Hi Holly, tell us about yourself and your background.
Hi, I’m the Senior UI/CX designer at Prezzee, a digital gift card platform. I’m from Scotland and I moved to Sydney, Australia over 4 years ago. I have a degree in visual communication and have since worked at multiple agencies as well as in-house, helping companies level up their digital experiences.
How did you start working in the customer experience space?
I have always been interested in digital experience and sought out a role in this area shortly after moving to Australia. I spent time working in agencies on user experience, brand, augmented reality activations and interactive web experiences. I now have transitioned into a more end to end role where I focus on all aspects of the customer journey through the product.
What do you think the top priority should be for a company that wants to improve its customer experience?
It varies across industries and you can’t apply a one size fits all approach but listen to your customers and invest in great end to end experience design. Good quality branding will speak to your customers on an emotional level, great UX design will remove friction and make the product easy to use and a great marketing strategy will bring new customers in.
Making sure your company has the correct structure in place for engaging with customers and gaining feedback from them is also really important.
How can companies better listen and understand their customer base?
In the digital age, there are so many tools available to us to gain insights into our customer’s experience with our brand and product. Utilize surveys, feedback forms, heatmaps and A/B testing.
Many companies are currently undergoing digital transformation processes. What are your tips on a successful digital transformation?
Invest in design. We live in a time where high quality is standard and customers expect more. Design can make or break a good business idea.
What are some CX companies/solutions you’re keeping your eyes on right now?
I’ve been enjoying the Adore Beauty‘s CX at the moment. On socials, they regularly have relatable content creators that take you through new products and educate you on the ingredients. On each product page, they include product-specific FAQ’s. This helps the customer decide if this product is going to be right for them. Product reviews are easily accessible and are open and honest. Live chat is available where team members help advise you on specific products based on your unique goals. Customers are rewarded with high-quality bonus gifts for spending more. They have a loyalty program that gives customers access to exclusive events. Shipping is fast and reliable and when you receive your order there is always a Tim Tam included which is a nice surprise and delight moment. I think Adore Beauty’s product first approach really helps the customer find products that are right for them instead of going off big brand names.
What are some of your tips for people who want to work in the CX sphere?
Be open to feedback and always be hungry to learn more, whether that is personally or from your customers.
So many things changed in 2020. While some things are going to return to “normal,” what are new trends and habits you think will stay with us in the long term?
I’ve noticed a big shift in the online Australian market. In the UK it has been very common to shop online for years, but when I first moved to Australia, I noticed online shopping was slow and expensive in comparison to the UK. Since the pandemic, so many more businesses have had to go digital and Australian consumers have had to adapt their shopping habits. Companies are putting a higher focus on making online shopping a better experience than shopping in-store and I think this shift will stay in the long term.
eCommerce boomed in 2020, and consumers started leaving more product reviews online. How can we make the most out of this momentum?
We need to make it easy for customers to leave reviews and reward them for taking time out of their busy life. The more great and honest reviews customers are willing to leave the more our products will appeal to future customers.
What is your favourite CX metric? Why?
CES (Customer Effort Score). When designing experiences, low effort is always the goal.
