I wrote this piece for hashtag#HDI because too many teams are chasing KPIs while missing the identity underneath them. If you want to build service that people trust, remember, and advocate for, you don’t start with dashboards.

Brand is not just what customers see on the outside. It is how employees experience the organization from the inside. How they are welcomed. How they are treated. How consistently care, generosity, and pride show up in everyday moments.

Before the food, the photos, and the traditions, Thanksgiving is really about hashtag#connection. The real kind. The imperfect kind. The kind that shows up even when life is heavy, schedules are full, and nothing is wrapped in a bow. This morning was a quiet reminder of that for me. A reflection on how people show up in different states, with different capacities, carrying different stories.

Design isn’t just what people see. It’s what they feel, hear, taste, smell, and remember. Every sense tells a story, and when those stories align, the experience becomes unforgettable.
Peek into my list… what brands or experiences still have you raving? And which ones left you reeling?

Here’s the truth: managers are sometimes the problem. Not because they don’t care, but because they step in when they should step back. They feel the need to control the moment, to enforce the rule, to show authority...when what the situation really calls for is trust, creativity, and restraint. I got to see this first hand at a rooftop restaurant in NYC this past weekend.

Sometimes the smallest details leave the biggest impressions. My recent visit to a revolving sushi bar wasn’t just about the food....it was a reminder of how design, flow, and experience can make or break delight. Take a peak into the future...it's here and now. And it starts and ends with Designing for Delight!

What do you do when you encounter a comedy of errors by the big, medium and small companies in one day? The small, irritating misses where a little more attention to detail could have turned friction into delight… and instead left me delayed, frustrated, and shaking my head. Here’s a tale and the how to avoid these mishaps when designing for CX.

There’s a common phrase in business and in life: You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs. It’s a nod to the idea that progress often requires disruption, even if it’s a little messy. But what I’ve observed in many organizations is the exact opposite. Instead of taking initiative, people are conditioned to walk on eggshells, afraid to act, afraid to deviate from the script, afraid to simply help. 

I want to dive into four key areas where AI is reshaping CX: Personalization, Predictive analytics, Virtual reality, and Customer service. Each one holds both promise and risk, and I’ll bring in some real-world stories from my own work and the latest conversations I’ve been following.

The 10 CX Virtues are the habits of companies that get it right. They make you feel seen, heard, and valued, turning routine interactions into standout moments. Ready to stop pushing your customers to the brink? Here’s your cheat sheet for building loyalty, one positive interaction at a time.

Too many companies obsess over customer experience (CX) while ignoring the struggles of the people delivering it. Outdated tech, rigid policies, and lack of support turn great employees into disengaged ones. And when employees check out, customers feel it. The truth is simple: EX is CX—because it’s all HX (the Human Experience), and it’s sequential, like dominos.

Imagine trying to navigate a road trip without a map or GPS—just gut instinct and a bit of hope. You might eventually get somewhere, but chances are, you’ll waste time, take wrong turns, and frustrate everyone along the way. Now, what if every person you met gave you precise directions to your actual destination? That’s what the Voice of the Customer (VOC) does for business transformation.

While getting myself ready to host yet another Thanksgiving at my home, I couldn't help but think back to the annual potluck luncheons my team and I would have at the office. Sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we found a way to bring the whole organization together in a very unique way. I still smile at the lovely memories.

We've all heard these dreaded words, I'm sure of it.... 'I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.' It’s like having a bucket of ice poured on you when you’re already having a bad day. It instantly turns hope into frustration, and a potential solution into a brick wall. The antidote to this is empowerment of service providers!

After losing my driver’s license on a Monday of this week 😢 , I dreaded the idea of dealing with the DMV. Visions of long lines, endless forms, and frustration danced in my head. 😱 But on Tuesday, something unexpected happened—I was shocked, but in the best possible way. The journey from dread to delight 😃 didn’t happen by chance; it’s clear there was a well-thought-out plan behind this transformation.

