The Professional's Guide to Customer Experience (CX)

Design, Create, and Deliver
Experiences in the Real World
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
The Professional’s Guide To

A new era of business is upon us—an era where the consumer is in control.
In large measure, consumers now control when, how, where, how often
and why they buy. Nonetheless, companies must still set the stage for
positive interactions and focus on managing, not controlling, the customer
experience (CX). Why? Businesses large and small are realizing that in
order to survive, they must win the hearts and minds of their customers by
providing more engaging and meaningful experiences. After all, creating
better customer experiences may be just about the only remaining way to
effectively differentiate, compete and win in the marketplace.
The Professional's Guide to Customer Experience:
Design, Create, and Deliver Experiences in the Real World
© 2014 by InReality
Published by InReality
120 Interstate North Parkway E
Suite 226
Atlanta, GA 30339
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part
of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
The Professional's Guide to Customer Experience / 3
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
What Is It?
This guide is a comprehensive collection of practical
advice about what it takes to imagine, design and
bring intentional customer experiences into the real
world to make a positive impact on your business.
For the first time, the InReality team has compiled
its knowledge on this topic into a single, easy-to-
use guide to help guide you through your customer
experience (CX) projects. This guide represents the
cumulative knowledge of strategists, designers,
technologists and implementation specialists with
decades of collective experience. More importantly,
the knowledge, strategies, and CX management
tools offered in this guide have all been tested in
actual projects—they are not just theory.
Who Is It For?
This guide is for practitioners, team leaders,
consultants and anyone whose goal is to design,
create, and deliver customer experiences in retail
and other physical customer-facing spaces. This
guide will be especially useful for practitioners for
whom this kind of project is a first, either in scale
or scope—it has all the information you need to get
started.
How To Use It?
This guide is introductory and interdisciplinary.
It is designed to serve as a reference tool for
practitioners and a tool for team communication.
Parts 1-3 of this guide will help you develop a CX
strategy, design the solution, and deliver the project,
respectively. A Tools section has also been included
to help you through this process.
How Can InReality Help?
InReality helps clients measure and improve their
customers' experiences, allowing them to fulfill their
purpose to customers. We do this by identifying
and shrinking the inevitable “reality gaps” that exist
between brand promises, customer expectations
and actual customer experiences, which occur
within retail environments and other physical
spaces.
InReality's unique CX innovation services include:
• Strategy—Consulting, Summits, Research
• Design—Service Design, 2D, 3D, Digital, Store/
Showroom Design, Digital Media
• Solutions Management—Project Management,
Prototyping, Production, Implementation,
Servicing, Digital Content Management
• Measurement—Reality Gap Analysis, Digital
Analytics, Whole-Store Analytics

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
05 / Customer Experience in Physical Spaces: Still Crucial for Retailers & Brands
Developing Your CX Strategy
08 / Lay the Foundation
14 / Define the Customer Need
Designing CX Solutions
23 / Collaborating with the Design Team
26 / Prototyping & Reviews
27 / Considering Technology
Delivering CX Solutions
36 / Producing, Deploying, & Managing Your Solution
38 / Collaborating with the Solution Management Team
40 / Roll-out & Installation Considerations
Conclusion
44 / Key Takeaways
CX Tool Kit
46 / Pre-Mortem
47 / Customer Journey Map
49 / Empathy Map
51 / NUF Test
53 / Design Review
55 / CX Requirements Document: Content Guide
InReality
57 / About InReality

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
The focus on the customer and CX is at an all time
high. According to a recent global study of senior
executives on CX1
, 93% of executives say that
improving CX is one of their top three priorities for
the next two years. However, while 91% want to
be CX leaders, 37% of companies are just getting
started with a formal CX initiative. The good news?
You’re reading this guide, which you can use to help
your company embrace a CX-driven approach.
Professionals working with CX strategy and design
must deal with a plethora of digital and physical
touch points (mobile; e-commerce; physical spaces
such as stores, showrooms, etc.). This process
can be difficult to manage systematically, and
while e-commerce has grown to become a force
in countless product categories, the importance of
real-world, in-person interactions has not lessened.
Rather, the importance of these kinds of interactions
has remained critical to most customers and
brands.
According to one study, more than 90% of sales still
take place in physical stores. In fact, 71% of
1
Source: Oracle 2013 Study: Global Insights on Succeeding in the Customer
Experience Era
Generation X and Y customers say they would
rather shop in brick-and-mortar stores than online.
Furthermore, 84% of Generation X and Y customers
say they enjoy getting face-to-face help and advice
from store associates.2
So what's the takeaway? The importance of
creating unique and meaningful experiences in
physical spaces should remain a key priority for
both retailers and the brands that sell in their stores.
Often, the in-store customer interaction with the
product or service is still the last chance for a brand
to make an impact before purchase.
Although planning and implementing CX projects
may be part art and part science, it can be highly
rewarding for everyone involved, if done intentionally
and strategically. To deliver these impactful
experiences, executives and managers must
become mixologists of the CX world, possessing
the ability to create a well-balanced cocktail of
CX strategy, design, execution, and continuous
measurement and improvement.
2
Source: The Curve Report by NBC Universal
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN
PHYSICAL SPACES: STILL CRUCIAL
FOR RETAILERS & BRANDS

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Part 1: Developing
Your CX Strategy

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Why are you developing a CX solution?
What are you trying to accomplish?
How do you define success?
As with any complex project,
the best first step is to start with
a plan, or better yet, a customer
experience strategy. There is no
technology panacea for successfully
creating a compelling experience—
the technology doesn’t drive the
strategy. Rather, the strategy must
determine how processes, solutions
and technologies are used to
implement a successful customer
experience project and program.
When the CX strategy comes first,
companies have a greater chance
of success. This chapter will walk
you through the steps necessary
to develop such a strategy.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
LAY THE FOUNDATION
Define the Purpose
What is an Experience?
Thus far, we have discussed the importance
of customer experience as a key competitive
advantage, but what is an experience?
Fundamentally, an experience is an internal
sensation of change, of which the person is
aware.1
As it relates to commerce, it is also a
sensation for which a customer is willing to pay.
Think about concepts like beauty, validation,
enlightenment and justice. These are some of
the experiences and meanings that people seek
throughout their lives. While brands cannot easily
create those experiences, they can design a series
of mechanisms and media to trigger them. In the
CX world we call such mechanisms touchpoints.
The coherence, consistency and combination of all
touchpoints ultimately constitutes an experience.
CX Projects
Throughout this guide, we refer to “CX projects”,
by which we mean specific initiatives with a well
defined beginning and end, lasting from a few
months up to two years within a customer-facing
physical space. However, it is important to note that
a CX project is just one component of an overall
customer experience management ecosystem.
1
Source: Shedroff, N. Diller, S., Rehea D. Making Meaning: How Successful
Businesses Deliver Meaningful Customer Experiences, New Riders,
Berkeley, CA

Additionally, although this guide focuses on creating
experiences in physical spaces, you must just as
intentionally design and integrate all your other
touch points (i.e. social media, web site, mobile,
etc.) to deliver a seamless and satisfying customer
journey. You must also design and align your
organization to effectively deliver those experiences.
Ask the Right Questions
There are many reasons to develop new customer
experiences, but which ones make the most sense
for your company? Think in terms of what you want
your customers to know, believe, feel, or do before,
during, and after this experience. Here are some
questions that you can ask yourself and your team
to guide your thinking:
• What customer needs and expectations will this
experience address?
• How should the experience represent your
brand?
• What specific business goals are you trying to
achieve by building this experience?
• What kinds of experiences do your competitors
deliver?
• How will you know that you have succeeded or
failed?

