Rethinking "Member Experience" Beyond Websites

Are we clinging to outdated paradigms in our approach to designing member experiences?

In the past two decades, website design and publishing technologies have contributed to user experiences that provide value and relevance to our members.

Yet modern websites have seen mostly incremental improvements in recent years and remain largely optimized around organizing and presenting large amounts of content.

Are current website-first trends holding us back from meeting evolving member needs and expectations? After all, today’s members are impatient. They want what they want, when they want it, wherever they are.

Reshaping how we engage with members

We’ve become so accustomed to current norms and conventions that we seldom pause to assess whether we're still effectively serving our members. Isn't it time to re-evaluate how we engage with them?

Integration with AMS systems and member data opens up untold possibilities for personalized experiences. Mobile apps provide instant access to value, catering to users wherever they may be. And AI is transforming search experiences, making knowledge more accessible than ever.

Imagine starting fresh. Would you still prioritize a highly-organized website with intricate information architecture? Or would you adopt a more fluid, resources-on-demand, mobile-centric approach?

Now is the time to shift the focus towards prioritizing mobile apps, rather than treating them as afterthoughts. A mobile app-first approach enables you to center efforts on the member experience - beyond what a website-only approach can deliver.

Members desire seamless experiences across devices including “app-first” solutions offering immediate access to personalized services, content, and connections.

Member Experience Reimagined - From the Ground Up

Reimagining the member experience from the ground up means truly understanding your members and what they value. Providing the experience your members want means leveraging different technologies - Websites, Mobile Apps, AMS/Data, and more - to serve member needs.

While website-centric thinking may have served us well in the past, it's time to assess the unique value that a mobile app can provide - and how it can complement your website.

If you were starting with a completely blank slate, where would you center the experience? Is it possible that the mobile device is where membership value is surfaced first, and an entry point for the rest of the digital experience?

By challenging outdated assumptions and embracing a user-centric approach, you can create a next generation member experience. 

It's time to rethink. It's time to innovate.