The Last Mile: Category design

Design as differentiator

Rob — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:32:00 -0500

We run into sales opportunities frequently who have no idea of the realistic cost of bad design. These business leaders have done cheap business cards or used family members who had some HTML skill and are left with the impression that web site redesign should be a quick turn project for minimum expense. Many of these businesses treat design as if it were a commodity – when it fact it is one of the few things left that should not be.

2008 - Deja Vu all over again.....

Rob — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:17:00 -0500

With apologies to Yogi, 2008 is starting out with a lot of discussion about Usability and User Interface.

This has been a trend in software design and web development for the last 2 decades, but today you can’t read about a product that doesn’t have some simplified user interface. This year’s International CES in Las Vegas is showing off thousands of new gadgets and all the marketing language seems to have a common theme “Ease of Use.” I found it interesting that prior to the show, the VP of Communications discussed how important Content is to all consumers.

We have very low quality video from 1993 of me saying almost the same thing.

Manufacturers are all in the ‘usability’ game today with new releases of products that differentiate their products. Check out a few recent product announcements from:

JVC as their “Everio hard disk camcorders offer enhanced usability in a colorful lineup for 2008.”

Samsung has this user friendly language in a recent press release “Whereas previous versions of MagicNet offered a simpler User Interface, MagicNet Pro is equipped with a professional, multi document User Interface, which offers enhanced flexibility and ease-of use for the network operator. Furthermore, MagicNet Pro offers a highly-customizable user experience, allowing operators to control the content and design of several designated areas. The upgraded MagicNet Pro system also offers two types of network connections: auto connection, within an easy-to-use sub-network and direct WAN connection.”

SONY rolled out improved versions of their Bravia flat panels with “slim bezels and thin depth, along with Sony’s new 3D graphic user interface.” And about 4 scrolling pages of features and specifications ;-)

Magellan is aiming to make GPS navigation as easy as Amazon’s “one-click” purchase.

So what does it mean?

It means that EVERYTHING should be easy to use. Start 2008 with your online experiences.

The Way Things Look for 2007

Rob — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 21:39:00 -0500

The beginning of the year is a good time to rethink everything from personal finances to the extra stuff in your closets to your business plan. I looked at many of those things thinking through possible ‘resolutions’ for 2007.

There is growing evidence that visualization and “the way things look” effects all we do – especially now that we get a majority of our information through a computer screen. My wife has not been a heavy internet user, but she spent December researching her next vehicle using Edmunds.com and Consumer Reports info mixed in with manufacturers sites and actual test drives. She liked certain sites and hated others – because they made it easy to understand a lot of data about new automobiles. When it came time to decide – she was armed with more information than ever before and when her car arrives later this month I expect there will be no cognitive dissonance about the purchase.

Internet usage continues to grow at an unprecedented rate and people are actually choosing the usefulness – not just the self-publishing (MySpace, Facebook) and time-wasting (YouTube) features.

Design is Important Again

Rob — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 07:21:00 -0500

I’ve been carrying around the October Fast Company magazine for 2 months because of all the great articles in their third annual Masters of Design issue. The stories about brands like Puma are insightful, but the bigger picture is more important – Design matters in business again.

Retailers have shown us the lead in recent years as even Target and Walmart have pushed ‘brands’ over ‘value.’ Don’t get me wrong, they still have great value, but the empty big box stores across the suburban countryside, tell us that the 90’s are over and the bland version of the value story doesn’t sell long term.

Sell more this Holiday season

Rob — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 14:10:00 -0500

People are buying more online every year and annual ecommerce is expected to top $200 billion for 2006. And Forrester predicts that holiday sales will top $27 billion. With all those potential online dollars, are you doing the right things to improve your online sales?

Vialogix has long held that the user experience improves ecommerce (Creatas, Picturequest, Hinrichs case study examples). Recent collaboration between Akamai and JupiterResearch shows that the average time an online customer will wait is 4 seconds! More than one-third of shoppers will abandon the site with a poor experience. And 75% were not likely to ever shop on that site again! Those are pretty hefty penalties for bad design.

Qualitative Measures Online

Rob — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 13:19:00 -0400

I remember a grad school course in Mass Communications research that made me think it would be hard to ‘measure’ advertising results (Grady Course Listing). 15 years in a creative service business have help prove that in more detail. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that the UI work we do definitely effects results in a measurable way. I just think that companies and service firms struggle with the need to Quantify results that are probably more Qualitative.

It’s the Aesthetics Stupid...

Rob — Wed, 17 May 2006 13:17:00 -0400

Innovation and creative thought are the foundation of the next generation business ideas. As addressed in this Business Week article, as more and more ‘thinking’ jobs move to less expensive labor around the globe, design will become more central to successful business operations.

Cultural differences and varying tastes around the world give us all the opportunity to keep those creative positions in-house. The result is that “Design” can be your business differentiator.

Customer-focused works

Rob — Tue, 09 May 2006 13:15:00 -0400

Customer-focused design and development works. It works for web development as we have learned that if people understand your graphical interface, your application is far superior to many competitors.

Customer-focused also works for products. One of our favorites books on the topic is The Design of Everyday Things. Mercedes-Benz created seat adjustment controls shaped in the L of a seat to allow intuitive adjustment without taking your eyes off of the road.

Simple is the new More...

Rob — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:12:00 -0400

Have you seen the new IBM marketing campaign? Simple Drive-through Whole page spreads in national newsprint. Outstanding creative behind a classic American brand. And the message? SIMPLE – from a company with more complex solutions than most of us can imagine.

Experiential Brand - the final differentiator

Rob — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 13:08:00 -0500

According to a recent Pew Internet & American Life report 42% of US homes now have broadband access and over 73% of respondents (147 million adults) use the internet. The vast majority of those users shop. They shop for health care, or new consumer electronics or filter information feeds about their hobbies – but they shop.

Corporations large and small have put their wares online in the hopes of selling products and services through the inexpensive medium. They have spent millions of dollars to ‘promote’ and market through search engine optimization and keyword buys. The larger players have gone to great pains to ensure their marketing message is on key and logo perfect.

But have they invested in their Experiential Brand? The most important brand trait online is the user experience.

Experiential Brand is what people think of your company. Not if the corporate color chart was used correctly, but if the actual web interface allowed users easy access to the information THEY were seeking. Are you helpful and easy to use (read – do business with) or are you aloof and difficult to understand (and generate less sales as a result)?

Ultimately every company who wants to deliver goods and services online will have the commodity of transactional technology to handle the sale. But the truly successful online ventures will have experiential brand tendancies that make their site the preferred venue for those transactions.