In order to create the ‘best possible customer experience,’ design is one of the keystones to the process. At O2, an innovative leader of mobile services based in the UK, they have brought design thinking into the core basis of their business model. This company has built success around the notion that a good service design is essential to success for this type of business.

As a result, they developed a Customer Centred Design model, or process, which they label as CCD. What they have discovered through their processes at O2 is that connecting different departments through design, they are able to be more effective at new service development. For them, according to their Chief Marketing Officer, this is not about the ‘look and feel’ of design, but about “being deliberate” in their approach.

The focus is about what is labelled the ‘touch points’ within any system. These are the points where interaction occurs with the customer base. By focusing on these touch points, and developing a sense of design that is deliberate in its approach and how to connect with customers, they are able to maximize the positive aspects of the customer experience.

For O2, the design process that they developed, the CCD, was trialled within one aspect of the business for a six month period before being introduced to the entire company. It consists of three basic stages of design development: a visioning stage, a crystallising stage, and a prove-it stage, all before moving onto the production and full launch stages.

One reason why this model has proven to be successful for O2 is that they emphasize collaboration within the company, and tight collaboration at that. By adding various design roles to the process at various stages of development, they are able to add clarity and truly focus on the end goal, which is in achieving a high level of positive customer experience and interaction.

For O2, according to the Lead Designer, CCD was introduced as a result of there being no true cohesion within the company. Each department was responsible for its own endeavours and that didn’t always bring unity. With the new design approach, it has brought people within the company together. One way that they managed to do this has been through the physical collaborative work environment. The have created a physical space and atmosphere that is conducive to creativity and design. They no longer hold closed door meetings, they have incorporated numerous white boards for sharing ideas and concepts, and desks that can be moved quickly and easily to allow team members to work together more effectively and efficiently.

In the wake of this new CCD approach to design and productivity, O2 uses what is known as ‘soft launch’ campaigns, which proved them more insight into their projects. Whenever you have innovative concepts, there is a learning curve, so the design thinking and centred process provides a sounding board, of sorts, to allow the team members to gauge the emotional reactions and connections to their target customers.