Like it or not, the digital world has changed at a wicked pace and more and more interactions between companies and customers now happen via an interface. Careful consideration of the software's design is of paramount importance to any company wishing to grow their customer base or loyalty. At the center of this change sits the user experience, which has become a huge influence in how customers perceive a company's brand. Traditional marketing principles and practices aren’t effective in software. So how do you create an experience that is usable, desirable, and still stands out? Myers, an interface and brand specialist in design, marketing, and development for 16 years, will highlight the differences of software from other forms of media, you’ll gain insight for creating a truly unique experience that guides executives and teams, and can influence your company’s culture. You’ll learn new techniques such as defining the ideal experience, exploring first impressions with visual language studies, and designing signature interactions. These techniques build a memorable experience that’s hard for your competitors to mimic and your customers will fall in love with.
2. What
I’ll be talking about
Visual design and the interface
How to create unique digital experiences
Engaging customers
How user experience can influence the brand
8. Expecta5ons
are
now
higher
We’re a spoiled bunch!
“
Expectations for mobile website speed increased from
58% in 2009 to 71% in 2011 for websites to load as
quickly, almost as quickly or faster on their mobile
phone compared to the computer they use at home.
Nearly 60% of web users say they expect a website to
load on their mobile phone in 3 seconds or less.
10. But
compe55on
is
now
more
fierce
Competition is now greater. Intuitive and simple are not enough to differentiate
www.flickr.com/photos/retrocactus/4949516534/
11. Design
is
now
more
strategic
Design is more strategic
12. How do we respond
to higher expectations,
massive challenges,
and also stand out?
14. A
strong
brand
creates
compe55ve
A strong brand creates competitive advantage
advantage
15. Brands
are
defined
by
a
customer’s
Brands are defined by a customer’s experience
experience
16. User experience now has a greater influence on the brand
User experience now has a greater influence on
the brand
As of Dec 2011, Facebook received 2.7
billion likes and comments per day.
17. 4 key factors that elevate your digital brand
Software We need new methods
is different to exceed expectations
Organizations must User experience should
understand customers influence brands
19. Many companies are now software makers
Many companies are now software makers
GE is now the 14th largest
+ GE software provider in the world
+ Thomson Reuters
+ NetApp
20. SoFware
is
not
fashion
Software is not fashion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ham-hock/3698805401/
21. Visual design sets expectations, but experience must deliver
Visual
design
sets
expecta5ons,
but
the
experience
must
deliver
22. Software needs to feel timeless
Software needs to feel timeless
2001 2009
36. Why is this different?
Brand messaging is one-way communication.
Experience attributes consider the customer’s
User needs
perspective and context and is two-way
+ context
communication
Brand messaging
Business goals
46. How
to
create
signature
interac5ons
Signature interaction: core experience, generate as a team, style, prototype
47. Signature
interac5ons
are
no
value
if
Remember: You can’t reach the top of the pyramid without a solid foundation
other
founda5onal
needs
aren’t
met
48. It’s
easy
to
be
different,
but
it’s
difficult
to
be
beYer
50. Only
a
deep
understanding
of
our
customers
builds
passion
and
brand
loyalty
Only a deep understanding of our customers
builds passion and brand loyalty
51. Inspira5on
from
ecosystems
and
permaculture
Permaculture help designers model a final design
based on an observation of how ecosystems interact.
52. Modern
“permanent
culture”
is
a
system
design
tool
A way of looking at the whole system or problem.
And trying to fix what’s broken.
53. 1
of
Holmgren’s
12
design
principles
1 of Holmgren’s 12 design principles
“
Use edges and value the marginal: The interface
between things is where the most interesting events
take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse
and productive elements in the system.
