TheCustomerArchetype

The Customer Archetype:
Benchmarking Key Dimensions of
Customer Need, Want and Aspiration

Michael Eckersley, MFA, PhD

Customer Needs Discovery & Innovation
Congress, Chicago, 13 June, 2007

Management Roundtable, Inc. © HumanCentered 2007, All Rights Reserved

schedule
TIME SUBJECT / ACTIVITY
8:00 - 8:15 Coffee & introductions

• Human archetypes
• The brand gap
1 8:15 -9:45 • Perceptual frameworks
• Identities and genuineness
WHAT & WHY • Human universals
• Bottom-up insights
• Research focus to enable business strategy
• Spend a day-in-the-life of your customer

•Learnings from field observation, interaction
•Data collection: documenting human experience
10:00 - 11:45 •Data organization and analysis
2 WHEN, WHERE,
•Constructing and representing the persona or archetype
•Spotting relationships and patterns
HOW •Diagramming and data modeling
•Examples and discussion
•Representing product/service innovation insights
•Summary principles, processes, methods, and take-away

Slides & Articles: humancentered.net/blog/hciblog.html


introductions

about me

© HumanCentered 2004, All Rights Reserved

introductions

about us


introductions

OUR WORK TOUCHES AFFECTS

research & discovery products desirability & utility

design scenarios &
services & systems behaviors
simulations
concept innovation brands brand experience

environments market value


introductions

about you


“The aim of marketing is to know and
understand the customer so well that the
product or service fits him, and sells itself.”
—Peter Drucker


Archetypes are human models,
synthesized from multiple customer
personas into a single valid composite,
evidence-based character that is
representative of a type or category of
humans. Borrowed and adapted from the
work of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell,
archetypes are sophisticated artifacts
crafted from qualitative contextual
research data (i.e., human code) and
used by design teams to help guide
the innovation process.


Though the customer archetype is often
purposed to inform the design of new
customer-focused products, services, or
environments), the archetype is–of itself–a
valuable artifact to business.

It is an important cultural probe.


In their day-to-day focus on markets and
financials, on strategic interests and
management functions, decision-makers
routinely lose touch with customer’s
critical needs, wants, values, and
dreams. Thru a conscious process of
bringing "The Customer" back to life from
a state of abstraction or limiting
stereotype, business leaders can
rediscover the purpose of business:
to create delighted and well-served
customers.


Archetypal scenarios
Archetypal actors

"The archetypal story unearths a universally human
experience, then wraps itself inside a unique, culture-
specific expression. A stereotypical story reverses this
pattern: It suffers a poverty of both content and form. It
confines itself to a narrow, culture-specific experience and
dresses in stale, nonspecific generalities". Stereotypical
stories stay at home, archetypal stories travel.
-Robert McKee

How did Walt know
what to build?

<
Why do so many brands fail to connect?

>


Brand Failure
Brands begin and end with people.
Companies suffer for lack of deep
knowledge of the end customer—how she
thinks, perceives, and acts within a
natural cultural context. Confusion, faulty
assumptions, and bad decisions are the
natural consequence of that information
deficit.

“Know your customer” is still the first
principle of business, but it is often the
first casualty of growth and success.


Brand Conversation
“Strong brands are all about conversation,
and good conversation is two-way, lively,
and mutually rewarding. It is one of our
most intrinsically human needs, and it
grows out of a deep desire for personal
identity and interpersonal dialogue.
Conversation is a good metaphor for the
ideal function of a brand.”


Genuine interest is hard to fake
“More than a few brands are
conversationally challenged. Whether the
problem is technical (you’ve started the
conversation at the wrong place, they can’t
hear you, or they’re simply the wrong
audience), stylistic (your technique is inapt
or distracting), content related (your
message is irrelevant or not compelling), or
some combination of these, it is best to
remember that the currency of brand
conversation—like good interpersonal
conversation—is genuine interest in what
the other has to say.”


Layers of Identity

Core
Identity

Organizational
Identity

Corporate
Identity

Brand
Identity(ies)


What constitutes data?

