Why User Experience Starts Outside Your Product or Service
How a user experiences a product or service is highly influenced by what’s in the marketplace. That’s why a landscape trend scan is invaluable as a contextual lens through which to interpret user experiences.
Many companies improve their user experience by focusing on what they see internally e.g. how a customer uses their products. They miss the bigger picture - the expectations customers carry with them based on what they see in the general marketplace.
Let me illustrate with an example.
My recent project
In my recent project with an international financial institution, I conducted a landscape trend scan that revealed industry trends that my clients had not strategically incorporated into their plan. These innovations change the expectations of their target customers and significantly impact whether a customer chooses my client over competitors.
In my scan, I looked at the most relevant trends and what competitors were doing. These signals clearly indicated that customer expectations are shifting rapidly.
What became clear in the scan is that the client have various options to improve their services, beyond the current plan. I lined up the options from quick wins (low effort, med/high impact) to medium-term improvements (med effort, med impact) to strategic bets (high effort, high impact).
Without the scan, my client would have hyper-focused on fixing internal workflows. With the scan, they became more aware of how their services are perceived by target customers - specifically, how those customers compare their services with competitors, leading to measurable business growth or loss.
Final thoughts
Trend spotting helps put a company ahead of the game. The ability to be first to introduce value to target customers leads to first-mover advantage. Even if a company is behind, trend spotting provides clear direction to pursue and guides what improvements are worth investing in.
If you are evaluating the user experience of your products or services, I would love to brainstorm with you about how a trend scan can help elevate your understanding. Comment below and let’s talk!