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Additionally, a challenge often arises in the limited
or lack of resource availability to conduct any
kind of customer research. However, by using the
methodologies presented in this guide, you can
quickly determine the basic parameters of the
problem and develop a focused strategy.
Needs vs. Requirements
Understanding the difference between a need and
a requirement, for both you and your audience, will
allow you to build a robust strategy. In addition,
this clarity will make it easier for you and your
stakeholders to benchmark the performance of the
solution down the road.
Often, businesses confuse needs with requirements,
especially when it comes to using new technology.
For example, a bank executive may decide that she
wants to create a new way for customers to form a
line to the cashier desk by using a touch-screen for
customer sign-ins. While a touch-screen interface
may in fact work in this case, other ways may exist
to satisfy the underlying need of improving the
line formation process. A better alternative might
be cheaper, more reliable, faster to deploy, and
possibly doesn't involve technology at all. We will
talk more about technology and implementation, but
differentiating needs from requirements is a good way
to start developing a strategy.
The answers to the previous questions will ultimately
help determine your strategy. An important step in
building an experience strategy is determining the
most important need of the audience and how to
address it. Very frequently, CX projects start with
an urgency to deliver a solution without properly
defining the problem (i.e. the need).

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Form Your Team
Form your CX team and clearly outline goals and
expectations early in the process. While team
formation depends on the specific needs of the
project, ideally the team should include a project
manager, a strategist, designers, and solution
management and implementation support. This
exact setup isn't required for every project, but
in most cases these roles need to be fulfilled by
someone on the team. You might also have a
situation where these roles fade in and out of the
project, so plan ahead for when you can and should
use them.
The following is a series of descriptions for the most
common roles on a customer experience team.
The Project Manager’s Role
If you are the project manager or plan to manage
the customer experience, then you already have
one of the key members. Chances of success
without a designated project manager are pretty
slim. The project manager is the point person for
the entire process. They connect the dots, set
timelines, handle team needs and communications,
address setbacks, and ensure that checkpoints are
met.
The Strategist’s Role
A strategist is someone who brings market
intelligence and analytical skills to connect the
company's business goals with customer needs.
They can be an excellent resource for anticipating
and pointing out general insights and potential
speed bumps specific to your CX project. The key
role of a strategist is to inform stakeholders about
possible directions that a project might take and
highlight the risks and rewards of those directions.
This involves developing a body of knowledge and
analysis (qualitative or quantitative) from multiple
sources and presenting them to the stakeholders in
the most effective manner.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
The Design Team’s Role
There are many types of designers—graphic,
industrial, interior, etc. Your ideal design team will
consist of all the members necessary to tailor your
unique customer experience. Designers have a
unique professional language. To really benefit
from their insights you need to be mindful of that
unique language and perhaps develop your own
style of managing and communicating with them.
Many project leaders make the mistake of treating
designers merely as concept generators, ignoring
their insights and recommendations. However,
designers can prove to be invaluable and make a
significant impact on differentiating your company’s
customer experience. Consequently, developing the
right level of partnership with the design team could
definitely give your project a creative advantage.
The Solution Management Team’s Role
The solution management team may consist of
production and procurement partners, digital
experts, packaging and shipping specialists,
installation professionals, and ongoing technical
support personnel, as dictated by your execution
needs. The management of and quality of work
executed by these individuals is essential to the
successful implementation of the solution as
intended by all stakeholders. Supply chain, logistics,
and final implementation requires attention to detail
and careful planning for all possible scenarios.
Coordinating the project on your own offers more
direct involvement and the ability to quickly affect
parts of the process as they are happening.
However, coordinating the project yourself may
result in inefficiencies for your budget in the long
run, depending on the project scope.
Work with Your Stakeholders
A stakeholder is anyone whose functions and needs
are directly and indirectly affected by your project.
Stakeholders may be internal (i.e. part of your
organization) or external (i.e. other departments or
vendors). Another stakeholder type, and the most
important one at that, is the customer for whom the
experience is being created.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
CONVERGENT
CONCRETE
DIVERGENTDIVERGENT
ABSTRACT ABSTRACT
START FINISH
Early in the project, try to have a meeting with key
stakeholders to ensure everyone has a chance to
weigh in on specific opportunities, concerns, and
constraints.
The best way to lead a stakeholder conversation
is by using a collaborative working session format.
A key component of a collaborative session is the
facilitator. The facilitator does not have to be the
same person who is responsible for the project
itself, but they need to be comfortable leading
group discussions. In addition, the facilitator
should also ensure that the space is fertile for
new ideas, which may sometimes mean guiding
the participants in the room to ensure a balanced
conversation. To that end, the facilitator needs to
be comfortable managing both the discussions and
the personalities so that the overall session stays on
target in terms of time and scope.
The length of a session like this varies depending
on the complexity of a project, but with multiple
stakeholders, allow at least 2–3 hours. Working
sessions with a moderately complicated agenda
could take a half to a full day to complete.
Collaborative Stakeholder Sessions
When developing a customer experience strategy,
a collaborative session can be used for the
following purposes:
• To digest and synthesize existing or new
customer research
• To develop empathy for the customer
• To develop a common understanding about
what is truly important for the project
• To create a communal list of unknowns
that could impact the project
• To develop an action plan and prioritize
immediate next steps
• To collaborate and brainstorm new ideas for
what the new experience could be
For the most effective use of everyone’s time, a
good collaborative session should accomplish a
combination of the above goals. In general, it is
helpful to structure the overall pattern of the working
session as follows:

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
As you start the discussion, try to promote
divergent, exploratory thinking in the group, and
frame questions in different ways. This is where the
discussion is very abstract, and therefore can be
uncomfortable. As the session progresses, start
converging on possible ideas for solutions. This is
where the discussion is more concrete. Repeat the
pattern, diverging and converging as many times as
necessary, until you arrive at the right quantity and
quality of ideas. The reason for this structure is that
strategy development is a creative exercise, and
you need to allow the group to explore possibilities
outside of the normal field of vision. This can be
a challenging task. If you diverge too much, you
may find yourself and the group in an impractically
abstract space from which actionable insights are
difficult to derive. However, if you converge too early
you run the risk of “leaving money on the table”,
by not exploring truly innovative and effective ideas
and strategies.
One of the obstacles you may encounter during
your session is resistance from your internal
stakeholders—due largely to a lack of experience
with working in this style. However, if you have been
charged with creating a truly unique and engaging
experience, you can take that as a mandate to do
something differently.
The key is to manage your stakeholders’
expectations and let them know why you are doing
it differently this time. If your stakeholders are
already used to working like this, then you’re in luck.
If this sounds overwhelming, feel free to test,
at least, parts of the process before you use
it full scale. In addition, you can always hire a
professional facilitator to organize and manage this
process.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
DEFINE THE CUSTOMER NEED
Understand the Need
A clearly defined purpose and target audience will
help you stay on track as you carry out the
remaining steps. Once fully defined, you can
move to defining the parameters of your customer
experience. In this section, we will explore some
methods and approaches to understanding
the customer need in order to build engaging
experiences.
A Human-Centered Approach
In an environment where customers seek emotional
engagement and authentic experiences, a human-
centered approach to experience design is critical
to produce the desired results. Here are some
characteristics of this approach:
• Starts and frames the conversation focusing on
a human need
• Does not make technology an end in and of
itself
• Seeks insights in human stories and interactions
in their day-to-day environment (at work, at
home, with families, shopping, etc.)
• Business and human needs reinforce each other
• Takes multiple stakeholder needs into account
• Involves the users for which the solution is being
designed in the development process
• Doesn't assume that the solution will be perfect
on the first try—the design process is iterative
Try to find ways to incorporate a human-centered
approach into your project to the best of your ability.
Our experience shows that most solutions in the
field are not designed this way. Many solutions are
driven as a direct response to market competition
and trends, or purely driven by quantitative
insights (like market segmentation). The upside
of pursuing a human-centered approach is that it
gives you an advantage over the competition. The
downside of using this approach is that many of
your stakeholders may not be used to or willing to
work in this manner. We will continue to explore this
theme in the upcoming sections.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Understand Your Audience
To help you better understand the audience for
which you are designing the experience, here are
some factors you may want to consider:
• The audience’s education, professional
experience, knowledge of company or product
(a skeptical audience may require a lot more
evidence gathering for a convincing experience)
• The audience’s personal characteristics
preferences and cultural qualities
• The audience’s attitude toward your
company and the product or service
• The audience’s expectations about the
company's product or service
• How the audience will use the product
• The physical environment in which the
audience will use the product or service
You may want to classify your audience into
categories—such as primary, secondary, and
tertiary—but regardless of whether you classify
them using a scheme such as this, you need
to understand what is most important to them.
Tally what you already know and what you don’t
know about your audience, then use primary and
secondary research to fill in the gaps.
Develop Empathy through Research1
One of the key decisions you need to make early
in the project is whether to conduct new research,
beyond your current research reservoir, and if so,
what kind. As mentioned earlier, the most effective
solutions and the most engaging experiences
are those that are built to address specific user
needs. Your understanding of customer needs is
based on being able to step into their shoes and
feel what they feel. In other words, you need to
truly empathize with them. The way you do that
is through some form of primary research, which
involves talking to customers. In this case, we are
referring to qualitative research (also referred to as
design/user research) and not quantitative research,
such as market segmentation.
Developing organizational empathy for the
customer is one of the most complex challenges in
experience strategy and design. However, without
empathy, products and solutions can end up
being uninteresting and even useless. Fortunately,
over the years, market researchers and designers
have developed tools to help develop empathy for
customers and uncover insights. On the following
pages we have compiled a summary of some of
the most common research methods. Each method
works better in certain situations.
1
Source: Design Research, Edited by Brenda Laurel, MIT Press 2003

