A business book that friends have joked sounds like a sex thriller is aimed at transforming the experiences that companies and other organisations offer customers.
Author Denise Hampson is a former champion cyclist from Colwyn Bay who went on to become a successful Behavioural Economist and Service Design Consultant, working out of London.
In a varied career, that included a stint at BAE Systems where she worked on the cockpit design of the Eurofighter Typhoon, she developed an obsession with human centred design.
She has helped put this into practice across a range of organisations, from businesses to central government departments - focusing on how people make decisions and how to change behaviour.
The 42-year-old felt compelled to write about what she had learnt and bring together all her experience and expertise in a book - with Covid lockdown giving her the time she needed to write Desire Code.
While the title has raised eyebrows and Denise says friends say it “sounds like a sex, sci-fi thriller!” - it and the book’s content have secured plaudits.
Legendary business book writer Tom Peters says it is the “best answer anyone has provided so far” to questions about creating experiences for customers and turning them into fans.
She believes it could be vital reading for businesses as we slowly emerge from a pandemic hit year.
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Denise, who lives in Old Colwyn, said: “Even before this, sectors like retail were changing and Covid has just accelerated things, businesses will want to come back strong from this and the key is that they need to be more memorable than before.
“They need to be creating memories for people so that customers want to do it again - the book can help organisations design experience to make customer interactions more memorable. We also need to move people away from the ‘customer got it wrong’ approach to ‘we designed it badly’ and how can we change that.
“No one loses when organisations spend time designing services around customers – it means customers enjoy the experience more. And there’s benefits for the organisation too, from word of mouth marketing, repeat custom and fewer calls and complaints.
“They feel happier and people will want to come back.”
Parts of the book are from resource packs she created for people attending her training sessions over the years - and again helped inspire her to turn all that copy into a book.
Denise, a member of the Great Britain Cycling Team from 1999-2004, said: “I’ve collected so many examples and case studies and I realised I was generating so much content I thought often I should consider making it into a book.
“Similar to the experience of many authors, the book I felt compelled to write kept being stalled because work and life got in the way, and every New Year I’d promise myself this would be the year I would write it.
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“In the first lockdown last spring, I did what a lot of people did - I was on work video calls all day, I binge-watched box sets on Netflix and probably drank too much wine. As we headed into more restrictions again in the autumn I realised my lack of a social life could actually be an opportunity for me to get on with finally creating the book.
“I had a real ‘now-or-never’ moment, and got creating. I was even working on the book on Christmas Day.
“The book is very bold and full of images and colour. I spent hours designing each page to be visually appealing so that people would want it as a coffee table book – something they would be proud to have on show in their home or office.
“I created this book with optimism that it will have a positive impact on the way individuals and organisations approach the way they design services.”
The book can be bought online or ordered from most bookshops. See more at desirecode.co.uk
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