A critical part of the service design process is putting into place feedback loops which enable your customer to let you know how you’re doing. This is a delicate matter because you want to do it without disrupting the customer experience. That’s why we applaud Facebook and the way they’ve incorporated a simple feedback loop into their advertising.

Did you ever notice the little “x” at the top corner of a Facebook ad? I kept seeing these annoying ads for “Mafia Wars,” a Facebook game that appears to be wildly popular with others. Out of curiosity I clicked on the “x” up in the corner of the ad, having been conditioned over the years to know that clicking on an “x” makes things go away. That feature is standard user interface component for applications, or a way to get rid of an intrusive “overlay” ad that hides content below it.

In this case, the ad on Facebook was on the side of the page just sitting there. And being able to hit the “x” to just make it go away is a great idea. But before the ad goes away, Facebook solicits your feedback by asking “Why don’t you want to see this ad?” Your options are misleading, offensive, uninteresting, irrelevant, repetitive or other (in which case a text box pops up for your custom input.)

After making a selection, you see “Thanks for your feedback. Over time, this information helps us deliver more relevant ads to our users.”

There’s also the famous “thumbs up” logo at the bottom of the ad to show that you like the ad. (It would be interesting to see a breakdown of how many people click the “thumbs up” versus the “x” – and why.)

This is such a simple, yet powerful tool. Why don’t other websites integrate this feedback feature into their online advertising? The whole point of the web is that is interactive. “Ask and ye shall receive,” right? We all know that ads are the currency of the realm when it comes to delivering content. So why not do everything you can to get feedback from viewers as to what they like or don’t like, and why?

Smart move Facebook, and a great example of a powerful feedback loop for service design!

Last week during my service design workshop for Inc. Magazine, I cited the study from Bain Consulting in which 80% of executives from large public corporations believed that they were providing "outstanding customer experiences" to consumers. I asked the group of privately-held company CEOs to guess what percentage of customers actually agreed that statement. People called out "30%," "20%," "15%!" It was like a reverse auction. And yet nobody even came close to the dismal truth that only 8% of customers agreed that they had an outstanding customer experience. You could actually hear a collective gasp in the room when I told them that the number was 8% and that the execs had missed it not by a factor of two or three but by a factor of 10!

I’ve been thinking a lot about this disconnect within large corporations. Why does it exist? I have a couple theories, and the first revolves around the old saying, "familiarity breeds contempt." It’s tough to nail down who first said that, either Aesop in a fable or St. Augustine ("vulgare proverbium est , quod nimia familiaritas parit contemptum.") And while this saying is most often associated with individuals and inter-personal relationships, I think it’s true for companies and their customers. In traditional marketing there is a mad rush to get new customers, as opposed to really understanding the customers you have, which in turn, would help you attract more customers. (more…)