Omni-channel Obstacle Course

Learning Objective

Players can experience how disjointed channel-switching feels for a customer with a single problem — repeating themselves, losing context — and identify where continuity must be preserved across channels.

How to Play

Setup

Set up stations representing channels: email, phone, live chat, social media, in-store. Write a complex customer issue that cannot be solved in one channel. Each team has a customer token that must move between stations to resolve it.

Rules

• Teams start the issue in one channel and are forced (by the facilitator's cards) to switch channels mid-resolution.
• At each switch, the receiving "channel" knows nothing unless the team explicitly carried context over.
• Penalty time is added every time the customer has to repeat information.
• Teams race to full resolution while minimising repetition penalties.
• Fastest clean resolution — fewest penalties — wins.

Debrief

Spend ten minutes connecting the channels. Ask three questions in order:

• How many times did the customer have to repeat themselves — and how did that feel?
• Where in your real estate does context die when a customer changes channel?
• What is one handoff where carrying context over would remove the most friction?

CX Principle Reinforced

Customers experience one relationship, not separate channels. Omni-channel done well means context follows the customer; done badly, every switch resets to zero and the customer carries the integration burden. Each forced repetition raises perceived effort, and the effort a customer expends is one of the strongest predictors of disloyalty. The obstacle course makes channel fragmentation viscerally annoying, motivating teams to design for continuity rather than channel-by-channel optimisation.

Format

• Format: In-person (station course) or virtual (channel breakouts)
• Players: 2-8
• Duration: 35–45 minutes
• Level: Medium