Customer Effort Score (CES)

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1. Understand

On the first we stay in the problem space, challenging our understanding of the problem.This is some text inside of a div block.

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2. Ideate

On the second day we gather inspiration, ideate and sketch solutions together.

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3. Prototype

On the third day we turn the most voted sketches into a prototype and prepare to meet the users.

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4. Test

On the fourth and final day we test the prototype with users and round off the sprint together.

How it works

Customer Effort Score measures the ease of use for the users. Typically this is narrowed down to a single work process, e.g. handling sales invoices, doing payroll etc.

Customer Effort Score measures the ease of use for the users. Typically this is narrowed down to a single work process, e.g. handling sales invoices, doing payroll etc. Experience of effortlessness is the most trusted indicator for customer loyalty according to Gartner.

Continuously measuring CES for different processes in your product gives you a good idea where your users are having the most challenges. You can then divide your resources better according to your results. On a scale between 1-7, you should aim for over 5 in all your CES measurements.

The point of contact when implementing CES in Visma is the Product Analytics Hub and the recommended tool is InMoment.

Define

Measure

Continuous

Product Owner, UX Designer, Product team

Before

1. Understand. Before you dive in, gather the team and get to know the Customer Effort Score. If needed, request an introduction from Product Analytics Hub.

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2. Get commitment from Product Management and other stakeholders and run a CES introduction session.

3. Settle on set-up. Work with the Product Owner(s) to decide which processes to measure (survey points) as well as survey rules, such as survey questions, triggers and response rate. This can be done by running a 2h workshop for the Product Owner(s). Start with core processes (easy/important) for key user groups, and be mindful about not interrupting any userflows or tasks.

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4. Test it! Before the launch you want to make sure everything works like intended. Catch mistakes by testing it with colleagues. Then, test everything in production, e.g. find out if you get answers correctly or if there are technical issues, as well as if you get enough responses. Make changes and iterate on findings.

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During

5. Launch. Big moment! Decide on a launch date. Provide internal stakeholders with information about what CES is and why you are using it, as well as what the survey rules are. Share the survey data and how to best utilise it. If tests are successful, launch and remember to celebrate!

6. Design the follow-up process. Depending on what current channels and stakeholder groups exist around your product, the internal communication around the results will vary. Possible channels for communication may include Slack channels, stakeholder meetings and all-hands meetings.

After

7. Follow up and plan actions. Measuring and collecting data is only meaningful if it is followed up and leveraged. Keep the Product Owner(s) up to date and make sure everyone in the product team has access to the data. Showcase the results to Product Owner(s), stakeholders, product teams and the steering group, educating everyone on how you can leverage the results to inform priorities and make smarter product decisions together. Wait 2-4 weeks for results to be concrete. Make sure ownership is shared with the Product Owner(s). Decide together what you should investigate further.

8. Communicate the results. Make sure to communicate results from the previous month and the development over time (e.g. trend of the last twelve months), key feedback topics and planned actions based on the feedback to stakeholders.

9. Visualise and user test concepts. Once you have a better understanding of what you need to investigate further, conduct UX research and visualise concepts and test them with users. This way you will have an indication of if you are going in the right direction and if your solution might have a positive effect on the CES score.

Tips

Start with the most important processes and user groups
Make sure to measure processes, not features
Aim to measure at least three processes from the start, so that you can compare how the different processes are performing
Metrics differ in terms of the insights they provide and the areas of customer satisfaction they focus on. CSAT captures satisfaction with specific interactions, pNPS evaluates loyalty and advocacy, and CES assesses the ease of the customer experience.

Learn more

Customer Effort Score (CES) in Visma (Space page) – Product Analytics Hub
What’s your Customer Effort Score? (article) – Gartner
CSAT vs NPS vs CES (article) - InMoment
Understanding and measuring your Customer Effort Score (article) – Hotjar
7 steps to benchmark your product’s UX (article) - Nielsen Norman Group

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Before

1. Understand. Before you dive in, gather the team and get to know the Customer Effort Score. If needed, request an introduction from Product Analytics Hub.

‍

2. Get commitment from Product Management and other stakeholders and run a CES introduction session.

3. Settle on set-up. Work with the Product Owner(s) to decide which processes to measure (survey points) as well as survey rules, such as survey questions, triggers and response rate. This can be done by running a 2h workshop for the Product Owner(s). Start with core processes (easy/important) for key user groups, and be mindful about not interrupting any userflows or tasks.

‍

4. Test it! Before the launch you want to make sure everything works like intended. Catch mistakes by testing it with colleagues. Then, test everything in production, e.g. find out if you get answers correctly or if there are technical issues, as well as if you get enough responses. Make changes and iterate on findings.

‍

During

5. Launch. Big moment! Decide on a launch date. Provide internal stakeholders with information about what CES is and why you are using it, as well as what the survey rules are. Share the survey data and how to best utilise it. If tests are successful, launch and remember to celebrate!

6. Design the follow-up process. Depending on what current channels and stakeholder groups exist around your product, the internal communication around the results will vary. Possible channels for communication may include Slack channels, stakeholder meetings and all-hands meetings.

After

7. Follow up and plan actions. Measuring and collecting data is only meaningful if it is followed up and leveraged. Keep the Product Owner(s) up to date and make sure everyone in the product team has access to the data. Showcase the results to Product Owner(s), stakeholders, product teams and the steering group, educating everyone on how you can leverage the results to inform priorities and make smarter product decisions together. Wait 2-4 weeks for results to be concrete. Make sure ownership is shared with the Product Owner(s). Decide together what you should investigate further.

8. Communicate the results. Make sure to communicate results from the previous month and the development over time (e.g. trend of the last twelve months), key feedback topics and planned actions based on the feedback to stakeholders.

9. Visualise and user test concepts. Once you have a better understanding of what you need to investigate further, conduct UX research and visualise concepts and test them with users. This way you will have an indication of if you are going in the right direction and if your solution might have a positive effect on the CES score.

Tips

Start with the most important processes and user groups
Make sure to measure processes, not features
Aim to measure at least three processes from the start, so that you can compare how the different processes are performing
Metrics differ in terms of the insights they provide and the areas of customer satisfaction they focus on. CSAT captures satisfaction with specific interactions, pNPS evaluates loyalty and advocacy, and CES assesses the ease of the customer experience.

Learn more

Customer Effort Score (CES) in Visma (Space page) – Product Analytics Hub
What’s your Customer Effort Score? (article) – Gartner
CSAT vs NPS vs CES (article) - InMoment
Understanding and measuring your Customer Effort Score (article) – Hotjar
7 steps to benchmark your product’s UX (article) - Nielsen Norman Group

Templates

Ultimately, the choice of design tool depends on the specific needs of the designer and the project at hand. Each tool has its strengths and weaknesses, and designers must consider factors such as cost, ease of use, and collaboration features when selecting the best tool for their needs.

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Tool recommendations

Below you will find some tool recommendations, but please note that you are free to choose whatever tool you prefer. For some tools we have group wide licenses, in which case access can be requested via licenses@visma.com. Remember that you always need cost approval from your immediate manager.