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Éliminer, Automatiser, Simplifier, le framework du Norman Nielsen Group propose une approche pragmatique pour augmenter la conversion de vos funnels et la satisfaction utilisateur. On découvre cette méthode ensemble dans ce guide UX. Article source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/eas-framework-simplify-forms/
Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4370dIB ----------------------- Got a question? Want to recommend a guest? Or do you want to tell me how the show can be better? Send me a voice message via email at podcast@usertesting.com ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, we're joined by Alita Kendrick, a UX researcher at Google leading accessibility research for the Google Cloud Platform and exploring new market opportunities. Alita discusses how generative AI is revolutionizing UX workflows—from streamlining planning docs to accelerating qualitative data analysis. Host Michael Domanic and Alita dive into how tools like Gemini, ChatGPT, and UserTesting's AI features are cutting research time in half and giving researchers back the space to focus on strategy, storytelling, and democratizing insights across organizations. Alita also shares real-world use cases, common pitfalls to avoid when starting with AI, and how AI can even help uncover your own unconscious biases. Whether you're a seasoned UX researcher or just starting to integrate AI into your work, this episode is packed with practical advice, inspiration, and a look at what the future holds for AI-powered research. Key topics discussed: How Alita uses AI throughout the research lifecycle—from planning to analysis Time savings and operational efficiencies achieved through AI tools Creative tools like NotebookLM, Claude, and Midjourney in UX workflows How to prompt AI effectively and avoid common early mistakes Balancing AI outputs with critical thinking and business context The role of AI in democratizing research and surfacing legacy insights Personal reflections on AI adoption, experimentation, and optimism for its future Resources & Links: Alita on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alita-kendrick/) Michael on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldomanic/) Alita's author site on NNG (https://www.nngroup.com/people/alita-kendrick/) Alita's Efficient UX course on NNG (https://www.nngroup.com/courses/efficient-ux/) Learn more about Insights Unlocked: https://www.usertesting.com/podcast
La concept map, un outil puissant pour débloquer les projets complexes. Découvrez ce qu'est une concept map, ses principaux cas d'usage (brainstorming, structuration d'idées, gestion de projets…) et des conseils pratiques pour l'utiliser efficacement. Idéal pour les entrepreneurs, créateurs et équipes produit en quête de clarté et de structure.
This interview was recorded live on May 1st for UserTesting's ThiS Connect City Tour. Interested in joining us for our next live show? We're joining an incredible lineup at #THiSConnect in NYC (including former Design Better guest Seth Godin), where we'll talk about customer experience, innovation, and the real impact of AI.
Figma a dévoilé 3 produits et 2 features majeurs en 1 soirée, voici un récap condensé ainsi que mes premiers retours d'expérience à chaud !
Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4d2nCOx ----------------------- Got a question? Want to recommend a guest? Or do you want to tell me how the show can be better? Send me a voice message via email at podcast@usertesting.com ----------------------- In this episode, UserTesting's Lija Hogan sits down with Jim Kalbach, Chief Evangelist at Mural and author of The Jobs to Be Done Playbook, to discuss how the “Jobs to Be Done” framework can transform UX and business strategy in today's growth-focused world. Jim unpacks how this mindset helps teams align around real customer needs and bridge the gap between design and business outcomes. He also shares insights on leveraging AI as a tool to enhance—not replace—human-centered research. Jim reflects on his career journey, his passion for experience mapping, and how reframing UX from a cost-saving function to a growth driver can earn teams greater influence in their organizations. Plus, he explains why empathy shouldn't stop at the customer—UX teams need to understand their business stakeholders just as deeply. Key takeaways: The evolution of jobs to be done from boardroom strategy to everyday design practice Why UX teams need to speak the language of business—and how the word “growth” can open doors How to gain executive buy-in by aligning with business goals and showing proof of impact Tips for using AI to support jobs-to-be-done research and scale customer insights The future of UX: creating more human-centric organizations by democratizing research mindsets Resources & Links: Connect with Jim Kalback on LinkedIn Jim's JTBD Playbook and Mapping Experiences books Mural Connect with Lija Hogan on LinkedIn Learn more about Insights Unlocked: usertesting.com/podcast
In this episode of the Building Better Developers podcast, Rob Broadhead and Michael Meloche walk you through how to demo your product in a way that not only shows off your work but also gathers critical feedback. Whether you're pitching to potential clients, investors, or internal stakeholders, the proper demo can shape the direction of your product and business.
Vendre un abonnement ou des add-ons au sein d'une app mobile est un véritable challenge de design et de commerce… J'ai analysé le top des apps mobiles pour vous partager le gold standard pour augmenter sa conversion et son revenu ! Attention : ceci risque de déplaire aux puristes de l'UX Design…
Créer un produit fonctionnel de A à Z en quelques heures et le déployer en ligne ? C'est la promesse du Vibe Coding et ça pourrait devenir un outil majeur du Product Designer… J'ai testé plusieurs outils et voici mon debrief !
Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4400s9a ----------------------- Got a question? Want to recommend a guest? Or do you want to tell me how the show can be better? Send me a voice message via email at podcast@usertesting.com ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Jason Giles, VP of Design at UserTesting, chats with Andrew Hogan, Head of Insights at Figma, about the evolving role of design in the AI era. Fresh off the release of Figma's 2025 AI Report, Andrew shares key takeaways from a survey of 2,500 designers and developers using AI in product development. The conversation covers how teams are shifting from experimentation to evaluating AI's real-world impact, why design is more crucial than ever for AI-powered products, and how successful teams are navigating the contradictions of rapid innovation. They also dive into the rise of agentic AI, the ongoing productivity vs. quality debate, and why tight design-dev collaboration is becoming non-negotiable. Whether you're building the next-gen user experience or exploring how AI fits into your workflow, this episode is packed with insights on making AI work for your team and your users. What you'll learn: Why 52% of builders say design is more important for AI products than traditional ones How agentic AI is emerging as the fastest-growing category—and what that means for UX The growing gap between AI's ability to speed up work and its impact on work quality Why “measured momentum” might best describe AI's trajectory in 2025 What high-performing teams do differently: iterate, collaborate, and stay flexible Resources & Links: Connect with Andrew Hogan on LinkedIn Andrew's Double Click blog post Connect with Jason Giles on LinkedIn Figma's 2025 AI Report: The year of AI at work Learn more about Insights Unlocked: usertesting.com/podcast
Épisode 1308 : Youpi, c'est les vacances et on vous a fait un joli récap des dernières news social media pour bien commencer la semaine !LinkedIn ouvre ses badges de vérification aux applications tiercesSur Internet, la confiance est devenue une monnaie rare. LinkedIn l'a bien compris et veut imposer ses badges de vérification partout, même au-delà de son réseau.LinkedIn poursuit sa quête de crédibilité et de lutte contre l'usurpation d'identité en étendant son programme de vérification d'identité à l'extérieur de sa propre plateforme.Selon LinkedIn, 75 personnes vérifient leur identité chaque minute sur la plateforme. Il y en a eu 750 depuis le début de cet épisodeDésormais, certains sites et applications tierces pourront intégrer et afficher le badge “Verified on LinkedIn” sur leurs services. Ce badge authentifie qu'un utilisateur a bel et bien vérifié son identité via LinkedIn, notamment son identité personnelle, son employeur ou son parcours universitaire.Comment ça marche ?Des plateformes partenaires comme Adobe Behance, TrustRadius, G2 ou encore UserTesting ont été choisies pour cette première vague. Par exemple, sur Behance, les créatifs pourront montrer leur badge LinkedIn directement sur leurs portfolios, renforçant leur crédibilité aux yeux de recruteurs ou de clients potentiels.Threads déploie ses publicités à l'ensemble des annonceurs MetaMeta ne compte pas laisser Threads végéter dans l'ombre : après un an de rodage, les publicités débarquent en masse sur la plateforme.Grosse actualité pour le petit frère d'Instagram : Threads annonce l'ouverture globale de son offre publicitaire. Après plusieurs mois de tests initiés début 2025 aux États-Unis et au Japon, tous les annonceurs Meta éligibles peuvent désormais acheter des emplacements publicitaires sur Threads.Facebook et Instagram face à une baisse d'usageUn aveu rare de Mark ZuckerbergLors d'une récente audience judiciaire, Mark Zuckerberg a reconnu que les utilisateurs passent désormais moins de temps sur Facebook et Instagram. Même si aucun chiffre précis n'a été donné, cet aveu confirme les suspicions croissantes autour du désengagement progressif sur ces plateformes historiques de Meta.WhatsApp renforce la confidentialité des discussionsNouvelle fonctionnalité : "Confidentialité avancée de la discussion"WhatsApp a annoncé le déploiement d'une nouvelle option de sécurité appelée "Confidentialité avancée de la discussion". Cette fonctionnalité complète les mesures déjà en place (chiffrement de bout en bout, messages éphémères, verrouillage des discussions).Fonctionnement de la confidentialité avancéeAvec cette fonctionnalité activée :Retrouvez toutes les notes de l'épisode sur www.lesuperdaily.com ! . . . Le Super Daily est le podcast quotidien sur les réseaux sociaux. Il est fabriqué avec une pluie d'amour par les équipes de Supernatifs. Nous sommes une agence social media basée à Lyon : https://supernatifs.com. Ensemble, nous aidons les entreprises à créer des relations durables et rentables avec leurs audiences. Ensemble, nous inventons, produisons et diffusons des contenus qui engagent vos collaborateurs, vos prospects et vos consommateurs. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.
Le duo Designer x PM tel qu'on le connait n'a plus vraiment la côte... Airbnb, Snapchat et bien d'autres ont mis en place des variantes du schéma traditionnel et la tendance continue de s'affirmer, creusons la dès maintenant pour anticiper le monde de demain !
Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4jHDYyu ----------------------- Got a question? Want to recommend a guest? Or do you want to tell me how the show can be better? Send me a voice message via email at podcast@usertesting.com ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Michael Domanic, Head of AI at UserTesting, sits down with Greg Shove, CEO of Section, to unpack what it truly means for businesses to embrace AI transformation. Greg shares his personal “aha” moment with generative AI, how it led him to pivot Section into an AI-centric business school, and why every executive should view AI as a strategic thought partner—not just a tool for marketers and engineers. From experimenting with AI as a boardroom simulator to identifying organizational resistance, Greg gets real about what's holding companies back from adopting AI effectively. He also offers practical advice for leaders navigating internal fears, outlines how businesses can build impactful AI pilots, and explains why creativity and experimentation are critical to unlocking AI's full potential. What you'll learn in this episode: Why Greg believes AI is the new cognitive edge for leaders The story behind Section's pivot to AI education Barriers to AI adoption, including fear, poor training, and restrictive data policies The difference between deploying AI tools and truly transforming workflows Why language-intensive roles are leading the charge in AI adoption The power of autonomous agents and what they mean for the future of customer experiences How to structure internal AI pilots that actually move the needle Who should lead AI transformation inside your organization—and the creative mindset they need Resources & Links: Connect with Greg Shove on LinkedIn Connect with Michael Domanic on LinkedIn Section School Greg's website Learn more about Insights Unlocked: usertesting.com/podcast
Trouver des bonnes ressources et de bonnes idées tout en les adaptant à son contexte précis, tel est le défi d'une bonne session de benchmark. Voici le toolkit gratuit qu'il vous faut : https://pablooo.club/toolkit
Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4l9JDil ----------------------- Got a question? Want to recommend a guest? Or do you want to tell me how the show can be better? Send me a voice message via email at podcast@usertesting.com ----------------------- In this Insights Unlocked episode, UserTesting's Jason Giles sits down with Dane Howard, Vice President of Product Design at G2, for a powerful conversation on the intersection of storytelling, design leadership, and purposeful innovation. With a career that spans design leadership at Amazon, eBay, and Microsoft, Dane brings a wealth of experience—and a passion for creating human-centered experiences. Dane discusses how G2's visual customer journey map became a transformative internal tool, using storytelling metaphors like cities and theme parks to create clarity, alignment, and excitement across the organization. He also opens up about his personal “three-legged stool” approach to balancing full-time work, advocacy, and creative passion projects. Whether you're a product leader, UX professional, or design enthusiast, this episode offers actionable insights into how to keep your work rooted in purpose and aligned with customer needs—while also making space for your own growth and creativity. What you'll learn in this episode: Why storytelling is an essential leadership skill in design and CX How G2's customer journey map turned into a city-wide metaphor that boosted internal alignment Tips on keeping internal artifacts like journey maps alive and evolving The power of framing design work through the lens of customer experience How to balance career, passion projects, and mentorship with intentionality Resources & Links: Connect with Dane Howard on LinkedIn Connect with Jason Giles on LinkedIn G2.com danehoward.com Dane's LinkedIn article on G2's Customer Journey Mapping project Learn more about Insights Unlocked: usertesting.com/podcast
Transcrire, analyser, archiver, Gong le fait ! Après 6 mois d'usage, je vous partage mon retour d'expérience honnête sur cet outil qui peut vous sauver de nombreuses heures d'UX Research…
Guider une interview d'UX Research demande une rigueur nette dans l'application de quelques principes de base. On récap tout ça ensemble dans cet épisode.
Travailler dans un fichier Figma lent est un véritable enfer… mais avec quelques astuces et l'outil natif caché d'optimisation des perfs, on devrait pouvoir s'en sortir !
UserTesting's Chief of Staff to the Chief People Officer and Head of ESG, Corey Hatcher, joins the show to discuss her unique journey into corporate social impact and how the company leverages its people, products, and capital for good.
Omniprésent et trop souvent oublié : le curseur de souris est un outil puissant pour indiquer l'usage des différents éléments qu'il survole. On se fait un récap ensemble dans cet épisode !
D'où vient l'impact carbone du numérique ? Comment le réduire ? Comment agir ? Streaming, intelligence artificielle, mails, on debunk tout ça dans Parlons Design...
Mona Sabet is the co-author of Sail to Scale: Steering Startups Clear of Mistakes from Launch to Exit and currently serves as SVP, Strategy, Projects, and Operations at GCG. With a track record of driving growth and strategic transformations, she has held executive roles at VulcanForms, UserTesting, and Cadence Design Systems. At UserTesting, she played a pivotal role in securing $100M in funding, leading acquisitions, taking the company public, and negotiating its $1.3B sale to Thoma Bravo. Beyond her corporate leadership, Mona is a passionate advocate for women in tech, law, and policy, having co-founded ChIPsNetwork.org and leading HiPower, a community dedicated to empowering executive women shaping the future of technology.In this conversation, we discuss:The critical mistakes startups make at different growth stages—Mona shares insights from Sail to Scale on why companies struggle to scale and how to avoid common pitfalls.How founders should "fire themselves" to scale effectively—Why transitioning from founder to CEO requires a mindset shift, and the biggest mistakes leaders make in this process.The AI bubble: hype vs. reality—Mona explains why overfunding in AI-first companies mirrors past tech bubbles and what it means for the future of the industry.Why acquisitions should be a long-term strategy, not a last-minute decision—The importance of planning exits early and why companies that wait too long often fail to sell at the right valuation.The evolving landscape of M&A and IPOs—How companies can differentiate themselves in a crowded market of late-stage startups waiting for an exit.The unseen biases keeping women out of leadership—Mona's perspective on why brand bias impacts diversity in tech and what leaders can do to create real change.Resources:Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work NewsletterConnect with Mona on LinkedIn AI fun fact articleOn How to how AI is changing the entertainment industry
Une librairie de milliers de screenshots, une recherche IA sémantique, gratuit ? Découvrez Pablooo.club : un side-project Parlons Design créé pour les designers et product managers en recherche de golden nuggets ➡️ https://pablooo.club ⬅️
Et si ChatGPT prenait le contrôle des tâches rébarbatives de Figma ? En combinant la console cachée, la plugin API et l'intelligence artificielle, vous pouvez automatiser n'importe quelle tâche en quelques secondes seulement... Voici quelques astuces pour exploiter cette fonctionnalité au mieux !
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #businessJoin Josh Schachter (Founder & CEO, UpdateAI), Kristi Faltorusso (CCO, ClientSuccess), and Jon Johnson (Principal CSM Enterprise, UserTesting) as they discuss the recent merger between Opexus and Casepoint with Bonnye Hart, Chief Customer Officer.Discover how these twin powers under the Thoma Bravo banner are navigating change, professional growth, and customer success. From strategic partnerships to expanding adoption, this episode is packed with engaging conversations and expert insights.Timestamps0:00 - Preview, BS & Intros2:49 - Thoma Bravo and merger discussion6:04 - Team dynamics post-merger8:00 - Introduction to Opexus and Casepoint11:53 - The curiosity post-merger and job security14:43 - Engagement models and customer-centricity22:17 - Bonnye's strategy & approach to CS___________________________
Bolt, Lovable, v0, Coda, Protopie... Replit vient de remporter la bataille du meilleur outil de prototypage tech. Un agent IA très bien designé au sein d'une plateforme moderne, je vous partage mon retour d'expérience sur cet outil impressionnant !
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #businessLauren Kennedy (Head of CS, Glean) joins Josh Schachter (CEO & Co-Founder, UpdateAI) and Jon Johnson (Principal CSM, UserTesting) to share her insights on how Agentic AI is transforming customer success management by automating low-value tasks and enhancing productivity. She also discusses how they're leveraging their own technology to optimize internal operations and improve client engagements.**Timestamps:**0:00 - Preview, BS & Intros4:20 - Glean's X-factor8:20 - What is Agentic AI?12:00 - Goals for 202514:30 - Company Culture and Hiring Needs18:04 - Collaboration between Sales & CS20:55 - Glean for post-sales24:00 - Lauren's career path and insights___________________________
Détecter les intentions des utilisateur pour adapter l'interface à leurs besoins, telle est la voie qui se dessine pour les produits numériques modernes. De CityMapper à Disney+ en passant par ChatGPT, découvrons ensemble la méthode Intent Driven Design !
In this episode of Brave UX, Brendan welcomes Lawton Pybus, Principal and Co-Founder of Drill Bit Labs. Join them as they dive into the evolving landscape of UX amidst recent tech layoffs. Lawton shares insights from his extensive research on UX job markets and discusses the importance of valuing UX in organizations. With a blend of personal anecdotes—including a ‘fun' story about a venomous snake—this conversation highlights key trends, challenges, and the potential role of AI in UX. Listeners will find valuable advice for navigating their careers and fostering resilience in the UX field. Don't miss this insightful and entertaining discussion! Highlights include: 00:00 - Introduction 02:15 - Job Market Analysis 05:45 - Real-Time Tracking of UX Roles 10:30 - Lawton's Personal Journey 15:00 - Impact of Recent Layoffs in UX 20:40 - The Demand for UX Skills 25:15 - The PAIR Framework and AI in UX 30:00 - Ethical AI Use in UX Research 35:10 - The Importance of Independent Thought 40:00 - Closing Thoughts Who is Lawton Pybus Lawton is a Principal and Co-founder of Drill Bit Labs. With a background in human factors, he has prior experience leading UX research teams at UserTesting, UserZoom, and MeasuringU and executing research on teams at Charles Schwab and Cabela's. He is the author of many insightful blog posts and regularly speaks at industry conferences like UXPA. Find Lawton Here Lawton Pybus on LinkedIn Drill Bit Labs Website Subscribe to Brave UX Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Apple Podcast Spotify YouTube Podbean Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! LinkedIn Instagram Brendan Jarvis hosts the Show, and you can find him here: Brendan Jarvis on LinkedIn The Space InBetween Website
Réduire les frictions pour améliorer sa qualité de travail, c'est la promesse de ces 4 outils de productivité idéal pour les designers et product managers...
