We use the terms orchestration, orchestrator, and orchestrating throughout this book. In one sense, we are referring to approaches that help shift organizations from designing and delivering disparate parts to designing these parts to be aligned and in harmony with one another. This approach requires crafting channels and touchpoints intentionally as a system to support customers and their end-to-end experiences over time and in multiple contexts (see Chapters 1-4). In another sense, orchestrating means facilitating collaboration to achieve those outcomes. More and more, we are finding ourselves—product, design, IT, marketing, operations, and so on—in a room together attempting to solve increasingly complex problems. An orchestrator helps foster empathy, collaboration, creativity, and alignment, which result in better experiences and outcomes (Chapters 5–11).
Whichever meaning you pick for the word, let’s face it: currently, orchestration runs counter to how most organizations operate. Although everyone has an agenda, we want to help you push your organization to be more thoughtful and collaborative in how it designs for experiences that result in real value. To support this objective, we have included workshop templates for facilitating the design process effectively. You can take these as is or adapt them to your unique needs.
We also provide examples of key outputs, both new and familiar—touchpoint inventories, ecosystem maps, experience maps, vision storyboards, and many more. Many of these artifacts are designed to be on walls—to be viewed by many, used as tools, and communicate lots of information. Our intent is not to load you up with more deliverables, but rather to give you tools that create impact.
While the latter portions of the book walk through approaches from research to prototyping, this is not a prescribed, rigid path. The methods we highlight are not required, nor are they the only ones to get the job done. Shipping products and delivering services is a continuum. Choose the methods that meet the needs of your team and organization. Play with your process. Invent your own tools.
As designers, we’re wired to tackle ambiguous problems. We strive to give shape and form to products and services in an increasingly complex world. Whether you are a designer or not, there is an opportunity to be the glue that unites cross-functional teams around a shared vision and coordinated action upon a foundation of empathy. Organizations struggling to create better customer experiences need more than mapmakers. They need orchestrators. They require leaders armed with the right language, frameworks, and soft skills to see the forest and make the trees. We want this person to be you.
PART I
A Common Foundation
Organizations work constantly to engage customers in their products and services. Dispersed among multiple departments and people, these efforts result in many tangible and intangible things, each intended to create a positive customer interaction. Marketers produce commercials, banner ads, microsites, emails, and direct mail. Digital teams make mobile apps, websites, digital signage, and kiosks. Customer service people deploy online help guides, AI (artificial intelligence) chat bots, and IVR (interactive voice response) systems. Front-line employees assist customers in real time. Retail operations construct aisles, checkout counters, help desks, signage, and entranceways.
That’s a lot of people, places, and things (and that’s just scratching the surface).
Each discipline or function in an organization directly or indirectly impacts the customer experience. Distributing ownership and decision-making across these groups, however, comes with a challenge. How do different practitioners with different skills and philosophies own their piece of the puzzle while harmonizing with other customer interactions outside of their responsibility? And how does an organization build stronger relationships with customers more predictably, interaction by interaction?
To build strong internal partnerships and cross-functional collaboration, you must start to speak the same language and have common approaches for making sense of what all your disparate work produces. Four concepts are critical to getting on the same page: channel, touchpoint, ecosystem, and journey. For orchestrating experiences, it’s critical to define these concepts consistently within a team, group, or an entire organization. They can serve as the connective tissue for creating more integrated, effective experiences across time and space. Let’s start by looking at channels—the enablers of customer interactions.
CHAPTER 1
Understanding Channels
Channels Don’t Exist in Isolation
Channels Reflect Interactions, Information, and Context
Changing the Channel-Centric Mindset
The concept of channels pervades the modern business organization—for example, channel team, channel strategies, cross-channel, multichannel, omnichannel, channel preference, channel ownership, and on and on. Ideally, channels create connections to communicate and interact among people. However, they can also become silos that separate and create barriers between people, teams, and priorities.
From Theory to Reality
In the classic sense, a channel is a construct through which information is conveyed, similar to a waterway. Just as the Panama Canal delivers ships and cargo from one ocean to another, a communication channel connects the information sender with the information receiver.
In the world of designing services, a channel is a medium of interaction with customers or users (see Figure 1.1). Common channels include physical stores, call centers (phone), email, direct mail, web, and mobile (see Table 1.1). Behind these channels sit people, processes, and technologies. Channel owners count on these resources to reach their customers, deliver value, and differentiate them from their competition.
In addition, these channel owners are often evaluated and rewarded on the success of their individual channel metrics, which can be a detriment to connecting channels across an organization.
FIGURE 1.1 Understanding and aligning with others on your channels is a foundational step toward orchestrating experiences.
TABLE 1.1 COMMON CHANNELS
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Physical Store
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