“It is essential to the success of interaction design
that designers ﬁnd a way to understand the
perceptions, circumstances, habits, needs, and
desires of the ultimate users.”
–Jane Fulton Suri, 2005


qualitative, naturalistic data

“Anecdotes carefully collected and reported are the
important data of cultural understanding. Anecdotes can
reveal truths below the surface that broader market
statistics conceal”
– Clarence Page

Growth Strategies
new offerings
evolutionary revolutionary

Diversify Create
extend brand
create markets
share of wallet
disrupt markets
leverage users

existing users new users

Manage Expand
raise price
win share
raise usage
expand footprint
win share

incremental existing offerings evolutionary

Source: IDEO


Process Methodology

what what
is if?


what
is


what
if?


abstract

analysis synthesis

understand

create
research realization

realize


Patrick Whitney on the value of
abstracting design problems

www.vimeo.com/5750600

The St. John’s Senior Study
("Opal")
1. Create "noisy" market differentiation
in the primary care category.
2. Innovate the very nature of the
primary care clinic experience

what
is


The St. John’s Senior Study
("Opal")
1. Create "noisy" market differentiation
in the primary care category.
2. Innovate the very nature of the
primary care clinic experience

what
if?


Sifting The Random Touchpoints


Finding Categories & Themes


Data Points, Touchpoints, Moments of Truth . . .


Senior Touch Points
Individual
Appointment timing (in general)
Avocations, past careers, lost careers
Being financially sensitive (fixed income or not)
Cassette tape recorders
Doctor or staff “going too quickly”
Doctors who are willing to say “I don’t know”
Finding desirable movies
Finding new meanings in life, since retirement
Forgetting “till later”
Getting lost
Keeping busy vs. Getting bored
List-making for the doctor appointment
Paperwork and forms
Preparing for the doctor visit
Pride
Private transportation options
Public bathroom privacy (going slow)
Puzzles and other brain teasers
Recliners or very comfortable furniture for longer waits
Reminders or forgetting altogether
Smith-Glynn bills, billing problems, difficulty reading
bills
Waiting or leaving (with delays)
What was it I wanted to ask the doc?


Senior Touch Points
Interpersonal
“I’m here a lot, don’t treat me like a new patient”
Caring for peers and those older than oneself
Club house and socializing
Doctor as “savior” vs. Doctor as peer vs. Doctor as consultant
Doctors who listen, take the necessary time, answer questions
E-mailing others
Extended family relations
Favorite clinic staff
Grandchild care or sitting
Human-to-human contact
I see lots of older people here, but i don’t know any of them
Is the doc being straight with me?
Listening to “our songs”
Loneliness vs. Companionship
Nobody here really knows me
Open posture (doctor and staff)
Peer group
Pets (and aging)
Seeing and/or visiting with children at Smith-Glynn
Staff and physicians relations
Weekly phone calls with family and friends
What can my companion do at Smith-Glynn?


Senior Touch Points
Environmental
Bathrooms (non-unisex, oversized)
Café, restaurant, cafeteria
Can’t easily see if my ride has arrived from inside Smith-Glynn
Easy in-out regular parking spots
Floor texture/material transitions
Getting lost in Smith-Glynn
Good campus maps and individual facility maps
Handicapped parking spots
National Avenue “scares me”
No cozy space here to sit
Not enough seating outside front door
Outdoors and wildlife
Plants, flowers, atriums, planters looks nice
Post-office
Safe sidewalks to Smith-Glynn
Smith-Glynn as second home
Smith-Glynn entry and exit
The city bus isn’t an option for me
The city bus route map is confusing
Smith-Glynn bus stop feels dangerous
Smith-Glynn doesn’t even appear on city bus map
Unattractive institutional furniture
Wheelchairs and walkers at curbside
Where do I put my stuff (coat, materials)?


Senior Touch Points
Health

Ambient room temperature
Anxiety regarding health
Fasting before appointment
Fresh fruit
Internet research
Juices to drink
Listening to music or TV in the background to relax
Medication side effects
Not ever feeling 100%
Soy milk
Need three meals a day
Toast
Yogurt


“Opal” Profile


What Matters to “Opal”?


Senior Archetype Continuum

frail robust


Persistent Archetypal Characters


Excerpt Scenario of Use: Archetype Validation
Hello. I’m Opal.

I was born in 1927 on a small farm outside Joplin in Southwest Missouri.
I grew up with two older brothers and a younger sister, Margaret, who
still lives in Joplin, and was widowed five years ago. We visit each other
two or three times a year (usually on the holidays), and talk on the phone
at least once a month.

