According to Interacting With Computers, “the goal of UX design in business is to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through the utility, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction with a product.” We’re living in an age of technological advancement surrounded by an abundance of choices, which is a great thing. However, this also means that your customers have become increasingly spoiled, and if you want to keep them, you need to deliver the best possible service, or else they’ll mercilessly leave you for your competitors in a heartbeat.
UX design plays an essential role in keeping our customers happy and engaged, and as such it has to be polished to satisfy even the most demanding person. And that can be challenging. Luckily, AI comes to the rescue and helps you stay ahead of the curve and create engaging customer journeys and irresistible customer experiences. Let’s see how some of the world’s top brands are leveraging this technology to win over and keep their customers.
Netflix
The popular streaming service has taken user experience to the next level. Although it has a number of highly successful TV shows and movies which draw massive viewerships, Netflix doesn’t rest on its laurels for one second. As if Stranger Things, an insanely popular 80’s-inspired sci-fi flick, The Crown, the most expensive TV show ever, or Bird Box, a movie with the best opening ever, and countless others aren’t enough to attract subscribers and keep them happy, Netflix is continually working on upping their game.
The company deploys AI-based solutions to additionally help its users find the best and most relevant content. Given that AI is capable of collecting and processing vast amounts of data, it can analyze every single user’s watching history and use it to recommend TV shows and movies to people with similar tastes and interests.
AI has enriched a simple formula – people who watch X are likely to watch Y and has created an advanced algorithm, and the more content you consume, the more sophisticated and accurate it becomes.
But, that’s not all.
There’s also a whole science behind generating the effective thumbnail generation. Thousands of different video frames from a TV show or movie are being used and tested to identify the thumbnail that will get you to click on it. Again, this likelihood is predicted by analyzing what others with a taste similar to yours have clicked on. For example, analysis has shown that people who like a specific genre or actor are more likely to click on a thumbnail with particular visual elements characteristic of that genre or an image of that actor.
This is a great way of engaging their audience and getting them to continue their monthly subscription.
And while you might not be able to emulate Netflix, what you can do is gather customer data, and apply the same principles. Find patterns and suggest similar products to users who have similar tastes. If 15 customers have bought one product and later bought the same product in a different color (for example), chances are that if you recommend the other color to your first-time shoppers, they might appreciate the idea.
Amazon
Over 78% of consumers will be interested in an offer only if it has been personalized based on their previous engagements and touch points with the brand. And that’s exactly how Amazon generates approximately 35% of its revenue.
The company uses an intelligent recommendation algorithm which leverages customer behavior, purchase history, and direct feedback to show them the so-called next best offer. This enables cross-selling and upselling, which subsequently gets customers to spend more money.
Just like in the case of Netflix and its “because you watched” feature, Amazon’s recommendation machine processes large volumes of data and puts it into the right context to create individualized customer profiles. As a result, the e-commerce behemoth shows them smart recommendations and correct solutions which correspond with their interests.
The key factor here is that AI helps you anticipate customer intent and offer every single customer unique and highly-tailored recommendations. It’s like assigning them a dedicated personal shopping consultant, who knows what they need and what’s best for them – this feature helps your customers save their time as they don’t have to browse different products aimlessly.
Alexa, Siri, Cortana, and the Google Assistant
We’ve already mentioned how technology has spoiled people and raised their expectations in many respects. Besides that, their fast-paced daily routines have made them extremely impatient, which means they want the most relevant content right away.
Enter voice search.
Now people don’t even to type search phrases into Google’s search box – they can simply say “OK Google, what’s a black hole?” or “Siri, buy me two tickets for Pet Cematary” while driving or doing something else.
Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google have taken this whole concept to a whole new level and built voice assistants that can perform different tasks such as play music, schedule meetings, read audiobooks, provide weather forecast, or make shopping lists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05G8tA2yqM4&feature=youtu.be
They also use natural language processing and can understand the context and the intent of every particular search.
Needless to say, intelligent digital/voice assistants can help businesses improve their customer service by providing product information, answering different questions, and resolving product issues. Unlike customer service reps, these intelligent chatbots are available 24/7/365 and are capable of handling multiple requests at the same time.
And you can easily deploy a chatbot on your own website, allowing it to answer simple questions, book meetings, arrange schedules, and help your customers out, instead of making them wait for a customer service rep to become available.
Sephora
By 2021, global e-retail sales are expected to amount to $4.8 trillion, so it’s clearly imperative to tap into this trend. But, while customers can quickly try a piece of software or decide to buy a book, it’s a bit complicated when it comes to purchasing makeup online.
How to know if a particular lipstick shade fits your skin tone?
Sephora has managed to overcome this challenge and up its customer service game by building and implementing its Virtual Artist application. It allows customers to try on different types of makeup virtually and create different looks.
This app, which combines the power of AI, ML, and AR, is intuitive and easy to use. All you have to do is take a selfie and upload it. After that, you can experiment with hundreds of shades, read beauty tips, and pick the best look for a particular occasion.
FTSY
The footwear industry faces similar obstacles when it comes to online shopping – it’s next to impossible to know whether a shoe fits until you try it on.
Size is a partly obsolete concept because there are various factors to take into consideration, one of which is that every brand has a different size chart. In other words, size 8 won’t be the same for every brand, and you can’t rely on such a measurement when picking your shoes online.
FTSY is an AI-powered mobile phone app which allows you to scan your feet and find out instantly if the shoes you like will fit.
Together with eliminating Cinderella’s evil sisters’ issue from purchasing shoes online, this sophisticated technology has the potential to improve customer experience and satisfaction and reduce product returns significantly.
These five examples show how the synergy of AI and UX can enhance the understanding and relationships between brands and their customers. It brings about a win-win situation as both parties benefit significantly from it – customers are satisfied while brands increase their conversion rates and profits.
About the author: this is the guest article by Michael Deane, one of the editors of Qeedle, a small business magazine.
Title image from Pablo pack of free vector illustrations in Ouch library
Read how to make an effective chatbot, how to optimize your WordPress website and review the insights into voice interface design.