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Focus Groups
This family of research methods involves a trained
facilitator speaking to a person or a group following
a script. The methods included in this family are:
Traditional focus groups: 8–12 people in a group
with a discussion lasting 1–2 hours.
Mini focus groups: A smaller version of the
traditional focus group with 5–6 people.
One-on-one interviews: A researcher interviews 1
person for 30 minutes to 1 hour following a script or
a loose guide.
Dyads: Two people, sometimes friends, are
interviewed by a researcher. This format is very
effective when the research subject involves looking
for needs that are hard to articulate in an interview
format. Instead, the insights are gathered from the
friends’ interaction with each other.
Super-groups: In this format groups are gathered
in large auditoriums and researchers lead the
discussion from a stage. Feedback is often provided
using special devices, but there is little user-to-
user interaction.
Triads: In this format, three people are chosen due
to their similarity or dissimilarity in a very specific
way. Triads can provide the same level of depth as
one-on-ones, but they can also provide even more
depth.
Party groups: In this format, a group of people,
usually friends, are gathered in a party at someone’s
home to talk about a topic chosen by the
researchers. The researcher observes interactions in
the users’ home environment.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Ethnography
Unlike focus groups, ethnography refers to the
study of human behavior in a natural environment.
(Therefore, party groups, mentioned previously, are
very similar to ethnography as a method.) Here are
some of the ethnographic methods:
Field ethnography: A user or a user group is
observed by researchers as they go about their
normal lives and interact with each other in their
daily routine. This method produces a lot of insights,
but is very time consuming.
Digital ethnography: This is an off-shoot of field
ethnography, but it relies heavily on digital tools
(smart phones, digital cameras, virtual collaboration
sites, etc.) to record and analyze data.
Photo ethnography: The researcher gives users
a camcorder or a digital camera and asks them to
record and describe moments of their daily life. The
images are then sent back to the researcher for
analysis and synthesis.
Ethnofuturism: This method combines other
ethnographic tools with a futures perspective
to explore the impact of systemic changes
(technology, society, environment, politics, etc.) on a
product, interaction or experience.
Personas: In this method, data from ethnographic
research are synthesized into a handful of profiles
embodied in an actual persona. Personas don’t
represent any specific person, but they combine
attributes (physical and personal), characters, and
stories from many similar people.
Participatory Methods
In recent years, research methods that involve
potential users in the product concept and
prototype development process have evolved. This
method can involve various mediums including
panels, role-playing sessions, and play and “design
jams”.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Mobile Market Research Methods
In recent years, internet and mobile technology
have created completely new ways to collect user
research data. Collectively, these data collection
techniques can be described as mobile research
methods. In general, there are two types of mobile
research:
User Research
In this case, using various platforms, researchers
can recruit users/assistants to perform certain tasks
or record moments of their lives, much like digital
ethnography. The key difference is that in mobile
research, users report their data asynchronously
for an extended time. This reduces the cost of
researchers attending multiple sessions in person.
For example, a researcher could remotely recruit a
particular segment of the population (e.g., women
between 30-40 years of age with children) and
ask them to document an interaction in a day.
Research subjects may be distributed across a wide
geographical area, but all of them upload the data
onto a central repository for analysis and synthesis
by the researcher.
Crowd-Sourced Research
In this approach, researchers use mobile technology
to recruit other people to conduct simple research
tasks on their behalf. This method works well when
research needs to cover a large geographical area,
but the questions themselves cannot be complex.
For example, at InReality we have used this
methodology to successfully collect feedback from
retail sales associates about a digital experience in
hundreds of stores. You can also use this method
to document how your competitors’ products are
displayed (e.g. in a retail environment) or how they
are used.
You can find more information about mobile
marketing research through the Mobile Marketing
Research Association at:
www.mmra-global.org.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Defining and documenting success metrics
early in the project is crucial. This clarity not
only helps establish common expectations
for the team, but also helps with project
continuity down the road when it’s time for a
new version or update.
Common metrics include:
• Sales
• Visibility (e.g. on a retail floor)
• Average ticket price
• Social media engagement
• Industry recognition
• Inventory (e.g. less inventory
on hand by switching to a
digital catalogue)
• Quantity and duration of
customer engagements
• Customer loyalty
• Longevity of CX solution
Choose the Right Methodology
As you can see, there are many methodologies
to study people and their needs, and we have
only given you a brief introduction to the overall
landscape. At this point, you may feel overwhelmed
about choosing the right methodology. However, it
is important to remember that there is no hard and
fast rule about research methods—it all depends
on the experiences you are thinking about, the
context of a person's life in which the need exists,
and the available resources. However, based on the
human-centered design principles discussed earlier,
you need to select a method that focuses on the
customers in their most natural environment, where
their needs arise. Customer needs exist in a social
context, and the research method must delve into
that context in the most accurate and unobtrusive
way.
If you are still feeling overwhelmed at this point, it
might be a good idea to consult with your marketing
colleagues to either leverage existing research or
help your team conduct new research, if necessary.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Document Your Strategy
Once you’ve completed all the necessary research
and stakeholder conversations, you should have
more than enough information to determine what
your customer experience needs to achieve. One of
the most effective ways to document this information
is to use what we call a CX Requirements Document.
This document is the single most important output
of your strategic work, because it incorporates all
research insights and outlines design goals for the
design team.
The value of documenting your intention in a
comprehensive document is quite compelling.
First, this document can be used to communicate
necessary information to newcomers (e.g. new team
members). Second, it can be used to work with third
party vendors (e.g. creative agencies), saving time
and money on multiple meetings and phone calls.
Third, months later, it can serve as a reference tool to
show what decisions were made and why.
Here is a quick outline of the CX Requirements
Document, which you can use as a starting point.
This document is also sometimes referred to as a
“Design Brief”, but the provided version is a bit more
comprehensive and therefore defined differently.
We've also provided a detailed explanation of each
part in the Tools section of this guide.
CX Requirements Document Outline
Overall Objectives
• Problem overview
• Product/service overview
• Brand overview
• Competitive positioning,
constraints, opportunities
Project Overview
• Overview
• Production budget
• Approval process
• Scope
• Timeline
Design Objectives
• Requirements
+ Customer experience
+ Content
+ Technical
+ Business strategy
• Expectations Considerations
+ Content
+ Technical
+ Business strategy
• Measures of Success
+ Content
+ Technical
+ Business strategy

