“A brand is the sum of the good, the bad, the ugly and the off-strategy. It is your best and worst product. It is your best and worst employee. It is communicated through award-winning advertising as well as those ads that somehow slipped through the approval cracks and sank anything riding on them. It is your on-hold music and the demeanor of the receptionist who puts that valued client or prospect on hold. It is the carefully crafted comments by a CEO as well as negative buzz by the water cooler or in chat rooms on the Internet. Brand is expressed through written, audio and visual content. It is interpreted through emotional filters every human being has—where anything can happen. Ultimately, you can’t control your brand. You can only hope to guide it.”
~Scott Bedbury
Rosenfeld Media recently did an analysis of user experience mentions in prominent Business Magazines. What they discovered is quite fascinating.
- The Harvard Business Review dramatically differs from its peers in its information focus. Knowledge management (26.7%) and information management (61.7%) combined to account for 88.4% of its results, while the average for all of our business publications is 28.2% (8.5% + 19.7%). Of course, HBR is the most academic publication on our list. If this is the explanation, does that suggest that the research and academic side of the business community is more focused on information management issues? If so, why?
- The Economist is quite focused—at the expense of all other UX topics—on branding: 96.7% of its results, versus a 42.4% average among all analysts. Of all the terms on our list, branding has been in use perhaps the longest. Does The Economist see newer topics as flighty and not worth deeper coverage?
- Conversely, Business Week seems to have the most balanced coverage, with six terms accounting for at least 5% of the results each (branding, content management, industrial design, information management, knowledge management, and user experience).
Talk on importance of brand and how to manage it. Sorry for the abrupt ending-- I had to remove some confidential stuff.
They just like to kick it around...
From The New Yorker: The Talk of the Town
A stewardess came over to their row. "The purser wants you to stop that," she said."I opened my eyes and was, like, 'Stop what?' " Varnier recalled the other day.
"The touching and the kissing," the stewardess said, before walking away.
Tsikhiseli and Varnier were taken aback. "He would rest his head on my shoulder or the other way around. We'd kiss—not kiss kiss, just mwah," Tsikhiseli recalled, making a smacking sound.
Four Years Later not a thing seems out of place: reading excerpt from Brand leadership on guidelines for using the web to build strong brands:
One: Create a Positive Experience A Web site should deliver a positive site experience by having three basic characteristics. First, it should be easy to use; the visitor should not get confused or frustrated. It should meet expectations with respect to the information it contains and the activities that it supports. Second, it should have a reason to be visited. It needs to offer value in terms of information, a transaction, entertainment, or a social experience. Without motivation to visit, bookmark, and revisit, the site will not be worthwhile. To the extent that the site can offer real substance, it can actually augment the brand by providing an enhanced level of functional, emotional, or self-expressive benefits. Third, it should exploit the unique characteristics of the Web. In particular, it should strive to be involving and interactive (e.g., the Pepsi site), personalized, (e.g., the Amazon site), and timely (e.g., the CNN site).
The Art of Branding is a simple slim book full of pictures and graphs that explains Brand creation and management by examining the life of Picasso, and along the way makes a convincing argument that Picasso was the master of his own brand. Recommended for the ideas, the graphs and photos, and the masterful simplicity.
"I believe that one of the most overlooked elements of good design is consistency, especially in corporate identity design."
Logos is a useful site to have in ye old bookmarks.
I'm a heavy Netflix user. In my opinion, Netflix is why you buy a DVD player, not the other way around. I visited Blockbuster recently, to get a big pile of movies in preparation for tuesday's dental surgery, and I noticed Blockbuster has rolled out a new "Movie freedom pass." It allows you to keep two movies as long as you want, and see as many as you want, two at a time, for a flat fee.
My husband read the offer as we stood at the counter checking out, and snorted "same as Netflix except you have to go to the store and you get crappier films." The endlessly maligned Blockbuster clerk did not respond, merely continued to ring me up. Sometime I think the clerks' apathy provide a challenge to my husband's gallic nature, as he seems to save his most insulting comments about american culture for our arrival at the counter.
So: back to Netflix.com. They've redesigned their site. Because I visit Netflix so often, and typically from clicking an email as often as navigating there, I had the good fortune to have old Netflix and new Netflix open in two windows and was able to capture at a page of each for comparison. And here is my rambling observations...
