| | SEPTEMBER 20228CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONBy Temitope Sadiku, Global Head of Employee Digital Experience, The Kraft Heinz Company DEPLOYING TECHNOLOGY THAT CREATES A DELIGHTFUL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE "Digital Transformation"--perpetually popular in business vernacular--describes the process by which a business implements novel technology to modernize the organization and (hopefully) propel the business to a brighter future. Success, however, requires more than simply deploying technology. Rather, the implemented technology should delight customers by providing intuitive solutions that remove friction and enrich the customer experience. Such lofty aspirations, at times, can feel daunting. To implement a true Digital Transformation, companies must (i) understand the root causes of the problems they seek to solve; (ii) build toward sustainable solutions by engaging in incremental experimentation with proof of concepts (POC); and (iii) most importantly, design human-centered solutions. This article further examines each of these steps. Defining the problem At the outset, any business seeking to transform itself through technology should carefully consider the problems it hopes to solve. Companies should avoid the temptation--ever-present in fast-paced environments--to rush to solve surface level issues, which are often mere symptoms of a much deeper problem. In the Harvard Business Review (HBR) article Why Design Thinking Works, author Jeanne Liedtka promotes the process of design thinking to help companies discover and frame the true problem. Liedtka notes that "incorporating customer-driven criteria", can alleviate analysis paralysis or the impatience of action-oriented designers. Rather than rushing to conventional conclusions, through empathy, the design process creates a framework to define the problem from multiple perspectivesHow does one empathize with a customer? There are a variety of methods that can be utilized to understand and share feelings with another. Ken Anderson, an anthropologist at Intel,hails ethnographical research as a key fundamental to understanding customers. Anderson's article in HBR discusses the strategic power of ethnographical research and how it allows the company to observe the customer in the moment, living their lives. Ethnographical research provides insight into trends that the customer may be challenging to articulate or identify in traditional research methods. Incremental experimentation Having identified the root causes of the challenges facing their businesses, companies should turn toward designing effective solutions. Solving everything at once can feel overwhelming. Not to mention, the added stress of the Transformations can feel daunting especially if we directly consider the quantifiable capital expenditure, the risk of failure and the unknown Temitope Sadiku
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