Part 2: Designing CX Solutions

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
What kinds of interactions are you trying to elicit?
What senses do you want to activate?
What do you want customers to do?
The design team joins the project
to bring ideas to life. They are
responsible for everything from how
the experience looks and feels to
how users will interact with the new
experience. Designers come in many
different flavors: user experience (UX)
designers, 3-D designers, graphic
designers, industrial designers,
etc. Together they work to create
something tangible or visual that
represents the experience. Much
like a chef in a kitchen, they try to
create the perfect CX dish using
various ingredients, given the project
objectives and constraints.
To maximize their creative potential
for your CX project, you must
understand how to work with them.
This is where all of the strategic work
you have completed up to this point
will be very useful. In this chapter,
we will walk you through the ins and
outs of working with the design team
to achieve your ultimate goal.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Guiding the Design Team
Understand the Problem
To start working on a solution, the design team
needs to understand anything and everything
that might be relevant to the problem. During
your conversations, with the design team ensure
to explain the forces at work (i.e. pain points)
surrounding the project. These concerns can range
from industry trends, economic forecasts and limited
budgets to lack of thought leadership. Identify both
the inherent problem areas and opportunities for
innovation. For example, there could be under-
utilized real estate, a need for a visual refresh,
pressure to close a market gap, or a desire to reach
new customer segments. Much of this information
can and should be communicated through the CX
Requirements Document discussed in Part 1.
Set the Context
Understanding context is key for a designer.
Be prepared to provide as much information as
possible about where the experience will take
place. As a general example, for an experience in
a physical environment, important information for a
designer includes:
• Overall scale of the project—number of locations
or stores
• Space planning—layout, traffic and
merchandising (if applicable)
• In-store communication hierarchy—from brand
positioning to product
• Customer expectations—who they are and what
they are used to seeing
• Other users—who else will interact with the new
CX solution (e.g. store associates)
• How the actual results will be measured against
the intended result
COLLABORATING WITH THE
DESIGN TEAM

