For Customer Experience Professionals

Member Registration Plagues Health Plan Sites

Interviews Of 17 Health Plans Uncover The Need For Email Addresses

by Elizabeth Boehm, November 20, 2009

The Web is becoming a bigger part of health plans' member service and member communication strategies, but health plans struggle to drive adoption. Forrester recently interviewed customer experience professionals responsible for member service Web sites . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Design Sites To Work In A High-Resolution World

The Decline Of 1024 x 768 And What To Do About It

by Ron Rogowski, November 20, 2009

The proliferation of high-resolution screens that well surpass 1024 x 768 adds a new layer of complexity to site design. Not only is there no standard resolution to design for, but higher-resolution screens pose usability challenges for sites that were . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Sixteen Voice Of The Customer Recommendations

Insights From 40 Companies With Voice Of The Customer Programs

by Bruce D. Temkin, November 11, 2009

To understand the best practices in voice of the customer (VoC) programs, Forrester analyzed the 40 applications it received for its Voice Of The Customer award. When we examined the advice that applicants listed for other companies, we found 16 recommendations . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Four Mistakes To Avoid When Hiring An Interactive Agency For Design Projects

by Vidya L. Drego, November 11, 2009

Finding the right agency is difficult for clients and agencies alike. With so many agencies to choose from and so many skill sets to evaluate, narrowing a list of similar players down to one can be an overwhelming task — one fraught with potential missteps . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

PHRs: Scant Penetration And Lots Of Confusion

Consumers Report On Which Personal Health Records They're Using

by Elizabeth Boehm, November 4, 2009

In a recent Forrester survey, almost one-third of consumers reported having a personal health record (PHR) — the vast majority of which are from their health plan. Forrester doesn't believe it. These high adoption levels don't jibe with either past surveys . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Health Plan Provider Search Tools: It's Time For An Upgrade

by Elizabeth Boehm, October 29, 2009

Consumers tell us that online provider directory tools are convenient and reasonably easy to use but still fall short of helping them make decisions regarding where to get the best care for themselves and their families. To bring provider directories . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Chief Customer Experience Officers Gain Active Executive Support

by Megan Burns, October 23, 2009

To be successful, chief customer experience officers (CC/EOs) need a coalition of top executives who take an active role in transforming the organization. While most executives support the idea of customer-centricity, many fail to act because they don't . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

What Europeans Expect From Financial Services Web Sites

And What eBusiness Executives Need To Do To Meet Customer Needs

by Vanessa Niemeyer, Ph.D., October 6, 2009

Consumers go to financial services Web sites with different motives — some want to access their own accounts and some intend to research or buy a specific financial product, while others are looking for a solution that fits their needs. Visitors to financial . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

The Customer Experience Generation Gap

Customer Experience Index Scores Across Five Generations And 12 Industries

by Bruce D. Temkin, September 30, 2009

Across most industries, Seniors give firms the highest marks for customer experience, and Gen Yers give them the lowest. The most significant exception is that Older Boomers give PC manufacturers the lowest scores. The difference across generations is . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Interactive Agencies Struggle With Web Usability

by Vidya L. Drego, September 25, 2009

Forrester applied its Web Site Review methodology to 36 reference sites provided by 18 interactive agencies. Only one site received a passing score in our evaluation. The highest numbers of severe failures resulted from poor text legibility, unclear menus, . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How To Survive The Browser Wars

Top Considerations When Designing For Cross-Browser Interoperability

by Harley Manning, September 17, 2009

The browser wars have turned hot! How can companies deliver a high-quality Web experience in a world of proliferating platforms — without breaking the bank? The answer lies in best practices for effective cross-browser design and testing. By embracing . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Discount Retailers' Cross-Channel Experience, 2009

An Industry Look At This Year's Best And Worst Of Cross-Channel Design

by Bruce D. Temkin, September 3, 2009

As part of a larger analysis of 16 firms, Forrester evaluated the cross-channel experiences of four large discount retailers — Kmart, Sears, Target, and Wal-Mart. Overall, the discount retailers performed poorly compared to the other industries we evaluated. . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Interactive Design Agencies Go "Above The Line"

by Vidya L. Drego, September 3, 2009

Dramatic changes in consumer behavior and the economy have caused companies to shift budgets from traditional advertising to interactive marketing. Interactive agencies ride the trend with partnerships, acquisitions, new services — and a much bigger role . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Do Site Owners Approach The Agency Selection Process?