Below is the redesign explanation page. Most sites undergoing a major redesign now respect this best practice. A few years back, complete redesigns & rearchitectures were sprung on users regularly with hardly a word of explanation. Now there is usually a tour or guidepage explaining what sort of mischief the designers have been getting into and how to adjust to the new design. Even when a design is a great improvement, users of the previous design will often have problems as they relearn the interface.
Unfortunately the vast majority of the users will not turn to the explanation page, except perhaps out of curiosity or if they can't locate a favored feature and want to see if it's still there. Tours tend to get the traffic of a good banner ad... abysmal. Still, it's good to offer help to those who seek it.
In my case I'm thwarted by the move of search (#6) from the left (common not only to the old netflix but to many other of my regularly visited sites such as amazon) to the right. I'm sure someone had a deep and passionate argument about how having the search box on the right was more ergonomic and intuitive, but damn if I don't keep looking for it on the left every time.
(There was a poster at this year's ia summit with typical location of things like shopping cart and search-- anyone have a link?)
Below we have the old netflix queue page and the new one. This is a page I spend a lot of time on, moving movies up and down the queue as my mood swings from serious to playful and my needs from blockbuster-stupid to intellectually challenging. I doubt I'm unusual in this pastime. Netflix's few drawbacks is you can't match film to mood easily.
There are two big changes in this page. One is the aqua-ization of the design. Everything is shiny 3-D macraphics. Why? Page was loading too fast? That fountain pen really enriches my renting experience! Those round tabs makes me feel so futuristic, like I'm in minority report!
I will admit that I have a personal aesthetic preference for the flat interface, and I really don't get what a 3-d tab brings to the experience. But then, OSX leaves me vaguely seasick, and when my XP machine arrived, I spent a hunk of time removing the fisher-price interface and returning to the simple "windows classic". This is my caveat... I like flat. Still, I do suspect this design will look dated pretty fast.
Moving beyond the veneer, let's consider use. This page is a highly utilitarian one. Why add visuals that don't help? The fountain pen neither helps in wayfinding nor explains how to use the page, nor sets the tone for the task. It bespeaks a designer's struggle digging through clip-art seeking an image that represents managing a queue of movies-- maybe the solution was no image?
Is an image necessary on this page at all? Setting the tone of the service's brand seems far more appropriate on the home page, perhaps lightly across the browse pages. But once you get to a page the regular committed user accesses again and again, why not make it lightweight and swift, with no unnecessary elements?
One thing the image does do is tie the tabs into the page. Often tabs are tossed on top of an interface like a hat, and have no visual connection with the page they modify. This undermines their power-- the ability to show state and provide both location and alternatives. The new tabs are far better tied to the pages they modify than the old buttonettes.
Are tabs the right metaphor for Netflix? On the web, you see two uses for tabs. the old software metaphor, which is different views of the same thing, and the new/old folder metaphor, top-level groupings of items. Amazon uses tabs in this way, as do most.
Netflix is using tabs to indicate the three different tasks a user might accomplish on their site, an atypical use for tabs. Tabs are probably the wrong widget, then. But a little rebel within whispers "I bet they tested great in usability."
Another big change you'll notice is the removal of the left-hand navigation. I'm going to assume they looked at the number of clicks this received, and decided that it was not serving any purpose beyond noise. On the other-hand, its removal basically renders this page a dead end. You've tweaked your queue, you are satisfied the right films are lined up to arrive... now what? What does the user want to do next?
My answer is usually
1. Find more movies on netflix
2. Go to IMDB and read up on a movie, or find suggestions for another.
3. Leave to do something else.
You can no longer easily do any of these on this page. Why not offer movie recommendations here? Why not do a deal with IMDB? Why not take overture text-link ads to take advantage of an exit point?
I think Amazon is the master of the "no dead-ends" philosophy. Every click provides you with a thousand other tempting offers, until you enter the check out tunnel. Netflix has got your money, the best thing they can do is make sure you view them as an indispensable part of your existence. Part of that means making sure you have a rich queue of movies so you never sit at home with no red envelope, wondering what you are paying for.
Monday. Pretty. Legible. Empty.
forget love, all you need is brand.
In which we discover that two companies decide to discover if online branding is possible, useful and/or effective; and discover so by creating a fake brand, YesSirNoSir.