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
If this is the first time your company
is deploying a major in-store customer
experience project, you will likely find
yourself making important brand
decisions for the first time.
Even if you have a sophisticated and well-
documented brand, many of the aspects
of a customer experience in a physical
space may be new and unprecedented.
For example, what are the right materials
to represent your brand? What kind of
textures should represent your brand?
How big should your logo be in a
physical space?
Be ready to face such decisions,
because chances are you may be the
one driving and making them.
Develop Brand Knowledge
In addition to understanding the overarching
problem, designers need to understand the tone
and personality of your brand, as well as, the
desired interaction and result of the experience.
What do you want customers to do? How do you
want them to feel as a result of the experience?
What do you want them to remember about the
experience? Answering these kinds of questions
helps your design team plan a space and system to
allow for these interactions to happen.
An experience is not just about customers;
other stakeholders—anyone whose functions and
needs are directly and indirectly affected by your
project—may also play a key role in the interaction.
For example, think about an interaction in a tire
store. When a customer enters the store to buy
a product or a service, chances are that they will
interact with the product as well as the service
associate who speaks on behalf of the product
manufacturer. Consequently, your design team
needs to think about the interaction between the
product and customer, the experience they are
designing and the brand representative who may
assist the customer in the field.
Establish Strong Communication
By nature, designers are inquisitive. So, at the
beginning of a project be prepared to face
questions that cover a range of topics. Questions
are the most direct way for a designer to begin
to understand the ecosystem around a particular
project and plan.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
As the design team starts to generate ideas
toward a final solution, they will need to assess
the appropriate, actionable and tangible strategies
that are gounded in business viability, market
desirability and operational feasibility. This calls for
an open channel of communication for questions
and feedback. Consequently, establishing a strong
communication system at project initiation helps
keep the project on-track and everyone informed.
Also, be prepared for iterative reviews of the
concept as it becomes more and more defined.
Concept Reviews
Throughout the project you will find yourself
providing a lot of feedback to designers about the
direction of the concept. Much of this feedback
will be requested during multiple sessions called
concept reviews, where you and the rest of your
team will need to provide direction intended
to move the design team closer to the desired
solution.
The best type of feedback designers can get during
concept reviews comes with a ‘why’ explanation.
For example, “This works because…”, “I don’t think
this fits the brand because…” Simple statements
such as, “I don’t like it” are very difficult to
translate because they do not go beyond personal
preferences. When reviewing concepts with the
design team, try to remember where you started,
where you’ve been and what you want to achieve,
and construct your feedback in alignment with that
information.
In the Tools section of this guide, we have included
a Design Review tool to help facilitate an effective
communication process with your design team.
Distributing this tool to the rest of your team can
also help them understand what kind of feedback to
provide during concept reviews. This understanding
is especially important as more stakeholders join the
conversation in the later stages of the project. Team
members who are unprepared to give the right
level of feedback to the design team can cause
confusion and exhaust valuable time.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
PROTOTYPING REVIEWS
Prototyping
As you move through the design phase, a
prototype is an important tool. A prototype can be
as simple as a folded piece of paper or as complex
as a production-ready solution complete with
working electronics. Both serve different purposes
and are typically used at different stages of a
project. This can be visualized or thought of on a
‘fidelity curve’. On one side you have paper models,
and on the other you have a production-ready
version of the final solution. In general, the closer
you get to the end of a project, the more fidelity can
be expected in a prototype. This also relates to the
amount of time it might take to develop the actual
prototype; from simple to complex—from 5 minutes
to 5 weeks or more.
There are many benefits to creating prototypes. We
recommend prototyping fast and early. The quicker
you can get a sketch off paper, the quicker you can
start acting out how people might use the solution
and thinking of ways to improve it. In addition,
you can begin to see how all the components are
working together from a production standpoint.
Thus, you can start exploring different material and
assembly options.
The Final Review
The last review round should not be about individual
opinions, but about making the system work better
and looking forward toward implementation. As
a project leader, youwill likely spend most of your
effort directing the team in this kind of holistic
thinking.
Make sure you know what kind of
prototypes are needed to make the
appropriate decisions.
Most companies need to see a full build-
up of a prototype before investing in a
scaled version of the solution.
Knowing what resources you have to
invest in a prototype can save you time
and money down the road. As a rule
of thumb, assume that the cost of a
prototype will be three to five times the
target per unit roll-out cost.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
CONSIDERING TECHNOLOGY
There are many ways to improve customer
experiences. One way is to use technology, by
which we mean computer technology and digital
media. Although it is not always the right answer
to a CX challenge, technology allows you to
design engaging customer interactions and deliver
your message in new and increasingly relevant
ways. It can also help differentiate your brand
in the marketplace. Depending on the project
requirements, the technology for your solution may
be determined early on in the process, or explored
during the design phase. In this section, we will
cover some basic technology considerations such
as hardware and software, and discuss some of
the more advanced technologies. You don’t need
to become an expert on this topic, but knowing the
language will certainly be helpful. However, if your
CX design will not employ technology, you can skip
this section.
Hardware
The most common hardware components for a CX
project with digital technology are a display/screen,
mounts, player technology, and a power supply. We
will briefly explore each of these components.
Display/Screen
The most important consideration for digital
displays is the screen size. Based on your CX
Requirements Document from Part 1, you should
be able to determine whether the primary objective
of the screen is “one-to-many messaging”, where
one screen is intended to be seen by many people
at once, or “one-to-one messaging,” where one
screen is intended to be seen by one person
at a time for a more personal interaction. Every
screen will have a primary and secondary function
depending on the objective. These functions
determine the size of the screen.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Another consideration for digital displays is
orientation. Certain screen technologies (e.g. thin
film transistor [TFT], in-plane switching [IPS], etc.)
are better suited to a landscape orientation and
some to a portrait orientation.
Additionally, a third factor to consider is whether
to use commercial- or consumer-grade devices.
Commercial displays are designed for constant,
24/7 operation, and they generally have more
connectivity options and use higher quality internal
components than consumer-grade devices.
However, commercial displays are more costly.
Touchscreen displays may be also appropriate
for your CX solution. These displays allow users
to directly interact with the content displayed on
the screen. In some system designs, this could be
the primary method of getting user input, but not
always.
Mounts
If you have a screen, chances are you need to
mount it on something. A major consideration
for mounting is to make sure that all displays are
compliant with VESA MIS (mounting interface
standard). This will ensure standardization of
details such as proper mounting hole size, distance
between holes, and orientation to the screen.
Player Technology
Any digital media on a screen is enabled by player
technology—the software that tells the screen
what to show. Digital signage media players come
in many sizes and configurations, so there a few
things to consider.
The first consideration is the platform or operating
system (OS) on which the player will run. Choices
include Android, Linux, and Windows, but can
include embedded or proprietary systems as well.
Often, the media player application will often drive
the choice of OS, but cost may also be a factor.
Another factor to consider is network support and
processing power. In some cases, a GPU (graphics
processing unit) will be required, in addition to the
CPU (central processing unit). If space is limited or
offers limited air flow, you can use special player
devices designed to dissipate heat.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Power Management
Even if the device used in your CX solution has a
battery (e.g. a tablet), you still need to ensure that
it has access to 24/7 electrical power. Also, the
personnel who work in the space need to have
access to some type of on/off switch. This switch
allows for advanced troubleshooting if a problem
cannot be addressed remotely. Usually the best
approach is to position the switch in such a way
that access to it is limited to ensure that the device
cannot be turned off accidentally.
Software
Any piece of technology will require a computer
program to operate it. Such a computer program
can be a stand-alone product or embedded into the
hardware. We generically refer to such computer
programs as software. The following are some
common types of software.
Media Player
A media player is a software application (“app”) that
drives the content, and it can be a dedicated app or
web app. A web app typically uses a web browser
to display HTML/HTML5 content, and a dedicated
player application typically works in conjunction
with a dedicated back-end server for content
management.
One thing to consider here is whether the content
will be interactive. For interactive content, both a
web app or a dedicated app can work, but issues
of responsiveness will play a factor. In other words,
some apps are faster than others.
Another consideration is data collection or “play
logging”. On an interactive system, it is important
to log every interaction for later analysis. This can
help determine how new content is scheduled and
where it is placed on the screen.
A third consideration is single-zone and multi-
zone layouts. This refers to whether you are
displaying just one thing or many things on a screen
at any given time.
Additionally, you also need to think about how to
store the content: locally on the device or streaming
from a centrally located server. Whenever possible,
it is better to store all media assets on the local
device and display it as needed, versus pulling
everything from the cloud through a wireless
internet or cellular connection. This is because
maintaining a reliable internet connection introduces
a whole new level of complexity and cost to the
project.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Content Management
This refers to the layouts and schedules that the
media player app uses to display content. Typically,
instructions for how the player app should behave
are delivered from a remote server and can be
changed at any time. One consideration here is
whether you want content to be changed by a
person, a data trigger or both. It is not uncommon
for a content delivery system to be set up so that
inventory levels, date and even weather conditions
can dictate content changes.
Device Management
For most deployments, it is preferred that the media
player device be controlled by a remote application
that can monitor the device in real-time. This
requires a “client” app on the device and allows
for things like performance monitoring, storage
capacity and remote alerts. Command intervals
can be set so that data usage does not become a
problem. In other words, if the device management
app is constantly communicating with the server
24/7, it may require significant bandwidth to support
all the data and commands.
Connectivity
In some cases, you may want to have your solution
communicate with a central server. Consequently,
here are some things to consider regarding
connectivity.
Ethernet cable: If possible, use a hardwired
connection, because it tends to be more reliable
and less susceptible to outside influences.
Wi-Fi: This is the second best option if a wired
ethernet connection is not available. Wi-Fi routers
are secure and reliable when commercial-grade
components are used. One consideration here
is the distance between devices and necessary
coverage. In some cases, devices called repeaters
are necessary to boost the signal so that all devices
have proper bandwidth.
Cellular modem: This option is least desirable,
because it relies on a connection to the closest
cell tower. Depending on cellular traffic, it is
possible for the connection to be briefly interrupted
or delayed at a time when a constant connection
is required (e.g. downloading new content). This
option can also be expensive, and uploading files to
the server or downloading files from the server can
use up large chunks of data.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Content
Media Assets
We refer to images, videos, text, etc. as “assets” that
can all be used to populate a screen layout. A layout
refers to the way images are composed on a screen,
and a template refers to a standardized layout. For
example, one screen could have a template that splits
in half, thus creating two separate “zones” on the
screen. One consideration here is the resolution of the
template, versus the resolution of individual zones.
In a typical 1920 x 1080 resolution, the template will
cover the entire height and width of the screen, but
individual zones may be much smaller. This means
that individual elements may need to be resized
before being placed them in the template.
Another consideration is whether things like
transitions and interactive buttons will be
incorporated into the asset itself or as an overlay
in the template. Some media player applications
handle this well, while others do not.
Yet another consideration is the anticipated dwell
time of the device—the length of time the assets
are displayed on the screen. The number of assets
you can show on the screen will be a function of
screen size and average dwell time. For example, if
the chosen screen size can accurately depict four
elements simultaneously, and the average dwell
time is 60 seconds, then the system can display 40
assets (i.e. 4 assets every 6 seconds).
Advanced Technologies
When adding a technology layer to any interaction,
the goal should always be to make that interaction
better, more useful and more engaging for users.
To achieve this goal, use better content or better
hardware as previously discussed. But there are
also ways to design completely new interactions
and relationships by building experiences that have
more awareness of the world. Here we discuss
some of the more advanced technologies. They can
offer you the potential to build experiences that can
“sense” the world around them.
Tablets
Already popular with consumers, these devices
provide a very cost-effective way of building
interactive experiences by wrapping a touchscreen
display, computer, and software all into one
package. Building a CX solution around a tablet
doesn’t automatically solve all the infrastructure
challenges discussed above. You still need to make
decisions about power management, connectivity
and content management. However, there are
plenty of options already available for configuring
and managing content on the Android, iOS and
Windows platforms. On the other hand, you will

