Steal thiS idea

By marty neumeier

the design Well

When you apply the design process both deeply and broadly, you can create rich brand experiences that turn customers into believers. the trick is to do what Shakespeare did in creating his plays. By designing entertainment products that worked on multiple levels, he was able to increase not only the number of customers but also their satisfaction, so they came back again and again. here’s a diagram called the design well that will help you visualize how your company is understood by its various audiences.

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr

tHE COrE ELEMENtS

OF tHE bUSINESS,

INCLUDING ItS

PUrPOSE, MISSION,

VALUE, AND

StrAtEGIES.

tHE SYMbOLS

tHAt EXPrESS tHE

COMPANY’S VISION,

INCLUDING ItS

VOICE, ItS VISUAL

PrESENtAtION, ItS

PErSONALItY, AND

ItS CHArACtEr

tHE WAY tHE

COMPANY WOrKS

tOGEtHEr,

INCLUDING ItS

PrOCESSES,

OrGANIZAtIONAL

StrUCtUrE,

rEALtIONSHIPS,

AND LANGUAGE.

tHE PrODUCtS,

SErVICES, AND

EXPErIENCES

tHAt GIVE tHE

COMPANY ItS

COMPEtItIVE

ADVANtAGE.

tHE bEHAVIOrS AND

COMMUNICAtIONS

tHAt CONVErt

VISION, IDENtItY,

CULtUrE, AND

PrODUCtS INtO

CUStOMEr VALUE.

ViSiOn identity Culture PrOduCtS BrandS

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr

tHE COrE ELEMENtS

OF tHE bUSINESS,

INCLUDING ItS

PUrPOSE, MISSION,

VALUE, AND

StrAtEGIES.

tHE LOGICAL PrOCESSES

WE USE tO MAKE SENSE

OF PrODUCtS, SErVICES,

COMPANIES, AND

COMMUNICAtIONS.

tHE SUrFACE OF OUr

EXPErIENCE, INCLUDING

WHAt WE SEE, HEAr, tOUCH,

SMELL AND tAStE.

tHE SYMbOLS

tHAt EXPrESS tHE

COMPANY’S VISION,

INCLUDING ItS

VOICE, ItS VISUAL

PrESENtAtION, ItS

PErSONALItY, AND

ItS CHArACtEr

tHE WAY tHE

COMPANY WOrKS

tOGEtHEr,

INCLUDING ItS

PrOCESSES,

OrGANIZAtIONAL

StrUCtUrE,

rEALtIONSHIPS,

AND LANGUAGE.

tHE PrODUCtS,

SErVICES, AND

EXPErIENCES

tHAt GIVE tHE

COMPANY ItS

COMPEtItIVE

ADVANtAGE.

tHE bEHAVIOrS AND

COMMUNICAtIONS

tHAt CONVErt

VISION, IDENtItY,

CULtUrE, AND

PrODUCtS INtO

CUStOMEr VALUE.

ViSiOn identity Culture PrOduCtS BrandS

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr

tHE COrE ELEMENtS

OF tHE bUSINESS,

INCLUDING ItS

PUrPOSE, MISSION,

VALUE, AND

StrAtEGIES.

tHE LOGICAL PrOCESSES

WE USE tO MAKE SENSE

OF PrODUCtS, SErVICES,

COMPANIES, AND

COMMUNICAtIONS.

tHE SUrFACE OF OUr

EXPErIENCE, INCLUDING

WHAt WE SEE, HEAr, tOUCH,

SMELL AND tAStE.

tHE FEELINGS tHAt

DrIVE MANY OF OUr

DECISIONS, INCLUDING

tHOSE tHAt ArE HIDDEN

bENEAtH OUr rEASON.

tHE trIbAL CONNECtION WE

FEEL WItH A brAND — tHE DEEP

KNOWLEDGE tHAt WE ‘bELONG’

tO ItS COMMUNItY.

tHE INtUItION tHAt A

rELAtIONSHIP WItH A GIVEN

COMPANY, PrODUCt, Or

OFFEr IS ‘rIGHt’ FOr US.

tHE SYMbOLS

tHAt EXPrESS tHE

COMPANY’S VISION,

INCLUDING ItS

VOICE, ItS VISUAL

PrESENtAtION, ItS

PErSONALItY, AND

ItS CHArACtEr

tHE WAY tHE

COMPANY WOrKS

tOGEtHEr,

INCLUDING ItS

PrOCESSES,

OrGANIZAtIONAL

StrUCtUrE,

rEALtIONSHIPS,

AND LANGUAGE.

tHE PrODUCtS,

SErVICES, AND

EXPErIENCES

tHAt GIVE tHE

COMPANY ItS

COMPEtItIVE

ADVANtAGE.

tHE bEHAVIOrS AND

COMMUNICAtIONS

tHAt CONVErt

VISION, IDENtItY,

CULtUrE, AND

PrODUCtS INtO

CUStOMEr VALUE.

