What Is an Example of Product Experience?

Every single day, we’re exposed to a wide variety of products. From the phones in our hands to our refrigerators, hot water heaters, and even automobiles, these products are an integral part of our everyday life.

Each one offers a product experience, from pre-purchase research and unboxing to ownership and customer support.

What Are Product Experiences?

Product experience is a term used to define every interaction a user has with a product. It encompasses the entire user journey from pre-purchase research through ownership and support. Great product experiences quickly solve or meet a user’s needs in a delightful manner.

A product experience involves the product’s design, functionality, usability, and even the emotional connection users feel. Great product experiences increase the likelihood a user will purchase another product or recommending it to a friend.

Product experience involves all interactions a customer has with a product, including both physical and digital interactions. For example, you may purchase software that offers data solutions and marketing services. On the other hand, there are also millions of products you can see and feel, such as a new phone case or smartwatch.

As a marketer or product manufacturer, it’s important to consider the product experience. You’re trying to provide a solution and solve a need for the user. If your customers notice design flaws, functionality issues, or other problems, it’s important to receive this feedback. If you don’t understand these product experiences, it’s difficult to make improvements to your strategy and grow your business.

What Is the Role of Product Experience?

The goal of each product experience is to create lasting, positive impression on the user. This is how brand affinity is built. 

Product experience begins with the initial awareness and consideration phase, which involves analyzing and evaluating the product. This may also involve comparing products with other alternatives. Interested buyers may compare details such as cost, functionality, materials used, and more.

The goal of the product experience also involves the purchasing phase of the buyer journey. This is when the buyer makes a purchase decision and actually buys the product, which is one of the most crucial parts of the product experience. While the initial awareness and evaluation are key for making a sale and growing your business, the lifelong usage of the product is what matters most. You want the buyer to get an exceptional value from your product, possibly leading to them recommending it to their friends and family.

Product interactions outline all the experiences someone has with a product, including how they engage with it, how they feel when iterating with it, and how it can benefit their life.

Exceptional product experiences for customers involve more than just creating a great product. You have to consider the entire product lifecycle and determine how to make these experiences even more beneficial for the buyer. This can be achieved with a professional product experience team that manages these experiences. A product experience team can handle onboarding, product demos, retention, and even answer questions from customers.

What Is PXM?

While it’s important to understand the role of the product experience, product experience management (PXM) is another piece of the puzzle. Product experience management involves delivering a positive, trustworthy, and accurate product experience for the user. This means all product-related content is accurate and free of errors, and the product works as intended. Furthermore, product content must be relevant to the applicable use case. For example, if you use a physical product catalog for showcasing your product offerings, this will look far different than a digital catalog displayed on your phone. 

The product experience takes into account where information is being accessed, why it’s being accessed, by whom, and the goals of the user in that moment.

All in all, manufacturers should think about product experience management as an extension of the customer experience journey. This is because many customer interactions with manufacturing brands tend to be about products. That said, businesses should focus on building a personalized product experience throughout the entire buyer journey, from manufacturing to the long-term usage of the product.

What Is an Example of Product Experience?

Great product experiences take into account the user’s needs and capabilities at the moment. They play a crucial role in influencing a customer's decision. Here are four examples manufacturers should consider:

1. In-store Displays: When shopping for kitchen appliances or yard equipment, consumers are interested in exploring the product’s features. They want to learn enough to be confident their purchase decision will meet their needs. Brands can stand out in aisle by creating digital experiences that bring their product’s features to life. By scanning a QR code or texting a keyword, shoppers can quickly watch demo videos and read product reviews.

2. Sample Products: Brands often provide free samples or trial-sized versions of their products, such as skincare products or food items, so customers can try the product before purchasing the full-sized version. By incorporating a digital element to the samples, brands can incentivize purchases with digital coupons, or enable online purchases.

3. Product Quiz: Brands with large product lines often need to help shoppers find the right product that meets their needs, tastes, or preferences. Wine and spirits are a great example. With a variety of flavors, shoppers benefit from helpful recommendations. By creating a simple quiz that asks the shoppers their preferences and discerns their needs, the brand can then recommend one or two products the shopper is most likely to enjoy. This reduces the shopper’s anxiety about making a poor choice and demonstrates that the brand understands its customers.

4. Product Catalog: A tried and true staple of flagship brands. Consumers, dealers, and brand partners reference catalogs for different reasons. Why not create unique catalogs for each audience that leverage the same central product information, to ensure consistency, but display the product information in a way that meets the unique needs of each audience?

These product experiences help customers make informed decisions, build anticipation, and establish expectations for what they will receive once they make a purchase.

If you have an exceptional product, don’t pass up the importance of the product experience. Aside from helping out your customers and solving their needs, it can also lead to more profits. Start improving your product experience today!