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business Amy Oilman, SVP of Customer Success at Conversica, joins hosts Jon Johnson, Principal CSM, Key Accounts at UserTesting, and Josh Schachter, Co-Founder & CEO at UpdateAI, to share insights from her experience building and leading customer success teams at industry giants like Google and Salesforce. Drawing from her time at these powerhouse companies, she reveals how to create the most effective customer success teams, emphasizing the importance of a well-defined team vision, the core values guiding her teams, and innovative approaches to battling churn and ensuring customer satisfaction. Timestamps 0:00 – Preview & Intros 4:10 – Priorities for 2025 7:07 – Rules of the Road 8:40 – The #1 Rule of the Road 11:23 – Collaboration with Internal Teams 13:00 – Showing Up with a Point of View & Being Engaged 15:37 – Identifying and Hiring Potential Candidates 17:20 – "The Best in the Universe" 21:37 – Amy's Experience at the CS100 Conference 23:40 – Personal Branding and Growth ___________________________
La documentation est un aspect non-négligeable pour assurer une bonne expérience client de bout en bout... même dans les situations imprévues ! Comment ChatGPT peut nous aider dans cette tâche fastidieuse ? Voici mon retour d'expérience et quelques astuces...
Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4h5CI79 ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this special episode, recorded live at The Human Insights Summit in October, Amy Stillman, VP of Design at Cedar, and Logan Hartline, Senior Director of UX at HCA Healthcare, talk with host Lija Hogan from UserTesting about how healthcare leaders use storytelling and AI to improve UX, align stakeholders, and transform patient experiences. The episode focused on innovation and user experience (UX) in healthcare, emphasizing collaboration, insights, and the integration of AI. Key Themes: Collaboration and Success Stories: Amy shared Cedar's efforts in creating tools to help patients identify Medicaid eligibility, simplifying a typically cumbersome process. The project highlighted the emotional and psychological barriers users face and how digital solutions can foster a more accessible and empathetic experience. Logan discussed a UX project improving emergency department operations. By shadowing staff and observing real-life workflows, the team uncovered critical design insights about the conflicting color codes across different systems, leading to improved coordination. AI and Innovation: Both leaders highlighted AI's role in their organizations. Logan described how predictive analytics are helping anticipate staffing needs in labor and delivery, balancing efficiency with human oversight. Amy discussed leveraging AI in call centers to improve data accuracy and reduce staff workload. By analyzing tone and call content, they enhanced both operational efficiency and patient satisfaction while maintaining sensitivity to user tolerance for AI interactions. The Power of Insights and Storytelling: Both speakers emphasized the importance of qualitative research and storytelling in aligning stakeholders and driving change. Using patient narratives and highlight reels, they built urgency and alignment among decision-makers, demonstrating the tangible impact of UX insights. Advice for UX Practitioners: Logan advised starting small with curiosity-driven research and democratizing UX practices within teams. Amy stressed the importance of aligning UX goals with measurable metrics that resonate with stakeholders, particularly in healthcare's data-driven environment.
Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter or Bluesky for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 5th February 2025. The winner will be contacted via Bluesky. Show references: Website: https://www.agility-marketing.co.uk/https://www.agility-marketing.co.uk/service/digital-advertising-survey/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-dimes-agility/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitaagility/ Liz Dimes is a Digital Marketing Director for visitor attraction specialist, Agility Marketing and the lead behind their digital advertising and conversion optimisation strategies. She boasts over a decade of experience in delivering tangible results. With a relentless drive for results she has steered impressive returns for clients across the attraction industry. Anita Waddell is MD and founder of Agility Marketing, visitor attraction marketing specialists. Anita has been a Visit England judge, currently sits on the BALPPA Management Committee and looked after the National Farm Attraction Network during Covid.Anita fell in love with the sector during her first ever marketing role at London Zoo. Having always worked in the attraction sector, she founded Agility at the start of the millennium. In total, across her career she has worked with over 70 attractions.With a passion for digital and data driven marketing, she adores seeing clients get results and enjoys mentoring her team to deliver winning campaigns. Transcription: Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in and working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden. For many regional attractions, the Head of Marketing is a one person marketing machine expected to be all over digital, email, social and out of home advertising. In today's episode we're joined by Anita Waddell and Liz Dimes from Agility Marketing who'll be sharing insights from their attraction marketing academy to help power up your marketing in 2025. After starting her career in attractions marketing at London Zoo, Anita has run Agility Marketing for over years, working with clients like Camel Creek and Blackgang Chine. Liz is the expert behind Agility Marketing's digital advertising and conversion optimization strategies, having found her love for visitor attractions when joining Agility in 2017. Paul Marden: Liz, Anita, welcome. Skip the Queue. Anita Waddell: Thank you. Liz Dimes: Great to be here. Paul Marden: So this is not our first episode of the new year, but it's the first episode we're recording in the new year. And as I was saying before we started, my rule is that I can still say Happy New Year up until the end of January as long as it's the first time I've said Happy New Year to somebody. So Happy New Year to both of you. Liz Dimes: Happy New Year to you. Anita Waddell: Happy New Year. Paul Marden: As you know, we always get started with an icebreaker question. So I've got a couple of little icebreakers for you and they are topical, relevant to where we are right now. So I'm going to go with Liz. Which is better, Christmas Day or New Year's Day? Liz Dimes: Christmas Day. Although I must admit I prefer the run up to Christmas than the actual day. Paul Marden: Oh, okay. So it's the excitement of going out and doing all the prep and the present wrapping and yeah.Liz Dimes: Christmas trees, pretty lights, shiny things. Excitement. But yes, I think I'd definitely choose Christmas Day over New Year's Day. Paul Marden: It's funny, isn't it? Because we'll split. I'm definitely Christmas. Much more Christmas than New Year's. I'm quite happy on New Year's to be sat watching hootenanny on telly while I'm going out and doing a big go out and party with lots of people. Liz Dimes: But absolutely, I agree.Paul Marden: my age, but there we go. Anita, do you chuckle the Christmas decorations and the lights into a box and throw it into the loft or are you Ms. Neat and everything is neatly folded and packaged away ready for future Anita to thank you and be able to do everything easily next week? Anita Waddell: I would love to say I was the latter, but having done that on Sunday, I think it's more about getting them away in a box and deal with the problem next year. So, yes, so, yeah, I aspire to be the neat queen, but unfortunately it is just, yeah, time takes its toll and it's a matter of getting the job done. Paul Marden: There's a real spread in our house. Mrs. Marden is tidy it away as fast as you can. I will sit there literally for hours straightening all of the out and making sure that it's right. And then next year you can figure out who was responsible for the packing away because you could just see it straight in front of you. Liz Dimes: I saw a recommendation the other day, actually, that you should put sort of £20 or something in with your Christmas decorations so when you get them out next year, you can buy yourself a takeaway while you're sorting them out from last year's. You. I didn't do it, but I thought that was a brilliant idea. Paul Marden: So I came back to work on Monday and I went. All the stuff from the office was all packed away and I went to put it in the storage locker and we share our storage with the building owners and I just found the Christmas tree stuck in the cupboard fully decorated and I think, is that really putting the decorations? Is that really taking it down? Have you broken the rules or is ihat really a cunning plan?Anita Waddell: That's one way of doing with it, isn't it? Definitely. Paul Marden: Exactly. Look, we have got lots to talk about, but first tell me about yourselves and tell me about your background. Anita, tell me a little bit about you. Anita Waddell: I suppose visitor attractions has always been my thing, ever since my first marketing job, which was at London Zoo many years ago, I caught the bug really. But I suppose I was at London Zoo. I was very. They weren't in the strong financial situation, so there was actually a recruitment ban. So I was a young aspiring marketeer who joined the company. And as everybody who was experienced and worried about their own career path left, I just absorbed their role. So over the spate of three years I had a huge amount of experience and from there then left to become a marketing manager of a much smaller attraction. Anita Waddell: And having doubled their numbers from, you know, up to over 200, 000 over a year, I suddenly thought, hold on a minute, I actually, this is really fun industry and something that's actually, I can do okay. So from there I went on and ended up working for an agency myself who were specialists in visitor attractions. And then 20 years ago I thought, “Well, hold on a minute, maybe I should try this for myself. Maybe I can have my own agency.” I thought, “What's the worst that can happen?” I just have to go back and do the day job again. So over those years more people have joined me. I've got three cracking directors, really good senior leadership team and Agility now is a visitor attraction marketing agency. Paul Marden: Amazing. How about you, Liz, how did you get into this industry? Liz Dimes: Well, I started in a very different interest. I did an automotive and I started doing more PR than marketing definitely, but it just wasn't. I enjoyed it a lot and I learned a lot about cars but it wasn't really my passion so I sort of left and thought I'm going to try something else. I was more interested in learning about the digital marketing as that was really starting to kick off in the world at that point. So I got a digital marketing role at a business school which was near to where I live, which is very different. And I really started to get the bug for the digital marketing aspect and just in general enjoyed learning more and more and more about that. Liz Dimes: But the whole sort of B2B business school side, little bit dull for me if I'm totally honest. So. And actually that business all got sold to another one so I was made redundant at that point. So it gave me a little bit of a chance to sort of sit back and go, right, what do I actually want to do? And digital marketing was definitely the thing, particularly sort of paid advertising for me. And that's when I found Anita and Agility Marketing and they happened to have the perfect role for me and that was in 2017 and then just loved the industry very quickly from joining and sort of have no intention of ever leaving it, to be honest. Paul Marden: It's super fun, isn't it? It's fun doing the marketing thing that we do in this particular space because it's all about helping people to enjoy themselves. Liz Dimes: So what could be more fun and families and I have a, I've got a five year old so I really in that moment at the moment, I'm my own target audience at the moment, which is always nice. Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely. So one of the things that Agility has recently done is set up the Attraction Marketing academy and I think today we're going to talk, not talk about that, but we're going to talk about some of the stuff that you cover in that academy. So why don't we just start by telling listeners a little bit potted understanding of what the Academy actually is so. Anita Waddell: I mean the Academy is what it says on the ting. It's a marketing academy for visitor attractions and it actually, the re. Where it came from was out of COVID Some obviously don't want to go back to Covid ever again. But during that time everyone was in survival mode and they really shared, they collaborated, they did everything they could to work with each other and once life got back to normal a bit more, that collaboration stopped. There wasn't the need for it but we really enjoyed sharing all of our knowledge and expertise during that time. So the Academy was really has really been born to allow us to continue to do that. So it is a visitor attraction masterclass I suppose. So we have pre recorded content, we have fresh content through live sessions monthly. Anita Waddell: We have ask me anything clinics so people can, our members can jump on board and say, look, you know, actually we had a brilliant ask me anything clinic in December where they were, were talking about events for one particular member for the forthcoming year and there were loads of fresh ideas that came out of that for her. So it is really providing that mentoring but also that detailed knowledge and expertise which all attractions, if you're a one man band, you don't necessarily have, you're having, you know, you have to be jack of all trades. So. So we're a helping hand really. Paul Marden: Yeah. I think it's really interesting, isn't it, that many of the attractions that we deal with are massively well known brands but actually when you look at the team behind it, they are more like a small business or small to medium sized business. They often don't have massive teams even though they're brands has massive recognition and you can often be quite surprised, can't you, that it is this kind of one person marketing machine at the centre of what is a really well known brand. It's quite surprising sometimes and I think the more we can do to support those people the better really. So why don't we delve a little bit into some of the stuff that the Academy covers and then we can talk a little bit about some of the ways that marketers can help improve their outcomes for this year ahead. Paul Marden: So one place to start is always about benchmarking. This is something that at Rubber Cheese we find really interesting and we care a lot about with our Rubber Cheese survey. But I think benchmarking and understanding where you are against the competition is not competition against the rest of the sector. I should say is really important because you can understand what good and bad is can't you? And this is something that you guys care quite a lot about as well, isn't it? Liz Dimes: Absolutely. It's really at the heart of everything we do for our clients. We benchmark with the industry. That's the brilliance really for us of working solely in the visitor attraction industry. We can really see what's the good, bad and ugly of all things marketing within that industry. So we recommend that you'd benchmark everything really. But obviously it depends on what you're doing. So you'd benchmark your socials, your emails, your website performance, your reviews, your paid advertising results, just anything you, anything that you collect data on for you. If you don't know whether that's good or bad, how do you know what you're looking at really with your data? Liz Dimes: So you might see that this year you were 2% up on your last year's results and think, great, but if everyone else is 10% up, then actually maybe there's something key in there that you're missing that would really be a quick fix for you to do. And without knowing that it's impossible to do that, it really, I mean, the majority of the benchmarking we do is digital advertising because that's, it's 70% of our work for our clients. But as say we do benchmark across everything and by benchmarking we know that we can ensure that we're optimising well to make sure that we're achieving the best results possible for all our clients. And at the end of the day that's what we're here for and that's what we all do. Liz Dimes: I'm going to push this over to Anita a little bit, but it's because benchmarking is such a key thing for us. We've actually got a new initiative we're announcing now in January. So I'm going to let Anita do that. Paul Marden: Oh, come on then. Drum roll, Anita. Anita Waddell: Okay, so this spoilers. The inspiration of this came from Rubber Cheese and your website benchmarking for the visitor attraction sector. And we benchmark all the time. But actually we know that we work with 15 to 20 attractions across the year. But you know, the attraction sector is so much bigger. And what we wanted to do was launch an industry wide survey on digital advertising so people can identify how big their budget should actually be for digital advertising. What performance, what click through rate, what cost per acquisition, what cost per click is actually good and average across all of the platforms. For example, we know in our business a lot of our clients will use the Google search, Google performance match, Meta, TikTok. Anita Waddell: But we also know that when we start working with some attractions, they're only using Meta or they're only using Facebook. And so it's really just taking a broad brush of the sector to actually understand what is happening out there across whether it be theme parks, whether it be a heritage attraction, whether they're a zoo. Just a broad brush to really give something back to the sector. Like you've done with Rubber Cheese. Really. Paul Marden: I think it's so important, isn't it? Because paid advertising can be a bit scary for some people because it feels a little bit like you're gambling or it feels like a fruit machine. But I always think that it's a fruit machine where you can figure out the odds. And once you figure out the odds, you just have to decide how much money you can pump into the top of it and magically at the bottom money comes out in relation to the odds that you've calculated. But if you can across the sector. Anita Waddell: Yeah, exactly. I mean, the beauty of digital advertising is that it is, you know, there is a system and a process to it. So you know that you've got to get people to your website. You know you've got from the website, you need to get into your landing page at every stage of the journey. Coming back to benchmark working, you can identify what is working well and what actually can be tweaked to optimise it even further. And we've got clients now after Covid, there was with that when we focused purely on. Well, actually to be honest, during COVID there wasn't a lot of marketing going on at all because people were so desperate to get out the organic, social and email marketing could just cope with it. Anita Waddell: But then people came back and they started to do a lot more out of home. But now we're finding clients are actually saying this year in particular with the increased costs in the budget. Sure. We know we get a lot of, we know we get a lot from digital advertising. Shall we actually reduce our home budget and put more into digital advertising because it's more measurable and that confidence can be given. Paul Marden: We've all only got limited budgets and it's all about deciding where the best place to spend your money is. So, yeah, we'll come back to this benchmarking point a little bit later, I think, because I think is really important. But let's dive into some of the channels that marketers can use and talk about some tips and tricks across each of the channels. Maybe should we start with social? Is it important top attractions? I think you've already answered that. But how important? Liz Dimes: I guess I think it's very important. I think we all know that's where people spend their time at the moment. Depending on who you're. Because in general as a sort of blanket, a lot of the target audience for all attractions is very similar. But depending on where you are you a tourist destination, are you more of a regional destination, are you a heritage site, are you a zoo? It will depend. So. But most of those audiences are spending a lot of their time on socials. But because of that and because everyone knows that their concentration is much less, your competition is much higher. But you see, but you got to be there. If you're not there, you're not in with a chance. So it is, it's incredibly important and I think it's about what should your focus be. Liz Dimes: So actually if you are a one man band and you have a certain amount of hours in the day to do it, what are you going to focus on? Maybe pick two or three. So if you are going to pick two or three, I think at the moment you would pick Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, still. I know we all think Facebook is disappearing, but the grandparents take their grandchildren on these days out. Paul Marden: Exactly. And that landscape of the different social platforms was stable for a very long time, wasn't it? But it's changing quite a lot. So should you be on Twitter? Is it a scary place to be now? Should you be on Bluesky? But, but in you're saying TikTok still, Facebook, Instagram, those are the key places that you should be focusing attention. Probably. Liz Dimes: Absolutely. I think if you've got extra time, if you have extra resource, then absolutely test those extra platforms out and see where you've got. But actually if you're, if your time is limited, then focus on doing the best for the top platforms of where your audience are. And at the moment we believe, and all the data believes for that for our audiences it's Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Paul Marden: Yeah. And, and what are the basics that you've got to be covering there? What should they be posting about? To be able to kind of meet the bar. Anita Waddell: I feel the key with social media is that you know you can, it's got to convey a message that is going to provide overall reason to visit. So you need to get your planning right. And so yes, you want to have different formats and you want to make the posts are not wallpaper posts and you want to make sure that the post you're saying are said. You know, the same message is said in three or four different ways but ultimately you know, you're trying to stimulate an action and whether that's just engagement at this stage, you know, people aren't necessarily going to visit immediately after seeing a post but if they engage then see more posts and over time when they do want, they do want that day out, you'll be in their, in their top of mind. Anita Waddell: So I think the key we always say is like no, make sure you get your planning right. Your, your commercial messages in January are going to be totally different to your commercial messages in Summer or Easter when you know, in January you might be thinking about we've got, we need a value, a volume driver promotion because people haven't got any money. We want you Season passes are always sold in the first few months of the year. So you want to make sure you've got some promotion, you've got your season pass messaging out there. So it is, you know, make sure you've got your planning and messages right and from there you can then be creative as you like. But you've got to make sure that you're saying the right thing. Paul Marden: Let's follow that thought. What are the special little sprinkles that people could do this year to really energise their social media? What is it that they can do to inject that creativity? Anita Waddell: I think different formats, I think, you know, you can say the same thing, overlook different formats to really make them zing. Liz Dimes: One of the things we're really seeing good trends on and again this does depend on who you have in your team. But if you've got a member in your team who is willing to be on camera and is entertaining, is witty, can be a bit different. There's, there's a few attractions that are doing this really well already. But if there's something about. So we all talk about user generated content and absolutely you should be sharing user generated content. You should be making your most of your micro influences and your. All that kind of