ViSiOn identity Culture PrOduCtS BrandS

the top of the design well visualizes your company as a set of concentric rings. it starts with vision at the core of the company and ripples outward through identity, culture, products, and brand – the place where your company touches customers. each of these rings presents a design challenge, and it’s important to design a clear alignment from the inside to the outside. if there’s a disconnect between vision and brand, for example, your brand will be seen as muddled, inauthentic, or even suspect.

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr

tHE COrE ELEMENtS

OF tHE bUSINESS,

INCLUDING ItS

PUrPOSE, MISSION,

VALUE, AND

StrAtEGIES.

tHE SYMbOLS

tHAt EXPrESS tHE

COMPANY’S VISION,

INCLUDING ItS

VOICE, ItS VISUAL

PrESENtAtION, ItS

PErSONALItY, AND

ItS CHArACtEr

tHE WAY tHE

COMPANY WOrKS

tOGEtHEr,

INCLUDING ItS

PrOCESSES,

OrGANIZAtIONAL

StrUCtUrE,

rEALtIONSHIPS,

AND LANGUAGE.

tHE PrODUCtS,

SErVICES, AND

EXPErIENCES

tHAt GIVE tHE

COMPANY ItS

COMPEtItIVE

ADVANtAGE.

tHE bEHAVIOrS AND

COMMUNICAtIONS

tHAt CONVErt

VISION, IDENtItY,

CULtUrE, AND

PrODUCtS INtO

CUStOMEr VALUE.

ViSiOn identity Culture PrOduCtS BrandS

alignment across the top of the well can be addressed through an organizational understanding of brand, plus the structures and processes needed to enable it. my books the Brand Gap, Zag, and the designful Company will give you a better grasp of brand alignment.

the side of the design well shows the range of levels at which your audience can encounter your company. the shallowest level, at the top, is perception – the surface of human experience, including what we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste.

the next level down is reason, the logical processes we use to make sense of products, services, companies, and communications.

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr

tHE LOGICAL PrOCESSES

WE USE tO MAKE SENSE

OF PrODUCtS, SErVICES,

COMPANIES, AND

COMMUNICAtIONS.

tHE SUrFACE OF OUr

EXPErIENCE, INCLUDING

WHAt WE SEE, HEAr, tOUCH,

SMELL AND tAStE.

Going deeper into the well we find emotion, the feelings that drive many of our decisions, including those that are hidden beneath our reason.

Below the level of emotion is resonance, which gives us the intuition that a relationship with a given company, product, or offer is “right” for us.

at the deepest part of the well is ideology, the tribal connection we feel with a brand – the deep knowledge that we “belong” to a company or brand.

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr

When you touch people at more than one level, you not only deepen their experience, but you reach a wider audience, since people vary in their sensitivity to each type of experience.

designing deeply cannot be achieved through organization mandate. it can only come through the personal mastery of the designers doing the work. While Shakespeare was a great collaborator, it was his personal vision and skill that gave his plays – and his business – the richness and authenticity that created a legend.

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr

tHE COrE ELEMENtS

OF tHE bUSINESS,

INCLUDING ItS

PUrPOSE, MISSION,

VALUE, AND

StrAtEGIES.

tHE LOGICAL PrOCESSES

WE USE tO MAKE SENSE

OF PrODUCtS, SErVICES,

COMPANIES, AND

COMMUNICAtIONS.

tHE SUrFACE OF OUr

EXPErIENCE, INCLUDING

WHAt WE SEE, HEAr, tOUCH,

SMELL AND tAStE.

tHE FEELINGS tHAt

DrIVE MANY OF OUr

DECISIONS, INCLUDING

tHOSE tHAt ArE HIDDEN

bENEAtH OUr rEASON.

tHE trIbAL CONNECtION WE

FEEL WItH A brAND — tHE DEEP

KNOWLEDGE tHAt WE ‘bELONG’

tO ItS COMMUNItY.

tHE INtUItION tHAt A

rELAtIONSHIP WItH A GIVEN

COMPANY, PrODUCt, Or

OFFEr IS ‘rIGHt’ FOr US.

tHE SYMbOLS

tHAt EXPrESS tHE

COMPANY’S VISION,

INCLUDING ItS

VOICE, ItS VISUAL

PrESENtAtION, ItS

PErSONALItY, AND

ItS CHArACtEr

tHE WAY tHE

COMPANY WOrKS

tOGEtHEr,

INCLUDING ItS

PrOCESSES,

OrGANIZAtIONAL

StrUCtUrE,

rEALtIONSHIPS,

AND LANGUAGE.

tHE PrODUCtS,

SErVICES, AND

EXPErIENCES

tHAt GIVE tHE

COMPANY ItS

COMPEtItIVE

ADVANtAGE.

tHE bEHAVIOrS AND

COMMUNICAtIONS

tHAt CONVErt

VISION, IDENtItY,

CULtUrE, AND

PrODUCtS INtO

CUStOMEr VALUE.

ViSiOn identity Culture PrOduCtS BrandS

Find more marty neumeier ideas to steal at liquidagency.com/blog

LIQUIDAGENCY.COM | SOUrCE: Metaskills bY MArtY NEUMEIEr