The results are on the site. Also check out realated article Case Study - Online Branding? Yes Sir!
Brand Metrics: Your Key to Measuring Return on Brand Investment
"Brand metrics help companies strategically grow their brands by
Why Technology Companies Need Branding
"Slow to catch on to the benefits of branding have been those companies that are steeped in technology. Even if they have been producing goods for public as opposed to business consumption, they have showed some reticence in embarking on brand investment. Where it is commonplace to spend large amounts of money on plant and capital equipment in technology-based industries, investing in brands has been relatively ignored. As a result, there are few powerful technology brands, and yet they would seem to be in desperate need of branding as a major tool in order to differentiate themselves from all their competitors."
Marks of Excellence is outstanding resource for anyone seeking to understand the language of logos. It's huge, lavishly illustrated and well explained, and covers logos from their early beginnings in heraldry to modern fashions. YUM!
Somebody is confusing branding with marketing. Not the same kids!
"Good Grips kitchen tools grew out of one man's desire to build a better potato peeler for his arthritic wife. It has become one of the great marketing stories of the last decade, garnering a huge market share. Software designers can take from it two lessons: Good designs for the disabled can also benefit the normally-abled, and effective product design must come before "branding.""
We're defining brand over on EH. Come join in!
So I was at this party on saturday talking with a friend, and I guess one shouldn't drink champagne after four hours of robbery-nightmare sleep, because he and I started accosting people demanding they describe brand in one sentence. Boy, if you've ever been stared at before--
Anyhow, we got some seriously vague answers, such as "the emotion something makes you feel" and some long ones that damaged brain cells prevent me from recalling.
We felt pretty sassy having come up with the two word definition "broadcasted personification."
rebecca mailed me hers the next day, clearly still tramatized.
"brand (noun) = promised user experience. always superceded by actual user experience.
branding (verb) is the thing that
a) creates the promise of a particular experience and
b) triggers the brand's emergence from the subconscious to the conscious."
and matt sent me
"'Brand : the first sentence someone says when the company is mentioned in conversation.' As in "AutoNetwork - don't buy there, those bastards screwed me over'. "
your turn!
From: Gleanings
To: people Watchers
Subject: Gleanings: My sky is falling
OPENING THANG
I'm on jath-- today and part two tomorrow. he doesn't archive, so if you want to see me look silly, go now.
http://www.jath.com
I'm having host problems. Parts of my site are falling off. I'm panicking and trying to torture the dreamhost support team (who are usually angels) by sending them mail every ten minutes. Please don't write me to tell me the sky is falling; believe me I know.
So: less links, but I promise they are all tasty.
BRAND MATTERS
Noel sends this
"With marketing dollars dwindling, who needs branding? 'Who doesn't?' ask the 'Got milk?' guys. And they've got a story to tell. "
which led to
"I'm With the Brand
Hey man, if you wanna succeed in the new economy, follow the Grateful Dead."
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,22850,00.html
and
"Marketing Muse: The New Brand You
When it comes to personal branding, Nike is trying to put its best foot forward with its new Nike iD program. But allowing individuals to influence a brand is a slippery proposition. "
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,22859,00.html
USABILITY MATTERS
This article is being discussed on the CHI-WEB list
http://clickz.com/article/cz.3589.html
On one hand, he doesn't seem to get that rules for one media do not necessarily apply to the next. on the other hand, are we forgetting the lost art of seduction?
NEWS & COMMENTARY
interesting article on data's odd transitory and permanent nature.
The Net Effect: Remembrance of Things Past
By Simson Garfinkel
http://www.techreview.com/magazine/apr01/garfinkel.asp
News.Com: Audrey's life cut short.
3Com on Wednesday said it will discontinue Audrey, its Web-surfing appliance
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5207113.html
APROPOS OF NOTHING
"Exercises in Style was inspired by a work of the same name by the French writer Raymond Queneau. In that book, Queneau spun as many variations as he could--over 100--out of a mundane, two-part text about two chance encounters with a mildly irritating character during the course of a day. He started by telling it in every conceivable tense, then by doing it in free verse and as a sonnet, as a telegram, in pig Latin, as a series of exclamations, in an indifferent voice... you name it.
