Employee experience research

CX or design leaders often tell me that people are the best drivers of success. People come up with good ideas and make them happen. Of course they do so by following a specific process – be it design thinking, design sprint or service design – but ultimately success happens when they can show their best in a fruitful collaboration.

Row of yellow rubber ducks in a formal line with one duck breaking away from the line to follow its own direction

Interested in teams' dynamics, collaboration and psychological safety, I started research on a rare set of individuals I call the talented misfits.

Psychology studies show that when we are taught something, we tend to repeat it without questioning it. That is our human nature. And we do so even for inefficient strategies. Most of us will repeat inefficient strategies, except for a few individuals who will voice their observations and concerns, in an attempt to find a better way. Those individuals are the ones I call the talented misfits.

They are the ones who dare to challenge status quo. But rather than seeing value in them, organisations most likely turn a deaf ear to them – or worse, see them as dangerous disruptors that need to be silenced.

This research aims at better understanding those talented misfits, in order to help them – and everyone around them – identify their potential, and find ways to create the environment that will enable them to do what they are best at.

Do you feel like a talented misfit? Or do you feel you know one? Get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch, I'd love to hear from you

Publications - CX & design research

I authored and co-authored 50+ reports as a customer experience and design analyst (all available on Forrester's website). Here is a selection of my best ones:

  • Design better search A 5 step framework to create great digital search experiences

    Digital search can offer infinite opportunities to improve customer experience, but it is not a silver bullet. This report highlights the main challenges at stake with digital search and gives design and digital professionals involved in creating a search experience a five-step framework and a set of principles they can use to ensure they create good search experiences

  • Twelve design strategies to overcome resistance and embrace change How to use design practices to accelerate change management for employees and customers.

    Companies identify design as key to driving better customer experience (CX). But while they might receive a mandate to help their organizations transform by using design, design leaders often struggle with strong internal resistance that prevents them from delivering their best value. This report casts light on what drives resistance to change and highlights 12 design strategies that can help win over employees and customers.

  • Elevate your mobile experience by applying behavioral science to UX design How to foster feelings of competence, autonomy, and relatedness to sustain mobile engagement

    Too many mobile apps still fail to meet customers’ expectations of a user experience (UX) that is effective, easy, and emotionally engaging. Companies should invest more in fixing and enhancing their mobile UX, as touch digital experiences are a more personal and engaging channel. This report explains how to design mobile experiences that will sustain engagement by combining a solid mobile UX foundation and psychological human needs as design principles.

  • Agile and design teams: better together Improve CX and EX with great collaboration between designers and developers

    Companies are adopting agile frameworks and adding designers to their delivery teams to improve digital experience development efforts. But these two constituencies don’t rely on the same workflow, artefacts, or ceremonies — and often struggle to find common ground as a result. This report for experience design (XD) pros explains how to help these two worlds join forces to create better together — improving customer experiences and building a more collaborative, customer-centric company culture.

  • Design better feedback experiences to drive loyalty and value customers’ generosity You are missing out on customers’ feedback, and it’s on you!

    Customer experience (CX) leaders need to better design feedback experiences to avoid missed opportunities, harvest the value that customers give them, and follow up in a way that will positively engage with customers, not dismiss them.

  • Human customer service: the overlooked opportunity for breakaway CX differentiation

    When customer service is delivered by human employees, it boosts loyalty, enriches the firm’s understanding of customer needs, and can even present cross-sell and upsell opportunities. But many companies make the mistake of treating customer service as a cost center to be contained — so they automate service as much as possible and staff their call centers with low-cost employees. This report explains how CX professionals can help their firms transform the service journeys for both customers and employees, to seize this opportunity instead.

  • The unintended consequences of service design Learn from three service design projects that delivered more than expected

    Service design initiatives that target a customer experience (CX) challenge often deliver beyond their initial scope, impacting the organization’s employees and culture as well as customers. This report illustrates how and why service design principles power success beyond expectations, using three success stories across the banking, healthcare, and social security industries.