54. Let’s
look
at
an
organiza5on
Let’s
look
at
an
organiza5on
55. Many
of
us
are
organiza5on
Let’s
look
at
an
stuck
in
the
middle
Many
of
us
are
stuck
in
the
middle
65. Marke5ng
segmenta5on
is
sales-‐driven
Market
segmenta5on
tools
are
sales-‐
focused
even
if
personas
are
created
66. Usability
tes5ng
happens
inside
in
a
fabricated
environment
Usability
tes5ng
is
inside
because
it’s
oFen
in
a
fabricated
environment
and
it’s
really
only
beneficial
for
valida5on
67. And
focus
groups
are
just
one
big
party
in
the
middle
And
focus
groups
are
just
one
big
party
in
the
center
68. Even
social
media
is
a
thin
connec5on
to
the
outside
Even
social
media
is
a
fabricated
connec5on
between
a
company
and
customers
69. To
truly
understand
customers
you
need
to
seek
them
out
To
truly
understand
customers
you
need
to
seek
them
out
and
visit
them
in
their
natural
environments
71. Sharing
insight
from
the
edges
is
a
powerful
method
of
focus
Personas’
true
value
is
to
bring
focus
to
your
organiza5on
about
what’s
important
to
your
customers
72. If
you
truly
understand
your
users’
needs
you
can
transform
an
industry
If
you
can
see
and
understand
the
edges
you
can
speak
with
authority
73. And
if
you
value
the
margins
your
organiza5on
will
innovate
And
have
greater
influence
on
the
experience
of
each
product
74. Creating a culture of user
experience in your company
through leadership
75. What it takes
What it takes
1. Leadership
2. Process
3. Principles
4. Tools
5. People
6. Education
7. Collaboration
8. Communication
76. Change is hard! Metro has taken years of effort
Change
is
hard
(is
there
a
willingness
to
change?)
90. Collabora5ng
to
create
the
ideal
experience
is
the
best
leadership
you
can
give
Collabora5ng
to
create
the
ideal
experience
is
the
best
leadership
you
can
give
91. And
the
best
thing
marketers
can
do
is
spend
5me
with
product
teams
And
the
best
thing
marketers
can
do
is
spend
5me
with
product
teams
92. A
process
driven
by
the
edges
increases
the
chance
of
success
A
process
designed
with
users
in
mind
increases
the
chance
of
success
93. A
process
driven
by
the
edges
increases
the
chance
of
success
A
process
designed
with
users
in
mind
increases
the
chance
of
success
101. Contact Cooper for strategy + design
User research, domain Product strategy and Interaction design
Research, and analysis service strategy and service design
Visual design Prototyping and Education and
and branding development mentoring
+1 415 267 3500
business@cooper.com
Hinweis der Redaktion
My name is Nick Myers, I’m a managingdirector at Cooper.I’m here to talk about how:The interface is now your brand.
I’d like to talk to you today about the current challenges we face today: Considerations for visual design as it applies to the interface; How user experience can influence your brand; How we can create better experiences by connecting better with users and customers; And wrap up with some ideas for creating unique and memorable experiences.
The digital world has changed at a wicked pace.More customer interactions are now digital. Software serves us everywhere. User experience design influences more of these interactions every day. And a company’s brand sits at the center of this change.
Computers used to be clunky, large, uninviting and complex.
Now we use simpler, more useful products that do some magical things like connecting with people over video chat when we can’t be there in person. The bar has been raised and we’re now living in a future we didn’t imagine possible many years ago.
This is my wife, Caroline and here she is connecting with family and friends in her home town for her own baby shower she couldn’t attend. It was pretty amazing to see her participate in a way that wasn’t imaginable just ten years ago. As a result of these innovations she now has very high standards for these technical products.She hates how TiVo doesn’t record her programs right. Her Dell laptop seems to break all the time. She even hates her iPhone. Whenever her iPhone fails, she blames me, “You designer people need to fix the user experience.” she says or “you need to tell your people.” I kindly remind her that I didn’t invent the iPhone, as much as I’d like to say I did, but she doesn’t care.
It’s not just my wife though.We see it in many industries at Cooper: new professionals entering the field such as doctors, nurses, financial advisors, IT admins, employees in large companies expect more.
Just last year a poll conducted with mobile phone users found that 71% of users expected mobile websites to load as fast as or faster than their home computers. Just think about that for a moment. Isn’t it amazing how far we’ve come? And yet, we’re still not satisfied. Amazing.Source: http://www.compuware.com/d/release/592528/new-study-reveals-the-mobile-web-disappoints-global-consumers
This is largely because our expectations are being redefined every day. What was one exceeding our highest expectations are now meeting our basic needs lower in the pyramid. And so we have to now aim higher on the pyramid.Source: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/04/26/designing-for-a-hierarchy-of-needs/
There are now more than 500,000 apps in the App store and that’s just for oneplatform. Less than 100 of those apps appear on the iTunes homepage at any one time. Unless you have heavy investment you need a great product with a great user experience to be noticed.http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/05/app-store-500k/
Companies believe that user experience is important thanks to the achievements of companies like Apple. Everyone wants the iPhone of their industry. Design is now more strategic but companies haven’t figured out how to drive their brand through user experience or truly differentiate in this new world.
How do we respond to higher expectations, bigger challenges, and also stand out?
Before we consider these questions, it’s worth defining what brand means…
David Aaker, a professor at Haas and leader in brand strategy says, “A company’s brand is the primary source of its competitive advantage.”
