5 principles of great experiences
Product experience is a key driver of business success for ServiceNow and our customers. That’s why my product experience team and I spend a lot of time focusing on design principles that help ensure we exceed our customers' expectations.
You don’t have to be a designer to use these principles and create great experiences. These are fundamentals that anyone can put into practice.
1. Crafted
The first experience with any product, service, or solution defines the first impression people have about it. You get only one chance to make that first impression.
At ServiceNow, we work hard to create product experiences that are high quality, that we’re proud of, and that show the care and attention to detail we put into our work.
Everyone who plays a role in building our products cares about their craft. We need to be thoughtful, thorough, and meticulous about what we develop. When we prioritize quality, performance, and value, implementing a design to pixel-level perfection, we make a positive first impression and build momentum for ongoing engagement with our users and customers.
When we do this, customers and partners can feel the difference. It's like a beautifully handmade dress or garment, where every stitch is sewn with precision and only the best fabrics are used. When you wear that garment, you feel incredible. The result is that customers feel cared for, they trust the product quality, and they develop loyalty that turns into deeper engagement with the brand.
2. Personal
People at work have a lot to do, and there's a lot riding on their work. That means every moment and every interaction matter. People love it when the software they use anticipates their needs, remembers their preferences, and feels tailored to them.
Products should provide users with personalization options such as font size, layout, and accessibility tools. And products should go further, making recommendations, anticipating next steps, and providing a curated experience that’s customized for each individual.
Like an attentive concierge at a resort, an exceptional product experience can predict user needs and provide personalized service that wows the customer.
At scale, the productivity increase from persona-driven, task-specific, intelligent applications can generate tangible bottom-line impact for the business through efficiency and effectiveness. What’s good—and customized—for the employee is good for the enterprise.
3. Resonant
Incredible experiences trigger strong positive emotions, such as satisfaction, delight, joy, inspiration, confidence, and even love. In fact, our team’s mission is to “create product experiences that people love.” It’s both an aspirational and fundamental goal.
Like a favorite song that you love to replay, an exceptional product experience will cement positive memories and compel you to revisit that experience again and again.
This emotional resonance creates a virtuous cycle that can drive referrals and help businesses grow. It can lift customer satisfaction (CSAT) score and Net Promoter Score (NPS) and turn regular users into hardcore evangelists. If you’ve ever been to Knowledge, our flagship annual event for customers and developers, you probably have a sense of what that enthusiasm looks like for ServiceNow.
4. Dynamic
Experiences are journeys, not single moments. They have a beginning, middle, and end—from initiation to task completion. Dynamic product experiences seamlessly adapt with you through this journey, as you work across devices and change contexts, picking up right where you left off.
Like our Field Service Management app, these experiences will update with real-time information—such as identifying the fastest route to your next task based on your location and the traffic conditions.
Dynamic journeys are cohesive and adaptive, and they support you from start to finish. They empower users with forward momentum, providing help the moment it's needed, without losing context. This allows users to concentrate on accomplishment rather than obstacle removal, and on innovation rather than execution.
Enabling users to focus on their goals despite changes in context enables people to move faster without friction, improving productivity for the business and continuity of experience for the end user.
5. Enduring
Great experiences provide essential utility and daily value. They stand the test of time, giving people long-term benefits and critical assistance that they can’t live without. These experiences are not trendy, going in and out of favor with seemingly fickle customers. Rather, they provide enduring value by meeting fundamental needs.
Providing a trusted and stable platform, with products that address important user needs, creates an enduring foundation upon which more can be built. When a customer has a great experience with ServiceNow, they want to find more ways we can help them work better. That leads to greater product adoption and increasing return on investment for businesses that scale their use of the platform.
When we deliver exceptional, scalable, and reliable products, we build long-term loyalty, enrich customer relationships, improve employee retention, and fuel account growth and expansion over time.
As experience experts, my team and I are committed to providing exceptional ServiceNow product experiences that people love to use. To do that, we maintain close relationships with end users, developers, administrators, implementation teams, and the those who bring ServiceNow to life in companies worldwide.
Great experiences are great for business. They deliver end-user delight and productivity, as well as enduring customer relationships that are fueled for growth.