5-1

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Customer Interface

• Questions Answered in this Chapter:

– What are the seven design elements of the customer
interface?
– What determines the look-and-feel of the design?
– What are the three content classifications?
– Why be concerned with community?
– What are the two ways in which websites can achieve
customization?
– What types of communication can a firm maintain with
its customer base?
– How does a firm connect with other businesses?
– What commerce features help websites perform
financial transactions?
 5-2
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Introduction
• Customer interface
– is the virtual representation of a firm's chosen value
proposition
• Seven design elements of customer interface
(7Cs)
– Context
– Content
– Community
– Customization
– Communication
– Connection
– Commerce
 Exhibit 5.1: The 7Cs of Customer 5-3
1-3

Interface
Context Content
Site’s layout and design Text, pictures, sound, and
video that webpages
contain

Commerce Community
Site’s capabilities to The ways sites enable user-
enable commercial to-user communication
transactions

Connection Customization
Site’s ability to self-tailor to
Degree site is linked to different users or to allow
other sites users to personalize the site

Communication
The ways sites enable site-
to-user communication or
two-way communication
Exhibit 5.2: Fit and Reinforcement of 5-4
1-4

the 7Cs
Business
Business Model
Model

Individually Supporting Fit

Context Content Community Customization Communication Connection Commerce

Consistent Reinforcement
What Determines the Look-and-Feel 5-5
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of the Design? First: Context

• Context
– captures its aesthetics and functional look-and-feel
• Dimensions of Context
1. Function refers to the organization and accessibility of
information
• Section Breakdown is the way the site is organized into
subcomponents
• Linking Structure enables users to move easily between sections
• Navigation Tools facilitate how the user moves through the site
• Speed is measured by the time needed to display a page on a
user’s screen
• Reliability how often a site experiences “downtime”
• Platform Independence is measured by how well the website can
run on multiple platforms, including old versions of Web browsers
• Media Accessibility the ability of a site to download to various
media platforms
 5-6
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First: Context (cont’d)
2. Aesthetics refers to the visual characteristics of a site
• Color Scheme refers to the colors used throughout the site
• Visual Themes help to tell the story portrayed across the site

• Context Classifications
– Aesthetically Dominant: Emphasis is on the look-and-feel of the site.
• This type of site makes heavy use of visual elements
– Functionally Dominant: Emphasis is on the display of textual
information.
• This type of site limits the visual design to a minimum
– Integrated: Balance of form and function.
• These sites have a clear and appealing theme that support the underlying
graphics
Exhibit 5.3: Form vs. Function 5-7
1-7

-The Design Context Frontier

High Integrated

Aesthetically
Dominant

Frontier is
gradually moving
outward as
technology
advances
Low

Functionally
Dominant

Low High

FUNCTION
Exhibit 5.4: Aesthetically Dominant 5-8
1-8

example—KMGI.com
Exhibit 5-5: Functional Dominant— 5-9
1-9

Brint.com
 Second: Content 5-10
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Deciding What Information to Include

• The Content of a website
– refers to all the digital information on the site

• Evaluating Content
– Offering Mix
• Content of a site can include products, information, services, or a mix of these
three
– Appeal Mix
• Company's value proposition is projected in the promotional and
communications messages of a site
– Multimedia Mix
• Refers to the choices of media including text, audio, image, video and graphics
– Timeliness Mix
• information presented on a site is time-sensitive
– Current Content –
• Highly time-sensitive information with very short shelf life
– Reference Content –
• less time-sensitive information with longer shelf life
 5-11
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Second: Content (cont’d)
• Content Classifications
– Product Dominant: Encompasses store sites that
primarily sell physical goods
• Superstore
– One-stop shop offering a wide range of goods in multiple product
categories
• Category Killer
– Sites offering a comprehensive selection of products and services
but only within a specific category
• Specialty Store
– Stores offering exceptional quality and exclusivity in single or
multiple categories of products
– Information Dominant: Encompasses store sites that
focus heavily on information
– Service Dominant: Encompasses store sites that focus
on the services offered, often for a fee
Exhibit 5-10: Information-Dominant 5-12
1-12

Example—Fast Company
Exhibit 5-11: Service Dominant 5-13
1-13

Example—PlasticsNet
 5-14
1-14
Third: Community

• Community includes a feeling of membership in

a group along with a strong sense of
involvement and shared common interests
• Five components determine the shape of online
communities:
– Characteristics
– Member Motivation
– Member Participation
– Member Benefits
– Interaction Tools
 5-15
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Characteristics
• The more evolved the community the more likely
it is to have these six characteristics
– Cohesion- the community develops a group identity
– Effectiveness- the group has impact on members’ lives

– Help- members feel comfortable asking for and receiving help from
other members

– Relationships- interaction between individuals leads to

friendships

– Language- members develop a specialized language and/or

abbreviations with unique meaning within the community

– Self-regulation- the group sets rules for its own interaction and
develops a system for policing itself
Exhibit 5-12: Communities—Elements,1-16
5-16

Types & Benefits

Why members are How members
motivated to join the participate in the
community community

Community Characteristics

• Cohesion
• Effectiveness
• Interaction Tools
Help
• Relationships
• Language
• Self-regulation

Member Benefits
• Need fulfillment
• Inclusion
• Mutual influence
• Shared experiences/ information
 5-17
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Community Classifications

• Nonexistant- sites that have no community offer no

way for users to interact with one another, on either a
one-to-one basis or one-to-many basis