I was a child during the depression, and remember lots of folks being
desperately poor. We, at least, had some livestock, a big garden and some fruit
trees, so we had it pretty good, compared others at the time. I graduated high
school, though my brothers didn’t. The war came along and changed lots of
lives, including ours.

I met Carl, a boy from town, when he was on leave before being shipped
off to England. We hit it off just like that, and we wrote to each other all
through the War. That’s how we got to know each other. We married in March
of 1946 when he was decommissioned. He came back to Missouri to work in a
local Hard Goods and Feed Supply store. Times were tight and we didn’t have
much, we were happy. He had a job, we had an apartment above the store
(which we rented from Carl’s boss) and our first two kids came along in no
time at all.

Over the years we moved around some. We lived in Kansas City for
almost ten years; Carl got a lineman’s job with the phone company there.
Then in 1958 we moved to Springfield with the phone company. Springfield is
home. After the kids were in school I took a clerical job with Springfield City. I
was always handy with numbers in school, so accounting and office work
came pretty naturally to me. I enjoyed working and Carl and I always had a
nice assortment of friends.

Carl died in 1993 from cancer. March 28, 1991 was our 50th
anniversary. He wasn’t here, and it was a tough time for me.



Today I live in a nice 2-bedroom apartment here in town. Elaine, my
youngest daughter, lives in Nixa, just out of town a bit. My children and
grandchildren are a blessing. I have friends too, and I don’t lack for things to
do to fill my days. I usually plan my day around a visit to Elaine’s, some TV
and reading, a movie or a social activity at my church or the local St. John’s
Senior Center. Last year a group of seven of us took a cruise in the Caribbean.

I’m in pretty good health. I’m on blood pressure medication and
several other medications, I’ve had one major surgery (but I was home
after just a day and half stay). But otherwise, I’m lucky. More than one of
my school friends from the graduating class has passed away, I can tell
you. I have a good doctor and do regular check-ups. I don’t want any bad
surprises.

I don’t “enjoy” going to the doctor — who does? But since St. John’s fixed
up the old Smith-Glynn clinic, the one on National, they’ve made the
experience pretty enjoyable. For one thing it’s so much easier to get in and
out of. Secondly, they’ve pulled out all the stops to make it very pretty (with
lots of trees, flowers and footpaths), and very friendly to those of us that don’t
get around as quickly as the young people. The staff there have always been
nice to me, but in terms of being there it’s just very pleasant. There’s lots of
light inside (it used to feel so dark, and even though I had been there for
years, I’d still get lost), lots of plants and the sound of water. It doesn’t feel
like a clinic, but sort of reminds me of a nice hotel lobby or atrium.

My friend Loretta and I go to Smith-Glynn about once a week to walk.
They have a nice outdoor and indoor walking path. Afterwards, we eat in the
little café inside (the food there is better than most any other café in town,
plus it’s just a nice place to sit down for a breather). We’ve gotten to know
some other regulars there as well. Good food and company attracts people.
They have a St. John’s “Seniors” outpost there. Jenny, Claude or Sy are



St. John’s always seems to be looking for ways to make things better,
simpler and easier for us Seniors. That says a lot to me. It used to be so
difficult getting in and out of that clinic, what with traffic on National.
Now there’s a big turn out and sweeping drive that allows cars to drive
right into parking areas, either front or back. Even City buses can now
drive up near the building. It’s also easier to get out. I can either use the
wide merge lane to go south, or follow the drive to the nearest northbound
stoplight. Pretty simple now even for a single driver like me. For people
with real disabilities, there’s a nice big drive-up and attendants to help
them in and out of cars and assist with wheelchairs, and so forth. Very
first class!

Another nice thing that St. John’s has done is simplify their bills and
other mailings, to make them easier to understand and use. Sounds funny,
I know, but I used to really struggle trying to decipher the stuff they’d
send me — and I sort of pride myself on being smart with office and
accounting matters. Now I don’t dread so much getting their mail (I just
wish the government did as well with Medicare information). They’ve also
assembled a nice set of maps that the staff will draw directions on for me,
when I need to go back and forth to the St. John’s campus. Even the old
folks’ parking spots are clearly indicated.

All in all, I live a pretty full life; it’s right for me. I don’t sleep as
well as I used to, usually have to get up and go to the bathroom. But I
have family and my friends nearby — and I have a doctor and health
plan that makes every effort to keep me well. I can’t do much better
than that.

- Opal


what if?

"Test everything against the ﬁlters"


TheCustomerArchetype

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