channel experience provided
by Argos.
We wanted to evaluate how
consistent the experience
was between the different
channels.
We published the study as
part of an article titled:
Sense-making in Cross-
channel Design (
http://journalofia.org/volume
4/issue2/02-fisher/
).
What’s the issue?
Inconsistent taxonomies
between channels which
would be confusing for a user
moving between channels to
search for a product.
Information Architecture is a
great way to consider the
bigger picture and join the
dots between people,
channels, services, products
and environments.
Resmini and Rosati have
written a fantastic book
entitled Pervasive Information
Architecture and outlined 5
cross-channel information
architecture heuristics:
- Place Making
- Consistency
- Resilience
- Reduction
- Correlation
Place-Making: There’s a
difference between space
and place.
A house is a space and a
home is a place. What we
want to create are homes
NOT houses. You need to
figure out what the role of
the store is within the larger
relationship a customer has
with the brand.
Facebook is a great example
of a place.
Consistency: Halo the
computer game was one of
the first instances of building a
community around multiple
games that existed both on
your console, in your living
room and online via websites
visited by the broader
community.
The developers of Halo were
the pioneers of digital
ecosystems before Apple and
Google.
Consistency is the ability of
the system to remain relevant
and real to a user regardless
of channel. Consistency is
achieved when relevance
remains when a person moves
across multiple channels.
Resilience: A classic Escher
image.
The logic and meaning of a
system needs to be robust
enough to withstand changes
in channel, e.g. whether
adding or removing channels,
etc.
If we had robust enough
systems in the first place
mobile wouldn’t be such a big
deal however the pendulum
has swung the other way with
approaches like mobile-first.
NB: When we say systems we
mean architectures and not IT
or CRM systems.
Reduction: Any channel can
reduce the relevance for its
role in the bigger picture i.e. it
can stand alone or together
meaningfully for users.
Reduction is not about the
amount of information but
how the information is
organised.
Correlation: An image of
birds flocking to either forage
or preparing to migrate.
In the same way that birds
will migrate to warmer
climates so instinctively do
people. We tend to choose
the paths of least resistance
and greatest meaning.
Correlation emphasises
journeys across channels
over hierarchies within
channels. Synchronistic
movements across the space
that holds the channels or
places we cohabit.
A typical business process
diagram produced by an
analyst.
They know that traditional
systems need to span
channels e.g. the traceability
required when a customer
complaint begins on a call
centre and is resolved in a
store and/or feedback
gathered via the website at a
later stage.
However, a great experience
is more than traditional
systems. Business Analysts
tend to focus on efficiency
and effectiveness for the
business and not for the
customer.
Jon Fisher’s Meaning map. A
great method for
representing and
understanding your channels
and the interactions that
occur.
Channel interactions can be
either sequential or
simultaneous.
Understanding the types of
interactions that occur is a
great way to provide a
meaningful channel
experience.
So, again, where is the
store?
Perhaps the store actually
exists in the mind of the user?
Banks are starting to look
very different. They are
becoming less transactional
and more customer-friendly.
What has spurred this shift?
In the later 90’s early 2000’s
banks thought that online
banking would replace the
branch. By 2005 they
realised this wasn’t the case
that sales and complex tasks
were still better performed in
the branch. They discovered
that although online banking
had a very important role the
branch remained the corner
store of the customer
relationship.
•Physical
•Human
•Digital
The Physical, Digital and the
Human layers must form one
harmonious whole
(experience).
Appreciating and
understanding that Data
represents the golden thread
can really help in the design
of meaningful cross-channel
experiences.
Inversion
•Data is the Golden Thread
•Cross-channel Design is about meaningful interaction and experience
•Joining up the dots!
Digital should no longer be
considered as a layer that fits
into the physical layer. Once
we see the whole experience
from a data perspective we
can begin designing in a
different way e.g. using the
data. The data represents
the map for successfully
‘joining all the dots’ together
e.g. Hobb’s Golden Thread.
Meaning map describe the
channels - the way the brand
touches you. Great brands
touch you consistently and
add meaning.
A Claude Loraine picture
entitled ‘Seaport with the
Embarkation of the Queen of
Sheba’ painted in 1648 as
part of the group: The
Bouillon Claudes).
Think of cross-channel
information architecture
design as composition across
space and time with a
foreground, middle ground
and background. The
composition occurs over
space and time and
represents a great way for
thinking about cross-channel
information architectures as
narratives.
In this image we see lots of
people. There is no doubt lots
of technology. That means lots
of information consumption
and ultimately lots of data
consumption and generation.
Therefore, what we are seeing
is an inversion in how we used
to see things. Previously we
saw people in physical space
with digital layered over data.
Now we are seeing data in
digital as the composition in
which people and places co-
habit.
What does this mean for us?
As the custodians and experts
in the field store design your
role will be to understand and
assist clients with
understanding the meaning of
the store channel in the
context of the new cross-
channel customer experience.
Thank you!
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