7 c's

You should be able to identify the elements of customer interface.
You should have examples of at least 2 websites that may exhibit exemplary designs for at least two customer interface elements.

The 7 C’s are Context, Content, Community, Customization, Communication, Connection and Commerce

Context

The context is the look-and-feel of a screen-to-face customer interface, and can be classified by both aesthetics and functionality:

Aesthetics: it is created by visual choices such as colors, graphics, photographs and fonts. In general it includes interactive video and other rich media applications. The two most critical aesthetic features of the website are the following:

Color Scheme: designers often use a consistent palette of colors throughout the site to put users in a specific mood.
Visual Themes: they help tell a story. It’s like have a character that helps the users in which page of the website

Functionality: it is related to the performance of the website. Below, the critical elements:

Section breakdown: it refers to a website subcomponents. Ex: Optus website:
optus.com.au
Optus website uses a top-level tab structure and product categories structure.
Top-level tab structure: home, contact us, site guide, pay my bill, my optus mobile and thumbprint
Product categories structure: about Optus, business services, home services, mobile services and clever and useful
Linking structure: this means how easy is to move among the sections, i.e., no matter which page I’m visiting, the Top-leval tab and product categories structure are always visible
Navigation Tools: it facilitates the user navigation through the site. Ex: Search tools
Speed
Reliability – how often a site experiences “downtime” is one indicator of reliability
Platform independence: It is a nmeasure of how well a website can run on multiple platforms, including old versions of Web browsers or outdated hw (ex: slow modems)
Media accessibility: the ability of a site to download to various media platforms


=> The context can be classified in:

Aesthetically dominant: high on form, low on function. These sites use various art forms to create a pleasant escape for users
Functionally dominant: these sites assume users care about information than visual elements (ex: yahoo)
Integrated: they balance form and function – try to be both attractive and easy to use.


Content

=> Content can be evaluated in 4 ways:

Offering mix: what they offer: products, services and/or information

Appeal mix: cognitive or emotional. Cognitive: appeal focus on functional factors such as low price, reliability, availability, breadth of offerings, customer support and degree of personalization. Emotional: appeals on personal ties to the product or brand and are often made through humor, novelty or stories.

Multimedia mix: how text, audio, images, video and graphics are combined.

Timeliness mix: it refers to a website’s choice of time-sensitive material. A example of time-sensitive site is that one that offer information as stock prices or breaking news. A non time-sensitive site that offers legal advice, for example

=> The content can be classified in:

Product dominant: online stores whose primary purpose is selling physical goods. They can be classified as follows:
Superstore: one-stop shop where users can find a wide range of goods in several product categories
Category killer: it concentrates exclusively on one product category. They offer a comprehensive selection of goods, but only within one category.
Specialty store: it focuses on exceptional quality and exclusivity in one or more product categories – users find high-quality photographs and graphics with wellwritten and in-depth descriptions of products. Ex: www.frontgate.com

Service dominant: ex: e-bay, once it provides the service of being the interface among the users

Information-dominant: sites with vast archives of info or tools to find specific topics. Ex: http://www.nytimes.com/


Community

It creates a sense of membership through involvement or shared common interests. The interaction can be one-to-one or one-to-many.

Characteristics

Cohesion: develops a group identity, members feel sense of belonging
Effectiveness: impacts on members’ life
Help: members help each other
Relationship: interaction leads to friendship
Language: specialized language and abbreviations, unique meaning in the community
Self-regulation: rules of interaction and system of policing developed by the group.

How members participate on a community

Passives: just watch or just attend sometimes (not actively engaged)
Actives: participate on activities and take part in conversations.
- Motivators: create conversation topics and plan activities
- Caretakers: act as intermediaries between members

Why members are motivated to join the community

socialize with others
share a hobby or special interest
emotionally intense support group
etc: actions, games

Member benefits – emotional benefits

need fulfillment
inclusion in plans and activities
mutual influence
shared experiences and info

Interaction tools

Interactive: chat rooms or message boards
Non-interactive: members submit content to a website for other members to see, but they cannot talk among themselves

Community classifications

· nonexistent
· limited: non-interactive tools
· strong: interactive tools


Customization

It is the website ability to present a different content to each user.

=> Customization Types:

Personalization: when the website is customized by the user – he/she sets his/her preferences and they are saved by the website. Sometimes users know (they have to enter name and password), but sometimes not (info saved through cookies). Ex:
· e-mail account:
· content and lay-out configuration: users can design their own homepage, with limits, by choosing background colors, lay-out design and content colors
· storage: users can store e-mails, favorite content or items they want to buy
· agents: programs can notify users by e-mail when a product is in stock

Tailoring: when customization is initiated by the website. Websites present different content and lay-out depending on each user’s profile (products offered and recommended services, information, banner, etc. Ex: recommendation of different products at Amazon.com based on previous purchases

=> Customization Classification

Generic: same face and content for every user
Moderately customized: especially for shopping users
Highly customized: provide users an individualized experience


Communication

It is the dialogue between the organization and the user.

Types of communication

Broadcast: one-way info from organization to users, with no way for user to response. Ex:
mass e-mailing
FAQ’s
E-mail newsletters
Content up-date reminders: e-mail tailored to reflect each subscribers’ interests and remind them of new content
Webcast events

Interactive: two way communication. Ex:
E-commerce dialogue
Customer service (e-mails or live online dialogue)
User input: user content used in the website

Hybrid: broadcast and interactive in the same website

Communication classification

One-to-many, non responding user
One-to-many, responding user
One-to-one, non-responding user. Ex: remember users of birthdays
One-to-one, responding user


Connection

It is the degree to which a website links to their sites.

Types of connection

Outside links: take the user completely out of the original site
Framed links: the new website is literally framed in someway by the original site
Pop-up windows: opens the new site in another browser window while the original site stays in the background
Outsourced content: it refers to content that comes from an outside supplier. There is a link to the supplier’s website, but the user does not need to leave the original site to view the content.

Connection Classification

Destination site: provides self-generated content almost exclusively, with very few links to other websites
Hub site: combination of self-generated content and links to related websites. They function as gateways to info on a specific industry or topic.
Portal site: consist almost exclusively of outsourced info and links to other sites.




Commerce

It is the website’s ability to perform financial transactions.

Functional features that enable e-commerce

Registration: user registration that allows a site to store credit card information, shipping address, and billing preferences
Shopping cart
Security
Credit card approval: if the website has the ability to receive instant credit approval for credit card purchases through electronic links to credit card clearance houses
One-click shopping: the site has users’ info stored, so when they want to buy something, they order products almost instantly
Orders through affiliates: websites with affiliate programs must be able to track orders that originate from affiliate sites, as well as determine the payment due for referrals.
Configuration technology: it helps users to put products and services together in a variety of ways to allow analysis of performance, interoperability, etc
Order tracking
Delivery Options

Commerce classification

Low: it has the ability of process transactions, but with few or no features
Medium: some features
High


PS: This answer was based on the theory presented at Rayport & Jaworski book, Chapter 5 – Strategy Formulation: Customer interface - pages 149 to 191.