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
have to consider issues unique to tablet
technology such as operating system updates (of
which you don’t have full control), theft prevention,
and others. So while tablets are an attractive
technology, because of cost and availability, creating
a seamless customer experience with tablets is as
challenging as with any other technology.
Gesture Control
This refers to a method of interactivity where a
sensor (a camera) is capturing hand movements
and converting them into commands that change
content on the screen. This allows for extending
the interactive experience and may allow the
user to control or “grab” certain media objects,
rotate them and view them from different angles.
Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360, is an example of
such technology. Originally developed for video
games, the system can also be used for custom
applications and build compelling experiences.
Wireless Triggers
This refers to wireless transmitter and receiver
devices that can communicate with each
other. Examples include RFID (radio frequency
identification), NFC (near field communications)
and BLE/iBeacon (Bluetooth low energy). Typically,
these types of systems have two components: the
“reader” which is where the sensing happens, and
a tag that triggers the “reader”. Both the reader
and the tag could be part of a fixture or a device.
For example, the latest iPhones have iBeacon
compatibility built into them. This means that your
customers could be walking around with iBeacon-
compatible devices and trigger certain content and
interaction built into your space.
Ultra-High Frequency Audio
Ultra-high frequency (UHF) audio uses pings to
“connect” two devices. In this scenario, a beacon
can broadcast to a mobile device, which triggers
specific content. UHF is similar to the other wireless
triggers we discussed above, but it relies on sound
instead of a radio signal. And, since it is an ultra-
high frequency sound, customers won’t hear it, so
to them it’s just like any other wireless signal.
Audience Tracking Software
This refers to software that is designed specifically
to use special algorithms that can identify objects
in a field of view and make decisions about what
content should be displayed. There are many
benefits to using this type of technology. For
example, you can target messages to specific
groups, restrict messages that may be inappropriate
and capture usage data about how and when
costumers are engaging with your CX solution.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Augmented Reality
This technology uses camera-based object
detection to trigger additional content on the screen
that “augments” the original object. For example,
the solution could respond to the presence of an
actual product and display additional information
about that product. Alternatively, you can build a
mobile app that allows the customer to use their
mobile phone camera to capture an image of a
product and display new information on their phone
in real time.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Part 3: Delivering
CX Solutions

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
How will your CX solution arrive at the destination?
How will all of the elements of your CX solution be
assembled into an experience upon delivery?
What ongoing support will your CX solution need?
At this point you have developed
your CX strategy and designed your
new CX solution. Now, you need to
produce, roll-out and implement it.
This calls for a whole new skill set,
very different from what we have
covered so far. Broadly, we call this
skill set “solution management”,
but it is sometimes referred to as
implementation or production, which
in our opinion are more narrow in
their definition.
Solution management, like much of
the work we have described in the
CX strategy CX design phases, is
a team effort. In this stage, stakes
are high—there is little room for
costly errors. In this section, we will
cover some of the basic themes and
considerations that go into the final
steps of successfully delivering the
intended experience in the real world.
We will also discuss what it takes to
manage your CX solution and what
logistical challenges you might face.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Your Solution Management Team
Depending on your available resources and
experience with these types of executions, you will
likely need a solution management team in some
capacity. The solution management team handles all
of the final steps in the process of creating the CX
solution. This helps you ensure quality and maintain
consistency between the desired result and the
actual result. However, it is possible that you will
have multiple teams (both internal and external) who
will handle different parts of the process.
Regardless of the kind of a team you have at
this stage, you’ll find that solution managers and
implementers are an invaluable resource that can
save you a lot of stress when handling the final
steps in executing your CX solution. Here are some
of the roles of a solutions management team.
Production Specialists
• They have knowledge of a broad range
of possible materials, equipment, and
fabrication methods
• They can ensure that components are
constructed and shipped to yield the most cost
effective use of materials and shipping sizes
• They have numerous established manufacturer
partnerships and experience in vetting vendors
for the highest quality and best prices
PRODUCING, DEPLOYING
MANAGING YOUR SOLUTION

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Roll-out Specialists
• They engineer and test packing procedures to
ensure safe delivery, minimizing damages
• They know the most economical ways to
ship, offering logistical plans of consolidating
shipments for savings
• They can help determine the most efficient
shipping dates to meet deadlines
• They coordinate delivery and installation
schedules with the destination
• They provide shipping tracking, inventory, and
placement reports as appropriate
Installation Specialists
• They can provide professional installers for
cases where deploying your CX solution is
technically complicated, physically demanding,
or requires a two or more persons
• They can provide detailed installation guides and
in some cases training videos for self-installed
solutions by a product representative or store
associate
• They can provide post-installation support for
the digital and fixture hardware

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
COLLABORATING WITH THE
SOLUTION MANAGEMENT TEAM
As we mentioned earlier, the solution management
team possesses a unique skill set and needs
specific types of information to be most effective.
In this section, we will discuss some of the primary
pieces of information the solution management
team will need.
Solution Management Team Needs
Roll-Out Installation Budget
Once the budget is determined, the implementation
team can work toward meeting the budget goal. It
is easier to achieve success using a plan set from
the beginning than a plan that changes multiple
times throughout the project.
Some things to consider when planning an overall
budget are: labor, material rates for design,
production, shipping, installation (if needed)
and maintenance/support. Some of these
considerations should be made as you go through
the prototyping process. As you might expect,
the quantity of items such as display fixtures to be
produced will also influence the budget. Typically
price breaks are available on materials at higher
quantities.
Delivery Date Guidelines
Rush dates can increase prices, not surprisingly. If
the dates are known early on, the team can work
to minimize costs. It is also important to consider
the business cycle of your manufacturing and
fulfillment partners. If you have not secured their
capacity early enough, you may not be able to fit
into their schedule which will impact the delivery
and deployment date of your solution.
Installation Preference
It is important to consider the required skill level
and available resources to produce and enable
your CX solution. There are generally two routes for
this: hiring installation professionals or tasking the
employees who normally work with customers and
CX solutions in the store environment. We call the
latter self-installations”. If the installation reaches a
level of complexity that may make it difficult for an
average person to execute reliably, consider hiring
a professional installation company. They are very
experienced in unpacking, assembly, electronics
wiring and testing, setting up Wi-Fi enabled devices,
and cleaning up after their work.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
For self-installations, often the preferred choice
is local sales representatives, as they are visiting
these environments often. However, they may be
stretched too thin (with other responsibilities or
geographically) to effectively take the responsibility
for installations. In the case of a store, retail sales
associates may be capable of simple graphic
updates, but implementing an entire solution may
be too complex and/or their attention may be
on other things. Consequently, relying on these
employees to assemble the solution effectively
may be difficult. In some cases, companies are
able to develop a dedicated internal team for
the installations. As they install more and more
solutions, their expertise level and speed will
improve. However, a dedicated internal team is not
always available.
Preferred Shipping Procedures
Preferred shipping methods can influence the
engineering of the solution. Weight and length
of materials influence shipping processes. By
identifying the preferred shipping method early,
proper steps can be made earlier in the life of the
project to satisfy shipping requirements. Generally
speaking, shipping services can be classified in
two methods: Federal Express/UPS (packed in
boxes) and LTL (less than truckload) freight carriers
(strapped to pallets). Once determined, the solution
will sometimes undergo a series of “test shipments”.
These test shipments allow the team to see if
components will be harmed in shipment, and make
modifications to protect the solution for shipment
during the scaled roll-out.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
ROLL-OUT INSTALLATION
CONSIDERATIONS
As you begin to nail down some specifics for your
solution management team, there are few things
you will need to consider prior to roll-out.
Rollout Considerations
Customs clearance: For international shipments,
allow time for detailed paperwork and potential
delays in customs. Such shipments will require a
customs broker. You will likely incur import taxes
and potentially face regulations around packing
materials and labeling.
Weather: Season and geographic locations may
have significant impact on the timing of the roll-out.
Urgency: Speed of delivery is a key factor in the
cost of the shipment.
Shape: Consider the footprint of the pallet or
package and if stock or custom pallet or package is
best. You should try to keep footprint as minimal as
possible to safely deliver goods.
Stack-ability: If the palleted items will be damaged
when stacked, consider using ‘Do Not Stack’
signage atop the completed pack-out, to prevent
inadvertent damages.
Weight: This is a key factor in the cost of the
shipment. Ideally, some of this will have been
addressed in the initial design of the solution.
Delivery: Time, date, and location. All of these
details will factor into the cost of the shipment, so
pay close attention to them.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Final destination infrastructure: If the solution
is palletized you will need to consider how it will
get into its final destination. This starts with the
presence of a loading dock. No dock will mean the
truck will have to have a lift gate. From there, it is
possible that a fork lift, pallet jack, or hand unload
will be necessary. Plan ahead of time for this at
each location.
Bill of Lading: This legal document will accompany
the shipment to track the handover of goods.
Damages: It’s unfortunate, but shipping damages
are likely to occur to some degree. It is best to
be prepared. Address damages quickly and with
thorough documentation. Insure each shipment for
its value and claim the appropriate loss amount.
Installation
Installation is that final moment where the solution is
actually deployed in the real world. From a project
lead's perspective, this is where you have very little
control of what happens in the field, so preparation
is of the utmost importance. It is critical during the
planning process not to underestimate the budget
required by this last crucial step.
As we have discussed, based on the complexity of
the experience or resources available, a professional
installation company might be the best option.
These professionals will typically inccur travel
expenses (airfare, rental car, parking, tolls, lodging,
per diem meals, etc.) in addition to their professional
fees. These incidental costs can accumulate quickly
and are highly variable based on the final location(s).