by Vidya L. Drego, September 1, 2009

Finding the right agency partner can be a difficult and onerous journey. To help shed some light on the process, we surveyed 41 customer experience professionals, 40 of whom are working with or have worked with an agency in the past. Our respondents told . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Service Seekers Are More Loyal Than Price Seekers

Examining Four Segments Of Consumers Across 12 Industries

by Bruce D. Temkin, August 31, 2009

In previous research, Forrester created four segments of consumers based on their interest in low prices and good customer service: Service Seekers, Price Seekers, Price & Service Seekers, and Others. We examined the loyalty of these segments across . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Best And Worst Of UK Brand Building Web Sites, 2009: Internet Service Providers

Forrester Applies Its Web Site Brand Review Methodology To The Sites Of Four Top UK Internet Service Providers

by Jonathan Browne, August 27, 2009

How good are the overall experiences offered by leading Internet service providers' Web sites in the UK in 2009? To find out, we graded the sites of four top UK ISP sites using Forrester's Web Site Brand Review methodology. Our tests measure how well . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Estimate The ROI Of A Better Online Customer Experience In Six Steps

by Megan Burns, August 27, 2009

Proving the business value of a better online experience is a top priority for Web customer experience leaders. To help, we've identified a six-step process that lets even financial novices model the ROI for Web customer experience projects: 1) document . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Persona Best Practices Of Interactive Agencies

Forrester Applies Its Evaluation Methodology To Personas Provided By 18 Large Interactive Agencies

by Vidya L. Drego, August 27, 2009

Forrester applied its persona evaluation criteria to reference personas provided by 18 interactive agencies for the recent Forrester Wave™. Most of the personas showed some room for improvement, with problems running the gamut in both type and severity. . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

CDHP Member Engagement Slips — Again

Health Plans Can't Count On Plan Design To Drive Healthcare Consumerism

by Elizabeth Boehm, August 26, 2009

Consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) continue to experience rapid growth in adoption. But member engagement has declined for the second consecutive year. CDHP members are now less likely to use online health tools and actively manage their healthcare . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Consumers Respond To The Economic Downturn By Cutting Their Healthcare Spending

by Elizabeth Boehm, August 19, 2009

Congress is struggling with healthcare reform and debating issues like how to create a public plan and fund expanded coverage. But consumers have to make tough choices regarding their own health and finances today. Almost 40% of consumers report they . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How To Make Travel Customers Feel Valued Online

by Diane Clarkson, August 19, 2009

Making leisure travelers feel valued is more than a "warm and fuzzy" objective. There are significant business benefits to making leisure travelers feel valued — namely, these travelers are more likely to be loyal brand advocates. However, most travel . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Executive Q&A: Cross-Channel Reviews

by Adele Sage, July 31, 2009

Cross-channel reviews uncover flaws that prevent users from accomplishing goals when their paths take them across multiple channels, like Web sites and interactive voice response (IVR) systems. When companies fix these flaws they improve business results. . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Who Wants Low Prices Or Good Customer Service?

Examining Four Segments Of Consumers Across 12 Industries

by Bruce D. Temkin, July 23, 2009

In previous research, Forrester found that US consumers looked for good customer service more often than lower prices. To understand this dynamic in more detail, we created four segments of consumers: Service Seekers, Price Seekers, Price & Service . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Five Mistakes To Avoid When Asking For Web Customer Experience Funding

by Megan Burns, July 23, 2009

The economic forecast for the 2010 budget cycle: tense. As Web customer experience professionals develop their budget requests for next year, they should take care to avoid five common but costly mistakes: 1) letting people think the current site is "good . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Do Interactive Agencies View The RFP Process?

by Vidya L. Drego, July 17, 2009

Site owners often report difficulty finding and hiring the right agency. Despite carefully preparing requests for information (RFIs) and requests for proposals (RFPs), they struggle to identify the right agencies, and when they do, they fail to receive . . .