Reducing Customer Effort Scores

🔎 How To Redesign Complex Navigation: How We Restructured Intercom’s IA (https://lnkd.in/ezbHUYyU), a practical case study on how the Intercom team fixed the maze of features, settings, workflows and navigation labels. Neatly put together by Pranava Tandra. 🚫 Customers can’t use features they can’t discover. ✅ Simplifying is about bringing order to complexity. ✅ First, map out the flow of customers and their needs. ✅ Study how people navigate and where they get stuck. ✅ Spot recurring friction points that resonate across tasks. 🚫 Don’t group features based on how they are built. ✅ Group features based on how users think and work. ✅ Bring similar things together (e.g. Help, Knowledge). ✅ Establish dedicated hubs for key parts of the product. ✅ Relocate low-priority features to workflows/settings. 🤔 People don’t use products in predictable ways. 🤔 Users often struggle with cryptic icons and labels. ✅ Show labels in a collapsible nav drawer, not on hover. ✅ Use content testing to track if users understand icons. ✅ Allow users to pin/unpin items in their navigation drawer. One of the helpful ways to prioritize sections in navigation is by layering customer journeys on top of each other to identify most frequent areas of use. The busy “hubs” of user interactions typically require faster and easier access across the product. Instead of using AI or designer’s mental model to reorganize navigation, invite users and run a card sorting session with them. People are usually not very good at naming things, but very good at grouping and organizing them. And once you have a new navigation, test and refine it with tree testing. As Pranava writes, real people don’t use products in perfectly predictable ways. They come in with an infinite variety of needs, assumptions, and goals. Our job is to address friction points for their realities — by reducing confusion and maximizing clarity. Good IA work and UX research can do just that. [Useful resources in the comments ↓] #ux #IA

My API was dying. 500ms response times. Angry users. My manager asking "why is everything so slow?" I thought I was a decent developer. But my API performance? It was embarrassing. That's when my senior taught me something that changed everything: "𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮." Here are the 7 game-changing strategies that took my APIs from embarrassing to lightning-fast: 𝟭. 𝗖𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗻 The day I added Redis, my database queries dropped by 80%. Suddenly, the same data wasn't being fetched 1000 times a minute. 𝟮. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸 One missing index was costing me 300ms per query. One `EXPLAIN` command saved my career. (Pro tip: If you're doing N+1 queries, you're doing it wrong) 𝟯. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝘆𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 Switched from JSON to Protocol Buffers. 40% smaller responses. Users stopped complaining about loading times. 𝟰. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 Enabled Gzip compression. Boom. 70% smaller responses. Literally a one-line config change. 𝟱. 𝗔𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 Stopped making users wait for background tasks. Email sending? Background job. Image processing? Background job. Response times went from 2s to 200ms. 𝟲. 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 Returning 10,000 records in one response? Recipe for disaster. Paginate. Filter. Sort. Your servers will thank you. 𝟳. 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁 (Because it does) Set up alerts. Profile slow endpoints. Fix problems before users notice them. The brutal truth? Most developers write code first, optimize later. But the best APIs are designed for performance from day one. Your users don't care about your elegant code structure. They care about speed. My API now: - 50ms average response time - 99.9% uptime - Happy users - Happier manager Your turn: What's the one API performance mistake you wish you could warn your younger self about? Drop it below 👇 Let's help each other avoid these painful lessons.