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Managing the Life of Your CX Solution
How you support the life of your CX solution
depends on how long it is expected to remain
in the field. There are two ways to look at life
expectancy: from a hardware standpoint, and from
a technology standpoint, which somewhat depends
on the consumers’ expectations. Typically, from
a hardware standpoint, a display lasts 3–5 years.
However, with technology changing as quickly as it
does today, and people adapting to new technology
as quickly as they do, a consumer experience life
expectancy can change in as little as six months to
a year. Using Apple as an example, many people
expect a new version of the iPhone at least twice a
year, making the previous model obsolete in some
people’s eyes. The focus should be to make a
relevant solution design that lasts, while making the
technology component easily replaceable without
changing the overall look. Additionally, the life-cycle
of your CX solution will determine what kind of field
support it requires.
Field Support
Field support is a commonly overlooked component
when companies implement customer experience
solutions in a physical environments. Think about
how many times you have seen a digital display
or other technology in a store and it did not work
properly. Setting up maintainenance/support for
your solution in the field is the best way to protect
your investment. Often, budgets are not allocated
to this crucial component of the project. Depending
on the nature of your project consider the following
field support action items:
• Develop a protocol for how staff in the field can
reach someone to fix a problem in a convenient
way, and investigate the proper avenue to
communicate it fully to the people who use the
experience on a daily basis
• Establish the frequency of updates of
your solution
• Create a plan and estimate costs for cases
when someone requests to move the solution to
another area in the space
• Consider what will happen to your solution
in the event that the store/venue that hosts
the experience closes. Will the solution be
repossessed or relocated? Who should be
responsible for that?
Ongoing Measurement
One of the most common mistakes that a project
leader makes is underestimating the ongoing
measurement of the effectiveness of the solution.
Often, managers are inclined to deploy the
customer experience solution, finish the project and
move on to the next most urgent thing.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Ongoing performance measurement is a key step
in delivering relevant and impactful customer
experiences. It allows you to (a) monitor whether
you are actually delivering what you intended and
(b) calculate the return on investment.
If your solution has a constant connection to a
network, you may be able to set up a system to
measure performance and usage. If your customer
experiences are not connected, you need to
establish other ways to collect data and insights
from the field. You may deploy small-scale field
research projects, surveys and interviews with the
field team. You can use some of the methods we
discussed in Part 1.
No matter what the methodology, collecting data
consistently and regularly will put you in a much
better position to understand your customers,
effectiveness of your CX solution, and how your
solution impacted your business. In many ways,
ongoing measurement connects your project from
implementation back to strategy. It can not only
help you improve the existing solution, but provide
valuable insights for the next project you are
charged with.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
IN CONCLUSION
Key Takeaways
To be competitive, companies must pay careful
attention to each touchpoint in their customer
experience. They can no longer focus on
just one single interaction or a unique feature
of their product. Today, they must track and
understand the customer’s entire journey, from
realizing a need, to researching a product or a
service, to purchasing it, all the way through to the
post-purchase relationship.
In this guide we tried to demonstrate the kind
of thinking and action it takes to build engaging
customer experiences in the one place where you
can still control the customer experience—physical
spaces. This kind of thinking and action is a
laborious process that requires a dedicated look at
the world through the customer's eyes and a lot of
collaboration throughout the entire project. Strategy,
design, implementation, and measurement are all
intertwined in the creation of impactful customer
experiences, and hopefully you have seen how
these disciplines work together.
Although we focused on CX solutions in physical
spaces, hopefully you can see how this approach
can be used in other contexts that focus on
CX. Despite the complexity of delivering such
experiences, we think it’s definitely worth applying
such an intentional approach for your customers,
your brand, and your team. We hope you found the
advice in this guide useful, and we encourage you
to share it with your colleagues, teammates and
other stakeholders.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
TOOLS
Tools make our jobs easier by facilitating progress and providing clarity. In
this section, we offer a few tools that might be useful to you during your CX
project. The purpose of these tools ranges from planning the project and
understanding the customer experience to working effectively with your
design team.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
A Pre-Mortem is a way
to proactively and openly
address a project's risks
from the start.
Unlike a more formal risk analysis,
the pre-mortem asks participants
(often the client) to directly tap into
their experience and intuition, at a
time when it is needed most.
Gray, D., Brown, S., Macanufo, J. (2010).
Gamestorming, p. 117-118.
After the goals and plans have been laid out
for the current project, the facilitator should
ask the simple question, “What will go wrong?”
This may also be elevated by rephrasing to ask:
“How will this disaster end?”
The stakeholders should reflect on their
collective experience and directly name risks
or elephants lurking in the room. This is their
chance to voice concerns that might otherwise
go unaddressed until it’s too late.
The facilitator should write down all the risks
and concerns.
Have the stakeholders vote on the list of
concerns and risks to determine priority, which
the facilitator should record.
1
2
3
4
Reference
Materials
Duration
Number of Players
5-7
PRE-MORTEM
5 min. per
player

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
A Customer Journey
Map provides a
vivid, but structured,
high-level overview
of a user’s experience.
The touchpoints where users interact
with the service are often used in
order to construct a “journey”—an
engaging story that illustrates the user's
experience. This story details user
service interactions and accompanying
emotions in a highly accessible
manner. The overview map enables
the identification of both problem areas
and opportunities for innovation, while
focusing on specific touchpoints to
allow the experience to be broken
down into individual stages for further
analysis. The structural visualization
makes it possible to compare several
experiences in the same visual
language.
CUSTOMER
JOURNEY MAP

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Reference
Materials
Duration
Number of Players
If a large group is participating, it may be
a good idea to divide the team into smaller
groups of 5–7 people. Organize the groups
so as to mix conflicting voices with each
other. Each group should have a co-
facilitator.
The co-facilitator should guide the process
of identifying the touchpoints where users
interact with the service. This identification
process should be done with user insights
from the client. The goal is to have them
identify all the steps and start to understand
all the aspects that need to be considered.
To make the customer journey map more
personal, it may be a good idea to base
the map around one chosen actor (create a
fictional character within the group).
Consider all touchpoints during the
experience. A touchpoint can define
anything from face-to-face contact between
two people to virtual interaction with a
website or physical trips to a location.
Once the touchpoints have been identified
with the client, you can translate this content
1
2
3
4
into a visual representation. This overview
should be visually engaging enough to make
it easily accessible to all but it should also
incorporate enough detail to provide real
insight into the journeys being displayed. So,
it may be a good idea to consider adding
more details than acquired with the client.
Another idea is to “personalize” the map
by incorporating photographs along with
personal quotes and commentary.
5
5-7

