Mapping Experiences

Question 1

People expect some benefit when they use the products and services an organization provides. They want to get a job done, solve a problem, or experience an emotion. What would the user do then if they perceive this benefit as valuable?

Answer 1

They’ll give something in return - money, time, or attention

Question 2

What do organizations need to capture to be successful?

Answer 2

Capture some worth from their offerings. They need to earn a profit, maximize reach, or improve their image. Value creation is bidirectional

Question 3

What is value creation in the context of services?

Answer 3

Value is created through the intersection between people (customers or users) and a service provider (a company or organization). It’s where the experiences of individuals in a given market intersect with the offerings of an organization.

Question 4

What does Value Creation mean?

Answer 4

Value is something beneficial or meaningful that is produced during an exchange or interaction. In this context, it’s not just about the service itself but the experience and benefits it provides to the customer.

Question 5

What does “Human interaction with the Provider” refer to?

Answer 5

This refers to the moment or process when people engage with the service provider. This interaction could take many forms:

1. A customer buying a product
2. A user navigating a website
3. A client receiving customer support

These interactions are key moments where value can be realized (or not)

Question 6

When does the value rise?

Answer 6

When the service or product meets or exceeds the expectations, needs, or desires of the person using it.

For example:

1. If an app is intuitive and solves a problem effectively, the user feels the value in the experience
2. If a healthcare provider offers empathy and effective treatment, the patient experiences value beyond just the medical outcome.

Question 7

How do markets influence value creation?

Answer 7

Different markets have unique needs, preferences, and cultural expectations. Value is created at the “intersection” where an organization’s tailored offerings align with what individuals in that market are seeking.

Question 8

Simplified Analogy of Value Creation

Answer 8

Imagine a key (the service) fitting perfectly into a lock (the customer’s need). The value is the door opening smoothly—it’s not just the key or the lock alone but the interaction between the two that creates the outcome.

Question 9

What does Steve Job mean by “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology”?

Answer 9

Instead of inventing a technology and then marketing it to customers, he wanted to begin by imagining an ideal experience and then fitting technology to that experience.

Question 10

What is a key way to understand “Experience”?

Answer 10

To create a model that visually represents the experience. By illustrating all the moving parts at once, it can help organizations better understand their playing field and their market.

Question 11

What are alignment diagrams?

Answer 11

It refers to any map, diagram, or visualization that reveals both sides of value creation in a single overview.

It is a category of models that illustrate the interaction between people and organization, making an otherwise invisible, abstract circumstance, a human experience - tangible and actionable.

Question 12

What is the two parts to Alignment Diagrams?

Answer 12

1. A description of an experience
2. A description of an organization’s offerings, with the interaction between the two.

Question 13

How is an expressive service blueprint different from a regular service blueprint?

Answer 13

It shows the human emotions of a service encounter

Question 14

What are the five types of customer value?

Answer 14

1. Functional Value
2. Social Value
3. Emotional Value
4. Epistemic Value
5. Conditional Value

Question 15

What is Functional Value?

Answer 15

The ability to perform a utilitarian purpose. Performance and reliability are key considerations with this type of value.

Question 16

What is a utilitarian purpose?

Answer 16

A utilitarian purpose refers to a function or goal that is primarily focused on practicality, usefulness, or serving a clear and functional need. In this context, the focus is on achieving the greatest benefit, efficiency, or utility, often with minimal emphasis on aesthetics, emotions, or personal preferences.

For example:

A utilitarian design of a chair prioritizes comfort, durability, and functionality over artistic or decorative elements.
In ethics, a utilitarian approach to decision-making involves choosing actions that result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
The key aspect of a utilitarian purpose is its emphasis on practicality and serving a tangible, beneficial objective.

Question 17

What is Social Value?

Answer 17

The interactions among people emphasize lifestyle and social awareness. For instance, Skype in the Classroom is a program aimed at inspiring students with prominent speakers who lecture from remote locations.

