Closure experiences, part II.How to design endings that stand out.

In this blog post, I will provide you with great examples from the real and digital world that stand out in terms of the closure experience. This article is the second of two regarding the closure experiences. To learn more about the psychological background and importance of endings, check out «Closure experiences part I — why endings matter».

Sorry brands but customers do leave

There is a belief that customers should never leave. Brands are happy to leave their consumers alone at the end. Or they often refuse to give their customers a careful and positive closure. In some cases, they simply don’t let customers go. Not surprisingly, people often have terrible experiences when they leave companies.

“Endings are hard. Any chapped-ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch. There’s always gonna be holes. And since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something. I’m telling you, they’re a raging pain in the ass.” — Eric Kripke

People react by rejecting that things end (Becker, 1997). This rejection also affects our design of closure in the Customer Journey. All possible measures are taken to ignore or avoid this closure (Kahneman etal. 1993, p. 402; Kasser & Sheldon, 2000), but not to design it. This is despite the fact that it has not only an economic impact, but also a social and environmental impact on our environment.

How to design endings

Experiences can break and we can schedule ourselves. What is easy to plan, however, is the end, the end of a user, customer or brand journey. Because what is certain is that the end always comes. So there are two chances available to a company to impress its customers. This is reinforced by the fact that we know that brand experiences influence loyalty indirectly and directly.

Instead of a one-off, long-lasting commitment, we should aim for shorter, recurring commitments in customer relations, accept endings and look at the endings as part of a long term strategy. In this way, we consider a customer’s situation across multiple engagements. As a result, designers need to take the offboarding as seriously as the onboarding.

1. Respect the peak end rule.
   It suggests there are two moments of influence that create memories: the peak and the end. Creating a good ending does not necessarily increase the number of consumers leaving the brand. It shows that you care about your customers and how you are leaving as a brand.
2. See customers as guests.
   Guests are people who are seen off as warmly as they were received, just like at a dinner party.
3. Use the so-called 5x5 method.
   When starting on a new project, allocate 5% of the timelines and resources on defining the offboarding. You start by investigating the end of the customer lifecycle, which fosters a lot of thoughts around what you should be doing. Then you can go one step further and think about how your current product would die in five years time, because any digital product will probably be gone by that time. This is a simple and cheap way to think about endings.

Examples from the analog and digital world

Let’s elaborate with some practical examples about introducing a memorable fun way in a closure experience.

• Netflix - come and go
  A major example of ending inclusion among those leaders is Netflix. The company is very proud of its easy ‘come and go’ contract. People can stop and start whenever they want to. On the contrary, US cable companies mandate at least annual contracts with aggressive punishment clauses. In terms of consumer experience, subscribers barely notice any difference between watching cable and Netflix. However, there is a huge difference when trying to leave the service. Netflix says, “We are proud of the no-hassle online cancellation. Members can leave when they want and come back when they want.” Their subscribers rose to 118.9M in 2018, up from 94.36M the previous year. They also reported customer satisfaction of 78%, a number that dwarfs traditional Cable-TV which reported a staggering low of 62% the lowest in 11 years. Customers mention that they appreciate the low-risk way out. They have an option of a structured good ending from a confident company. As it’s evident, drawing a good ending does not increase people leaving. On the contrary, it just means you care about your customers and provide them with a positive and joyful way of saying goodbye.
• Duolingo - The awarder
  The language learning provider gives you awards every time you end a lesson.

• Spotify - a goodbye gift for you
  The streaming platform generates a goodbye playlist for you.

• Amazon - give help
  Instead of just providing you with the bill of your purchases and having you lingering on the negative end of just spending money, shows you the items you purchased reminding you the reason you decided to spend money in the first place.
• Migros’ CoffeeB - offboarding lead to global innovation
  This examples demonstrates that planning for the end can also lead to innovation. Migros’ CoffeeB launched the first coffee capsule system that does not require a capsule at all. This is made possible by the “Coffee Ball”: a small ball of pressed coffee that is encased only by a protective layer. Like the coffee itself, the protective layer is of natural origin and thus completely garden-compostable. Within a few weeks, the Coffee Ball decomposes into humus. And can thus be used for your own houseplants. Disposing of the coffee becomes emotionally charged.

• Red Bull - keep everyone motivated even after end
  Even a rejection after a job application can be an appreciation! Especially when you consider how demotivating it can be. Red Bull shows how it can be done and gives applicants three Red Bull cans so that they have strength for further applications. This offboarding is designed from the brand proposition and therefore so strong and valuable. And last example.

• MailChimp - a small game for goodbye
  Sending out mass emails can get boring very quickly. It’s not a great experience. However, MailChimp makes the entire experience much better by adding a fun peak. Right before you sent an email, you are greeted by a sweaty monkey finger hovering over a big, red button. What better way is there to finish an email than by high-fiving a monkey? Mailchimp’s artful capitalization on key moments doesn’t end there. Once the email campaign is sent, users are redirected to a confirmation screen providing details pertaining to the campaign. There’s also an Easter egg on this screen that validates the user’s hard work: Freddie gives them a high five, as if to reassure them of a job well done.

Sometimes it’s the small details that reinforce the feeling of accomplishment and enhance the experience, creating positive mental snapshots for people that use this service.

Want to improve your closure experience?

If you want to learn more about Closure Experience, contact us and we’ll be happy to organize a conversation about it — we love to talk about it. Already have a digital product? We can analyze the current Closure Experience of your digital product and find out how much impact it has on your target audience and how it can be improved.

Further reading, talks and links:

• Joe Macleod: «Ends: Why we overlook endings for humans, products, services and digital. And why we shouldn‘t » (Amazon)
• Jon Yablonski: «Peak-end rule» (Blog post)
• Joe Macleod: «Endineering: Designing consumption lifecycles that end as well as they begin.» (Amazon)

. . .
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References

Brakus, J. J. š., Schmitt, B. H. & Zarantonello, L. (2009). Brand Experience: What is It? How is it Measured? Does it Affect Loyalty? Journal of Marketing, 73(3), 52–68. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.73.3.052

Becker, E. (1997). The Denial of Death (1. Aufl.). Free Press.

Damasio, A. R. (2004). Descartes’ Irrtum: Fühlen, Denken und das menschliche Gehirn. Ullstein Taschenbuchvlg.

Kahneman, D. (2021). Thinking, Fast and Slow (Later prt. Aufl.). Farrar Straus Giroux. 53

Kahneman, D., Fredrickson, B. L., Schreiber, C. A. & Redelmeier, D. A. (1993). When More Pain Is Preferred to Less: Adding a Better End. Psychological Science, 4(6), 401–405. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1993.tb00589.x

Kasser, T. & Sheldon, K. M. (2000). Of Wealth and Death: Materialism, Mortality Salience, and Consumption Behavior. Psychological Science, 11(4), 348–351. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00269

Pham, M. T. (2007). Emotion and Rationality: A Critical Review and Interpretation of Empirical Evidence. Review of General Psychology, 11(2), 155–178. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.11.2.155

Macleod, J. (2017). Ends.: Why we overlook endings for humans, products, services and digital. And why we shouldn’t. (1. Aufl.). Joe Macleod.