Cross-Channel Design:thinking & practice

Information Architecture has

become ecosystems.

Everything has changed.

Complexity and data now rule!

The physical and digital worlds

are becoming increasingly

‘blended’ and as designers we

need to understand how we

can successfully embed digital

into an organisation

completely.

This idea transcends thinking

about websites, apps, services,

products or even interactions.

We need to take an ‘ecological’

perspective as well as a

healthy dose of architectural

thinking.

Source © Michael Sohn 2013

The inauguration of Pope

Francis on 19th March 2013.

They are not candles but lights

from smart devices.

The world in 2013 is very

different compared with the

previous inauguration of Pope

Benedict in 2005. Today we

can take photos and share

them immediately something

that was harder to do in 2005.

Our world is infinitely more

connected.

So how different is our world

becoming?

In Japan people can shop for

food by just scanning

barcodes.

Not just in stores but places

that once would have seemed

ludicrous to shop from e.g.

underground railway stations!

People can choose a phone by

looking at an image of a

phone and scanning a QR

code.

A Marks and Spencer virtual

boutique in France using

touch screens allowing people

to look at style combinations

which may also be connected

to loyalty schemes and

reward programmes.

Technology allows

relationships to develop in

non-traditional ways.

The world is different.

So, if the store exists online,

on my mobile phone or in a

barcode then...

Where is the store?

We know the store exists

when we look at Google Maps

street view because we can

see stores all over the map

on all the roads and corners.

An example of the Oxford

Street area in London.

Oxford Street area as a

satellite view shows a

different perspective. A

different layer of meaning.

These different layers or views

reveal the importance of

‘data’. It also reveals that

stores are part of a

distribution process.

The House of Fraser store in

my home town of Bristol in

Cabot Circus. It’s positioned

so lots of people pass it and

know where it sits within the

whole complex!

The Physical Store

•Physically: Window displays, layout, visual perspectives, interior displays...

•Informationally: brochures, loyalty cards, disclaimers, how-to info...

•Functionally: sales, checkout, stock, security, complaints, returns...

A physical store is composed

of many layers. There is a

physical layer; a information

layer; and, a functionality

layer.

Human

•Staff needs and considerations...

•Customers may be prospects, repeat visitors or loyal bonded advocates...

•Modes: info seeking, relationship managing, buying, complaining...

There is also a human layer.

In the human layer there are

employees and customers.

Customers also can operate

under a number of modes

including information seeking;

buying; browsing, etc.

Whereas both employees and

customers can be engaged in

relationship management.

Fundamentally, in the human

layer there is a lot of

behaviour going on.

Digital

•Systems: Internet connection, sales, CRM, stock etc...

•‘Bells and whistles’ like the touch screens, scanners, specifically design areas like the M&S virtual ‘boutique’

There is also a digital layer.

This may include websites,

apps, sale systems, CRM

systems, stock systems and

the digital ‘bells and whistles’

e.g. virtual boutiques.

Whilst this represents a good

start it is not what will persist.

We need to think ecologically

and how we relate to places,

systems and people together.

Data

•The golden thread

•The connection and connections between the physical store, the human and digital layers

•Joining up the dotsThe dots between products,

sales and CRM all need to be

joined-up.

This idea is called the Golden

Thread and it was conceived

by Jason Hobbs (Nomensa

Director of Information

Architecture).

Again, Where is the store?

Online or on the high

street?

Apple understand

ecosystems and totally

‘get’ how people,

technology and branding

fit into the ecosystem

equation.

Designing for multiple

devices with a responsive

web design.

Not only is there a connection

between the physical store

and the ecommerce website.

The store can also exist

across multiple devices, in

multiple environments, for a

multitude of purposes.

The idea of ‘multiplicity’

becomes very important

when we take an ecological

view.

A typical Argos store front.

There is a phrase that is

used in the UK - ‘Argos it’!

A close-up of the store

front window promotes a

range of channels to

‘Argos it’ including

brochure, computer and

phone.

Jon Fisher and I conducted

research into the Cross-

Channel experience provided

by Argos.

We wanted to evaluate how

consistent the experience

was between the different

channels.

We published the study as

part of an article titled:

Sense-making in Cross-

channel Design (

http://journalofia.org/volume

4/issue2/02-fisher/

).

http://journalofia.org/volume4/issue2/02-fisher/

http://journalofia.org/volume4/issue2/02-fisher/

What’s the issue?

Inconsistent taxonomies

between channels which

would be confusing for a user

moving between channels to

search for a product.

Information Architecture is a

great way to consider the

bigger picture and join the

dots between people,

channels, services, products

and environments.

