We are now in the post-PC era. Ownership of connected devices continues to grow — the average US consumer now owns two or more connected devices — and they expect to be able to use those devices: 
  • Sequentially: starting a task on one device and seamlessly completing it on another. Data from Google shows that 90% of consumers who own more than one connected device have crossed devices in pursuit of their goals.
  • Simultaneously: using two devices at the same time to “multitask for efficiency.” Despite overwhelming evidence that humans cannot really split their attention among multiple tasks, 82% of global consumers believe that multiscreening makes them more efficient, and they act on that belief. 
Unfortunately, most companies are struggling to keep up with rising consumer expectations and increasing complexity of digital experiences. According to a survey from Avaya and BT (registration required), only 17% of consumers believe that companies make it easy to switch between channels. We may well be in the post-PC era, but we are certainly not yet in the unified experience era where companies are consistently accommodating consumers' desires to seamlessly switch between touchpoints.
 
In my new report, "Digital Customer Experience Teams In The Post-PC Era," I share best practices from companies that are creating unified digital experiences. In our conversations with successful companies and their agencies, we found that they do three things to grapple with increasing complexity and meet rising consumer expectations: 
  1. Key off of a digital experience strategy. The first step in creating the right digital customer experience is to develop a clear digital experience strategy. Companies are also hiring digital strategists to ensure that their digital visions evolve over time and that they guide decision-making about which projects and capabilities to prioritize. 
  2. Hire and develop essential skills. Companies must acquire or train core capabilities needed to bring unified digital experiences to life. These skills aren't just limited to the core digital team and include more than just technical and design expertise. We see companies training their digital CX teams in soft skills like storytelling and facilitation and following Fidelity’s lead in training business stakeholders in design thinking
  3. Take an ecosystem approach to digital resources. Ultimately, unified digital experiences will only result from aligning the ecosystem of people and partners responsible for the quality of the customer journey across digital touchpoints. Target maintains focus on key customer journeys and maintains continuity across devices by having one developer take the lead, regardless of how many devices are involved.
For more ideas about how to ensure your digital customer experience team is successful in the post-PC era, read the full report, or join us on October 24th at 11:00 a.m. ET for a Forrester Webinar: Digital CX Teams In The Post-PC Era.