A friend mentioned recently that he was in the midst of developing an “Understanding Dutch culture” program to sensitize and train his fellow team of engineers of Indian origin for working successfully with his Dutch customers. This got us thinking about the importance of incorporating cultural relevance into the design of an experience.

1. How Much Does Culture Really Matter?
A friend mentioned recently that he was in the midst of developing an “Understanding Dutch
culture” program to sensitize and train his fellow team of engineers of Indian origin for working
successfully with his Dutch customers. This got us thinking about the importance of
incorporating cultural relevance into the design of an experience.
We chanced upon the Lego Experience Wheel recently and started to wonder if there needs to
be a layer of cultural relevance while designing an experience. While the tool itself is a powerful
way to analyze the customer journey by looking at every touch point, isn’t it also important to
avoid generalizing the experience across geographies and demographics? For instance, if we
start to decode a coffee drinking experience in the US versus that in Italy versus one in India,
the view of the customer journey would be greatly different.
For example, coffee drinking in Europe includes daily long visits to local coffee bars—
considered by many to be the cornerstone of social life. In the US, coffee is something that only
adults drink in the morning because of the caffeine. Giving coffee to a child in the US is not
accepted. Coming to Europe—It is well-known that the Turks brought coffee to Europe and has
been an important part of Turkish culture. Turkish coffee is taken at extremely hot
temperatures and is usually served with a glass of cold water to freshen the mouth to better
taste the coffee. In Italy, coffee is enjoyed after a family meal and in China and India, tea still
remains the drink of choice, although we see a huge growth in the coffee-bar culture among
Gen X and Y consumers.
© Rupa Shankar
www.cxpdesign.com

2. That is because customer expectations are culturally-bound and stem from deep-rooted value
and belief systems which have evolved over centuries. Hence, while designing an experience it
is important to closely note and assimilate various cultural differences. For example some
European nations, including Italy, Spain and Romania prefer highly personalized service and to
engage with a ‘real person’. By contrast, other nations including the UK and Denmark value
efficiency and speed more highly. Some nations are less comfortable in disclosing personal
data, even if the aim is to deliver a better service. Even simple things like whether customers
prefer a formal or informal form of address are culturally-bound. ‘Have a nice day’ will be
acceptable in one culture yet will grate in another.
While advertising grabs people’s minds, a great customer experience has the power to grab
people’s hearts. In conclusion, while coffee has now become the world’s second most
important commodity after crude oil (about 800 billion portions of coffee are consumed around
the globe every year), it is important to know that customer expectations and consumption
experiences differ vastly from one culture to another. So it does not matter whether your
brand is the longstanding category leader, a new entrant or a trendsetter; maintaining cultural
relevance makes the difference in customers’ lives and on the balance sheet!
© Rupa Shankar
www.cxpdesign.com

3. About CXP Design
CXP Design (www.cxpdesign.com), founded by Rupa Shankar, is a platform for marketers,
technologists, designers and leaders to discuss and gain a deeper understanding of cross-channel
customer experience design, develop empathy for customer needs and learn how to create
products and services that deliver "wow" experiences for customers.
When we check into a hotel. When we shop on-line. When we buy a pair of shoes. When we get on
a flight. These are experiences by which we measure brands every day. However, most companies
are without the tools to purposefully design those experiences for maximum value. That’s where
CXP Design comes in.
Day in, day out, we live, sleep, eat, breathe and unravel the riddle that is human experience, leading
to more loyal and committed customers for our clients.
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Rupa is an Associate Director at Happiest Minds Technologies (www.happiestminds.com), a next-
generation IT Services & Solutions company at the forefront of Providing Advisory, Implementation and
Managed Services on Social computing, Mobility, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud computing,
Security and Unified Communications. At Happiest Minds, Rupa is responsible for uncovering and
activating innovative digital and social engagement strategies for its clients, spearheading the
development of frameworks and solutions for different industry verticals and enhancing the global go-to-
market strategy. She taps into her past work as both a design practitioner and marketer to help Happiest
Minds clients envision and define broad, end-to-end customer experiences.
© Rupa Shankar
www.cxpdesign.com