Another influential model has contributed to the emergence of experience design as a leading strategy for product success. A core element of the 'Treacy Value Proposition Framework', which was created by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema, is an idea of customer intimacy: Essentially building a life-long relationship with customers by developing a deep understanding of a specific audience segment's needs. Customer engagement and brand loyalty are outcomes of product experiences that reflect this understanding. 

Another way to think about the approach to product design, is to consider features vs. experiences using a car as a product example, as illustrated in the models below:

• The path T-P illustrates the relationship between a target audience and the product. In the features model, the target audience evaluates the supply of all available cars and chooses the car that most fits its needs. For example, people who needed a reliable car for tough winters seem to prefer cars by Subaru, which has a standard four-wheel drive; families with young children seem to prefer the space, convenience, and utility of Honda Odyssey minivans; and so on.
• The path O-P connects the company to the product. In the features model, the company evaluates the supply of all available cars and identifies the various audience segments according to their choice of products by their features. In the case of cars, features include four-wheel drive, or a minivan. The company competes with others on providing cars that have more or better features that will attract their target audience.
• The path O-T connects the company and its target audience. In the features model, the link is weak: The company can easily gauge its competition and decide which popular features to imitate and improve upon. Audience research and expensive R&D efforts could be minimized because that effort has already been taken by the competition.

However, a weak link between the company and its audience only works when technical features are involved: If the competition releases a device with a 6" screen, the company can release a 'better' product with an 8" screen at an equal or lower price, and so on. But as the focus shifts to product experience, offering a larger, more powerful yet cheaper hardware does not cut it any more. To understand how to improve upon competing experiences, the company must invest in building a direct strong link to its customers. The right triangle in the diagram above illustrates an emerging experience approach in which all the connectors--TP, OP, and OT are bi-directional, as constant communications flow between the company and its users through data-driven products. With that data, the company can gain exclusive insights into use patterns, preferences and needs, and continue improving its products with the confidences of measurement and feedback.

Feedback from users flows directly back into the product in the form of data usage analytics, and to the company, through social networks. Companies often have up-to-the-moment data that identifies changes in patterns of use. This intimacy level of knowledge at the user level makes possible on-the-fly adjustments to the user-experience in order to reverse or strengthen various patterns of use and improve the person's satisfaction.

In the complex market reality we live in, most companies struggle to find an approach that endures, due to constant change. Fresh approaches are required as a response to new trends, or due to the desire to set them. While more companies engage in developing a unified experience approach for their products, the notion that the product IS the experience is still novel in many boardrooms. Traditionally, marketing builds product demand, and the 'front-end' of the experience in the form of emotional anticipation. Customer service deals with the tail-end of the experience by addressing issues customers have with the product post purchase. Not much has been invested in the middle pat--the actual experience of using the product.

Next, we will move on to an exploration of research and modeling activities that are focused on understanding the needs and expectations of product users. This phase of the project is informed by and builds upon the outputs from the voice of the business phase. Its focus is to find and express the voice of the user to the project team.