In What's the Future of Business, author Brian Solis makes the case that designing remarkable customer experiences is key to avoiding digital darwinism.
"Experience is everything now." -- Brian Solis
Although, this is a book about more than user experience design. Brian writes about innovation, brand, the hero's journey, and Google's ZMOT.
And he does it in an engaging and visual fashion. He uses diagrams to enlighten readers, and cartoons from Gapingvoid are sprinkled throughout the book like powdered sugar.
Given the rate of technology change and its disruptive nature, Brian uses case studies to show concepts in action.
I enjoyed the
Burberry case story. Here's a company that has been around since 1856. To survive for 150 years in the competitive retail space requires constant innovation. Angela Ahrendts, Burberry CEO, eloquently captures the company's brand vision.
"You have to be totally connected with everyone who touches your brand."
Working with
Salesforce, Angela created a Social Enterprise she calls "Burberry world."
Burberry Heritage + Connected Customer + Visions for Brand Embrace + Culture + Technology = Burberry World.
Why is Burberry World important? Seventy percent of the company's workforce is under 30. And many of its new customers represent younger demographics. They are the digital natives, the people who grew up with mobile and social media. They expect to communicate in this fashion, with this language.
Ahrendts offers advice to any company wishing to remain relevant. "To any CEO who's skeptical at all, you have… you have to create a social enterprise today. You have to be connected with everyone who touches your brand. If you don't do that, I don't know what your business model is in five years."
Not every company has a leader such as Angela Ahrendts. To lead a similar revolution, perhaps you will go on the hero's journey and be challenged by threshold guardians. These guardians spring to life to test you, to see if you have the courage to move past them and to higher levels of awareness.
In fact, the author shows you how to use "
The Hero's Journey" to bring about change in your company and create great customer experiences.