The Augmented Consumer Interface story is more of the ‘Algorithm’ wearing the Brand face in front of the consumer. Augmented Consumer Interface is triggering the new CX dynamics in the age of Hyper-Connected Augmented Consumer. As the customer is constantly switched on, augmented via devices, apps, social media, chatbots and AI assistants, you need to serve the customer with information, suggest, guide, connect meaningfully, build intelligent conversations and authentic interactions, and incite purchase decisions every time you get an opportunity.
You can bank on the Augmented Consumer Interface to put your brand’s face at the point of intersection, promote delightful customer experiences. As sensors, IoT devices, mobile, web, wearables, smart systems, social and other growing sources setup a bridge to serve customers, the interface element powered by AI has not only augmented customers but have been evolving to suit customers and the times.
Enter Covid-19 period. Customers say ‘no touch’ to touch base with you, for the times recommend contactless interactions. Touchless interfaces are the most-preferred medium enabling healthy customer experience, as of now. AI-embedded non-touch interfaces such as automatic speech recognition and gesture recognition are moving from the concept to design phase. There still remains a need for a novel interface to get to your customer in a specific scenario and engage them.
If you want to engage the hyper-connected augmented consumer, you need to build ‘Augmented Consumer Interfaces’ to interact, converse, serve and earn trust. How do you build augmented consumer interfaces?
AI-powered Augmented Consumer Interfaces go Mainstream
As ‘hyper-connection’ goes viral among customers, and as customers lap up augmented capabilities enabled via ‘non-touch interface’, for instance, augmented consumer interfaces powered by AI and Machine learning rise in relevance. Take the NLP powered chatbots or the machine learning-computer vision powered cameras. They power interfaces in terms of empowering customers with augmented capabilities and promoting enhanced customer experience.
CX leaders will turn to Artificial Intelligence ecosystems to deploy augmented technologies that lavish customers with augmented capabilities, automate behaviors and customer decision making. Today’s augmenter – AI and Machine learning, guides enterprises to explore the untapped potentials of augmented consumer interface, in turn, promising AI-enabled customer interactions and enriched customer experience.
Sample ‘Augmented Consumer Interfaces’ Scenarios
Let’s consider this ‘banking customer’ story. Initiating a video call with the bank officer from his smartphone, this customer has opened an account sitting cosily at home. The AI-powered machine vision technology has come good for the KYC process eliminating the manual verification. If you are walking towards one of the signages inside a retail store, and if you see an ad flashed, an ad of a product you are interested in, don’t get dumbfounded anymore. For, it was the augmented consumer interface powered by AI and computer vision in action, which knows who you are to serve the right ad for you.
There are more scenarios across domains and industries worthy of creating the augmented consumer interface to cater to the hyper-connected augmented consumer. It all works in the same fashion as to how the algorithm-powered interface raises into a brand in itself to augment and empower the customer with information, turn proactive in allowing customers to do what they want to do, pre-empt sales that were only thoughts, suggest and guide to win customer trust.
Framework to Build Augmented Consumer Interface
Interface agents take different forms, as that of Chatbots, non-touch agents and reconnaissance agents powered by the AI and ML components including NLP, NLU, automatic speech recognition, computer vision and Voice AI. And where do interface agents reside among the many touchpoints, platforms and channels?
While you put a framework in place, you can move from the concept to deployment phase seamlessly. Here’s a 4-step framework that can help you deploy augmented consumer interfaces.
Building Blocks of ‘Augmented Consumer Interface’ Design
Brick by brick, you can conceive and build your ‘Augmented Consumer Interface’ Design mooted for a specific customer experience purpose. From understanding what the interface is expected to accomplish to augmenting the interface to win customer trust, and building a responsible and a secured interface at that, you can use the building blocks to lay the course to connect with the hyper-connected augmented customer.
Today’s tech-savvy, hyper-connected customers look up to you for augmented capabilities. With augmented consumer interfaces, you let the customer to be efficient, creative, and gratified. On your side, you can leverage augmented customer interfaces to adopt a new revenue enabler, leapfrog customer experience, and be your customer’s first choice.
