During a dinner held in partnership with Dept and Crownpeak, Nimbus Ninety members discussed how to build intelligent experiences in regulated industries.

Debates around how to manage Facebook and large tech companies have increased in prominence since the Cambridge Analytica scandal was revealed.

Tech regulation is not limited to big tech, it can affect all organisations and industries. Last May, the European Union introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Further afield, Governor Jerry Brown of California signed a bill giving consumers control of their own data. These laws affect any company which has “data”; and where data is the fuel for intelligent strategy, brings compliance into the heart of most business.

The resulting challenge is to stop the commercial and compliance teams pulling in opposite directions. Both should be able to complement the other in a well-run business.

Rising Expectations

Even without compliance, the digital experience team of any business has their work cut out. In the age of food delivery apps and click & collect, consumer expectations have continued to rise and reflect the trend of personalised, instant products. Tech-led companies with large, well-funded software team set the standard.

Nor are brands as powerful in their relationship with users as before; power lies with them. Organisations are required to redefine their digital strategy approach to ensure their consumers are receiving the specialised experiences to which they have grown accustomed. Members report using data to augment their service offerings: identifying new “eeds, and testing the products they have more effectively.

Theoretically, data ownership should represent the apex of customer control. This is one way of integrating the cultures of your compliance and commercial teams: encourage thinking of compliance as a service, and consider how to best deliver the spirit of the law in a way to delight customers.

Better still, treat compliance as the voice of the - or a - customer. This customer would become the fountain of knowledge in relation to regulatory compliance, and more detail-oriented than typical customers; but organisations should strive to serve him/her, as they would any other.

Data in improving digital experience

AI will remove much of the monotony of managing customers, but a great digital experience retains a human element at the right moment. Organisations should still emphasize the need for one-on-one interactions. Typically, it’s best to offer a choice, as members differed on their own preferred mode of interaction.

So, too, do different modes of interacting require experimentation to pioneer the best course. More than one member reported a sample of advisers happy to receive experimental products. Constant iteration may not seem cheap - but in reality, it’s cheaper than the alternative. Far better to spend a little on a work-in-progress and advance from there than drop a large sunk cost on a product released in one go.

It’s therefore culture, not cost, which is the largest issue most companies have with iterating to improve digital experience. Organisations should encourage a culture that allows employees to feel they can test new ideas, even if they stand a chance of failure.

Future of regulation

GDPR is likely only the beginning in data regulation, but there’s no reason that regulation should inhibit good service. Businesses should begin testing new ways of using data to better serve their consumers - whether that be through a more personalised experience, or using data to identify incidental product lines, such as microcommunities of users.

There’s a multitude of opportunities to improve the customer experience journey in a regulated environment.

The Building the Digital Experience Dinner took place on the 21 of November at the Merchant’s Tavern in Shoreditch, in partnership with Crownpeak and Dept.

Crownpeak offers product sets that reduce the burden and complexity of delivering quality and consistent digital experiences that are legally compliant.

Dept is a digital agency, helping organisations grown and solve problems quickly, with a focus on creativity, technology and data.