Tasks and Duties
Task Objective
This task focuses on understanding the virtual customer experience from the perspective of diverse users. The main objective is to immerse yourself in the user’s world by conducting empathy research. You are expected to study virtual customer interactions, collect insights, and develop user personas that represent target segments for digital customer service platforms.
Expected Deliverables
- A comprehensive DOC file containing your research findings.
- At least three detailed user personas with descriptions of their demographics, needs, frustrations, and motivations.
- A summary of your research methods and insights.
Key Steps
- Research: Investigate common issues, expectations, and emotions of virtual customers using publicly available data, articles, and customer reviews related to digital customer service experiences.
- Empathy Mapping: Create empathy maps for at least three different user segments, describing what they see, say, think, and feel in virtual interactions.
- User Persona Development: Transform your empathy maps into detailed personas. Explain the rationale behind each persona and how they interact with virtual platforms.
- Documentation: Write a structured report in a DOC file, ensuring each section is clearly defined and supported by insights from your research.
Evaluation Criteria
Your submission will be evaluated on the clarity of insights provided, the quality and depth of your personas, and the logical structure of your report. Extra credit is given for innovative methods in researching and representing virtual customer experiences. Ensure your DOC file is well-organized, properly formatted, and contains relevant citations where applicable.
Task Objective
This week, your goal is to apply the insights garnered from your empathy research to identify and define core challenges in the virtual customer experience domain. You are required to narrow down key pain points and articulate them clearly in the form of problem statements. This task is about framing the right challenge to stimulate creative problem-solving later in the design thinking process.
Expected Deliverables
- A detailed DOC file document that outlines identified challenges.
- A set of 2-3 clearly written problem statements based on your research.
- A rationale for each problem statement linking it to your empathy research insights.
Key Steps
- Synthesize Research Data: Review your findings from Week 1. Identify patterns, recurring issues, and significant pain points shared among the user personas.
- Challenge Framing: Draft problem statements that accurately represent these insights. Each statement must be user-centered, focusing on customer needs, frustrations, and potential opportunities.
- Justification: Provide an in-depth explanation for each problem statement. Explain how and why these challenges impact the virtual customer journey.
- Design Narrative: Write a narrative in a DOC file that encapsulates your thought process, including any frameworks or models (e.g., 5 Whys) that were used to arrive at the final challenge definitions.
Evaluation Criteria
Your work will be evaluated based on the depth of analysis, how effectively you link research data to the problem definitions, and the overall clarity and coherence of your submission. Use of structured formats and visual aids (like diagrams) inside the DOC file can enhance your presentation.
Task Objective
This week’s task emphasizes the ideation phase where you are required to brainstorm creative solutions for the challenges identified in Week 2. The objective is to generate a diverse range of ideas that address the core pain points in virtual customer experiences, using design thinking techniques to foster creativity and innovation.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file that documents your brainstorming sessions and ideas.
- A minimum of 10 unique ideas, each briefly described.
- Visual sketches or diagrams illustrating selected ideas and potential user flow enhancements.
Key Steps
- Idea Generation: Use techniques such as mind mapping, SCAMPER, and “How Might We” questions to facilitate a broad ideation session. Encourage out-of-the-box thinking without directly judging ideas in this stage.
- Idea Documentation: List at least 10 plausible solutions and briefly explain how they address the identified challenges. Use bullet points and sub-headings to keep the document structured.
- Visualization: Create simple visual aids (diagrams, sketches, or flowcharts) for the top 3 ideas. These visuals should demonstrate how customers would interact with the digital solution and potential benefits.
- Compilation: Bring all these insights and graphical resources into one well-organized DOC file, with each idea clearly separated and elaborated.
Evaluation Criteria
Your submission will be assessed on the creativity and feasibility of the solutions, the comprehensiveness of the documentation, and the clarity of visual representations. The ability to integrate and synthesize diverse ideation techniques will be a crucial aspect of the evaluation. The task should highlight both lateral thinking and a structured approach to innovation.
Task Objective
This task requires you to move from abstract ideas to concrete representations by developing a prototype concept for a virtual customer experience solution. The focus is on creating a tangible, low-fidelity prototype that demonstrates how the proposed digital solution would operate in a virtual environment. The goal is to simulate key user interactions and identify potential usability issues at an early stage of development.