thing. But actually there's sort of EGC which is Employee Generated Content as well. And I think a bit of behind the scenes is still works well. Liz Dimes: A bit of witty content from someone and if you' the right person who's willing to do it and has the great personality and is happy to be on screen, then please take advantage of that person. Really, please use it. Because also they'll probably really enjoy it. I mean, there's a number of attractions where I know because we've spoken to them, where they're sort of bit famous. So yeah, people go round, go and they spot them and they want to go and say hi to that person and that. And if it's the right person who's comfortable with that, they really enjoy that. Yeah, so if you've got that person, go for it. That's a real, it's a real trend at the moment that's working well. Paul Marden: Okay, let's move channels then. Let's talk about email marketing because interestingly, in the Rubber Cheese survey this year, the data that we had showed that this was the weakest source of leads for attractions. Now, as I always say when I talk about our data, you know, there's statistics involved and you know, what we know is about the data set that is in front of us. It's not always completely reflective of the entire sector. So is that illustrative of what you guys see as well or is it more effective than that for you? Anita Waddell: I think I would say that we measure our email marketing. We put UTM codes on all of our links so we can actually track effectively. I would probably say they're not seeing it either because they're not tracking it effectively and UTM codes are so easy to set up these days or they're not. You know, the end of the day, the emails is a channel of communication. So if your email says exactly the same thing every single month, you just need to, with your, with your programming. And I think programming is going to be such a big thing, continue to be such a big thing this year. You need to really stimulate that repeat business. Really stimulate, give people a reason to revisit it. Your email marketing needs to be saying something different every single time. Anita Waddell: Otherwise people will just get bored with it. So I would say it's those two things. Paul Marden: Yeah. So it's all about keeping the faith. It is a valuable channel. You should focus on it. But you need to be able to have all of the tracking in place so that you can attribute the leads to that source and then a decent story to tell that's going to engage people. Anita Waddell: The only other thing I would say is that, and I don't. I think most people have got their heads around this now. But GDPR, when it came out, everyone was terrified of not getting, you know, you can only email people if you get an opt in. Well that's correct. That's one method of consent. But with legitimate interest, if they visited you already then you've got a reason to remarket to them as long as your Privacy Policy is correct and you've your, your everything else. So I think that's why some people go out. Some people are, we're amazed when we start conversations that they still are asking people to opt in and not using legitimate interest. So that could be another reason why in your survey results they were a bit skewed. Liz Dimes: I think there's quite a bit of scaremongering out there a little bit with email marketing at the moment because Apple are, they have updated their privacy settings a while ago which means that effectively when you're looking at your email results anything that's gone into an Apple mail will be marked as open even if it's not. So effectively your open rates are a little bit pointless since that update. So what's important to look at is your Click Through Rates because then you know those people have opened it and then how many have clicked through. Which is why the UTM codes are particularly useful because that helps with that. The other thing that Apple are doing at the moment is they're suggesting they're going to start the sort of promotions tab. I can't remember what their terminology is. Liz Dimes: Like you have in your Gmail when you log on your laptop, on your desktop as opposed to in your phone. So that will affect, that absolutely will affect email marketing. But what it will affect is email marketing that isn't tested, updated, optimised and tried and best. So if you do just keep doing what you're doing. Absolutely. Your email marketing is gonna, you're gonna lose on that. Paul Marden: So good email marketing is a worthwhile thing to do. Liz Dimes: Absolutely. And it is about testing because actually one of the things that we don't know yet because it's not happened yet but one of the things that might work is by making sure, rather make sure you're not sending from a no reply or admin at or an info at send it from a person's email that's less likely to be marked as spam or promotions. So all these things are as these updates come through test if suddenly you see a massive drop off in your click through rate, something's happened. Try something different on the next go. Paul Marden: Yeah. Liz Dimes: So I think, I imagine people are worried about whether Email marketing is going to continue to work and there probably will come a time when it doesn't. But at the moment I think it's still an important part of the mix. Absolutely. Anita Waddell: I think for Life Stage as well, it's worth taking it into account because there's some real hard data that's come back which suggests that the younger audiences are not using email marketing anymore. And I think that's really, that's quite true. But that is that Life Stage or is that young people? And I think that will play out because when people get into the office world, the world of work, they start using email a lot more and they become more familiar with it. So I don't know if it's Life Stage or if it's actually happening. We work with Tullis and Tully's obviously run a lot of brands which are aimed at sort of a 20 to 30 year old market and one of their biggest drivers is still email marketing. Anita Waddell: So I think, yeah, I think, but I think as Liz said, measure, optimise, test, do all of that and it should still deliver. Paul Marden: Good. Let's cut to the web. What are the problems with websites that you're seeing for regional attractions at the moment? Liz Dimes: One of the things we see quite a bit is that people who look at their own website as them, not as their customer. So they'll look at their website on their laptop. Their customers are not looking at their website on their laptop. They will look at it as someone who already knows the product, who. And even if you think you're not, your unconsciousness does know. So I mean, the average for visitor attraction websites is that nearly 90% of your sessions are happening on a mobile. So if you are ever looking at your own website, please look at it on your mobile. It's so easy to go, “Oh, I'm on my laptop because I'm doing my admin work right now and my admin work includes. I'm going to have a quick look at our website.”Liz Dimes: If you are going to do it on your laptop, press F12 please, because if you press F12 on your PC, you'll be able to look at it as a mobile. It won't be quite exactly what it is in as a mobile, but it's a good go. Not everyone knows about F12, so hopefully that helps a few people. But I think that is a real, it's a real key thing that we do find that some people tend to look at their own website not as a customer. So really think about it. Liz Dimes: If you are, say your key audience is a 35 year old mother of two, one has a toddler and one is a school child, put yourself in that place or ask do you know someone, one of your friends, that audience, ask them to go through your website blind and is your customer journey working? Do they immediately understand what you are? Can they quickly find out your opening times? Can they quickly find. If you have parking, can they quickly book? Is the booking, is the. Is the push through to booking which at the end of the day is the ultimate goal for pretty much everyone. Really, really think about it as your customer. And I think sometimes that's really difficult to do when you're so ingrained in your own attraction. Paul Marden: I can't stop myself grinning like a loon. You're talking about my life. This is the conversation I have over and over again. User testing. That's one of the questions in the survey that always blows my mind. How few people do user testing and how few people do user testing on a mobile and putting themselves into the shoes of their customers. I don't care if you like your website or not. I care whether your customers can do what they want to do. That's the only thing I care about. That's a bit untrue. I'm playing to the audience a little bit. Liz Dimes: But no but it is so true. And I think there are. If you can't, there's ways you can look at it from a more sort of data perspective. If you're a data person in your. I know people are still getting their heads around GA4 and to be honest, so am I. Even though I'm in it all the time because they change it every five minutes, hate it and you have to build a lot of it yourself. But there are a lot of positives of GA4 as well. You can see relatively simply how many people are going from your homepage or your landing page or your event page, whichever page you want to look at. Liz Dimes: If you want them to go to your ticketing site because most people use external platform ticketing sites, what percentage are landing on that page and going where you want them to go. Now it will be a low percentage always, even if you've got a really good system because they will want to find out more on different things and in lots of ways you want them to. But actually if you've got a return visit on your website, really that's when they should be booking. They've had a look, they found out where you are, they've talked to their friends on WhatsApp. Yes, that is one of the key options. Can they really quickly get to your booking site and book have a look at that data? If you can. Liz Dimes: And if it's really low, maybe you haven't got the right call to action buttons on your page or they're not as obvious as you think they are because maybe you're looking at it on a desktop rather than a mobile. Paul Marden: Amen. Liz Dimes: Good. Oh, I'm pleased because you're the number one expert in the website, so I'm glad you agree with me. But there's. Yeah, there's lots of things, there's lots of quick wins by just having a look. Paul Marden: Right, let's just very quickly touch on some of those then. So what are the quick wins that people can do with their websites right now that is going to turn it into a lead generating machine for them? Liz Dimes: What is your load speed? Are people bouncing off because you're not loading quickly? If it is low, do something about it. What are your call to actions? Are they obvious? Are they clear? Have you chosen one key call to action per page? Don't confuse your customer. Their attention span is really low. Does it show off what you want it to show off? Those are the top three things I would say look at. Anita Waddell: The other thing I would probably add to that is look at your home page. Make sure you're updating it regularly and giving those people the reasons to visit. I'm often quite surprised how they update the rest of the website but then they don't update the homepage on what is coming and what's next and what's on and also what's on now. So I think, yeah, I would say look at the homepage. Think of the homepage as really a signpost page. Once they live there, you want, they want to go, they've got to find something on there that's going to interest them and so that would be my recommendation to add to that. Paul Marden: Good. So those are all great things to do once they hit your website, but you've got to get into the website in the first place. So let's talk about paid advertising because that's something that you guys do a lot of, isn't it? Yeah. And that's the thing that can drive reliable traffic to your website. So it's hugely important. Liz Dimes: Absolutely. Paul Marden: I bet there's some real howlers that you see when you're first engaged by a client and you come and look at what they're doing in paid advertising. What are those real gotchas that you see? Anita Waddell: God, it's like opening your. Yeah, go on, Liz. You can reveal some secrets of what people are doing. Paul Marden: This is therapy session. This