Common traps and pitfalls and practical tips to build whole product experiences, from my talk at the January Products That Count event in nyc. Check out the companion post on the General Assembly blog at https://theindex.generalassemb.ly/dont-frustrate-users-with-gaps-in-your-product-experience-d4f40870cbc4

1. Building Products
For Humans
Shiren Vijiasingam
Picture by Tim Gouw on Pexels

2. General Assembly
Weight Watchers
College Board
Helping people pursue work they love and change careers
Helping people achieve healthy lifestyles through behavior change
Helping people find success in college and career
me

3. Organizations that add just a little bit
every day always defeat those that are
in the subtraction business.
- Seth godin

4. Wait, where
are you?

5. is my avocado
here yet?

6. Crap, where’s my wallet?

7. I bought the
wrong thing?
Weight Watchers Maine by Jackie Conn on Bangor Daily News

8. Oh S%*#,
I forgot it

9. This is mode shift friction

10. And then there’s
the good!

11. How does she know my name?

12. Now i don’t
have to call

13. Found a Good
point to STOP

14. Notice the
pattern?

15. Let’s fix it!

16. A brief history on mapping
1984 1999 2008
Service design Journey maps EXPERIENCE MAPS
Service Blueprint by Brandon Schauer, Journey Map
by Joel Flom, Experience Map by Chris Risdon

17. The product experience loop

18. USER
sms /
chatbots
telephony
retail pos /
fulfillment
esp
a-b test /
personalization
oem level data
device level /
review
external review
/ discussionMETHODS
CHANNELS

19. 5 steps to alleviate this friction

20. 1. Find your gaps
2. Capture gap data
3. Track shift triggers
4. Fix the friction
5. Close the loop

21. 1. Find your gaps
Identify those big mode shift gaps in your product experience

22. Find your gaps
1. Review existing maps with customer facing teams
2. As a collective team, circle the gaps
3. Name a product + ops steward for each circle
PRO TIP: Nothing
existing? anyone
on the team can
sketch the flows

23. 2. Capture gap data
Instrument systems and deploy methods to collect gap data

24. Capture gap data
1. Review your existing data sources
2. Identify instrumentation & research needed
3. Plan and roll them out
PRO TIP: No dedicated
researcher? Get the team
shadowing customers.

25. 3. Track shift triggers
Define events that create shifts in mode

26. Track shift triggers
1. Use what you already have/know
2. Look for patterns of events that precede a shift
3. Prioritize based on value: user, business, effort
1
2
4
3
PRO TIP: Combine
qual and quant to
define priority

27. 4. Fix the friction
Plan and execute solutions for those priorities

28. Fix the friction
1. Expand scope / create team(s) if needed
2. Engage org-wide (responsibility ≠ ownership)
3. Make a plan for the fixes, and execute on it
PRO TIP: It may not
always be a product
solution

29. 5. Close the loop
Connect every user interaction, anticipate new triggers

30. Close the loop
1. Connect the data, get everyone access
2. Flag your data gaps, make a plan to fix it
3. Keep talking regularly across teams
PRO TIP: Even with disparate systems, access to
data helps align everyone on problem solving

31. Next sprint, start fixing mode shift friction
Find your gaps »
Capture gap data »
Track shift triggers »
Fix the friction »
Close the loop »
Gather / sketch your flows, circle your gaps, put a name against each one
Gather / share existing data, ask teams what data they would love to have
List top volume drivers per channel, activity that preceded a ‘contact’
Identify a gap to close in <30 days; need not be software - e.g. email, IVR
Give service team pilot access to a product system to addresses a pain point

32. I've learned that people will forget what
you said, people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made
them feel.
- Maya angelou

33. shiren@vijiasingam.com
@shirenv
linkedin.com/in/vijiasingam
Let’s chat...
Icons by Alfredo Hernandez on IconFinder,
photo by Craig Samoviski