Understand your market before embracing Web 2.0

Companies are trying to improve their customers' online experience to make interaction more engaging. Trends include the use of video and audio, the use of browser-based software tools (such as Photoshop Express) plus the desire to create communities around a company's products or services.

Prior to undertaking any design work, companies need to think about the customer experience from beginning to end, and understand who their target audience is and therefore their likely technology prowess. Too often though, companies don't actually know what they are trying to achieve through the rebuild.

'You have to break it down to their pain points and link them back to the return on investment.' said Andrew Shorten, a product evangelist at Adobe.

Obvious examples include providing interaction for potential customers when they are shopping. If people need to ask a question or have a problem during the sales process, rather than forcing them to email in their question or back out of the purchase, provide a way of talking to the call centre in real time using voice over IP.

Equally, if filling in electronic forms, the ability to 'collaborate' with the help desk if necessary, so that on their screens they can see what the customer is doing will also help people's experiences.

Also important, he said, is for companies to understand that as much as they want the community on their site, it may already be more vibrant on the likes of Facebook or MySpace, in which case they should embrace these sites, and become active members of the groups, interacting with and learning from customers. 'They have to learn to partner and work with those other sites rather than trying to do it themselves.'

Examples of organisations that have embraced Web 2.0 and understood and engaged their target market include MTV and Volkswagen. MTV saw the time its audience spent on its website increase after it introduced browser based tools that allowed people to take music clips from different artists and remix them.

VW rebuilt its site that allowed customers to configure the car they were interested in buying, from engine size to colour, which could then be given to their nearest dealer and converted into a sale. Shorten said the attention to detail on the VW site was particularly impressive.

Adobe has showcased Creative Suite 4, the latest version of its produce, at Gitex this week, the first time it has been shown in the Middle East. It is also showing the Arabic version of Acrobat 9 and Flash Player 10, which can now handle the right to left Arabic script.

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