is a friendly, safe space. Just unburden yourselves. Liz Dimes: Yes, we won't name any names, don't worry. Well, while we're talking about website, I think one of the things with paid advertising that people really don't, they forget to think about or forget how important it is what web page are you sending that traffic to? Because absolutely, it might be your homepage, if your homepage is the right page, but equally it probably isn't your homepage. It needs to relate to the ad you are placing. So I think sometimes it's the last thought. It's, “Oh, we want to do an ad, we want to do an ad, do it.” And then, “Oh, don't even think about where we're going to send it. Send it to the homepage.” So I would say that's a really key thing that people sometimes forget. Liz Dimes: And actually, if you think about again, always come back to what will the customer think? Would it annoy you if you clicked on an advert for red shoes and the ad opened a page for trousers? It would annoy you. So why would your customers not be annoyed if you click on an ad about summer and it opens a homepage and there's not a really quick call to action to get to that summer information? So again, always think about the customer. One of the other things. Well, the other thing that is incredibly important in our industry is your location. Who are you targeting, location wise? And we have regularly taken on clients who have done it themselves or had previous agencies or whatever, doesn't matter where it happened. Liz Dimes: And they're targeting the whole of the uk, maybe they're in Cornwall and they're targeting Scotland as well for a term time visit. Paul Marden: Right. Liz Dimes: Someone in Scotland is not going to drive seven hours to come to you for a day out. Look at where your customers come from, map them. If you can really find that, you've got that data. If you're taking online booking, you have got the data of where the people live who come to you, find out where those people live and use that information for where you're going to generate the best results for your targeting for your adverts. I think that's incredibly important in this industry.Anita Waddell: And I think it goes, that goes beyond just radius targeting. Oh, absolutely. You really do need to map your audience to find out where they're coming from because, you know, like road systems will change the direct. No, change the layout of where people come from. Competitors will change, will give your some areas higher propensities to convert those visitors than others. So it really is worth investing in some mapping geo mapping tools and time to get it right. Paul Marden: I bet this is probably. How long is a piece of string quite type question, but broadly is the paid advertising for attractions? You know, there were terms, there are search terms that people are going to be searching on that you're going to want to sponsor or you're going to be sponsoring things in social platforms. There are some spaces that are, you know, fantastically competitive and hugely expensive. I'm thinking car insurance. You know, it will, you know, the cost per click of that is going to be phenomenal, but the return on investment for them is great. Yeah. Is this space a competitive and expensive space or is it remarkably reasonably priced? Liz Dimes: That really is. How long's a piece of string, I'm afraid, when it comes to search. So if we're just going from a search perspective. So if you're using Google Search Ads, absolutely. It depends what the keyword you are using is, how expensive that cost per click is going to be and really. Or you can help it by having an amazing ad, having an amazing landing page and being really relevant and your location targeting being right for that place. So you can be the low, you can get yourself to the lowest in the range that's possible for that keyword, but you're never going to get a keyword that cost £2 to cost 10p. What you can do, and what I would always suggest you do is use more longer tail keywords, which is the correct terminology, longer tail. Liz Dimes: But so if you're, if you're using, rather than maybe using day out, use day out in Yorkshire, family day out in Yorkshire. So you're extending the, the detail of it. Yeah. And the more detail you have, the less competition there will be within Google. You can do some really good keyword planning and get an idea of what your, what the type of cost will be for the type of keyword you're going for. If we stick on the Google search point. Actually, one of the other real howlers we regularly see is people actively targeting or not realising they're actively targeting their own brand name and therefore. And Google's algorithm, if you're doing a list of keywords you're going for, will always do what works best. Liz Dimes: So if you have either on purpose or accidentally put your brand name in there, all your budget is going to go on your brand name. Now, as long there are occasions when you might do that. If your SEO is terrible and you're coming up on page three for your brand name, go for your brand name. Absolutely do it in a separate campaign. So you're spending only a certain amount of money. But in general I'm yet to find attraction that isn't coming up on the map, on the Google map or on the top of the search results for their own brand name. So you are effectively paying Google for website visitors, clicks, conversions that you would have got for free. Don't do that. Please don't do that. And we see that relatively regularly.Paul Marden: You differentiated between paid advertising for search and paid advertising in social platforms. So we've got the tooling in Google to be able to estimate how much things cost. Go for those long tail search terms because they're probably going to better value for you, probably have better landing pages. And be really clear, if you've got a nice long tail search, you know that person is looking for something very specific. So serve them a really specific landing page to arrive at on the other side. That speaks to them and they'll love it, won't they? They'll be much more likely to engage. So you get that return on investment even further. What about in social, what. How are you planning out? You know what the cost is likely to be and where you should focus your energy. Liz Dimes: So because we are doing this all the time, we have a good idea of what that. So in social you'll look, you want to look at the cost per thousand impressions, what's called the CPM as opposed to the cost per cl. That's the, that's the bit in social that you can't affect. Meta, for example, are going to. If the cost per thousand for the target audience you are going for in the location you are going for is £4, it is £4, there's nothing you can do to change that. £3, it's £4. And unfortunately it is depending on where you are. For some people it's lovely. If their location's less, that's great. But if your location is more expensive. You've got to just deal with that. Liz Dimes: Unfortunately, in the last few years the cost per thousands have gone up around 12% and they're estimating this year it will be around 4%. So to get the same number of impressions in 2025 that you got in 2024, you're going to need to spend 4% more. Unfortunately, it is what it is. I hate saying that, but it's true. You can't. We can try and lobby meta all we like. The cost is what the cost is. It's a demand and supply thing. Paul Marden: Exactly. Liz Dimes: But what you can do is be realistic. You are going to have to get the same number of impressions. You need to spend 4% more. However, if your budget has to remain the same, how can you improve your click through rate one? Well, 0.2% to get. So although you'll get less impressions, you'll try and aim to get the same number of web visits and clicks from that. Can you then improve your conversion rate on your website? 0.2% and therefore you actually, for the same budget, you may get more conversions. So although you have to understand as we all do, that costs of everything are going up and impressions are one of those things. Liz Dimes: Actually, can you optimise and improve your ads because minimal improvements in your click through rate, minimal improvements in your conversion rate on your website are going to result in more revenue at the end of the day for potentially the same budget or a minimal increase. Paul Marden: And what are those? Again, this is such a sweeping, broad question, but what are those things that people could do to improve the engagement in the ads themselves? Liz Dimes: I'd say the number one thing to look at is your targeting correct? Paul Marden: Yeah. Liz Dimes: Is your location targeting correct? Is your audience type targeting correct? And then are you tailoring your ads to your audience? So if you're doing a target and you're targeting grandparents, for example, maybe your ad needs to be slightly different if you're targeting the parents or maybe your ad needs. And then your ad again will need to be. If you're, if you're remarketing and you're going to your sort of what we would call a hot audience that needs a very different ad to prospecting, a cold audience. So really focus on your targeting and focus on speaking. Again, think about the customer. Who are you speaking to with that ad? Anita Waddell: I think the other thing to mention and add to that is also the number of ads you're putting out because you never know exactly how your audience is going to react. So we actually do a lot of testing for a campaign. We would put a lot of ads out and it could be marginal differences in an ad because that's what, that's really what you want. So is it a bold heading? Is it not a Bold heading is it use the word say to save or best prices or you know and each of these will result in say that we're looking for that marginal gain because over time all those marginal gains will add up on the creative and the messaging and you'll get the best result. But it's time, energy and to get there completely. Paul Marden: Look, this has been really interesting but I want to just leave people with two or three things that they ought to prioritise to get 2025 off to a great start because last year was rubbish for so many people, wasn't it? So let's what can we all do to help get the show on the way for the attractions this year? Anita Waddell: I think the key thing is giving that people a reason to visit. It's getting the programming right. What people should be doing is looking at the last two years, breaking down the visitor numbers throughout the year, ascertain where there's opportunity for growth. We know people is much easier to build those peaks when, during the school holidays when people are actively looking. If you still, if you're not reaching capacity in those periods, that would be our, you know, build the peaks rather than the troughs. If however you've got to the stage where you think on your, you're creaking a bit at the seams and actually you want to build the term time campaigns, consider that as a secondary but again giving them that reason to visit now rather than waiting to a different time. Anita Waddell: And then once you've done that, you can plan your marketing budget around those opportunities. If you know that you've got more capacity in the summer, give more budget to the summer or if you know you've got more capacity in the October half term, give more budget to the October half term. So it's all going to start of where you want to get those extra people from and to and where. And then as some, as Liz mentioned later, postcode mapping, making sure that whatever advertising and marketing you're doing, you're hitting the people in the right areas who are going to have the biggest propensity to convert. And I've only got one other last thing to add is it's looking and learning from last year. Anita Waddell: Looking back at the data points, look at your benchmarks, your email, but email open rates, your landing pages, your digital advertising, try and get that margin of 1% improvement. If you can improve all of your marketing just by 1%, that's a lot of 1%. Paul Marden: That's a lot of people, isn't it? At the end of the day coming through the door. Liz Dimes: Absolutely. Anita Waddell: Yeah. So, so that would be sort of my kind of, you know what I would do. And Liz, has you got anything else you want to add to that? Liz Dimes: No, I think that's all of it. I think as say for, from the digital advertising side, postcode map if you can and absolutely