REBALANCE Finding the Right Mix

of Brand and User

Kalev Peekna @kpeekna

THIS IS A STORY OF…

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BUT IT’S ALSO ABOUT…

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THE PROPOSITION

Two Dominant Design Theories

EAST COAST

Brand Centric Design

WEST COAST

User Centric Design

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

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

Some Light Homework

Some Lighter Homework

EAST COAST Brand Centric 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…

Hallmarks of Brand Centric Design

EAST COAST Some Examples

BMW Website

Big Spaceship

BMW iPad App

Big Spaceship

BMW iPad App

Big Spaceship

BMW iPad App

Big Spaceship

HERMÈS Website

Publicis

HERMÈS Tumblr

Spill.net

L’OREAL Website

R/GA

L’OREAL iPad App

R/GA

•  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

Brand Centric – Observations

When Brands Attack! Logo

Navigation

Big, compelling ad

(probably cross-channel)

smaller ad video/YouTube ad social media

When Brands Attack! – Option 2 Logo

Navigation

Very Cool Stuff (that I have no reason to click on)

WEST COAST User Centric 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.”

Hallmarks of User Centric Design

WEST COAST Some Examples

Tesla Cars from the Future

Bloomeon B2B Sales / Marketing

Clozet Personal Organization

Hippostack B2B Healthcare

Fancred Sports. I think.

Freshdesk B2B Customer Support

•  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

User Centric – Observations

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.

The “user centric” pattern emerges in West Coast designs across all industries, and presumably, all types of users: It raises obvious question: Can all these users really be looking for the same thing? Where is the differentiation, the innovation?

Are All Users Really the Same?

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

THIRD COAST Finding the Balance

So who is right? 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.

The Balance Good marketing 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.

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

The Balance in Action

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

User Personas

User Personas are a core exercise in brand centric approaches, where they serve as an input to creative design:

User Personas

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

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:

User Personas – Adding Balance

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

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 How Do We Know?

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/

With the goals clearly stated, it’s relatively easy to start mapping overlap in a way that suggests clear strategies and opportunities:

Mapping the overlap

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

SCENARIOS

Scenarios – Building the 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

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:

Scenarios – Adding Balance

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

Scenario Example INITIATION INTERACTION 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.

Contacts article author(s)

Sends article link via email to colleague

Shares article on LinkedIn

Registers for login/subscriptions

Investigates practice area(s)

Investigates author(s)

Scenarios can lead you to a better understanding of how to measure your digital marketing efforts:

Measuring the Balance

INITIATION

Starting points

INTERACTION

Flow

OUTCOMES

Results

How you measure site /platform performance

How you measure campaign performance

How you measure ROI

PARTING THOUGHTS

Some Things to Think 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.