The folks at Lippincott Mercer say, That it’s the sum of the customer’s experience with relevant products or company.
So a customer’s experience defines the brand. As more customer interactions become digital we have greater influence on the brand perception.And if that experience is handled well, it can become a key factor in elevating your brand.Consider the formidable Facebook like button. Potentially the most lucrative icon ever created. According to Facebook’s recent IPO, in Dec 2011, Facebook received an average of 2.7 billions likes and comments per day.
Next, I’m going to talk about these four factors that can elevate your brand in the digital world: Software is different from other forms of media; In this competitive landscape we need new methods to stand out; Organizations need to really understand who their customers at a deeper level; User experience should influence brand.
Software is different.
Many companies are now software makers. GE is one such company that has transitioned to become one of the biggest software makers in the world.
Software isn’t fashion. Visual design has purpose in software design. It must support the behavior.
And the experience must deliver or else people will leave.
Software should be designed with an eye towards timelessness. It often takes at least 18 months to be built. And some software lives without an update for up to 20 years.
Digital products are often more complex and dense. Designers need a greater understanding of the product to be successful and provide value.
With added complexity, we must rely on a strong visual system, clear visual hierarchy, and organized information.
There are fewer opportunities to present a visual identity.
A software’s identity lives in the detailsThe design can be more unique when focused on the minute elements like: icons, controls, texture, interactions, and the edges. We don’t always have the luxury of using typefaces, photography or color to help define a brand and we deal with more constraints.
Most importantly, we’re designing for people first. That means understanding the needs of the people using our products and their goals.
Screens are getting smaller. There’s less space to work with.
With the change to more gesture-based interfaces we’re losing even more chance to create a visible identity.
Meaning interactions and motion have more influence over the emotional experience.
Let’s talk next about creating a memorable experience with software.
As designers, we can’t create a great experience without first fully understanding the problem. Understand the company’s business goals and opportunities, user needs, and the company’s existing brand goals.But the conversation is not rich enough to create a unique experience.
For our clients, workshops can facilitate conversations about the experience for those not comfortable answering blank questions about visualdesign and interaction design.We show images of software products, brands, and other experiences and ask people to rate the ones that they most want to be like or not be like.
This helps the team to discuss what attributes are inherent in these other experiences that are meaningful for the experience we’re defining. The end result is often a huge cloud of ideas and words that sit on a spectrum from a poor experience to an ideal experience. The examples aren’t really what’s important. It’s the output of the discussion, the words, that help us define the experience.It brings teams together to learn and provide input to the experience. What I love most about this workshop is the connections that are made between people in product teams and marketing.Video: https://vimeo.com/37285340
The understanding we gain can help us define an ideal future-looking experience for our users and customers. Here’s an example of an experience attributes cloud that essentially drives the visual strategy, interaction design, and industrial design. These themes capture big ideas the experience should convey.The goal is to find a small set of words that are both meaningful, concise and authentic. Even with a small set of attributes it’s difficult to be all things equally. Usually just one idea stands above the rest.The attributes are principles that direct both the visual design, interaction design and industrial design where appropriate. There are many ways to represent visual design, there are even different ways to reflect interaction design and this guidance will help the team explore the experience.
Brand messaging is one-way communication. Experience attributes consider the customer’s perspective and context and is two-way communication.
Here are some examples of visual studies. Note the elements are different in these examples. The interface components are more reflective of the type of interface that this is likely to represent. Still these are abstracted screens.
And another collection of studies for an online retail service for home renovation and decoration. We explore the visual language early in our design process that center around the experience attributes.
The study leans more towards being quick and bold.
But what’s key here is that we’re exploring the brand and it’s application to the interface. This is a new way of designing identity systems.And we’re exploring better ways for customers to interact with brands.
And we’re creating a new brand language of behavior.
Signature interactions now influence a product’s identity. Interactions are becoming memorable.Coverflow is a great example of a signature interaction. It’s commonly recognized as an Apple invention and is used in numerous products and applications. Other companies have used this same interaction pattern but customers perceive this as unimaginative. It’s now an Apple signature interaction.
Why are these memorable? We must think of them in terms of experiences. Customers remember amazingly good experiences and amazingly bad experiences. Signature interactions help products be more memorable.
While design patterns are useful for design and establishing a system they’re not memorable.
Signature interactions can be more difficult to use but they create enjoyment and desire.Myfriend bought a mini last year and gave me a ride home one night. Inside her car roof, she has mood lighting that changes color like it’s the inside of a nightclub. My friend was excited about the lights but recognized that it might be a bit distracting while driving.
