AI, customer experience, and the essence of humanity

The rapid development of AI is raising questions about the future of work and customer experience. As AI handles routine tasks, the value of human work must be re-evaluated. The answer lies in shifting from the eras of "Hands" and "Head" to the era of "Heart." This means moving from physical and knowledge work to an era where the keys to success are empathy, emotional intelligence, and the essence of humanity.

Hands, head, and heart: Toward more human-centered work

Originally, people worked primarily with their hands. Factories and farms were full of physical labor until industrial automation shifted heavy physical tasks to machines. This freed up our time for other things, and we moved into the “Head” era, or knowledge work. We focused on thinking, analyzing, and problem-solving.

Now, AI is causing a revolution in this area as well. It’s capable of processing data and solving problems faster and more efficiently than a human. Because of this, it’s pointless to try to compete with AI on its own terms. Instead, we must move to a new level – the “Heart” era.

In the Heart era, genuine human skills take center stage: empathy, emotional intelligence, and systemic thinking. Machines cannot copy these abilities, and they are the key to creating a successful customer experience. When AI handles the routines, we can focus on what’s truly important: understanding customer needs, engaging in human interaction, and building trust.

Designers in a Key Role

For the transition to the Heart era to succeed, designers are needed. Their role is to ensure that technology serves humanity, and not the other way around. There is a danger that we focus on technology for technology’s sake – on efficiency and short-term gains. As Mike Monteiro once wrote in his book Ruined by Design, such choices easily lead to unethical and irresponsible solutions.

Designers must play a central role in identifying genuine needs and solving real problems. It is their responsibility to keep people and the planet at the core of solutions. It’s not just about efficiency, but about creating long-term, sustainable, and ethical solutions.

In the age of AI, the role of the designer is even more emphasized. They must see the big picture and make decisions that serve customers, employees, and society as a whole. This is the only way we can ensure that AI is a true partner that expands our abilities and makes work more meaningful.

Ultimately, it’s not about competing with AI, but about how we can best combine the “intelligence” of machines with the wisdom of humans. AI can help us do our work better, but only we can bring the heart to it.

How Hion designs in the age of AI

At Hion, we believe that AI is a technology like any other – it should serve us, not the other way around. By designing our services in a human-centered way, we ensure that AI improves the customer experience and helps people achieve their own goals.

However, AI changes the predictability of the customer journey. We can no longer be certain what stage a customer is in (e.g., dreaming, considering, or purchasing) when they arrive at a service. That’s why we must understand a person’s intent even better at the exact moment they interact with a service.

We believe in strong service design expertise, rapid prototyping, and the idea that AI is a designer’s partner and an essential part of the creative process. By using AI as a tool, we can quickly test and validate ideas so that we can focus on what’s truly important: a deep understanding of human needs.

Here are a few examples of what this could mean for you:

1. Personalization and Understanding Customer Intent: Our designers will help you bring your digital service into the AI era so it can adapt to customers’ real-time needs. This allows you to offer the right content or functionality at the right moment, significantly improving the customer experience.
2. Content Discoverability in AI Conversations: Your customers are increasingly looking for information using AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT and Gemini). We will design the content and structure of your digital service so it aligns with customer intent and needs, ensuring discoverability in these new channels.
3. A Concrete Roadmap: Not sure where to start? Our designers and experts will work with you to create a target state for leveraging AI and build a concrete roadmap to achieve it. This way, you don’t have to navigate the change alone.

Send us a message if you’d like to talk more about this!

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Hion AI Toolkit provides powerful AI tools for developing and managing the customer experience in digital services.