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#1NLab14: Rebalance
The document discusses the contrasting approaches of brand-centric and user-centric design, highlighting their respective origins, methodologies, and outcomes. It emphasizes the importance of finding a balance between the needs of brands and users to create effective marketing strategies, using tools like user personas and scenarios to align goals. Ultimately, it advocates for a collaborative approach that cultivates a strong relationship between brands and users to achieve mutual success.
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#1NLab14: Rebalance
- 1. REBALANCE Finding theRight Mix of Brand and User
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- 3. THIS IS ASTORY OF…
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- 10. BUT IT’S ALSOABOUT…
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- 15. Two Dominant DesignTheories EAST COAST Brand Centric Design WEST COAST User Centric Design
- 16. Brand Centric Design WHERE IT STARTED • Madison Avenue creative agencies HOW IT WORKS • Adapts the creative marketing process to the unique opportunities of digital WHAT IT WANTS • To create a compelling, differentiated brand experience across all channels, including digital
- 17. User Centric Design WHERE IT STARTED • Silicon Valley software companies HOW IT WORKS • Adapts the product design process to the unique challenges of marketing WHAT IT WANTS • Create useful, functional tools that improve interaction in measurable ways
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- 20. EAST COAST BrandCentric Design
- 21. Hallmarks of BrandCentric Design • Leads with creative (i.e., visual) design, and follows a creative process • Values core marketing aims: impressions, differentiation, positioning • Starts and ends with the brand • Integrates Digital into a more comprehensive, “multi-channel” experience • Thinks in terms of campaigns: design, launch, measure; design, launch, measure…
- 22. EAST COAST SomeExamples
- 23. BMW Website BigSpaceship
- 24. BMW iPad App Big Spaceship
- 25. BMW iPad App Big Spaceship
- 26. BMW iPad App Big Spaceship
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- 30. L’OREAL iPad App R/GA
- 32. Brand Centric –Observations • Boy, do they look good: high production values, differentiated, compelling • You really get what they are all about But: • Looks like an ad. And ads don’t do anything. • Reason to be there is unclear • Reason to engage is unclear • Measurable outcomes are unclear
- 33. When Brands Attack! Logo Navigation Big, compelling ad (probably cross-channel) smaller ad video/YouTube ad social media
- 34. When Brands Attack!– Option 2 Logo Navigation Very Cool Stuff (that I have no reason to click on)
- 35. WEST COAST UserCentric Design
- 36. Hallmarks of UserCentric Design • Leads with functional/content offering (i.e, what it does), and follows a product design process • Starts and ends with the user: what she wants and how she wants to do it • Values simplicity, clean sightlines, ease of use, and clear actions • Thinks in terms of releases: smaller improvements in shorter iterations. The “product” is never “finished.”
- 37. WEST COAST SomeExamples
- 38. Tesla Cars fromthe Future
- 39. Bloomeon B2B Sales/ Marketing
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- 42. Fancred Sports. Ithink.
- 43. Freshdesk B2B CustomerSupport
- 44. User Centric –Observations • Content, actions, and navigation are clear • You know what to do; they know what to measure But: • They all look the same. Almost exactly the same. • Design is “skinned”: stock imagery + common patterns + trends • Markets the features, not the benefits • Informational, but not compelling
- 45. When Users Attack! Logo Navigation Stock Photo (or product shot) “Get Started” or “Sign Up” Another CTA Another CTA Another CTA More content down here. Maybe.
- 46. Are All UsersReally the Same? The “user centric” pattern emerges in West Coast designs across all industries, and presumably, all types of users: Bloomeon • B2B Sales & Marketing CareerDean • Recent Grads Chooos • B2B Marketing Clozet • Personal Organization Coeverywhere • Consumer Travel ContentForest • B2B Marketing FanCred • Sports (I think) Firepaper • Education Freshdesk • B2B Customer Support Hashtago • Consumers HippoStack • B2B Healthcare Hive • Consumer Music Lamplighter • Coders Openbay • Autocare Sprintly • Project Managers Shyp • Logistics Tesla • Cars Trazy • Travel WeFunder • Investing Wellframe • B2B Healthcare Xenapto • Investing It raises obvious question: Can all these users really be looking for the same thing? Where is the differentiation, the innovation?
