No matter who your audience is, finding a voice that resonates isn’t easy. Your next challenge is getting content creators to use it correctly. At PayPal, we shifted our focus from what we think “PayPal is and isn’t” to customer emotion and design thinking, creating a repeatable and scalable methodology that elevates content strategy in the design process and hits the mark with customers. Join us to learn how empathy can bring your brand’s voice to life, transform customer experiences, and help you influence your teams. This presentation was given at Content Strategy Applied USA on November 17-18, 2014

1. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 1
Start with Empathy:
!
Content Strategy and
Design Thinking

2. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 2
Catherine Walker,
Design Lead
Karin Ikavalko,
Lead Content Strategist

3. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 3
Today:
-Why empathy is critical to design
!
-PayPal’s journey
!
-Reveal content strategy
!
!

4. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 4
Empathy

5. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 5
“Could a greater miracle take
place than for us to look through
each other’s eyes for an instant?”
!
-Henry David Thoreau

6. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 6
Empathy:
!
The Human Connection to Patient Care
!
-Cleveland Clinic Empathy Series

7. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 7
Video: The Human Connection to Patient Care
http://youtu.be/cDDWvj_q-o8?t=10s

8. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 8
Empathy in Design

9. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 9
emotion data

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People make decisions
based on emotion, then
rationalize them with data.
emotion
data
“Why You Should Get Excited About Emotional Branding” By Rick Sloboda; April 10, 2014; http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/04/11/get-excited-about-emotional-branding/

11. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary
Pathos and empathy will
change behavior before
logic and information will.
11
Pathos and empathy
logic and information
“Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking” By Andrew Dlugan; Jan 24th, 2010; http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/ethos-pathos-logos/

12. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 12
An emotional response has
a greater effect on NPS
than a rational response.
emotional response
rational response
The Next Frontier: How to Gain Customer Experience Advantage in Health Insurance” People Metrics; 2013; http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/221727/file-307574266-pdf/
MECx_HealthInsurance.pdf

13. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 13
PayPal’s Journey

14. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary
Jeff
TracyPaulLauren
KarinCindyKevin
CatherineBryanAndrewAaron
14

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WHERE WE STARTED:
• Professional but not robotic
• Friendly but not chummy
• Expert but not bossy
• Helpful but not overbearing
• Upbeat but not silly
• Likeable but not cute
• Concise but not rude

16. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 16
OUR APPROACH:
-Reflect
-Empathize
-Respond
!
!

17. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 17
OUR APPROACH:
-Reflect
-Empathize
-Respond
!
!

18. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 18
OUR PROMISE:
PayPal empowers
customers in their
everyday moments.

19. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 19
OUR APPROACH:
-Reflect
-Empathize
-Respond
!
!

20. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 20
unhelpful
dishonest
unsympathetic
out of touch
controlling
“I don’t think PayPal wants to be
the most hated company on the
internet. But my account is
limited and they aren’t telling
me anything about why or what
to do. I hate PayPal!”
!
!

21. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 21

22. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 22
OUR APPROACH:
-Reflect
-Empathize
-Respond
!
!

23. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 23

24. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 24

25. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 25
Secure
Confident
Independent
Included
Delighted

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PayPal’s Voice
Confident

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PayPal’s Voice
HelpfulSimple
Confident

28. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 28
Trustworthy
Included
Empathetic
EmpatheticHelpful
Independent
SimpleHelpful
Confident
SimpleTrustworthy
Secure
SimpleLikeable
Delighted

29. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 29
Delighted
Secure
Confident
Independent
Included
*Hierarchical Levels
of Desired Customer
Response

30. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 30
Reveal Content Strategy

31. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 31Sketch by Laura Ward, Consumer Design Lead, PayPal

32. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 32
Define Ideate
!
Prototype
!
TestEmpathize
Content Strategy
+ Voice

33. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 33
Define Ideate
!
Prototype
!
TestEmpathize
Content Strategy
+ Voice

34. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 34
Customer Journey
Consideration Enrollment Participation RetentionAwareness
PayPal
Response
Secure
Confident
Independent
Included
Desired
Customer
Emotion
Delighted
Secure Confident IndependentConfident Included
Trustworthy + Simple Helpful + Simple Helpful + Simple Empathetic + Helpful Trustworthy + Empathetic

35. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 35
Delighted
Secure
Included
PayPal
Response
Desired
Customer
Emotion
Helpful + Simple
Independent
Consumer Web: Payment Preferences
Confident
Confident
-Complicated funding mix
rules
!
-Legal requirements
!
-Different settings for in
store and online
!
“This should be simple but I
can’t find it, all I want to do
is change from my bank
account to my credit card
but PayPal has made it too
hard for me.”
!

36. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 36
Consumer Web: Payment Preferences

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What’s next for you?

38. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 38
Empathize
Find your voice
Reveal content strategy

39. © 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary 39
!
!
“People will forget what you
said, people will forget what you
did, but people will never forget
how you made them feel.”
!
!
-Maya Angelou