Customers demand world-class digital services from every organisation they deal with. Those failing to deliver such services risk losing out to competitors that do.

As a result, business culture itself is changing. Rather than being inwardly-focused on processes and procedures, successful organisations are striving to instead understand their customers and exactly what they require – and, rather than simply being an enabler of traditional business operations, technology is increasingly becoming a fundamental factor for improving customer service.

The bar is being set by companies like Facebook and Uber. With apps that are reliable, easy and intuitive to use, these companies understand exactly what services their customers need and deliver them seamlessly across multiple digital platforms.

Unfortunately, many companies spend much of their time with their heads “under the hood” of the business. Focused on macro trends such as big data, the cloud and social media, they search for ways to improve their back-end applications and data stores, hoping this will improve overall engagement with their customers.

Yet, while this approach might yield some operational benefits, the bigger return will be realised through spending time and resource on customer engagement initiatives. A company might have the best back-end infrastructure but, if its customer experience is below par, it risks losing market share.

Looking from the outside in
The challenges associated with improving customer engagement are being faced by companies across a broad range of industry sectors and early-generation customer-facing applications must be re-architected to ensure they match evolving demands.

For this to be achieved, it’s vital to examine operations from the customer’s viewpoint. How is its digital presence perceived? How user friendly is the website? How intuitively can customers transact?

And most of these interactions are likely to be mobile, requiring a fundamental shift in everything from user interfaces to supporting back-end systems.

The importance of software design
Creating suitable digital customer experiences comes down to one factor: customer-led software design. More than a stylish website or mobile app, market experience shows good design that is informed by the end-user can create a positive customer experience.

The first step is strategy. A business needs to understand exactly what customers want and then ensure the appropriate technologies deliver it.

Experienced user experience experts and software designers know that the best applications stem from empathetic and creative thinking. This involves gaining fresh insight into customer requirements and then experimenting with new ideas until those requirements are met. Rather than adopting a ‘build-it-and-they-will-come’ mentality, it’s about matching design and interfaces to real-world requirements.

The most successful development teams are those that can mix problem-solving methods with free-thinking, left-brain talents. Working from different perspectives on the same challenge makes it more likely that an effective result that delights the customer will be achieved.

Successful development teams lead with design, and then match the most appropriate technologies and tools. In this way, the user experience becomes the most important factor, with back-end systems and infrastructure providing support as required.

Brainstorming sessions that involve the end-user, identify new solutions which can be quickly prototyped and tested. Further research and iterations of the solution ensure the right product is built and delivered, the first time. The company’s digital journey therefore becomes based on an evolving, customer-first approach which is much more likely to deliver clear market advantage.

The rise of the digital assistant
Will the future of interaction between companies and their customers be through intelligent digital assistants? This trend will require yet another shift in software design.

As consumers become more comfortable with Google Now, Microsoft’s Cortana and Apple’s Siri, they are accepting natural-language tools as a normal method of interaction.

For software designers, the challenge is to create interfaces that are simple to use, responsive, accurate and effective. Those that succeed will be at the forefront of a new wave of digital innovation and have a platform in place that will support their sales and marketing activities for the future.

Finally, the challenge of designing and building engaging software requires a holistic approach.

The old days of building systems a company thinks will work, and then expecting customers to use them, are over.

Taking a business-as-usual approach may work in the short term, but is unlikely to support ongoing success in a dynamic and changing marketplace. The winners will be those that focus the design and implementation of engaging applications with the customer at the centre.

ABOUT CRAIG BEVERIDGE//

Craig Beveridge is the COO & GM Australia at Jade Software Corporation.