A sluggish API isn't just a technical hiccup – it's the difference between retaining and losing users to competitors. Let me share some battle-tested strategies that have helped many  achieve 10x performance improvements: 1. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 Not just any caching – but strategic implementation. Think Redis or Memcached for frequently accessed data. The key is identifying what to cache and for how long. We've seen response times drop from seconds to milliseconds by implementing smart cache invalidation patterns and cache-aside strategies. 2. 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Large datasets need careful handling. Whether you're using cursor-based or offset pagination, the secret lies in optimizing page sizes and implementing infinite scroll efficiently. Pro tip: Always include total count and metadata in your pagination response for better frontend handling. 3. 𝗝𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 This is often overlooked, but crucial. Using efficient serializers (like MessagePack or Protocol Buffers as alternatives), removing unnecessary fields, and implementing partial response patterns can significantly reduce payload size. I've seen API response sizes shrink by 60% through careful serialization optimization. 4. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡+𝟭 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 This is the silent performance killer in many APIs. Using eager loading, implementing GraphQL for flexible data fetching, or utilizing batch loading techniques (like DataLoader pattern) can transform your API's database interaction patterns. 5. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 GZIP or Brotli compression isn't just about smaller payloads – it's about finding the right balance between CPU usage and transfer size. Modern compression algorithms can reduce payload size by up to 70% with minimal CPU overhead. 6. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗹 A well-configured connection pool is your API's best friend. Whether it's database connections or HTTP clients, maintaining an optimal pool size based on your infrastructure capabilities can prevent connection bottlenecks and reduce latency spikes. 7. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Beyond simple round-robin – implement adaptive load balancing that considers server health, current load, and geographical proximity. Tools like Kubernetes horizontal pod autoscaling can help automatically adjust resources based on real-time demand. In my experience, implementing these techniques reduces average response times from 800ms to under 100ms and helps handle 10x more traffic with the same infrastructure. Which of these techniques made the most significant impact on your API optimization journey?

After 10,000 hours of user research, here's everything I've learned distilled into 9 key takeaways (that you can start applying today): 1. User research is the best insurance policy you’ll ever invest in. The earlier you research, the less risk you take on. - For every $1 spent fixing an issue during development, it costs $10 to fix in production. - Early insights save time, money, and reputation. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eJVPUkBe 2. If no one is acting on your research, the problem isn’t them—it’s you. Insights only matter if they drive change. Here’s a simple formula to make your findings actionable: 1. Problem: What’s broken? 2. Impact: What’s the cost (time, money, frustration)? 3. Solution: What’s the fix? Stakeholders don’t ignore clarity. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eBu7KEyG 3. Users often don’t know what they need—and that’s okay. Users are great at describing problems, but rarely solutions. - Don’t ask them what they want—ask what’s frustrating them, what workarounds they use, and how they solve problems today. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eVBvDr9c 4. Pain points are treasure maps—follow them. Every time a user struggles, they’re handing you an opportunity to improve. - A client discovered users were copy-pasting passwords to log in. The fix? A password manager integration that reduced churn by 30%. The bigger the pain, the bigger the potential win. 5. Forget about tools—master the basics first. Fancier software won’t make you better at understanding your users. - A Google Doc and sticky notes can uncover world-changing insights. - Focus on asking the right questions, not which tool to use. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eqhy3Tzr 6. The best insights come early—before anyone’s built anything. The most expensive mistakes happen when you skip research in the ideation phase. - Don’t wait for prototypes. Get in the field, talk to users, and validate assumptions before anyone writes a line of code. - Early research saves late regrets. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ecBReAW8 7. Your stakeholders don’t care about “findings”—they care about results. Your report isn’t the product—impact is. Tie every insight to a business metric: - Churn? Reduced. - Revenue? Increased. - Efficiency? Improved. When insights = results, you’ll never struggle for buy-in again. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eAzkpxub 8. Your job isn’t just to research—it’s to align teams. Most UX problems are rooted in misaligned goals, not bad designs. Use research as a bridge between teams: - Show designers, PMs, and engineers what users actually need (and what they don’t). Alignment creates momentum—and better outcomes. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e3wyQr25 9. Good research challenges assumptions. If your findings aren’t making people uncomfortable, you’re playing it too safe. Dig deeper. Push harder. The most powerful insights don’t validate—they transform. Image via Midjourney

