GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia
Design thinking has become the modern go-to solution for creating engaging experiences. Its focus on user-centric experience drives the creation of products and services that are tailored for individual needs. Design thinking is a problem solving approach that fosters creative collaboration and encourages feedback from customers, stakeholders, and designers.
With design thinking, teams can develop a product based on customer needs and wants, rather than guessing what customers will respond to. The process involves understanding customer experience, defining the user’s journey, prototyping, testing, and validating to ensure an optimal product or service. By focusing on customer needs, organizations can create personalized experiences that drive customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Let’s look at two case study examples of how design thinking can create engaging experiences.
Case Study 1 – Marriott
First, we can turn to the hospitality industry. Marriott, the leading hospitality company, has used design thinking to create an enhanced guest experience. For example, the company created the Marriott Luxury Connect program which incorporates GPS technology and room services in order to offer guests a more personalized experience.
By collecting and analyzing customer data, the program can generate tailored experiences. Through this program, guests get to experience benefits such as discounts, early check-ins, and priority access to hotel fitness centers. Marriott has also launched a digital tool that allows guests to check restaurant availability and order room service through their phones. This modern approach takes customer engagement one step further by allowing them to have a smoother, more enjoyable experience.
Case Study 2 – Macy’s
On the other hand, we can look to the retail industry. Macy’s has been a leader in using design thinking to transform their retail experiences. The department store has created an app that uses facial recognition software in order to identify shoppers and tailor their experiences. By gathering data such as age, location, and past purchases, the software can create personalized product recommendations.
Macy’s has also implemented virtual changing rooms that customers can use to get a realistic view of how a suggested outfit looks on them before they purchase. These virtual changing rooms will also offer tips to accessorize the outfit with items that the store currently has in stock.
Conclusion
Overall, design thinking has proven to be an essential tool for creating engaging experiences. By understanding customer needs and wants, businesses can use design thinking to create personalized products and services that will drive customer satisfaction. Through the examples of Marriott and Macy’s, we can see that both the hospitality and retail industries have embraced design thinking in order to create more meaningful customer experiences.
SPECIAL BONUS: Braden Kelley’s Problem Finding Canvas can be a super useful starting point for doing design thinking or human-centered design.
“The Problem Finding Canvas should help you investigate a handful of areas to explore, choose the one most important to you, extract all of the potential challenges and opportunities and choose one to prioritize.”
Image credit: Pexels
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