Customer Interface
Dr Sherif Kamel
The American University in Cairo
Copyright © 2002 Rayport and Jaworski
Copyright © 2002 Marketspace LLC
Customer Interface — Today’s Objective
Develop an understanding of the technology – mediated customer interface
Copyright © 2002 Rayport and Jaworski
Copyright  2002 Marketspace LLC
Customer Interface
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The seven design elements of the customer interface
The alternative “look and feel” approaches to design
The five content archetypes
Be concerned with community
The levers used to customize a site
Types of communication a firm maintains with its customer base
The alternative pricing models of commerce archetypes
Case studies: Schwab and Palm
Conclusion
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Copyright  2002 Marketspace LLC
The 7Cs of the Customer Interface
Context
Content
Site’s layout and design
Text, pictures, sound and video
that webpages contain
Commerce
Community
Site’s capability to enable
commercial transactions
The ways sites enable user-touser communication
Connection
Customization
Degree site is linked to other
sites
Site’s ability to self-tailor to
different users or to allow
personalization
Communication
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The ways sites enable site-touser communication or two-way
communication
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Dimensions of Context
The context of a site can take many different forms:
VISUAL
Section Breakdown
 The way the site is organized into
subcomponents
Linking Structure
 The site’s approach to linking alternative
sections
Navigation Tools
 Facilitate how the user moves through the
site
Color Scheme
 The colors used throughout the site
Visual Themes
 Help to tell the stories portrayed across the
site
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PERFORMANCE
Speed
 The time required to display a site page on
the user’s screen
Reliability
 How often is the site down?
 Percent of times that the site correctly
downloads to user
Platform Independence
 How well the site runs on various platforms
Media Accessibility
 The site’s ability to run on various devices
Usability
 The ease with which the site can be
navigated by users
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Dimensions to Content
Content refers to all digital information included on the site. There are four key dimensions to
content, each carrying choices about how to convey the site’s content::
Dimension
Offering Mix
Products
Choices
Appeal Mix
Cognitive
functional,
low price,
availability,
etc.
Information
Services
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Multimedia
Mix
Content Type
Text
Current
Audio
Image
Emotional
humor,
warmth,
stories,
etc.
Video
Reference
Graphics
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Intro to the Five Content Archetypes
We will first describe each archetype and then give an example of each:
Superstore
Offering Dominant
Category Killer
Specialty Store
Information Dominant
Market Dominant
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A Framework for Understand Offering-Dominant Archetypes
Classifying content archetypes on two dimensions:
Superstore
Multiple
Number of
Product
Categories
Specialty
Store
Category
Killer
Single
Narrow
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Depth of Product Line
Broad
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Superstore Example — Amazon.com
One-stop shop where the customer can find a wide range of goods in multiple product
categories:
Note the array
of product
categories on
the site.
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Category Killer Example — Petsmart.com
Exclusively provides products and services by specific product or by a customerneeds category:
Again, note the
categories;
rather than
being broad,
they focus on a
single vertical.
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Specialty Store Example — Frontgate.com
Focuses on exceptional quality and exclusivity while selling single or multiple
categories of products:
The site offers a
broad array of
products, but
they are all highend, premium
quality products
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Information-Dominant Example — Business 2.0
Organize and house vast archives of information and provide tools to the customer to
explore areas of interest and find answers to specific questions:
“New economy,
new rules, new
leaders” — this
site is focused
entirely on
providing timely
information to
business leaders
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Drill Down — Content Archetypes vs. Offering Types
Each of the content archetypes can be illustrated with a product, information or
services example:
Content
Archetype
Physical
Product
Information
Service
Superstore
Walmart.com
Amazon.com
CEOExpress.com
IBMSolutions.com
Category Killer
Petsmart.com
DowJones.com
CNNfn.com
Schwab.com
Specialty Store
Frontgate.com
Forrester.com
Tradex.com
Census.gov
IFilm.net
Digitalthink.com
PlasticsNet.com
VerticalNet.com
Monster.com
Information
Dominant
Market Dominant
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Market-Dominant Example — PlasticsNet.com
Create markets where buyers and sellers congregate to conclude transactions:
This site creates
an online market
for the plastics
industry; note the
supplier
information and
product specs
available
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Communities — Elements, Types and Benefits
Elements of
Community
• Cohesion
• Effectiveness
• Help
• Relationships
• Language
Types of
Communities
Just Friends
Degree of
Participation
Enthusiasts
Friends in
Need
Need Fulfillment
• Inclusion
Players
• Mutual Influence
Traders
• Shared Emotional
Experiences
• Self-Regulation
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Member Outcomes:
Participation and Benefits
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Dimensions of Community
The cohesion of a site can come about through several different methods:
INTERACTIVE
Chat
 Asynchronous chat allows users to consider
and formulate responses in nonreal time
Instant Messaging