Don’t take this personally, but people do not care about your company. They don't care about your product and your features. They don't care about your new integration with Slack and HubSpot. What they care about is themselves. And if you can talk to them about themselves, you’ll have their full attention. How can you help them? What is the selfish benefit? Here are five timeless principles you can think about for your customers: 1. Make Me Look Good Whether it’s to a boss, their team, or their industry, people are wired to care about status. Can you help them impress someone? Can you give them an edge? Can they copy/paste your idea and look smart in the next meeting? I remember impressing my boss when I was 23 year old marketer being asked to build a marketing plan for a product launch for the first time. I had no idea what to do, found a great resource from HubSpot blog (the OG) and used it. She was impressed. 2. Save Me Time Time is the one thing nobody has enough of. If you can help someone do something faster, with less friction or fewer steps, that's the way. People will pay for time savings. BUT they have to believe this. Can't just be a marketing claim. You need proof. Show the receipts. The examples. 3. Make Me Money Capitalism seems to be the best system that exists in the world. I don't make the rules I am just observing. It doesn't seem like someone has created a better way, so yes - money matters. And whether they will admit it or not, your customers want to make more money (because they are people). Whether directly or indirectly, people are tuned in to ROI. If you can help someone drive revenue, get more leads, reduce churn, or land a raise then you’ve got their attention. Again though: MUST BE BELIEVABLE. So you must have PROOF. 4. Help Me Avoid Pain We are wired to avoid pain. We'd almost always rather avoid pain than get some type of gain. No one likes to look stupid, feel behind, or get in trouble. If you can speak to something they’re secretly worried about -- a mistake, a missed goal, a clunky process -- and show a way out, they’ll lean in. 5. Help Me Grow Great marketing often speaks to ambition. Career growth. Mastery. Confidence. People want to feel like they’re getting better — at their job, in their life, as a person. There's a lot of noise in marketing right now because of tech/AI, but I'm more bullish than ever on understanding the timeless principles in marketing, and that starts with understanding people. I hope these are helpful for whatever you're working on right now.

My favorite customer service tool isn't a survey. It's gemba. Gemba means "the actual place." Going "to the gemba" or doing a "gemba walk" means going to the place where customer service happens. You can learn a lot by observing. A university parking team got a lot of complaints from faculty and staff about the process used to issue annual parking passes. They got some insights from an existing survey, but not enough. Going to the gemba was essential. Visiting the parking office during renewal time made it immediately obvious why people were unhappy: 1. Going to the parking office was an inconvenience 2. Ironically, parking was scarce near the office 3. Wait times to get the pass were long All of this made people feel like they were wasting time. The parking team identified an easy fix: bring parking passes to faculty and staff. Stations were set up around campus during renewal periods. This allowed people to quickly get their pass near where they went to work. Give gemba a try. Pick a customer service challenge. Use three principles to guide you: 1. Go see. Observe the operation in motion. 2. Ask why. Talk to customers and employees. Ask why they do what they do. 3. Show respect. Demonstrate respect for employees and customers alike. That last one brings an unexpected benefit. I've found that respect makes employees very honest. They'll readily tell you why they do what they do if they believe you're there to help.

This senior marketing manager who knew all the right tactics… failed spectacularly when she took her first customer-experience role… That was me. I thought years of experience with brand campaigns and digital strategies had prepared me. - Metrics? Yes - Market knowledge? Yes - Customer-centric mindset? Maybe But stepping into a role where customers were supposed to be at the centre was a brutal wake-up call. The problem wasn’t my marketing skills. The problem was thinking marketing skills were enough. Here’s what a marketing background doesn’t prepare you for in customer-centric leadership: 1. Customers don’t care about your products. Marketer love telling them how great their products are, but what they really care about is how their problems get solved. Features mean little without context in their lives. 2. Campaigns don’t build loyalty. We can spend months crafting the perfect message, but if the service fails or the experience is clunky, customers leave. Loyalty is built in consistent functional and emotional interactions. 3. Data without empathy is useless. Marketers analyse clicks, funnels, and conversions, but numbers don’t reveal the frustration of waiting on hold or the delight of being treated with care. Without empathy, data leads to blind spots. ✦ Customer-centricity is about high EQ (empathy) and high AQ (adaptability) If you’re stepping into a customer-centric role, here’s my advice: ✕ Don’t start with technology. ✕ Don’t even start with strategy decks. ✓ Start with people and create alignment across leadership and employees ✓ Learn and teach others to see the world through the customer’s eyes Because the best strategy, the boldest campaigns, and the smartest tools collapse the moment a company forgets who pays the bills: the customer. What’s been your toughest lesson in building customer-centricity? #cx #customerexperience #customerrelations

