The human experience encompasses the entirety of interactions a person has with your organization -and your industry- regardless of channel used to deliver the interaction. Experiences delivered across multiple channels that have not been designed as a single cohesive experience are disjointed and confusing. In a commercial environment, this results in a poor customer experience. In government, non-profit, and healthcare, the effect can be devastating with vulnerable populations unable to make use of critical services.

As customer understanding becomes the most powerful sustainable competitive advantage, the comparative study of human societies and cultures and their development has become a core business competency. The ability to conduct qualitative ethnographic research, develop insights based on that research then translate those insights into business strategy is as important as the technology strategy the CTO is driving.

A Mind Shift experience is an opportunity to see issues and challenges from a new perspective through diverse industry, job, and cultural experiences.

The primary tools for customer journey mapping are analog: whiteboards, butcher paper, post-it notes and markers are sufficient. The problem with these tools is that it is difficult to evolve the map that is created. For a customer journey map to grow with the organization it is necessary to transfer it to a digital medium so it can be built on over time. Unfortunately, there are not many purpose built solutions for moving your map beyond pen and paper.

We are finally acknowledging that technology itself is insufficient to solve problems. But until human behavior becomes a core part of the technology conversation -instead of relegated to user experience or marketing conferences- we are stuck with technology that looks like 2050 and usage and adoption that looks like 1999.

Our hyper-focus on the snippet, the blurb and the micro-moment is causing us to lose something. Entrepreneurs and companies quit trying to solve the hard problems. Solutions to hard problems are not easily communicated. They are not easily pitched. They are hard to sell. But those are the problems worth solving. They are complex. Likewise, the solutions are complex.

 You no longer get to communicate the brand in the context of the brand guidelines. You no longer control the channels used to communicate the brand. You no longer get to pick the brand ambassador. Without context and control, words become everything.

You can market successfully with a great story and minimal technology. Great technology and a story no one cares about is a commodity. Get the story right then use the technology to support the story