- 47. THIRD COAST Findingthe Balance
- 48. So who isright? Depending on your perspective, either both are right, or both are wrong. Because designers of all types adhere passionately to their “process,” it’s easy to conclude that it’s an either/or proposition.
- 49. The Balance Goodmarketing always starts with good communication. And good communication always runs both ways. Go too hard to one side and you’re like a bad dinner guest. Either you’re talking too much, or you’re not contributing. Either way, you’re a bore.
- 50. The Balance –Why It Works What you want from users What users want from you Shared Needs & Goals value-driven RELATIONSHIP BRAND seller • vendor • firm • publisher USER client • customer • audience • reader
- 51. The Balance inAction Two examples of what a Brand-User balance looks like in the wild: • User Personas – Understanding where your goals overlap • Scenarios – Imagining how everyone gets their needs met
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- 53. User Personas UserPersonas are a core exercise in brand centric approaches, where they serve as an input to creative design: Bernard Bumbletrousers CEO Age: 55 Lifestyle: Workaholic. The only thing from college that still fits is his scarf. Career: Worked up through the Sales at his first job to VP, now on his 2nd appointment as CEO of a growing firm Drives: Has people for that Drinks: Black coffee by day; Rye (neat) by night Phone: Blackberry Social: LinkedIn. Everything else: to check up on his kids. Brands: TaylorMade, BMW, Paul Stuart, McKinsey, Salesforce
- 54. User Personas –Adding Balance The first step is to base your description on data, not imagination. The second is to add a clear statement of his and your needs: Bernard Bumbletrousers CEO What we want from Bernard: • Understand why we are different • See us as experts • Know the full range of what we can offer • Contact us • Tell others about us What Bernard wants from us: • Find useful information • How to contact someone • Know that we understand his business • Who we’ve worked with before • Whether working together will be easy
- 55. But How DoWe Know? Marketing leaders know how to articulate what their firm wants from their users. But what’s the secret to really understanding what users want from them? YOU HAVE TO ASK. But it may not be as hard as you think. Include (per user type): • 5-8 interviews for qualitative insights • 20 respondents for quantitative data Source: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test- with-5-users/
- 56. Mapping the overlap With the goals clearly stated, it’s relatively easy to start mapping overlap in a way that suggests clear strategies and opportunities: What we want from Bernard: Understand why we are different See us as experts Know the full range of what we can offer Contact us Tell others about us What Bernard wants from us: Find useful information How to contact someone Know that we understand his business Who we’ve worked with before Whether working together will be easy
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- 58. Scenarios – Buildingthe Experience A scenario is simply a workflow of steps that show how a shared need can be met. Whether you call it a “use case” or “interaction flow,” it’s the creative framework behind all interaction design. Typically, it includes things like: • Content themes • Navigation paths • User choices • Key functionality
- 59. Scenarios – AddingBalance The key to adding balance to a scenario is to think hard about why users want to start interactions, and about how you want them to finish: INITIATION Starting points: • Email • Social connection • Web research • Daily news INTERACTION Flow of: • Content themes • Navigation paths • User choices • Key functionality OUTCOMES Results: • Click to other content • Content share • Contact firm Users meeting their goals Brand meeting its goals
- 60. Scenario Example INITIATIONINTERACTION OUTCOMES Researches new business problem with a web search Receives topical email alert from the firm Receives publication directly from firm partner Sees link to publication while browsing LinkedIn Article loads in user’s browser. Format is readable across all devices. Scans article to determine structure and relevance. Reads article. At the end of the article, automated suggestion for another article on the same subject is presented. Reads second article. Notices that the second article relates to a practice area that he hasn’t used before. At the end of second article, sees an invitation to register to receive more personalized recommendations. Investigates author(s) Contacts article author(s) Sends article link via email to colleague Shares article on LinkedIn Registers for login/ subscriptions Investigates practice area(s)
- 61. Measuring the Balance Scenarios can lead you to a better understanding of how to measure your digital marketing efforts: INITIATION Starting points INTERACTION Flow OUTCOMES Results How you measure site / platform performance How you measure campaign performance How you measure ROI
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- 63. Some Things toThink About • Don’t hit your balance by pulling back from either brand or user. Hit the balance by working harder for both. • If you focus simultaneously on both brand and user, then what you’re end up focusing on is the relationship.