Using Technology to Improve User Experience

With the advance of technology comes the enormous potential to improve user experience. This goes beyond the standard level 1 phone support with instant messaging or adding a magnetic script to a park ticket. I would like to use examples from the two best companies at "raising the bar" to help inspire you.

Disney

I have gone to Disney World at least once a year for the past 10 years starting with my honeymoon.  What keeps me going back year after year is the exceptional customer service and the experience. This year my family gets to participate in a pilot program call the MagicBand. The bracelets are more then just a fashion statement delivered to you in your favorite color. They are your room key, your credit card, your restaurant reservations, and your FastPasses all worn on your wrist. Before your vacation you go to the MyDisneyPlus website and get to pick 3 FastPass+ tickets for each day. Park patrons without MagicBands can only get one Fastpass every 2 hours at kiosks throughout the park and are subject to availability. We also got the ability to order our food in advance for lunch at Beast's Castle. There is no other way to make lunch time reservations for this restaurant. All we have to do is show up, get our location transmitter\buzzer and sit at our table.  The food is delivered while we get our drinks from the fountain. Eventually these bracelets will be standard issue to all patrons who stay on Disney property.  Just another perk to get people to stay on property.

Amazon

Amazon is known as the website with the best customer reviews, surprisingly accurate recommendations, a great viewing history record,  and reliable\fast\free shipping if you spend over $25. It is also the creator of one of the cheapest fully functional tablets on the market. Amazon just raised the bar again with the introduction of their new Kindle Fire HDX with Kindle Mayday. Lets say it is Christmas morning and you just got your new Kindle from Santa Claus. Because you are a member of the target audience you have no idea how to download new apps and need help.  All you have to do is click the Mayday button and a live person appears on your screen (guaranteed within 15 seconds on Christmas morning) and will walk you through your question like you are watching Monday Night Football. The representative can hear you but not see you. They can either take control of your device or draw on the screen to guide you through the process.

These examples show how corporations have taken technology and applied in new ways to improve the user experience. How can your company raise the bar? Is your company even at the same level of user experience that your customers expect? Learn from the best, keep moving forward, and have people use you as an example for the best user experience in their blogs.