All posts in Design

The Power of Social Proof

In marketing, social proof is a tool used to influence customers to make a quick purchase decision, based on the actions of other people. It’s not a new concept, but the internet has injected a new life into it and became a powerful marketing tactic to increase awareness of a brand or a product.

Social proof capitalizes on people’s natural tendency to be influenced by groups of people whose actions are deemed the right behavior in ambiguous situations. Customers who are unable to make a decision tend to rely on other people’s comments, feedback, and suggestions in order to arrive at a purchasing decision.

The enormous power of social proof can manifest in different ways depending on which platform the business or the brand chooses.
To illustrate:

Authors utilize reviews and ratings on Amazon to drive up book sales.
Bloggers rely on many comments to drum up interest on the site or a particular post or article.
Social media marketers and online personalities display their total number of followers, fans, friends, subscribers, and likes.
Businesses use customer testimonials to attract even more customers.

October 13, 2015 / Comments Off / Category: Design, Psychology

Overview of Google Fit

June 2014 witnessed the announcement of Google Fit, a health and fitness platform made for Google. While not being the most comprehensive and detailed of health apps, the Google Fit manages to stand on its own pretty well, letting users get all the basic functionalities of health and fitness tracking.

The Google Fit begins with a simple set up. Users download the app, install it by agreeing to the Terms and Conditions, and allow the app to access location and activity info. The location is used by the app to allow the user to see their progress in their exercise location.

Google Fit’s main features include:

Goals

What’s a health/fitness app without exercise and activity goals? Users can customize their daily goals according to their regular activity level or daily steps taken (walking) goals.

October 13, 2015 / Comments Off / Category: Design, Mobile App

Overview of Apple HealthKit

Apple’s very own health and fitness tracking app is Apple HealthKit, which provides detailed options as far as wellness/fitness tracking goes. The HealthKit is integrated into iOS, known as an easy to read dashboard that allows diet, activity, exercise, sleep pattern, and other data tracking.

The HealthKit is very active – and not just in the health functionality way. It uses the iPhone’s M7 or M8 sensor to pull user data, and data points can be individually granted or denied as per user preference. The HealthKit works nicely with third party apps to add extra functionality and also lets the user take full control over their information. Appla has given privacy a serious thought, which is a plus for many users. The HealthKit works with Mayo Clinic and Nike as well as other partners to give the full health and fitness experience.

October 13, 2015 / Comments Off / Category: Design, Mobile App

Innovative Design by Building on the Past

One of the business strategies that has kept Apple at the top of the electronics industry is the fact that the company has rarely rolled out a brand new product that had no connection to an earlier design. In fact, a look at the company’s history shows that Apple actually has very few distinct product lines. Most of their products are actually product families. For example, the iPod family includes the iPod, the iPod Mini, the iPod Touch, and the iPod Nano. While each of these products has done very well, they all serve the same function and are related. This may sound like a detriment, but it’s actually one of Apple’s biggest strengths: the company builds upon its past products while still incorporating innovative designs and features.

Apple’s products have always been built with two design philosophies in mind: make products that everyone could use, and make products that are simple in design and operation. Simple doesn’t always mean eliminating needed functions, of course, but in many cases, it meant removing things that weren’t always necessary. Sometimes, in fact, it meant removing things that were once seen as innovative and necessary. The first iMacs, for example, gained a lot of popularity because they came in five bright colors. Today, iMacs are all white and have lost their unique pod-like design. The iPod, on the other hand, went the opposite way: the first models were stunning silver, and it seemed like that sleek look was going to be the calling card of the device. Today, though, iPods are available in multiple colors. The iPhone has gone from a device controlled by Apple to one with a healthy group of developers and third-party apps.

October 13, 2015 / Comments Off / Category: Business, Design

Barclays Bank Uses Design to Deliver Innovation

When one considers the use of design, they might not often associate this with the banking industry. The banking industry has long been revered as an entity unto its own, which would answer to only regulators and not customers. However, in light of the financial collapse that forced a major recession, and with the crumbling of some major financial institutions around the world, customer service and the brand of banks became something to consider.

Barclays has been involved in the banking industry for more than 300 years and has been responsible for some of the most popular innovations in use today, such as the credit card and ATMs (they designed and put into use the first ATM).

October 13, 2015 / Comments Off / Category: Business, Design, UX

The Business Model Canvas is a Simple and Powerful Tool

The type of business model that your company relies on can make a significant difference between success and failure. Being immobile or not understanding the underlying currents that affect revenue can often lead to collapse of even the strongest businesses.