Here are some example signature interactions that I quickly collected. Some of them are very familiar, some may be new. Some of them are very unique in behavior.Some are less unique interactions but have been designed in a visually unique way.Video: https://vimeo.com/37642114
Remember:We now have to aim for the top of the needs pyramid. You can’t meet the creative need if the foundations aren’t met.
The worst thing for you to take away from this presentation is to go home and start creating wacky ideas. The point is to get the foundation right first. Then you can leverage a usable product and elevate the experience to something people will fall in love with.
And to truly do that you need to understand the essence of the people you’re helping.
I’ve touched on this several times already but I want to explore this topic with you further today because I think it’s critical to how companies need to operate to hit that summit. Time and again I don’t see companies do enough to understand who their customers and users are. It’s one of the most effective ways to leapfrog your competition.
I’ve been working with product teams, marketing teams and users for a long time at Cooper and I want to share some observations. I’m going to draw from principles from permaculture to share theseobservations. I’m not much of a gardener but when I started reading about this I got excited. In the 70s, Holmgren created 12 design principles for permaculture.Permaculture on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PermacultureHolmgren’s 12 design principles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture#Holmgren.27s_12_design_principles(while I didn’t address this in this talk, it’s also worth reading about “Communities of Practice” where I first heard about this)
Permaculture, or permanent culture, is a system design tool for creating better environments.
One of these principles resonates perfectly. Here it is:“Use the edges and value the marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place.”It’s quite astonishing that that he used the term “interface” 50 years ago not knowing the kind of meaning it has today.Two things stand out about this principle.Product teams for admired companies are working at the edges and propelling their company the fastest.The interesting insights you’ll observe are at the interface between you and you customers. The touchpoints.Holmgren's 12 design principlesThe core of permaculture has always been in supplying a design toolkit for human habitation. This toolkit helps the designer to model a final design based on an observation of how ecosystems interact.Observe and interact: By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.Catch and store energy: By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.Obtain a yield: Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.Apply self-regulation and accept feedback: We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.Use and value renewable resources and services: Make the best use of nature's abundance to reduce our consumptive behavior and dependence on non-renewable resources.Produce no waste: By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.Design from patterns to details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.Integrate rather than segregate: By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.Use small and slow solutions: Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.Use and value diversity: Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.Use edges and value the marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.Creatively use and respond to change: We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.
Asan outsider, this is how I often experience an organization. From my earlier diagram, the brand sits at the center.
A vast majority of people are working in the center away from the edges.
This was especially true of engineers and Alan wrote about this in the phenomenal book, the Inmates are Running the Asylum many years ago.
But all the interesting stuff, the action, is happening at the interface between each company and its customers.
We are improving. Effective teams are operating closer to the edge and have a better sense for the interface.
All these touchpoints are at the edges. Where the interfacing is happening.
But the center is blind to the edges. It has no truly deep sense for what’s happening outside. And more often than not I see more marketing and branding teams right in the middle there.
And then I observe these tensions between product teams and marketing teams. Product teams feel they know their customers better than anyone else in the company. And they need to speak differently to them. And they want to create something different. And that’s often true. And marketing teams get to see a broad view of their organization, want to create a unified experience, but don’t know how to balance it against user goals. These are both very valid points of view.
The problem with brand guidelines is that they’re centrally focused. Savvy people know it’s not just about your logo. It’s also true that you design the identity at the touchpoints, but most companies haven’t transformed into thinking this way yet. And at best, the brand guidelines make our websites, intranets, advertising and traditional media look right but ignore the majority of customer interfaces.
Surveys give us only a glimpse into a small part of our customers’ lives. Instead, I see marketing teams use surveys, which are useful, but limited because they only help us know what people are interested in. They don’t help us understand who our users are and what truly motivates them. They help us understand what people want but they don’t help us understand the why or how. These questions are critical to creating better experiences.
TiVo sends me a survey frequently but it generally asked me the same questions every time. Questions that are basic, mostly demographic, and not useful for product teams. And I’ve stopped filling them out knowing that I’m not going to win that $500 Amazon certificate.
Additionally,Marketing is often concentrated on outreach. This is where they’re truly hitting the edges. But it’s only one part of the lifecycle so again tools like marketing segmentation only share a small view into they people they serve during only a small fraction of where customers interface with a company.
A lot of companies conduct usability testing to guide their designs. But users often enter a fabricated lab that’s not a real environment. And test out products that are faked experiences. I believe strongly in usability testing. But it’s a centralized approach that’s good for validation, not for understanding people nor creating new, innovative products or services.