After years of being on the receiving end of frustrating customer service experiences, I’ve had my fair share of hair-raising moments. From endless call trees to hidden fees, these are the things that not only tested my patience but also shattered my trust in a company. I wrote this article because, let’s face it, we’ve all been there—and it’s time companies stop making these avoidable mistakes.

After reading a Wall Street Journal piece on how Party City has nailed the omnichannel experience (seriously, check it out here), I couldn’t help but reflect on my own experiences with them. They’ve got something special going on—a simple, consistent, and thoughtful journey that makes you feel like you’re the guest of honor at their party. Imagine that. This got me thinking about how many other companies miss the mark, especially when it comes to internal support. So, I decided to dive into what makes Party City’s approach stand out and why the little things really do matter.

While applying the art of cooking, the realization dawned on me: creating delightful customer experiences is much like crafting a perfect dish. It's a meticulous process that requires the right blend of ingredients, techniques, and a dash of creativity. From retail to hospitality, dining to airlines, this article explores how small tweaks and thoughtful touches can transform CX into a memorable journey.

It dawned on me how desperately we, as customers, seek good experiences on a daily basis. We need services and products, true, but we crave things to go right more often than they go wrong. Once in a while something going sideways is ok, but the frequency of intercepting complexity is quite troubling. And when things don't go right, the daunting task of fixing it takes time and energy that would otherwise be best spent on something else.

I like to believe that there are always (or mostly) good intentions behind just about everything. For businesses they are trying to chase after the better, faster, cheaper while making money for their stakeholdrs. But we do have to stop and ask, who it the "better" for? When it comes to the customer experience and support, who defines what better is? And how is it being measured these days? I agree that there's value in pursing better (and faster and cheaper.)

In the realm of customer service, I recently encountered a tale of three experiences that highlighted the pivotal role of service processes in shaping the customer journey. In this article, I delve into one such experience, encompassing the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of service design. Join me as I explore valuable lessons and envision what exceptional service could have been.

By simple...customers can easily interact with the service without needing instructions. By solid...it has a high degree of quality, being both reliable and repeatable. And by scalable...it can be expanded for a larger use case with the same great experience. Here’s a story about such a service that was designed with both good intentions and great (ultimate)execution. I share this one in more detail because there were lessons learned along the way and an agile approach to course correction was needed to achieve all 3 objectives.

Can't help but notice the perpetual improvements in the traveler experience the more and more I frequent different airports throughout the US. Everything you can possibly need and want is now readily available. The airports and airlines figured this out- the easier they make the travel experience, the more you'll travel. Imagine that. Now why can't healthcare learn from this? Why is it we still have to fill out paper forms each time we see a new doctor, wait ridiculous amounts of time to see our doctor, and then sort through tons of mail and data to try to figure out what was covered, what's out of pocket, and how much getting better is going to cost us? Or is it because with air travel, that's a choice, while healthcare, we don't have much of a choice...or do we?

A tale of the best and the worst of on-boarding experiences, and how to get it right! Why the best companies get it right from the start, and tips on how to do this. A bit of a long read this time, but, true personal stories and strong lessons learned.

As promised, here is part 2 of the Total Experience- unpacking what the key ingredients are to make for a great Customer Experience. This isn't focused on the exact mechanisms to achieve this, but it does talk about how great organizations such as Amazon have figured out what makes that customer journey work.

This is Part I of a series on Total Experience- focusing on Employee Experience to start. In this I unpack what makes the difference in the Employee Experience world, and how key tips lead to employee engagement and loyalty. Enjoy these tips! Part II next…

Employee Engagement”- wow, what a concept. The idea that a highly-engaged employee is a company’s most valuable asset has finally surfaced more openly than ever. It took a long time to see the two words coupled, and for the longest time it was just about customer service, and employee satisfaction, but never about actual engagement….

Nowadays a broad search on ITSM on the internet will yield this definition, “IT service management is the craft of implementing, managing, and delivering IT services to meet the needs of an organization. It ensures that the appropriate mix of people, processes, and technology are in place to provide value. In other words: ITSM is the art of making a business run.” My favorite piece of this is the “Art of making a business run.” So, what about IT service management is really exclusive to IT, I ask? A lot, in fact, everything…