Question 18

What is Emotional Value?

Answer 18

The feelings or affective responses a person has while interacting with an organization’s offerings.

For example, personal data security services tap into fear of identity theft or data loss

Question 19

What is Epistemic Value?

Answer 19

Generated by a sense of curiosity or a desire a learn. This type of value emphasizes personal growth and the acquisition of knowledge.

For example, Khan Academy provides online courses that allow people to learn at their own pace.

Question 20

What is Conditional Value?

Answer 20

A benefit that depends on specific situations or contexts.

For instance, the perceived value of pumpkins and monster costumes increases conditionally just before Halloween in the US each year.

Question 21

What is Premium Value?

Answer 21

This exceeds mere novelty and delight and looks at the purpose products and services have in our lives.

Products and services that provide meaningful experiences help us make sense of the world and give us personal identity.

Question 22

What are the 15 types of premium value?

Answer 22

1. Accomplishment - The sense of pride in achieving goals
2. Beauty - The appreciation of aesthetic qualities that give pleasure to the senses.
3. Community - A sense of connectedness with others around us.
4. Creation - The satisfaction of having produced something
5. Duty - The satisfaction of having fulfilled a responsibility
6. Enlightenment - The gratification of learning about a subject
7. Freedom - A sense of living without constraints
8. Harmony - The pleasure of balance between parts
9. Justice - The assurance of just and fair treatment
10. Oneness - A sense of unity with people and things that surround us
11. Redemption - Deliverance from past failure
12. Security - A freedom from worry about loss
13. Truth - A commitment to honesty and integrity
14. Validation - External recognition of one’s worth
15. Wonder - Experiencing something beyond comprehension

Question 23

What is Alignment Attrition?

Answer 23

The tendency for people to get out of sync with one other

Question 24

What type of alignment is crucial in designing broad information architectures and shared information environments?

Answer 24

Alignment Diagrams. It can provide a type of conceptual scaffolding that allows organizations to conceive of services at scale.

Question 25

How can diagrams help retain the common big picture as organizations change personnel?

Answer 25

Team members may come and go, and diagrams help maintain continuity. In this sense, maps also play a knowledge management role.

Question 26

What does “Experiences are holistic” mean?

Answer 26

The notion of an experience is all-encompassing, including actions, thoughts, and feelings over time.

Question 27

What does “Experiences are personal” mean?

Answer 27

An experience is not an objective property of a product or service; it’s the subjective perception of the individual

Question 28

What does “Experiences are situational” mean?

Answer 28

I like riding on roller coasters, but not immediately after eating a large meal. In one case, the experience is exhilarating; in the other, it’s a dreadful few minutes of nausea. The roller coaster doesn’t change; the situation does. Experiences differ from situation to situation.

Question 29

What are the three fundamental aspects to define before starting the mapping effort

Answer 29

1. Point of view - Whose experience are you mapping and which experiences are included?
2. Scope - When does the experience begin and end?
3. Focus - What types of information will be included?
4. Additionally, the structure of the diagram should best be determined in advance, along with the intended users.

Question 30

What are the two criteria that define the point of view?

Answer 30

1. The people involve
2. The types of experiences they engage in.
   For example, a news magazine might serve two distinct audiences: readers and advertisers.

Question 31

What does “Scope” mean in mapping experiences?

Answer 31

When does the experience begin and when does it end?

Question 32

What does “Focus” mean in mapping experiences?

Answer 32

What type of information will you include in the diagram?
What’s the diagram about? Think of the focus as the rows of information in a given map. That defines the content you’ll include.

Question 33

Chronological Maps

Answer 33

Because experiences happen in real time, a chronological arrangement provides a natural sequence of human behavior. A timeline of some sort is the most prevalent way to structure alignment diagrams.

Question 34

Hierarchical Maps

Answer 34

Mapping experiences hierarchically removes the time dimension. This can have advantages when there are many aspects occurring simultaneously, which is difficult to show chronologically.