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Customer Confidential: Norwegian Air is soaring with experimentation
Norwegian Air has always been at the forefront of digital innovation in the airline industry, and their journey continues with a strong focus on data-driven decisions and customer experience. In this latest installment of 'Customer Confidential', Knut Olav Irgens Høeg, Chief IT & Business Officer, and Magnus Jorde, Senior UX Designer & A/B Test Lead, share how Norwegian uses experimentation and data to continuously improve and optimize their digital customer touchpoints.
Meet Norwegian Air
Key Points:
- Knut Olav Irgens Hoeeg is Chief IT and Business Officer at Norwegian Air.
- Norwegian manages 70% of its ticket sales directly through Optimizely, making it their most critical sales channel and central to their customer experience strategy.
- As a digital-native company, Norwegian has relied on direct sales channels since its inception over 20 years ago.
Putting customers in control with self-service excellence
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Key Points:
- Norwegian Air prioritizes self-service, allowing customers to handle tasks independently rather than relying on customer care, which aligns with modern customer expectations.
- Self-service not only enhances customer satisfaction but also drives efficiency for Norwegian as a company.
Trusting the numbers: Norwegian Air’s experimentation and AI success
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Key Points:
- Use of Optimizely’s experimentation tools such as A/B testing to understand customer behavior and make data-driven decisions based on real-world data.
- Norwegian leverages Optimizely and AI to tailor customer journeys, identify friction points and improve issue resolution.
- Data and insights from customer care help Norwegian enhance self-service and reduce support needs.
"It's not like grey-haired people like me in suits that know what is best for the customer. It's the customer themselves, and that's what we need to find out and see.” - Knut Olav Irgens Høeg, Chief IT & Business Officer
Building a unified customer journey
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Key Points:
- Norwegian overcomes silos by ensuring IT, marketing, and sales teams work as one, creating a cohesive approach to the customer journey.
- Norwegian maps NPS scores to operational drivers, gaining valuable insights to improve customer satisfaction across channels.
- A focus on developing advanced tools has resulted in more digitally engaged customers compared to other airlines.
“Customers of Norwegian are so much more digital than any customer of any other airline." – Knut Olav Irgens Høeg, Chief IT & Business Officer
Reflecting on 15 years with Optimizely
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Key Points:
- Norwegian has been working with Optimizely for over 15 years.
- The partnership is based on shared growth, with Optimizely and Norwegian collaborating on developments that can benefit both companies.
"At the end of it, it’s about that cooperation, that trust between the companies and the potential impact." - Knut Olav Irgens Høeg, Chief IT & Business Officer
The road ahead: Innovation, personalization, and partnerships
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Key Points:
- Norwegian is prioritizing personalization, leveraging new technologies to enhance customer experiences.
- They value partners who integrate well with existing tools, rather than offering standalone services.
Beyond the ‘Hippo’: Committing to data-driven innovation
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Key Points:
- Magnus Jorde oversees Norwegian’s entire booking flow and post-purchase processes.
- The airline has become increasingly data-driven, with most changes now based on data rather than intuition or the "hippo" (highest paid person’s opinion).
- Norwegian still values input from all team members, including leadership, fostering a collaborative environment.
Building a culture of experimentation
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Key Points:
- The airline has cultivated a culture where experimentation is welcomed, with teams understanding the value of A/B testing to validate ideas.
- Norwegian utilizes A/B testing for refining existing offerings but recognizes that new products may require additional methods like focus groups for initial validation.
Most changes to the front end of the customer experience have been based on data and increasingly less on gut feeling or the sort of hippo as you call them." - Magnus Jorde, Senior UX Designer & A/B Test Lead
The value of failure: Why experimentation is more than winning
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Key Points:
- About 25-30% of tests are winners; cost-benefit analysis determines which changes are implemented.
- Not implementing failed tests saves development costs and maintains a clean, optimized platform.
- Norwegian promotes sharing both test successes and failures across teams to improve decision-making.
“We are very keen to share the results of all tests, and with that we also have a culture in this team of celebrating your failures.” - Magnus Jorde, Senior UX Designer & A/B Test Lead
Strengthening decision-making at Norwegian
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Key Points:
- A new booking flow has been launched in the Netherlands, with plans to expand to other markets based on positive customer feedback.
- Optimizely’s statistical tools are highly valued, allowing the team to confidently make data-driven decisions.
- A continued commitment to A/B testing drives the optimization of new features for better customer experiences.
Conclusion
Norwegian Air’s focus on innovation and data-driven decisions has elevated their customer experience and digital platforms. By embracing experimentation with Optimizely, they’ve refined their booking flow and created a more personalized journey for passengers, driving improved customer satisfaction.
Optimizely has been key to this transformation, offering the tools and insights to make swift, informed decisions. This partnership has empowered Norwegian to stay agile and lead the way in digital innovation within the airline industry.
As Norwegian continues to expand and enhance their offerings, they’re poised to remain ahead of the competition, shaping the future of air travel with Optimizely’s support.
Bransje
Transportation