And focus groups are just one big party in the middle. Again, happening very close to the middle where users are asked their opinion about designs. There are many downfalls with this approach and again it doesn’t lead to breakthroughs.
Social media has opened a lot of communication. Companies are doing a great deal to engage customers in 140 character conversation. But there’s still so much not being seen at the edges.
Everyone needs to reach outside, meet customers, observe them. We’ve been preaching this to programmers and product teams for years. I’ve been preaching for designers and visual designers to do more research. Now, I’m asking for marketers and brand leaders to do the same. I think this will help organizations operate a lot more effectively and design much better experiences.
I’ll always remember a project I worked on to create a telehealth system for sick patients at home. Most of them were elderly. And I’ll tell you, it was a very humbling experience. We visited home after home of participants who kept huge clusters of medicine. Many felt overwhelmed with instructions. Many were simply lonely and wanted to maintain connections to the outside world. Most people want to be treated with respect. Seeing is believing and there’s really no alternative method that could bring you close to understanding the needs of these people.
Personas’ true value is to bring focus to your organization about what’s important to your customers.
If you truly understand your users’ needs you can transform your business and create new industries.
And if you value the margins your organization will innovate.
Creating a culture of UX takes a lot.
And change is really really hard. Microsoft’s metro design was first seen in 2006 in the Zune. It’s taken 6 years to hit the desktop. And they still have a long way to go.
Mark Templeton is CEO of Citrix and he believes strongly in design.About 4 years ago he asked Catherine Courage to join him as VP of user experience.
And hiring Catherine high up in the organization began a shift in the company’s culture. And now that design is considered strategic it’s the responsibility of designers to step up and move their companies forward like Catherine’s been doing at Citrix.
She’s had many successes but one of them is truly impressive and something that I’m proud to have worked with her on. We created 5 design principles with Citrix that clearly communicate the value of design to Citrix. This was based on many workshops, lots of conversations and research across Citrix worldwide.
Of the many outcomes, Citrix created a video of the principles to broadcast why design matters.The video was created by Energy Energy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJT340fooKA
The principles are used everywhere at Citrix. We initially imagined them on posters, in communication. But their visibility grew and employees started making their own videos of products they loved. The principles show up on their security badges to remind everyone every day about their importance. And employees are trained on the importance of the principles. Even their legal teams use them to guide their work. True transformation has happened with the culture thanks to the leadership of Catherine and her team.
Mark has outlined design as one of his three top goals for the company the last three years. That’s really significant.
The Citrix product design team has grown significantly in the last three years to about 80 people.And Citrix has nearly doubled in share price since 2009. And Citrix products are winning awards.
We also created a UI system for Citrix.Thisis something we do for a lot of companies to define their unified system. They’re a very affective way to improve the overall brand perception of your company through interfaces. But I think we can do better.
Development tools are essential.Wecare deeply about the details and that means crafting the details of the code. Without attention to detail there’s a lot less value to the design.
And standards help improve the baseline. I love standards, I love consistency.
But they’re truly one of the biggest obstacles to innovation.Brandguidelines, visual guidelines, standards, can be used to manage the edges. If the groups at the edges are not able to innovate then we get nowhere. For example, we began working with a company in the last year. They’re positioned as passionate, innovative. And their main typeface is Arial. No questions asked. We must use that. I’m not a type snob like some. I love typefaces but have learned to be a bit more pragmatic with their use in digital design. But Arial is a font that not only doesn’t reflect their brand but speaks to the risks standards can bring.
The other story I’d like to talk about is Practice Fusion. They’re a company that delivers a web-based EMR to physicians across the country. Here’s their web-based product.
They’re doing amazing things here lead their company from the edges and through user experience design. Paul Willard, their chief marketing officer, first came to us and said he wanted us to create an iPad app that would be disruptive. And disrupt his web product. My first thought was wow, awesome. My second thought was, oh shit.
And Ryan Howard, their CEO collaborated heavily with us and the whole team to define the new product.
The marketing leaders were heavily engaged in the direction of the experience.
A process driven at the edges increases the chance of connecting with customers and building experiences they love.Video: https://vimeo.com/34875856
The result has been impressive. Doctors loved the new iPad app. And it’s now influencing Practice Fusion’s other products.
In closing. A few things to remember.
Value the margins of your organization.
Visit the edges to understand user needs.
Stop championing your brand, start championing your user.
Drive your brand through user experience.
I hope you enjoyed it.You can find me on twitter (@nickmyer5) or via the Cooper journal (www.cooper.com/journal).You can also follow Cooper via our twitter feed (@cooper).