Resmini and Rosati have

written a fantastic book

entitled Pervasive Information

Architecture and outlined 5

cross-channel information

architecture heuristics:

- Place Making

- Consistency

- Resilience

- Reduction

- Correlation

Place-Making: There’s a

difference between space

and place.

A house is a space and a

home is a place. What we

want to create are homes

NOT houses. You need to

figure out what the role of

the store is within the larger

relationship a customer has

with the brand.

Facebook is a great example

of a place.

Consistency: Halo the

computer game was one of

the first instances of building a

community around multiple

games that existed both on

your console, in your living

room and online via websites

visited by the broader

community.

The developers of Halo were

the pioneers of digital

ecosystems before Apple and

Google.

Consistency is the ability of

the system to remain relevant

and real to a user regardless

of channel. Consistency is

achieved when relevance

remains when a person moves

across multiple channels.

Resilience: A classic Escher

image.

The logic and meaning of a

system needs to be robust

enough to withstand changes

in channel, e.g. whether

adding or removing channels,

etc.

If we had robust enough

systems in the first place

mobile wouldn’t be such a big

deal however the pendulum

has swung the other way with

approaches like mobile-first.

NB: When we say systems we

mean architectures and not IT

or CRM systems.

Reduction: Any channel can

reduce the relevance for its

role in the bigger picture i.e. it

can stand alone or together

meaningfully for users.

Reduction is not about the

amount of information but

how the information is

organised.

Correlation: An image of

birds flocking to either forage

or preparing to migrate.

In the same way that birds

will migrate to warmer

climates so instinctively do

people. We tend to choose

the paths of least resistance

and greatest meaning.

Correlation emphasises

journeys across channels

over hierarchies within

channels. Synchronistic

movements across the space

that holds the channels or

places we cohabit.

A typical business process

diagram produced by an

analyst.

They know that traditional

systems need to span

channels e.g. the traceability

required when a customer

complaint begins on a call

centre and is resolved in a

store and/or feedback

gathered via the website at a

later stage.

However, a great experience

is more than traditional

systems. Business Analysts

tend to focus on efficiency

and effectiveness for the

business and not for the

customer.

Jon Fisher’s Meaning map. A

great method for

representing and

understanding your channels

and the interactions that

occur.

Channel interactions can be

either sequential or

simultaneous.

Understanding the types of

interactions that occur is a

great way to provide a

meaningful channel

experience.

So, again, where is the

store?

Perhaps the store actually

exists in the mind of the user?

Banks are starting to look

very different. They are

becoming less transactional

and more customer-friendly.

What has spurred this shift?

In the later 90’s early 2000’s

banks thought that online

banking would replace the

branch. By 2005 they

realised this wasn’t the case

that sales and complex tasks

were still better performed in

the branch. They discovered

that although online banking

had a very important role the

branch remained the corner

store of the customer

relationship.

•Physical

•Human

•Digital

The Physical, Digital and the

Human layers must form one

harmonious whole

(experience).

Appreciating and

understanding that Data

represents the golden thread

can really help in the design

of meaningful cross-channel

experiences.

Inversion

•Data is the Golden Thread

•Cross-channel Design is about meaningful interaction and experience

•Joining up the dots!

Digital should no longer be

considered as a layer that fits

into the physical layer. Once

we see the whole experience

from a data perspective we

can begin designing in a

different way e.g. using the

data. The data represents

the map for successfully

‘joining all the dots’ together

e.g. Hobb’s Golden Thread.

Meaning map describe the

channels - the way the brand

touches you. Great brands

touch you consistently and

add meaning.

A Claude Loraine picture

entitled ‘Seaport with the

Embarkation of the Queen of

Sheba’ painted in 1648 as

part of the group: The

Bouillon Claudes).

Think of cross-channel

information architecture

design as composition across

space and time with a

foreground, middle ground

and background. The

composition occurs over

space and time and

represents a great way for

thinking about cross-channel

information architectures as

narratives.

In this image we see lots of

people. There is no doubt lots

of technology. That means lots

of information consumption

and ultimately lots of data

consumption and generation.

Therefore, what we are seeing

is an inversion in how we used

to see things. Previously we

saw people in physical space

with digital layered over data.

Now we are seeing data in

digital as the composition in

which people and places co-

habit.

What does this mean for us?

As the custodians and experts

in the field store design your

role will be to understand and

assist clients with

understanding the meaning of

the store channel in the

context of the new cross-

channel customer experience.

Thank you!

cross-channel design: thinking and practice

Technology