Brooke Allen, CX Class of 2017
"Without a comprehensive understanding of the customer experience how could I truly do my job well?"
What attracted you to MKTG 6800: Customer Experience Design?
My reason for taking the class is threefold: 1. it compliments my educational and professional background, 2. general interest, and 3. the professor teaching the class. Reason number one: My background is Communication Design—how to effectively communicate to one’s audience, whether in print, online, or in a three-dimensional form. I have over 15 years of experience in the field but I have not specifically studied the design of the customer experience. While my communication design expertise is an essential component of Customer Experience Design, it is not the only component. I want a holistic understanding of the entire methodology because it will provide me with the proficiency I require to advance my marketing career and provide customers with the best possible experience, where ever I may be working after graduation. I would like to work for a sports apparel company or in the outdoor sports industry as I am a huge fan of the outdoors, which is about actively being engaged with the environment around you. Without a comprehensive understanding of the customer experience how could I truly do my job well? Reason number two: I love learning (this is my second masters) and I love design. Reason number three: you cannot be an MBA student without knowing who Markus Giesler is and if you don’t know who he is then you need to Google him to understand why MTKG 6800: Customer Experience Design is one of the most popular class at the Schulich School of Business.
What’s the biggest design challenge you want to tackle this fall?
I am an avid traveler and thus would love to tackle the challenge of making air travel a better experience for the customer. It doesn’t matter what airline I travel on—I am continuously filled with dread and anxiety at the thought of having to deal with lineups at airport security (and I have a Nexus card). After you get through security, it only gets worse from there knowing you then have to suffer thought sitting on an airplane for hours where unless you can afford to sit in business class, the experience can be insufferable at times. The Air Transat incident where passengers were stranded on the tarmac for 6 hour was an extreme case but unfortunately situations like that happen a lot. While airport navigation has been addressed in some airports—Vancouver’s YVR, Terminal 2, The Queen’s Terminal at London’s Heathrow, Charles du Galle in Paris, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, The Frankfurt Airport, and Schipol in Amsterdam (to name a few), have excellent navigational signage but this is just one component of the customer experience when travelling by air. Just because the industry is an oligarchy and has a captive audience does not mean the passenger experience should be overlooked.
What are you looking for in a future employer?
I am looking for an employer who values creating a strong organizational culture, provides a stimulating work environment, and invests in their employees, allowing them to learn and grow with the company.
Connect with Brooke on LinkedIn
Learn more about MKTG 6800: Customer Experience Design
Customer Experience Design is offered at the Schulich School of Business - York University.