I was in a call this morning with a respected industry thought leader, and we ended up talking about one of the biggest internal challenges in Customer Success: when things go wrong for a customer, where does the blame live? Is it in Sales for setting the wrong expectation? Is it in Product for missing or broken functionality? Is it in Operations or Accounting for a confusing billing experience? There are plenty of targets, and many CS pros will instinctively point at teams across the org. And honestly, those things do matter — misalignment across functions is one of the most common structural blockers CS organizations face today. But the harder question (the one we often avoid) is this: When something isn’t working for a customer, have we looked in the mirror to see if we played a part in allowing that to happen? Customer Success has the unique privilege of representing the entire company to the customer. We build trust, advocate for outcomes, carry the company flag, and influence how the customer perceives every interaction. And with that privilege comes responsibility: the responsibility to look at ourselves first when issues arise. Not to absorb blame unnecessarily, but to approach every problem with the humility that leads with: 👉 Did we set clear enough expectations? 👉 Did we fully and accurately translate the customer’s needs internally? 👉 Did we communicate with enough context and impact to influence action? 👉 Did we partner with a spirit of collaboration rather than blame? Too often, issues become a game of “whose fault is this?” instead of “what can we learn and fix together?” When CS approaches our role as truth-teller, integrator, and co-owner of outcomes, including our own part in the narrative, the organization becomes better equipped to solve the real problem. Here are three action steps to help us get this right: 🔹 1. Self-Reflect before escalating Before sending that “Urgent Customer Issue” email, ask yourself: Did I fully understand the customer context? Did I include potential solutions or recommendations alongside the issue? 🔹 2. Translate with context, not frustration CS isn’t just reporting facts, we’re bridging perspectives. Partner feedback needs to land in a way that adds clarity and urgency, not just noise. 🔹 3. Lead with humility and accountability Admit when we could’ve done something differently. Highlight wins when the team solves something cross-functionally. Model curiosity and shared ownership rather than pointing fingers. Privilege without responsibility is entitlement. Responsibility without humility is defensiveness. When CS leads with both, we not only protect customer value, we build internal credibility and influence. Let’s keep raising the bar. 👊 #CustomerSuccess #Leadership #CrossFunctionalAlignment #Humility #ServeWell #GrowthMindset #BetterEveryDay #CSLeadership #CreatetheFuture

I’ve been into hotel finance for almost 10+ years now. I’ve learned that what’s left unsaid by your guests often impacts your bottom line the most. Sure, you’ve got rave reviews from happy travelers, and yes, complaint-handling protocols are in place. But what about the guests who leave with a polite smile yet never return? 𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘀: Returning guests are 60%-70% more profitable than new ones. But if their dissatisfaction remains unvoiced, you may never know why they didn’t come back. 𝟮. 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: A guest who doesn’t complain might not be angry—but they also aren’t recommending your property to friends or family. 𝟯. 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀: Issues like slow room service or poor amenities that go unreported stay unaddressed. Unsolved problems can cost more over time, both financially and reputationally. 𝟰. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗲: A seemingly "happy" guest may quietly book elsewhere next time, even if your rates are competitive. 𝟱. 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗨𝗽𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀: Unspoken discomfort (like noisy rooms or bland food) can discourage guests from spending more on upgrades or F&B services. But how do you identify these silent signals? 𝟭. 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽-𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀 - Ask open-ended questions like: “𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧?” 𝟮. 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 - Patterns like short booking durations or lower in-house spending can signal dissatisfaction. 𝟯. 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 - Train them to observe non-verbal cues and proactively check in: “𝙃𝙤𝙬’𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢? 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚?” 𝟰. 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 - QR codes or anonymous forms allow shy guests to express concerns without confrontation. 𝟱. 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 - A lack of reviews could be as telling as negative ones. 𝟲. 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. 𝗔 𝟱% 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟱%-𝟵𝟱%. - Catching and resolving hidden pain points early reduces the cost of negative guest experiences and their long-term ripple effects. If you want to unlock your hotel’s full revenue potential, listen closely to what’s not being said. The best time to address silent dissatisfaction is before it leaves your property. Every smile, every stay, and every “thank you” has a story. Make sure you know all of it.