Open AccessJust Add Water: Lessons Learned from Mixing Data Science and Design Research Methods to Improve Customer Service
Author(s) -
SAMPSON OVETTA
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ethnographic praxis in industry conference proceedings
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1559-8918
pISSN - 1559-890X
DOI - 10.1111/1559-8918.2018.01227
Subject(s) - leverage (statistics) , design science research , computer science , design science , data science , customer advocacy , customer engagement , data center , customer care , knowledge management , customer intelligence , customer service , service (business) , engineering management , marketing , world wide web , business , engineering , artificial intelligence , service quality , information system , electrical engineering , social media , operating system
This case study provides an inside look at what occurs when methods from the data science and ethnographic fields are mixed to solve perennial customer service problems within the call center and cruise industries. The paper details this particular blend of ethnographic practitioners with a data scientist resulted in changes to design approaches, debunking myths about qualitative and quantitative research methods being at odds and altering team member perspectives about the value of both. The project also led to the creation of innovative blended design research and data science methods to discover and leverage the right customer data to the benefit of both the customer and the call center agents who serve them. This paper offers insight into the untold value design teams can unlock when data scientists and ethnographers work together to solve a problem. The result was a design solution that gives a top‐performing company an edge to grow even better by leveraging the millions of data records housed in its warehouse to the benefit of its customers.