• Limited- sites that offer features such as reading and

posting information, stories, or opinions

• Strong- sites that offer interactive community functions

such as chat rooms and message boards
 Fourth: Customization 5-18
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Creating an Individualized Website

• refers to a site's ability to tailor itself to each
user or to be tailored by the user
• Dimensions of Customization
– Personalization:
• user initiates & manages the customization process
– Tailoring:
• Software dynamically publishes unique versions of
the site to address specific user's interests, habits &
needs more appropriately
 5-19
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Fourth: Customization (Cont’d)
• Commonly used customization features:
– E-mail accounts
• Users can send and receive e-mail from the site, using a free,
unique e-mail address
– Content and layout configuration
• Users can design their own homepage, within limits, by
choosing background colors, layout design, and content sources
– Storage
• Users can store e-mail, URLs, favorite content, or items they
want to buy
– Agents
• Computer programs can perform simple tasks upon request,
such as notifying a user via e-mail when a product is in stock
 Fifth: Communication 5-20
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Keeping in Touch with Users

• refers to the dialogue between a site & its users
• Dimensions of Communication
– Broadcast
• One-way information exchange from organization to user.
• can be in the form of mass mailing, FAQ, e-mail newsletters,
content-update reminders and broadcast events

– Interactive
• Two-way communication between the organization and a
user.
• can be in the form of e-commerce dialogue, customer
service and user input
 5-21
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Fifth: Communication
• Communication Archetypes
– One-to-One, Non-Responding User
• User receives personalized messages to address specific
interests or needs without a need to respond
– One-to-One, Responding User
• User responds to personalized messages sent by the site

– One-to-Many, Non-Responding User

• Site messages are announcements that users receive
without needing to respond
– One-to-Many, Responding User
• Site messages are invitations to users to submit their
comments and responses
 Exhibit 5-17: One-to-One, Live 5-22
1-22

Interaction Example—LivePerson.com
 Sixth: Connection 5-23
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Linking with Other Websites

• is the degree to which a given site is able to link
to other sites
• Dimensions of Connection
– Outside Links
• Links that take the user completely outside the home site and
into a third-party site
– Framed Links
• Links that take the user to a third-party site that open in the
same browser window and that are framed by the home site
in some way
– Pop-Up Windows
• Links that open up the new site in another browser window
while the original website stays in the background
– Outsourced Content
• Content that comes from an outside supplier
 5-24
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Sixth: Connections Classifications

• Destination Site
– Provides almost exclusively site-generated
content with very few links to other sites
• Hub Site
– Provides a combination of site-generated content
and selective links to sites of related interests
• Portal Site
– Consists almost exclusively of links to a large
number of other sites
 Seventh: Commerce 5-25
1-25

Enabling Financial Transactions

• refers to the sale of information, products or
services on the site.
• Dimensions of Commerce
– Functional tools that are the commerce-enabling
features of a website
•Registration •Orders Through Affiliates
•Shopping Cart •Configuration Technology
•Security •Order Tracking
•Credit-Card Approval •Delivery Options
•One-Click Shopping
 5-26
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Seventh: Commerce (cont’d)

• Commerce Classifications:
– Low
• These websites have the ability to process transactions, but
with few of the tools that enable e-commerce

– Medium:
• Some websites have no need for all the commerce activities
and contain financial transactions as a necessary feature but
not as their main purpose.

– High
• These websites are fully equipped with all or almost all the
functional tools that enable e-commerce.
 5-27
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Exhibit 5-22: Map of 7Cs Framework
Aesthetically Functionally
Context Integrated
dominant dominant
Information-
Content Product-dominant Service- dominant
dominant

Community Nonexistent Limited Strong

Moderately
Customization Generic Highly customized
customized
One-to-
One-to-many, One-to-one, One-to-one,
many,
Communication nonrespondi nonrespondi responding
responding
ng user ng user user
user

Connection Destination Hub Portal

Commerce Low Medium High

 Exhibit 5-23: Foot Locker 5-28
1-28

(www.footlocker.com)
Aesthetically Functionally
Context dominant dominant
Integrated

Content Product-dominant Information-dominant Service-dominant

Community Nonexistent Limited Strong

Moderately
Customization Generic
customized
Highly customized

One-to-many, One-to-many, One-to-one,

One-to-one,
Communication nonresponding responding nonresponding
responding user
user user user

Connection Destination Hub Portal

Commerce Low Medium High

 Exhibit 5-24: Cool Running 5-29
1-29

(www.coolrunning.com)
Aesthetically Functionally
Functionally
Context dominant dominant
Integrated
dominant

Product- Information
Information-
Content dominant -dominant
dominant
Service-dominant

Community Nonexistent Limited Strong

Moderately
Customization Generic
customized
Highl
Highly Customized

One-to-many One-to-many, One-to-one,

Communication Nonresponding responding nonresponding One-to-one
user user user Responding user

Connection Destination Hub

Hub Portal

Commerce Low
Low Medium High
 Exhibit 5-25: MarketWatch.com 5-30
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(www.cbs.marketwatch.com)
Aesthetically Functionally
Context dominant
Integrated
Dominant

Information
Content Product-dominant Service-dominant
-dominant

Community Nonexistent Limited Strong

Strong

Moderately
Customization Generic customized Highly customized

One-to-
One-to-many One-to-one,
many, One-to-one,
Communication Nonresponding nonresponding
responding responding user
user user
user

Connection Strong
Destination Hub Portal

Commerce Low
Low Medium High
Exhibit 5-26: CBS MarketWatch.com 5-31
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