Sessions

Making positive change happen in digital experiences is possible. Let’s see how by investigating three case studies—one failure, one success, and one triumph.

First let’s talk about a mostly unsuccessful attempt to influence user behavior at yellowpages.com. As the local search platform introduced ratings and reviews for businesses, it set out to not only encourage users to write reviews but also to do so in specific ways. This included detailed guidelines for what a review should look like. The organization had lofty, transformational goals for what reviews can be and do; users had other ideas.

Second, we’ll look at the successful effort to change seller behavior on eBay. After more than 10 years in business, the massive ecommerce platform realized it had a major challenge to its growth–the behavior of its sellers. Bad buying experiences at the hands of these sellers were driving customers to Amazon and other competitors. eBay launched an ambitious project to improve seller performance. The project succeeded, but the platform changed, revealing fascinating systems changes for both buyers and sellers.

Third we’ll look at the successful systems of brand, design, and innovation that help transform users and their experiences at Disney parks. Much has been written about how Disney reimagines park experiences with Magic Bands, FastPasses, and MaxPasses, and even Jorge Arango has blogged about the smart information architecture that makes the Disneyland app successful. These famous design efforts influence guest behavior not only online but also in the real world, which is to say the controlled world that Disney creates in its parks. Yes, it seems like magic.

These case studies are a lot to pack into one session. Our goal is to discuss how we can guide users to better behavior and experiences, and why we need to do so.

Key takeaways from the session:

• Confidence in their ability to make positive changes through digital experiences and empathetic service design.
• Awareness of the interrelated systems that affect user behavior.
• Mistakes to avoid when taking steps to change what users do.
• Greater awareness of the responsibility we have to use design and its influence for good.