look back and then test based off that and then test again. Paul Marden: Well, there's some homework for everybody. We always finish with a book recommendation and that book recommendation can be fiction or non fiction and I've got two guests so there's got to be two books. So Anita, what's your book recommendation for our listeners? Anita Waddell: This, this was a really tough question actually because one of my new year objectives is to read more. But I looked back and thought, “Okay, over the last five years, what books have I read and what's, what can, what's really resonated and what still I feel I can remember really”. So, so the one, I think it's Who Moved My Cheese by Dr Spencer Johnson. I don't know if how regularly it's mentioned on, on this podcast, but it's not a new book but it all talks about how you got, you know, you've got two stories about two little mice and two people and they, and the two little mice go off and they find cheese in this maze every single day. Anita Waddell: Whereas the two people found their cheese, they're happy with their cheese, they really like this certain cheese. Why would they look elsewhere? And then that cheese and then ultimately that cheese supply from the two people runs out and it's talking about having to innovate and change to survive. And I, and it's done in a really easy reading and fun way. And so yeah, I think that would be my recommendation to anybody. Paul Marden: Right Liz, what about you? What's your recommendation? Liz Dimes: Well, this was actually recommended to me because I thought about it. Okay, what have I been recommended that I've read? And actually it was recommended by a member of my team, Miles. So this comes from him. It's Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, who I don't know whether you've read this book, but he was an FBI negotiator and he has since written this book and it's actually written in a really easy to take in way. I just found it really interesting and just started reading it and read it basically which I don't do nearly as much reading as I used to before I had a child. So if I've managed to do that, you know, it's a good one. Liz Dimes: But my key sort of takeaways from it was how if you first think about negotiation skills, you probably think, “Well, what would I say?” And actually, that's not what you should be thinking, it's what are they saying? Your key negotiation skills is actively linked listening. And if you're actively listening, then you can follow the other key skills which are mirroring what they're saying, repeating the last of their three words, things like that. I just found it really interesting and it has made me rethink how I engage with people. So I would recommend it as a good read. Paul Marden: You got me thinking about my. What I was going to say now. Thinking about what were the last three words that you said? Oh, patting your head and rubbing your tummy part to this. Isn't there as thinking about the conversation and having it? Liz Dimes: Exactly. I think that's what he says. He says, while you're having a conversation, there's two of you. You're half listening, but actually the majority of you is thinking about what you're going to say next. If you're thinking about what you're going to say next, you are not listening, so you are not taking in what that person is saying in the way that you should be. And actually, if you can switch that bit off and really listen, what you say next will be the right thing. It's really hard. It's really hard to do, but I have actively tried to do that. When I think about it sounds. Paul Marden: A little bit like interviewing on the podcast, because this is a skill I've had to learn. This does not come naturally to me and it. It felt like a hostage negotiation at the beginning and it did feel a little bit like I had to negotiate my way out of the podcast episode. But with time and with practise, these things become easier and you can focus on the conversation whilst you're doing figuring out where the conversation is going to go. But, yeah, I've heard reviews of that book. I've not read it myself, so you've got me thinking I need to go and get that. Liz Dimes: It's worth a read. Paul Marden: Dear listeners, as always, if you would like a copy of either Anita or Liz's book recommendation, then the trendy thing to do is to go over to Bluesky now, not Twitter. Who wants to go onto Twitter? It's full of megalomaniacs. So go over to Bluesky and retweet the show message and say I want Anita or Liz's book. And the first person to do that will get a copy sent to them and I will be generous. It can be the first person for each book will get a copy. I'm not getting bankrupted this time with loads of book recommendations. I just want to leave people with one last thought. We know that benchmarking is important to you guys and this is something you're going to be doing a lot over the next few months. Paul Marden: So if people want to get involved with working on the benchmarking project for digital advertising that you guys are doing, what do they need to do? Anita Waddell: They need to go to our website where there'll be more information about it, and that's agility-marketing.co.uk.Paul Marden: And hopefully it will be in the show notes as well. So you can jump over to the show notes and follow the link there. But agility-marketing.co.uk and people will find all they need to know about the benchmarking that you're currently doing and how they can get involved in it. Brilliant. Ladies, this has been a wonderful conversation. Thank you very much. Liz Dimes: Thank you for having us. Paul Marden: We will catch up again soon. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, SkiptheQueue.fm. The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsDownload the 2024 Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report
Le wireframing est une méthode omniprésente mais peu adaptée à notre époque. Découvrez 3 méthodes de remplacement plus efficace et adaptées à notre époque.
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business Hosts Kristi Faltorusso (CCO, ClientSuccess), Jon Johnson(Principal CSM, Key Accounts at UserTesting) & Josh Schachter (Co-Founder & CEO, UpdateAI) dive into a dynamic conversation to kick off the new year. Tune in as they share insights on how companies are restructuring compensation models, discuss the trends they're observing, and reflect on the evolution of customer success and account management and the ongoing merger of these roles. Timestamps 0:00 - Preview, BS & Intros 5:44 - Are CS leaders transitioning to account management roles? 9:00 - Redesigning compensation models to align CS with revenue activities 14:50 - Problems with current data management practices 25:18 - Predictions for 2025 28:52 - LinkedIn algorithm, AI content, and Social Media Behavior 36:08 - Need for a defined strategy and long-term planning 39:30 - Pressure on CS to demonstrate quick impact and results ___________________________
Our first episode of 2025 will feature the Indian epic "Mahabharata" which is authored by Sage Vedavyasa. Our host, Preethy Padmanabhan guides an inspiring conversation with Tatyana Mamut, Co-founder and CEO of Wayfound. They discuss the concept of Dharma (duty, moral law) that plays a central role in the Mahabharata. Tatyana was the Board Director and Chair of Comp Committee for UserTesting's IPO on NYSE. She is a leader and builder of successful new products & businesses at Nextdoor, Amazon, Salesforce, IDEO, and Pendo. She has 15 patents & patents pending for technology inventions, including 5 for GenerativeAI innovations. Topics: 00:00 Introduction to Leadership and Time 00:48 Welcome to 10x Growth Strategies Podcast 01:15 Guest Introduction: Tatyana Mamut 01:54 Tatyana's Personal Journey 04:09 Exploring the Mahabharata 07:29 Leadership Lessons from the Mahabharata 10:58 Key Takeaways on Leadership 15:40 Understanding Dharma and Duty 25:07 Lessons from Arjuna 34:11 Self-Awareness and Overcoming Failures 38:40 Final Words of Wisdom Read the book: Amazon - https://a.co/d/gyKPLHi Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business Emily McIlwain, Director of Customer Success at Exo, joins the hosts Jon Johnson, Principal CSM at User Testing , and Josh Schachter, Co-Founder and CEO at UpdateAI, to chat about the art of building scalable processes in a rapidly growing startup. Timestamps 0:00 - Preview 1:36 - Josh is engaged 2:50 - Exo- Overview, Products and Mission 15:00 - Importance of process documentation and improvement 17:15 - Challenges of automating processes and maintaining clear communication 20:12 - Setting realistic expectations for new implementations and product shifts ___________________________
Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4gFlEVz ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode, Michael Dominic, Head of AI at UserTesting, and Mike Mace, a seasoned tech industry veteran, delve into the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on the workplace. From the evolution of AI to strategies for effective implementation, they explore how organizations can harness this powerful technology to drive productivity, innovation, and competitive advantage. Key Takeaways: The Two Waves of AI Hype: Explore the rise and fall of conversational AI tools during the first hype cycle (2015–2019). Learn how OpenAI's ChatGPT launched the second wave of rapid adoption in 2022. AI Adoption at a Glance: 66% of knowledge workers globally use generative AI tools like ChatGPT, making this the fastest adoption of a major tech product in history. Despite high adoption rates, only 20% of users maximize AI's potential as a daily productivity tool. Challenges in AI Integration: A significant gap in training leaves most users underutilizing AI. Companies must implement deliberate training and governance to reap the full benefits. Humanizing AI Interactions: Discover how users judge AI chatbots like they would human interactions—emphasizing tone, phrasing, and emotional resonance. Understand the importance of aligning AI interactions with brand voice and values. Strategies for Success: Choose the right AI model for your business needs. Set clear data governance policies to ensure security and compliance. Establish training programs to help employees integrate AI into their workflows effectively. Treat AI as a partner in strategy, not just a task-oriented tool. Actionable Insights: For Leaders: Empower your teams with AI training and clear guidelines to unlock its full productivity potential. For Product Teams: Test AI features for usability and emotional resonance to ensure they align with user expectations and your brand identity. For Organizations: View AI as an opportunity for competitive differentiation, not just a security challenge.
FEATURING:* Michal Perlstein, Senior Manager of Digital Engagement, City of Seattle IT* Michelle Ringgold, User Experience Team Lead, City of Seattle IT* Dennis McCoy, Product Management Team Supervisor, City of Seattle IT* Jeff Beckstrom, Development Team Manager for Digital Engagement, City of Seattle ITIN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN:* How Seattle's digital engagement team manages web content, blogs, and newsletters while overseeing digital policies and design requirements* Why user testing and feedback were crucial in developing the city's major event pages for winter weather, heat, smoke, and flooding* The importance of "evergreen" content in emergency preparedness communications* How Seattle IT has prepared for WCAG 2.1 accessibility compliance over the past 6-7 years* The challenges and opportunities of implementing AI and cloud solutions in government digital servicesTIMESTAMPS: * (00:00) Show Introduction* (00:52) Team Introductions and Roles* (03:45) Building the Digital Engagement Team* (05:48) Implementing UX in Government* (09:10) Major Event Pages Development* (14:15) User Testing and Feedback* (19:20) Public Sector Product Management* (23:42) Cross-Department Collaboration* (28:15) Digital Accessibility Implementation* (31:00) Future Challenges and AI OpportunitiesLINKS MENTIONED:* Seattle.gov* WCAG 2.1 Standards* City of Seattle Major Event PagesWhenever you're ready, there are 4 ways you can connect with TechTables:1. The TechTables Newsletter: Join our thriving community of senior technology leaders by subscribing to the TechTables Newsletter. Gain early access to the latest episodes, industry insights, and exclusive event updates.2.
