Improving Customer Touchpoints Through UX Design

I recently worked with a product team struggling with an app that had great #UI and front end #UX — but absolutely horrible ratings and reviews from customers. The product itself was very well-designed, but these people were NOT happy. No one could figure out why—until I started pushing them to poke their noses into other areas of the business. Looking in places they weren’t familiar with. Asking questions no one expected (and in some cases wanted) them to ask. I worked with them over several weeks to map the entire service delivery process, from beginning to end, across multiple departments, systems and processes. We found that back-end processes were badly misaligned with the front-end user experience in a number of ways: The app promised fast delivery, but the company’s warehouse system didn’t sync in real-time with inventory. Users were buying items that were actually out of stock, leading to delayed or canceled orders. The payment processor didn’t always confirm transactions immediately, leading to both duplicate charges and orders cancelled in frustration. The customer support team had no visibility into payment issues, frustrating users who called for help. The estimated delivery dates displayed in the app were based on ideal conditions, but logistics teams weren’t updating them when delays happened. Users would place an order expecting next-day delivery, only to receive an updated ETA days later, ultimately causing order cancellation. Finding and fixing those issues transformed the experience — and made the business folks very happy. Instead of just improving the UI or adding more information or error messages, the product team made fundamental service design fixes based on what we learned together: 1) Real-time inventory sync. They integrated warehouse stock levels directly into the app, so only available items could be purchased. If stock ran low, the app would show an accurate ETA before checkout, preventing surprise delays. 2) Making payment processes transparent — to everyone. They improved payment processing speeds and added better failure detection, preventing double charges. Customer service was given real-time access to transaction history, so they could immediately resolve billing issues. 3) Live delivery tracking (and better estimates). The company integrated real-time logistics updates, so delivery ETAs would automatically update based on warehouse and carrier status. Instead of false promises, users saw realistic delivery windows — before purchasing. After these holistic, end-to-end service design fixes, the company saw: - 35% fewer customer complaints about late deliveries and missing orders.
 - 60% fewer refund requests related to duplicate charges.
 - The average app rating improved from 2.8 to 4.3 stars within three months. The #ProductDesign and UX of the app itself was never the problem. It was the invisible, broken service layers that made it feel terrible to use.

Great journey maps start from the intersection of user touchpoints. A customer journey map shows a customer's experiences with your organization, from when they identify a need to whether that need is met. Journey maps are often shown as straight lines with touchpoints explaining a user's challenges. start •—------------>• finish At the heart of this approach is the user, assuming that your product or service is the one they choose to use in their journey. While journey maps help explain the conceptual journey, they often give the wrong impression of how users are trying to solve their problems. In reality, users start from different places, have unique ways of understanding their problems, and often have expectations that your service can't fully meet. Our testing and user research over the years has shown how varied these problem-solving approaches can be. Building a great journey map involves identifying a constellation of touchpoints rather than a single, linear path. Users start from different points and follow various paths, making their journeys complex and varied. These paths intersect to form signals, indicating valuable touchpoints. Users interact with your product or service in many different ways. User journeys are not straightforward and involve multiple touchpoints and interactions…many of which have nothing to do with your company. Here’s how you can create valuable journeys: → Using open-ended questions and a product like Helio, identify key touchpoints, pain points, and decision-making moments within each journey. → Determine the most valuable touchpoints based on the intersection frequency and user feedback. → Create structured lists with closed answer sets and retest with multiple-choice questions to get stronger signals. → Represent these intersections as key touchpoints that indicate where users commonly interact with your product or service. → Focus on these touchpoints for further testing and optimization. Generalizing the linear flow can be practical once you have gone through this process. It helps tell the story of where users need the most support or attention, making it a helpful tool for stakeholders. Using these techniques, we’ve seen engagement nearly double on websites we support. #productdesign #productdiscovery #userresearch #uxresearch

𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲. 👇 Most brands obsess over traffic, but ignore 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 happens at each interaction. ↳ That’s why your “customer journey” stalls (and conversion rates flatline). 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: → Mapped every touchpoint: From first ad view to post-purchase follow-up. → Zeroed in on the friction: Missed emails, weak cart recovery, unclear product info. → Revamped with CRO tactics: Personalized emails, frictionless checkout, clarity at every step. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁: Revenue +34%. NPS up. Returns down. Customers 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. A few slides from HappyFresh’s playbook say it all—small changes, compounding impact. Want customers who stick (and spend)? Start with the details no one else sweats. How are you optimizing YOUR touchpoints this quarter? https://lnkd.in/gyEU9-vc #eCommerce #CustomerExperience #CRO #Retention