Expected Deliverables
- A detailed DOC file that describes your prototype concept.
- Mock-up sketches or wireframes of the user interface.
- An explanation of how the prototype addresses user pain points identified earlier.
Key Steps
- Prototype Planning: Begin by outlining the scope of your prototype. Identify the key features and user interactions that need to be simulated.
- Sketching and Wireframing: Create low-fidelity sketches or wireframes of your digital interface. These can be hand-drawn and then scanned or created using design software. Make sure your visuals include annotations that explain functionality.
- User Interaction Simulation: Draft a narrative explaining how a user would navigate and experience the virtual interface. Highlight how the features enhance their overall digital journey.
- Document Integration: Compile all sketches, explanations, and prototype narratives into a DOC file with clear headings and sections.
Evaluation Criteria
Your task will be graded based on the clarity and creativity of the prototype concept, the relevance of functionalities included, and how effectively the prototype solves the previously defined customer problems. Attention to detail, clarity in the wiring design, and a thorough explanation of user interactions will be key aspects during evaluation.
Task Objective
This week, you are tasked with mapping the customer journey to visually and comprehensively capture the experience from initial engagement to post-interaction follow-up. The goal is to create a detailed customer journey map and a service blueprint that highlights both the frontstage customer interactions and the backstage processes required to deliver a seamless virtual experience. This task will require you to integrate insights from user research, defined challenges, and prototyping stages.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file presentation detailing the customer journey map and service blueprint.
- Visual representations (diagrams or flowcharts) of the entire digital customer journey.
- An analysis of pain points, touchpoints, and opportunities for service improvements throughout the journey.
Key Steps
- Journey Mapping: Outline the complete path a customer may take when utilizing a virtual service channel. Identify key touchpoints, emotional highs and lows, and any friction areas.
- Service Blueprint Development: Develop a service blueprint that links customer interactions with backstage processes, technology systems, and support mechanisms. Highlight roles and responsibilities of virtual service agents or tools involved.
- Analysis and Recommendations: Write an analytical narrative discussing how the journey map and blueprint can be used to improve overall digital experience. Propose improvements or redesigns where gaps are identified.
- Documentation: Assemble all these components into a DOC file with clear sections, captions, and annotations on visuals.
Evaluation Criteria
Your DOC file will be evaluated on the thoroughness of the journey mapping, clarity of the visual aids, and the depth of analysis provided. Consideration will also be given to how actionable your recommendations are in enhancing the virtual customer experience.
Task Objective
For the final week, your task is to evaluate the previously designed solutions and iterate on your ideas based on hypothetical user feedback. This reflective exercise is intended to complete the design thinking cycle by testing assumptions, receiving feedback (based on self-analysis and hypothetical scenarios), and refining the digital solution for optimal user experience. You are expected to document your evaluation strategies and any iterative changes made to your prototype or design concept.
Expected Deliverables
- A comprehensive final DOC file that includes an evaluation report and an iteration plan.
- A detailed explanation of the feedback mechanisms you used (hypothetical scenarios, self-assessment checklists, or user journey simulations).
- An updated prototype or design concept that reflects the iterative improvements.
Key Steps
- Assessment of the Prototype: Review the prototype or design concept from Week 4. Identify potential weaknesses and areas for improvement based on the journey maps and user personas.
- Feedback Simulation: Develop a self-designed feedback framework that simulates user testing. Create hypothetical user feedback based on plausible customer interactions and expectations.
- Iteration Process: Document how you would refine the design. Include specific modifications made to the prototype, the rationale behind those changes, and explanations on how they better serve customer needs.
- Final Documentation: Compile an integrated document that outlines your evaluation approach, iterative changes, and final reflections. Make sure this DOC file includes clearly labeled sections, visuals, and supporting data drawn from your overall design thinking process.
Evaluation Criteria
Your final submission will be rigorously evaluated on the depth of analysis, the effectiveness of the proposed changes, and the overall reflection and learning documented in your DOC file. Special attention will be given to how well you've tied your reflections to earlier phases of the project and the clarity of your iterative improvements.