This special episode of the Career Strategy Podcast features an episode of the Insights Unlocked Podcast powered by UserTesting. In this episode, Sarah Doody is interviewed by UserTesting's CEO, Andy McMillan. They discuss navigating your UX career over the next one to two years and dive into crucial themes that resonate with UX researchers, designers, and product managers from coping with tech layoffs to understanding the impact of AI.Key Topics Covered:The State of UX Careers in 2024Insights from UX professionals on career satisfaction and challenges.Exploring opportunities beyond traditional tech companies.Impact of Layoffs and AI on UX CareersHow tech layoffs and the rise of AI are reshaping career trajectories.Leveraging AI as a tool rather than a threat.Building a Career RoadmapThe importance of long-term planning and acquiring transferable skills.Timeless skills like communication and critical thinking as career accelerators.Opportunities in Non-Tech IndustriesHigh-impact roles in healthcare, government, and education sectors.The growing value of research-first mindsets in non-tech companies.Practical Advice for Career GrowthKeeping your resume, portfolio, and LinkedIn profile updated.Building business acumen and aligning research with organizational strategy.The Role of AI in ResearchAI's potential in idea generation and data synthesis.Why human context and critical analysis remain irreplaceable.Actionable Takeaways:Create a career roadmap to strategically build skills for long-term growth.Regularly update your career materials to be ready for new opportunities.Expand your impact by developing business acumen and aligning UX practices with company strategies.View AI as a tool to enhance efficiency, not as a replacement for human expertise.Time Stamps:01:36 UX Professionals Share Their Career Insights03:41 Navigating Layoffs and Economic Challenges05:21 Exploring Opportunities Beyond Big Tech09:49 The Role of AI in UX Research14:30 Building a Resilient Career Strategy18:54 Opportunities and Challenges in UX26:31 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Episode web page: https://bit.ly/408ltw2 ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Nathan Isaacs talks with Mike McDowell, Senior Solutions Consultant at UserTesting, about his role, his new book Demotainment: The Art of Delivering Demos That Engage, Inspire, and Drive Results, and his approach to crafting compelling product demonstrations. Key Highlights: Role at UserTesting: Mike describes his role as a platform expert, guiding clients on effectively utilizing UserTesting's tools. He supports sales processes and helps teams maximize value by aligning the platform with their business goals. The Concept of Demotainment: Mike explains how his background in theater inspired him to transform product demonstrations into performances that captivate audiences. His philosophy emphasizes bringing energy, personalizing demos, and engaging customers. Writing the Book: The book stemmed from a popular presentation Mike gave at Demo Fest. Encouraged by the reception, he expanded his ideas into a LinkedIn article and eventually a book. He shares the iterative writing process, from drafting chapters based on his presentation to weaving in anecdotes and pop culture references to make the book lively and relatable. Impact on Sales Teams: The book aims to help sales professionals make their demonstrations more personalized and engaging, ultimately boosting success rates. Mike offers strategies for tailoring demos even with limited preparation. Behind-the-Scenes of Writing: Mike talks about the discipline and creativity required to write a book while managing a busy schedule. He reveals how revisiting his material and getting reader feedback improved both his writing and professional approach to demos.
Host: Dr. Mary Goldberg, Co-Director of the IMPACT Center at the University of PittsburghCo-Host: Dr. Michelle Zorrilla, Senior Research Scientist and Associate Director of Technology Translation, IMPACT Center at the University of PittsburghGuest: Emilie Maamary, CMO of Steadiwear Use the code "IETF" to get an additional $50 off the pre-order of the Steadiwear Three device, which is currently available at a 40% discount through the end of the year 2024.IMPACT Center | Website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter Transcript | PDFTimestamps:1:43 Steadiwear's Origin and Personal Inspiration3:47 Challenges and Initial Steps4:45 User Testing and Product Development8:40 Navigating the FDA Process16:53 Seeking Consultants and Mentors18:37 Collaborations and Connections21:40 Promotions and Final Thoughts
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business Tatiana Ferreira (CCO, Launchmetrics) joins the hosts Kristi Faltorusso (CCO, Client Success), Jon Johnson (Principal CSM, User Testing) & Josh Schachter (Founder & CEO, UpdateAI). They discuss the complexities of mergers and acquisitions, the shift towards proactive customer outreach, the challenges of communication in multi-CSM models, the emerging role of AI in predicting risk within customer success, the balance between specialized and generalized customer support, and the imperative of clear communication during organizational changes. Timestamps 0:00 - Preview, BS, Intros 3:50 - Overview of Launchmetrics 9:20 - Aligning motivations & communicating post-merger integration 13:26 - OKRs and employee engagement 15:50 - Mixed roles in CS and professional services 18:27 - Challenges in customer interaction and communication clarity 25:00 - Automation and tech stack 27:35 - Enablement and evolving skill sets for CSMs 30:00 - Need for understanding data and being proactive ___________________________
Jason Giles is tuned into the habits of successful product design teams, not only because he's been leading them for 15 years, but also because his team at UserTesting makes essential tools used by top design teams around the world. Jason thinks of the collaboration process in his team as similar to a jazz band where improvisation and exploration go hand-in-hand. We're anxious to learn more. We're excited to share this sponsored bonus episode, recorded live in Austin at The Human Insight Summit (THiS)—as UserTesting helps designers and product teams gain shared insight—seeing and hearing how another person engages with the world around them and taking in their perspective. Learn more about UserTesting Bio As VP of Product Design at UserTesting, Jason leads a team of designers, writers, and researchers across the US, Canada, and UK with the mission to enable real human insight and lead a movement for empathy. Jason Giles began his professional career as a designer at Microsoft, where he effectively “grew up” alongside the UX discipline itself. Having actively participated in that evolution, Jason transitioned to design management where he has focused on building teams with great cultures that deliver awesome product experiences. Visit our Substack to view the video of the interview: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/jason-giles
Is your company truly listening to its customers, or are you just paying lip service? On this episode, Michelle Engel, Chief Product Officer at UserTesting, challenges the status quo of customer feedback and discusses the pitfalls of ignoring customer insights. She shares key strategies that top brands use to ensure their offerings resonate with real users and explains the transformative power of truly understanding your audience.Tune in to learn:How integrating human insights can transform customer experiencesWhy data alone doesn't explain customer emotions and experiencesWhy personalization is key to addressing diverse customer needsHow integrating customer insights across departments enhances strategyHow AI can significantly speed up the process of gathering insightsWays technology can transform customer interactions for the better–How can you bring all your disconnected, enterprise data into Salesforce to deliver a 360-degree view of your customer? The answer is Data Cloud. With more than 200 implementations completed globally, the leading Salesforce experts from Professional Services can help you realize value quickly with Data Cloud. To learn more, visit salesforce.com/products/data to learn more. Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.
In this episode of Insights Unlocked,UserTesting's Sean Treiser sits down with Neeraj Ramesh, Executive Producer of Giving Experiences at Givelify, a mobile and online platform for charitable donations that has empowered over 1.5 million people to give more than $5 billion to causes they care about. Neeraj shares the story of Givelify's journey from a simple idea sparked in church to a powerful tool reshaping the future of giving. Together, they explore the strategies and philosophies that make Givelify stand out, from leveraging user feedback to creating features that genuinely connect with the emotional and practical needs of donors. Neeraj discusses how Givelify listens to its users to develop features that foster trust and encourage consistent giving, all while balancing the needs of donors and charitable organizations. Key Themes: The Birth of Givelify: Givelify's origin story is rooted in a moment of missed opportunity and inspiration, sparking the idea of a platform that would make charitable giving easy and accessible for anyone with a mobile device. User-Centered Design and Trust: Givelify puts donor trust at the forefront, emphasizing data security, transparent processes, and visual cues like familiar faces to help donors feel safe and assured in their giving. Emotional Connection in UX: Givelify's approach goes beyond technical ease; they aim to create an experience that captures the “warm glow” of giving, ensuring donors feel positive and connected with each gift. Innovation in loyalty programs: Neeraj introduces Champions of Good, the first loyalty program in the giving sector, which rewards donors for consistent giving. The feature encourages engagement based on frequency rather than amount, supporting people's desire to give at their own pace. Iterative development with user feedback: Givelify uses insights from UserTesting to understand both new and familiar users, continuously refining features to serve donors better. Testing has revealed valuable insights, such as the potential pitfalls of certain features like “Giving Streaks,” which needed careful adjustment to avoid discouraging users. Balancing stakeholder needs: Neeraj emphasizes the importance of prioritizing donors, even as Givelify works with a wide range of stakeholders, from religious organizations to nonprofits. Features are designed to empower donors while keeping the act of giving meaningful and fulfilling.
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How do you make truly informed product decisions? Our guest today is Jason Giles, VP of Product Design at UserTesting. You'll learn how to choose the right research method, how to develop a customer-informed intuition, the elements of a research program, and more. Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Podcasts.Show NotesUserTestingConnect with Jason on LinkedInThis episode is brought to you by Wix Studio — the new web platform for agencies and enterprises. The magic of Wix Studio is its advanced design capabilities which makes website creation efficient and intuitive. Here are a few things you can do:Work in sync with your team on one canvasReuse templates, widgets and sections across sitesCreate a client kit for seamless handoversAnd leverage best-in-class SEO defaults across all your Wix sitesStep into Wix Studio to see more at wix.com/studioInterested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here.Leave a ReviewReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business Nicole Guarino, the Director of Customer Success at Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) joins hosts Jon Johnson, Principal CSM (Key Accounts) at UserTesting, and Josh Schachter, Founder & CEO of UpdateAI, to discuss the pivotal roles of sales and customer success in driving business expansion. Nicole sheds light on her transition from sales to customer success, sharing the challenges and insights she's gathered along the way. Timestamps 0:00 - Preview, BS, distracted driving & intros 14:10 - Nicole shares her company's goals & hurdles 20:25 - KPIs for CSMs 23:00 - Should CS offer support for renewals? 26:05 - Focusing on net new revenue & current revenue 29:20 - We are all revenue, we are all gonna win 30:05 - CS & Sales collaboration __________________________
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