What does sustainability have to do with customer experience?

One of the great topics of the Web Summit 2022, which took place this week in Lisbon, was the debate on #sustainability. And it was interesting to note that the way the question is posed has changed: a few years ago, people talked about preserving the planet; today, the discussion is about energy transition. In just a few years, the issue has progressed to a more pragmatic moment and a focus on finding practical solutions. And these solutions only happen with good customer experiences.

The race to create a society that eliminates carbon consumption (net zero) seems at first sight a utopia: how to move products and people from one place to another and how to produce food, equipment and everything else we need without burning fossil fuel? There is no “silver bullet”: an infinity of small actions, added together, will make a difference.

The One Earth project, presented during the Web Summit , defined 76 actions that need to be taken to solve the climate crisis. They are organized into 3 major areas: energy transition, nature conservation and regenerative agriculture. In each of them, small actions contribute to reach the desired result.

As Raman Bhatia , CEO of Ovo, the UK's third largest energy provider, said: “We need to act actively, as we do with vaccination, to inoculate everyone about the climate and energy issue”. From the materials used in the construction of houses to the reuse of paper cups, everything matters. And it's all about designing good user experiences for consumers.

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The point of view that makes the difference

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One thing that is often overlooked when talking about the evolution of technology is the consumer's point of view. It is very common for arguments against or in favor of using a technology (any technology you want) using rational criteria to show the advantages of, for example, recycling products. But what happens when this rationality does not take into account the behavior of customers? Excellent ideas fall apart.

If a shopping mall puts out a bin for recyclable items, but forgets that the consumer will use packages that are bigger than the ones that fit in the basket, the entire recycling process will stop working. It seems like a microscopic detail – but that's the level of care you need to take.

Customers are always looking for the fastest, most practical and economical way to solve any problem. And that's precisely why certain technologies don't "take" or take much longer than necessary to gain critical mass. #VirtualReality, for example, has been available for over a decade, but so far its promises have not come true on a large scale. Because? Because using the system requires the customer to put on big, heavy glasses, which “disconnect” them from the real world. It seems obvious, but the experience has been thought of from the point of view of the equipment – not the customer.

This is a lesson that we learn every day by mapping the journey of customers in interactions with brands, products and services in the most varied market segments. but it is still a practice that a large part of the market does not adopt, often for cultural reasons. After all, the interest in developing a product or solution is not always aligned with the fact that each person is used to living their life in a certain way – and any change represents new learning and an extra expenditure of energy.

A good example of excellence in customer experience is the 苹果 iPhone. Its interface can be used quickly by consumers, who don't mind (and are usually totally unaware of) the immense complexity of protocols, platforms and operational processes that go on behind the scenes to ensure that a simple click on an icon has a positive impact on the brand's success. . This simplicity of use reduces the energy needed to learn how to use the equipment – making it easier to adopt new behaviors.

Therefore, the path to a net zero society necessarily involves creating a good experience for customers at every interface with processes, products and services. From the packaging of a rechargeable battery to the energy purchase model of the concessionaire, everything must be developed in a way to be simple in the interaction with the consumer – however complex it may be behind the scenes. :)