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
The object of this
exercise is to quickly
develop a customer or
user profile to reveal
the different points of
view that appropriate
participants (or
actors) may have.
This tool can be used as homework
for the stakeholders. By gathering
information before the session,
the stakeholders are given more
time to consider the challenges
and comment. During the session
the stakeholders can review the
information and add additional notes.
EMPATHY MAP

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Gamestorming, p. 65-66
Define which actors would be relevant to
discuss for the specific client. An example
could be the manufacturer, the retailer,
and the end user.
It may be a good idea to have one third-
party co-facilitator and one stakeholder
paired up, so the co-facilitator can record
what the stakeholder says on sticky notes.
If a large group is participating, it can be a
good idea to divide the team into smaller
groups of 2–3 people. Organize the
groups as to mix conflicting voices with
each other.
Ask the groups to describe the different
actors' experience, moving through the
categories of: thinking, seeing, hearing,
saying, doing, and feeling.
The co-facilitator should record
every comment on a sticky note for
later reference.
1
2
3
4
5
The goal of the exercise is to create a
degree of empathy for the actor. Ask the
group to empathize: What does this person
want? What forces are motivating this
person? What can we do for this person?
6
Reference
Materials
Duration
Number of Players
5-7

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
As a group is
developing ideas in a
brainstorming session,
it may be useful to do a
quick “reality check” on
proposed ideas.
In the NUF Test, participants rate an
idea on three criteria: to what degree
is it New, Useful, and Feasible?
NUF TEST
(NEW, USEFUL, FEASIBLE)

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Create a matrix of ideas using the
following criteria:
New: Has the idea been tried before?
An idea will score higher here if it is
significantly different from approaches that
have come before it. A new idea captures
attention and possibility.
Useful: Does the idea actually solve the
problem? An idea that solves the problem
completely, without creating any new
problems, will score better here.
Feasible: Can it be done? A new and
useful idea still has to be weighed against
its cost to implement. Ideas that require
fewer resources and effort to be realized
will score better here.
Have the group rate each idea from 1 to
10 for each criterion and tally the results. A
group may choose to write down scores
individually at first and then call out their
results on each item and criterion to
create the tally. Scoring should be done
quickly, as in a “gut” check.
1
2
( )
Discuss the uncertainties about an idea or
previously underrated ideas. The group may
then choose to make an idea stronger, as
in “How do we make this idea more feasible
with fewer resources?”
3
Reference
Materials
Duration
Number of Players
5

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Working with a team to
bring an idea into reality
is a truly rewarding
experience.
Follow these simple guidelines to
make sure your team stays on track
and focused.
Start with an overview
Make it a common practice to start every
concept review with a review of the CX
Requirements Document you made in Part 1.
This may seem redundant at times, but it is an
extremely important step in keeping everyone
focused and mindful of the project goals and
parameters.
1 2
DESIGN REVIEW
Remember your role and why you are
in the room
Try to keep critics to a small group of people
who are closely tied to the project and, in
the best scenario, who have been involved
from the beginning. Each person in the room
should hold a specific perspective (designer,
project manager, marketer, engineer, etc.),
with little to no overlap. This way everyone
can have an independent voice without
stepping on someone else’s toes.

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
3
4
5
so they will be protected and not inadvertently
thrown out.
Don’t design in the review session
Providing possible solutions to a problem during
a design review meeting is a critical part of the
process, but it is important to stop there and let
the designer(s) take that feedback forward after
the meeting. This will allow them ample time to
think through all aspects of the solution, rather
than hastily proclaiming a victory. As you end
the review session, clearly list out the next steps
for each person involved. This task list will then
provide a starting point for your next review.
Have a schedule, and stick to it
No one likes being in meetings that run
over time or jump from one topic to the
next haphazardly. It is important to state the
structure of the meeting so that everyone knows
what to do and when to do it. If needed, assign
a facilitator to keep everyone on track. This is
also a great time for designers to communicate
the type of feedback they are looking for. For
example, a designer could say, “At the end of
this session, I’d like to have a material selection
and color selection agreed upon so we can start
a conversation with our manufacturing partners.”
It’s OK to be negative, sort of
Let’s face it, we can’t all love a particular design
100% of the time, every time. Finding flaws in
early prototypes is the sole purpose of their
existence. So if you find yourself in a situation
where you need to give negative feedback,
remember that you are in the room to solve a
problem and reach an end result. Couple your
remark with a what if or have we thought
about this statement. This will allow the rest
of the team to hear the negative critique, but
also give you the opportunity to quickly turn a
negative into a positive. On the flip-side, be sure
to identify the elements that are working well

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
CX REQUIREMENTS
DOCUMENT
CONTENT GUIDE
Overall Objectives
• Problem Overview
Describe the key business challenge that the
company challenges.
• Product/Service Overview
Describe the specific product or service for
which the CX solution is being designed.
• Brand Overview
Describe the key attributes of the brand and
the company's brand promise.
• Competitive Positioning, Constraints,
Opportunities
List some of the other business and
competitive challenges that the company
is facing.
Project Overview
• Overview
Describe how the project originated and its
overall business goal and benefits to the
customers.
• Production Budget
Describe the overall budget or how the budget
is going to be developed.
• Approval Process
List the key stakeholders who will approve the
project at various stages.
• Scope
Describe the scope and limitations of the
project, what it should and shouldn't cover.
• Time-line
Describe the key time-line considerations and
milestones relevant to the project.
1 2

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
Design Objectives
Requirements
• Customer Experience: Describe the
absolute requirements from a CX
perspective (e.g. features, interactions,
messages etc.)
• Content: Describe what kind of content
is required in the experience (digital or
analog).
• Technical: Describe what technical
requirements you may have (e.g. the
experience should include a touch
interface)
• Business Strategy: Describe how the CX
solution should improve the company's
competitive position and how it interfaces
with the company's strategy.
Expectations Considerations
• Customer Experience: List other
considerations or team expectations from
a CX perspective.
• Content: Explain other considerations
relevant to the content.
• Technical: Further elaborate other
technical considerations, constraints and
uncertainties.
• Business Strategy: Further elaborate
on business strategy implications and
considerations.
Measures of Success
• Customer Experience: Outline how CX
success will be measured
• Content: Provide detail on how success
will be measured for content.
• Technical: Outline what success means
from a technical standpoint.
• Business Strategy: Discuss how
success factors will be measured form a
business strategy standpoint.
Appendices Supporting Material
The appendix needs to provide supporting
material for the team's reference. These may
include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Customer profile
• Research notes from the field
• Customer journey map
• Empathy maps
• Examples from competitors
• Market research report
3
4

InReality™
| www.inreality.com
InReality
Enabling Experiences that Matter.SM
About InReality
InReality is a customer experience strategy and
design firm. Since 1995, InReality has been
working to help companies understand and
improve how customers experience their brand
by identifying and shrinking the reality gaps
that exist between what their brands promise
and their customers' actual experiences and
expectations.
Through a unique combination of strategic
thinking, turn-key design, execution and
analytics services, InReality empowers its clients
with measurable and meaningful results and
builds stronger, more enduring relationships
between brands and their customers.
Visit www.inreality.com to learn more about our
services, team, work, and latest insights on CX
strategy, design, and solution management.
Follow Us
Contact Us
We hope you enjoyed and found this guide
useful. If you have questions, comments or
suggestions please contact us!
theguide@inreality.com
(770) 953-1500
120 Interstate North Pkwy E
Suite 226
Atlanta, GA 30339
@IRPost
www.linkedin.com/company/inreality

The Professional's Guide to Customer Experience (CX)

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (11)

Featured

Featured (20)

The Professional's Guide to Customer Experience (CX)