Alexander Osterwalder created the Business Model Canvas that encourages business leaders to look beyond the normal capacity for sales and focus on nine essential characteristics that can affect the direction of the company and the overall focus of sales and marketing teams.

One of the best examples of a company that altered its business model to fit the needs, as well as the limitations, of its target audience, was Xerox. In the late 1950s, Xerox created the first plain paper, dry-process copier in the world. It was so innovative that it would ultimately transform the entire copier industry, but there was one major shortcoming: the price tag.

October 13, 2015 / Comments Off / Category: Business, Design

Apple’s Design Philosophy: Simple Design, Simple to Operate

When Steve Jobs and the other original founders of Apple first began working on what would become the Macintosh line of personal computers, the idea of “personal” computers hadn’t really even been created. Computers were used mainly by large businesses and the government, and they were so large it took one room to house a machine that wasn’t nearly as powerful as the first iPhone. No one ever imagined that computers would become a household item, much less that they would become so small that they could be carried in a standard backpack or briefcase. But from the very beginning, Apple’s philosophy has been to design their products with the individual user in mind. Their computers and other devices were intended to make people’s lives better, but at the same time, they were also aimed at the standard user. Jobs and his team wanted devices that were simple in both design and in use.

Apple’s “battle” against complexity led to some design decisions that some might call counterintuitive or just plain wrong. One example of this is the iPod Mini, which actually has less hard drive space than the larger iPod. The iPod itself was already very simple and did nothing more than allow users to organize and play their music. Most people would immediately assume that because it held less music, fewer people would want a Mini. However, the smaller size was a hit, as was the smaller price tag. There’s also the fact that the Mini’s case was made out of aluminum instead of stainless steel. This allowed Apple to make the Mini in different colors, which was a huge hit.

October 12, 2015 / Comments Off / Category: Design, UX

Key Benefits to A/B, Split Testing Landing Pages

Landing pages are some of the most important components in generating sales, or leads and delivering a targeted customer experience. A sales page must convert readers, moving them from the content through to the ‘call to action,’ whether that action is purchasing a product, signing up on an email list, or some other desired behaviour. A/B, also commonly known as ‘split’ testing is one of the easiest ways to determine how well a particular landing page performs.

The Basic Concept behind A/B, Split Testing

In order to utilize A/B (or split) testing, you need to have two different, distinct landing pages for the same product. The content will likely be different, as will the design or layout of each landing page.

The primary landing page, or the original one, will be labelled ‘A’ and is your starting point, or ‘control’ version. The secondary landing page, sometimes referred to as the ‘challenger’ is labelled ‘B.’

October 2, 2015 / 0 Comments / Category: Design, UX, Web

Sales Personas Provide a Better Picture of Your Target Audience

Who is your ideal customer? Do you understand his or her needs? Do you know their personal history, what motivates them, or the concerns they may have about the products or services you have to offer?

A buyer persona, also known as a sales persona, is basically a made up representation of the typical customer whom you would target. In order to effectively create a buyer or sales persona, you need to understand what motivates them, the demographic or your target market, and purchasing behavior. In today’s business climate, that also means you need to understand their online behavior.

Why Would You Need a Buyer Persona?

When sales and marketing teams within an organization don’t have a clear picture, a unified understanding of the target audience, the people whom they will be targeting, then how can the organization develop a message that will create the deepest impact?

Buyer personas allow sales and marketing professionals to understand their key demographic. They help to highlight the particular personalities, ambitions, and motivations of these potential customers.

The more insightful, more detailed, and more realistic that a buyer persona is, sales and marketing will be in a much better position to craft the ideal message that will reach the target audience and make an important impact.

September 14, 2015 / 0 Comments / Category: Design, Design Thinking, UX

Voice of Customer

The key to Voice of Customer (VOC) is the simplicity to implement it and more importantly for the customer using the website to provide feedback. The ‘Voice of the Customer’ (VOC) is a powerful force. It can benefit businesses in numerous ways. Today, there are many channels from which to garner feedback, to learn about what customers are thinking, how they act and react, what they want, what they don’t want, and so much more. There is a mass of dynamic information available that has never before been available so readily.

VOC can increase engagement with customers. This offers the potential for increased service from the business end while simultaneously creating an atmosphere in which the customers feel as though they’ve been listened to, as though their opinions actually matter. It can also help companies decrease their costs of reaching their target market because they will understand what their customers prefer.

Voice of the Customer can provide so much information to companies that it can boost research and development as the company refines its products and approach. It can maximize marketing potential when the company leadership understands how their key customers think, act, and find content. The primary focal point, then, is to be able to tap into the Voice of the Customer and be able to listen.

July 4, 2015 / 0 Comments / Category: Design, Design Thinking, UX

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