The time for customer experience design is now! In this episode of our web series CXDNow, host Chris Heuer interviews Tom Illmensee, Director of UX for Prezi. Following up on our discussions with author Brian Solis, and IBM Journey Designer Product Manager Doug Foulds, now we are getting to the more practical matters of how to be successful with Customer Experience Design.

In part 1 we hear Tom Illmensee’s origin story of how he came to work in UX and CX. Through his story, he illustrates one of the most fundamental issues in a way that connects you deeply with the need for empathy, and what that really means. Going even more deeply, he explores how to handle uncertainty and thrive. It’s a great foundation on which we build upon in parts 1 and 2.

In part 2 we jump into the biggest challenge of all, how to work well in cross functional teams. Throughout this episode, we learn some of the great things that Prezi is doing to improve collaboration in order to deliver the greatest value for their customers. There is a lot of fantastic advice you can put into use right away, like restructuring from departments for design and user research into communities of practice. How to rework the space to increase high value interactions. How to deal with inter personal conflicts. Ultimately, his best advice? Watch part 2 to find out.

In part 3 we finally do the segment I have been really looking forward to, Working Out Loud. In this segment, we are joined by Angela Long to work together on an empathy map for Nicole, a key persona for the mission of We Are The Solution. Using this empathy map as a straw man, we discuss aspects of how to approach its development, how to improve upon it and how it can be used. When I ask him about how to decide if an insight like the person feels fearful belongs in either the section on what they feel or in the section on pain, Tom says, “if you are having a discussion about where something [about the persona] belongs on the map, then you are doing it right”. Learning by doing, or watching others do it, is by far one of the best ways to learn.

If you would like to be a part of the taping of the show live and join in our post interview conversation, you can join us next Wednesday October 21, 2015 at noon PST as we interview Risto Lähdesmäki, CEO & Co-Founder of Idean about how to make the business case for CX Design. If you are trying to sell your boss on investing in CX, this is the show you have been awaiting.

Need help creating design moving customer experiences? IBM Journey Designer enables you and your team to collaboratively visualize journeys, set shared marketing goals, and create and refine tailored experiences for dozens of priority segments. Learn more on this blog post or try it at no cost at ibm.com/journey-designer.

Tom Illmensee Interview Part 1 of 4 – How did you get into UX?

Tom Illmensee Interview Part 2 of 4 – The Challenges to Overcome

Tom Illmensee Interview Part 3 of 4 – Working Out Loud, #WeAreTheSolution

SPONSORED BY IBM JOURNEY DESIGNER

For more about the #CXDNow series, why I am doing it and where we are headed, read this background post.