 Allows messages to happen quickly
because each participant sees the message
within seconds of when it is sent
VISUAL
Public Member Webpages
 Community members may have the option
of crafting their own webpages on a
particular site
Member Content
 Similar to public member webpages, this
content is generated by members
Message Boards
 Allows users to communicate by posting
messages at a location on the site
Member-to-Member E-Mail
 The “killer app” of the Web, acting as a
virtual post office for digitized messages
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Dimensions of Customization
Customization of a site can occur in many different ways:
PERSONALIZATION
TAILORING
Log-in Registration
Based on Past User Behavior
 The site recognizes return users and
configures itself accordingly
Cookies
 Temporary files that track and gather data
about user’s behavior
Personalized E-Mail Accounts
 Provided free-of-charge to site users
Content and Layout Configuration
 Users select layout and content based on
their interests
 Many sites adjust themselves dynamically
based on a user’s past behavior and
preferences
Based on Behavior of Other Users
With Similar Preferences
 Some sites make recommendations to the
user based on preferences of other users
with similar profiles
Storage
 Sites provide virtual hard-disk storage
Agents
 Programs designed to perform simple tasks
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Dimensions of Communication
Communication between a site and its users can occur in many different ways:
BROADCAST
INTERACTIVE
Mass Mailings
E-Commerce Dialogue
 Broadcast transmissions of large volumes
of e-mail targeted at large audiences
FAQs
 Answers to frequently asked questions
E-Mail Newsletters
 Inform site subscribers of site changes,
special offers, etc.
Content-Update Reminders
 E-mail reflecting user interest in a particular
content area
 Organizations and users trade e-mails
regarding order placement, tracking and
fulfillment
Customer Service
 Organizations can provide customer service
through trading e-mails or live online
dialogue
User Input
 User-generated content such as supplier
ratings and user feedback to the site
Broadcast Events
 Events can be broadcast from a website
(webcast) that allows limited user control
over such things as camera angle
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One-to-Many, Non-Responding Example — TheStandard.com
Communicates with users through mass mailings targeted at defined audiences:
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One-to-Many, Non-Responding Example — CNN.com
Communicates with users through mass mailings targeted at defined audiences:
CNN.com sends
out breaking news
e-mail alerts to
interested users.
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One-to-Many, Responding Example — BizRate.com
Communicates with a mass user group logged on as registered users or
through e-mailings targeted at specific users:
Customers rate
their experience
with online
merchants; these
ratings are
gathered and
communicated to
registered users of
BizRate.com.
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One-to-Many, Live Interaction Example — Accrue 2000 Web
Seminar
Allows users to interact with the site live, with information exchanged back and
forth in real time:
This site recently
broadcast a live
seminar; registered
users were able to
participate by asking
questions via chat in
real time.
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One-to-One, Non-Responding User Example — Hallmark.com
Sends personalized messages to users to address specific user interests or
needs, but there are no means for customer response:
Hallmark.com allows
users to manage their
schedules by
reminding users of
important upcoming
dates (birthdays,
anniversaries, etc.).
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One-to-One, Responding User Example — Amazon.com
Sends users personalized messages that address specific user interests or
needs with the opportunity for users to respond:
Users can create
their own storefront
using Amazon’s
zShops. Users post
all information
related to the
products they wish
to sell on Amazon’s
site; they can also
check order status
on the site and be
notified of sales via
e-mail.
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One-to-One, Live Interaction Example — LivePerson.com
Sends and receives personalized user messages or carries on chat sessions
that address specific user interests or needs:
This site offers
online customer
support in real
time via chat
sessions.
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Dimensions of Commerce
There are many tools that sites provide to originate and facilitate commerce:
TOOLS FOR ENABLING COMMERCE
Registration
 Allows the site to store information about users and user preferences
Shopping Cart, One-Click Shopping
 Facilitates online shopping by making it more user-friendly
Security, Credit-Card Approval
 Enables online transactions by allowing users to securely share credit-card information
Orders Through Affiliates
 Sites must be able to track orders that come from and go to affiliates
Configuration Technology
 Users can test product compatibility, and price trade-offs and product substitutions online.
Order Tracking, Delivery Options
 Once orders are placed on the site, users can choose how they would like their products
delivered and track those orders from the site to their front door.
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Conclusion
After today’s lesson, you should be able to answer the
following questions:
What are the seven design elements of the customer interface?
 What are the alternative “look and feel” approaches to design?
 What are the five content archetypes?
 Why be concerned with community?
 What are the levers used to customize a site?
 What types of communication can a firm maintain with its customer
base?
 How does a firm connect with other businesses?
 What are alternative pricing models of commerce archetypes?
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Copyright © 2002 Rayport and Jaworski
Copyright  2002 Marketspace LLC