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Case: NS

Guiding Principles and Innovation Framework

Qualitative customer research can sometimes produce surprising results. This is what Dutch railway operator NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) experienced a few years ago. NS had devised a number of strategic objectives, such as clean train stations, always driving on time, quickly from door to door, and so on, and wanted to test these with customers. In order to be sure that customers would speak their minds, NS opted for a ZMET® survey with Altuïtion. To the confusion of many, it turned out that passengers were not so much interested in the functional specifications that NS had devised, but rather in three new needs: being in control, being appreciated, and being free.

"Because we had been investigating the subconscious motives of customers for years, this in itself was no surprise," says project manager Mark van Hagen. "In my doctoral thesis I had already shown that customers need a sense of control before they can enjoy a journey. The ZMET® results were therefore a confirmation of what we already knew but did not really act on. The ZMET® results with the three core needs proved to be a very useful tool for taking our service to the next level. Customers always want to be in control, so we have to make sure they have the necessary information and insight into their journey, so they don't feel dependent on the whims of NS. Customers want to be valued, so we must welcome them and take them seriously with regard to their wishes and needs. And above all, customers want to experience a sense of freedom: They want to be able to do whatever they want and not have to weigh up whether travelling with NS really is better for what they want to achieve."

In creating specific customer-oriented solutions, Van Hagen and his colleague Joost van der Made developed the three core needs into nine design principles. "As it happens, behind every core need there is a large number of aspects that lead to this feeling,” explains Van der Made. “At the same time, the three core needs are too abstract for employees to act on. In order to give a concrete and action-oriented interpretation of the three core needs, we have drawn up several design principles with Altuïtion, which form the basis of our business – the reason we do the things we do. Where the core needs cannot be translated directly into concrete actions, the design principles can; they immediately indicate what is meant and what that means for the actions of each employee.”


Innovation framework

For example, the core need to be “in control” was elaborated in the three design principles “Easy & accessible – always and everywhere”, “The journey is always predictable”, and “The right help is always within reach”. "The fact that your journey with NS must always be predictable is already much more concrete than a sense of control,” explains Van Hagen. “That means that trains have to run on time, that the customer must know where to find the best seat, that shops and facilities must be open, that employees are skilled, and that interactions are always the same and consistent. And, most importantly, that always reach their destination. These are concrete goals that you can concretely fill in as an organization.”

Van der Made and Van Hagen then combined the nine design principles with the results of earlier joint ZMET® and Customer Journey research. They defined the nine different phases of the train journey as experienced by passengers (i.e. preparation, to the train station, at the train station, on the platform, boarding, on the train, transfer or disembarking, to the final destination, destination). "By combining the nine stages of travel with the nine design principles, a matrix is created that our company calls the 'innovation framework,'” explains Van der Made. “In this matrix, the chronological Customer Journey is visualized on the X-axis. The design principles are visualized on the Y-axis, with the functional design principles below and the emotional design principles above. Because all the customer wishes and travel phases that the customer goes through are now visualized, we can use this innovation framework to systematically check whether all customer wishes are fulfilled in each phase of the journey.”

Van Hagen says the innovation framework can be used in several ways. “First of all, we use it to position ideas in the customer's journey – the ideation function. We do this in workshops in our own Customer Experience Lab. By brainstorming with interdisciplinary teams, we can explore how certain phases and principles can get more attention, so that the customer gets what they want. But we also use the framework to select promising ideas. Because we also place all current projects in the innovation framework, it also serves as a portfolio."


Pyramid of customer wishes

Van der Made believes that the power of the innovation framework gives direction in coming up with the right ideas, working with the motto: “doing more things the right way”. "That means that we first look at what value we can add in the journey at the top of the customer-wishes pyramid, that's where the most added value for the customer's travel experience lies. After all, the pitfall is that ideas are mainly generated in the control domain and much less at the top of the customer-wishes pyramid, the freedom domain, which is precisely where the greatest emotional impact is made. This is something that we consciously focus on in our workshops.” Ultimately, these are questions such as: Does the idea really add value and, if so, on what design principle, to what extent, and in what stages of the journey? We try to assess as concretely as possible whether a particular idea contributes to a more adventurous and inspiring experience of the specific phase “on the train” and, above all, how and whether travelers can spend their time more usefully or pleasantly.
"The innovation framework may guide the generation of ideas, but that does not mean that every idea is implemented," says Van der Made. "We look for those projects that have the highest impact on most travelers, at minimal or at least acceptable cost. Those projects are no-brainers; you should always carry them out. Ideas with a high impact but also high costs may be interesting, but then you have to make choices. Ideas with a low impact on the customer experience are simply not good ideas."

According to Van Hagen, “the attraction for the traveler is the point of departure – what is valuable to him or her or what core need does the idea address? But then, of course, we also look at the technical feasibility and business feasibility. If something scores emotionally with the traveler but costs bags of money, there is no positive business case. Placing a piano at the train station, on the other hand, costs hardly anything and has a major impact on the experience. That's how simple it can be sometimes.”

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