The goal of this project is to apply the same principle to comics by creating as many variations as possible on a simple one-page non-story: different points of view, different genres, different formal games, and so on."
IA can be driven by brand. In early discovery sessions, the IA should be understanding the desired marketing message -- is it simple? sophisticated? easy? classy?-- and then designing systems that reinforce these brand qualities... reveal a million features to reinforce "powerful" or hide them to reinforce "simple" for example. Just as much as any graphic designer, the IA will help or hurt the brand.
This means IA's need to go talk to the VP of marketing (or CEO, or...), and the VP needs to talk to them. In the past the two groups may have eyed each other with suspicion, but it's time to put those differences aside and concentrating on crafting the next Saturn.
Corporate Identity: Making Business Strategy Visible Through Design I asked the best brand strategist I've ever met which book to read and she pointed me to this one. Lots of amazing illustrations, lots of great insights on brand beyond business. Definitely a great introductory text.
Building Strong Brands Brand, Like IA is a hard to define field and absolutely essential to a web-businesses success (to any business's success) This book explains brand in a language that anyone can understand without talking down to anyone. Truly a book for novices and experts, and that's a rare distinction. Don't trust me, have a taste.
IA MATTERS
creating trust in cyberspace
iacandy
a bunch of truly beautiful odd new visualizations.. information design and IA are one.
plumbdesign thesaurus/
and the story behind it
www.thinkmap.com
more
http://inxight.com/
more
smartmoney
from
http://www.smartmoney.com/intro/tools/
more
http://www.artandculture.com
hey, anyone going to any of these?
BRAND
The Evolution of Brand Strategy
The Changing Roles of Identity and Navigation Design
Uncanny
The Art & Design of Shawn Wolfe
Published by Houston
Best known as the man behind Beatkit, the ubiquitous "brand
without a product," Wolfe was deconstructing consumerism and
brand fetishism since before he knew that's what he was doing.
See the cover image at:
http://www.emigre.com/CBUN.html
NEWS
Did you think that you can stop worrying about downloads?
Fast Company: Why the Long Wait?
Latency, says Reed, directly affects the quality of users' experience on the
Net. Although ISPs aren't blind to this issue, too few of them agree that
latency is the defining metric of their networks' performance.
Napster cannot be killed.
Industry Standard: It's Not Dead Yet.
Kevin Werbach. Rather than delaying a resolution of the major issues
surrounding online music distribution, the Napster injunction has accelerated
it. The injunction raised the stakes and also brought Napster tremendous
mainstream publicity.
yeah, these guys are the victims. sure.
Wired News: States: Labels Fixed CD Prices.
Thirty states filed suit Tuesday against the five biggest record companies and
two music retailing giants, accusing them of conspiring to fix CDs prices --
an act that the states say cost consumers millions of dollars.
the war between design and usability
USABILITY VS DESIGN
DESIGN MATTERS
A little while ago I asked what designers have against capitalization. Mike
of biggerhand.com has been kind enough to let me share his response to me
with you.
me: "What "do* designers have against capitalization?"
mike: "they get used like exclamation marks: Too Often And For Emphasis!!!!!
(usually the emphasis is that the copy sucks, but we'll build around
it with exclamation marks, or "bangs" in marketinguese, and caps.)
in the event of cap & bang bloat i usually strip them all out and get
the client to put them back in. they generally put back about 25% of
what I took out.
In one particularly dire situation I talked marketing down by telling
them that caps added significant overhead in k-count. We then came to
the compromise that we would capitalize the first word of every
sentence and the CEO's name. To give them a "warm fuzzy" I agreed to
capitalize the first word in every paragraph too.
I like making people happy! (<--bang)"
NEWS BITES
from tomalak
Business 2.0: Five Questions With Mike Mulligan, CEO of MapQuest.
And while they've got a brand that people know, it's a brand that's not
relevant online. It's like Brillo. Everybody recognizes the brand Brillo,
butit doesn't do you any good online. And everybody recognizes the brand Rand
McNally, but it doesn't do them any good online.
and for more on Rand Mcnally's struggle to play catch-up (also one of gleanings favorite
topics)
Business 2.0: World to Privacy Sites: Now or Never.
Looming legislation threatens to make many of their current functions
obsolete, and recent high-profile embarrassments have forced many of the
sites
to reconsider their entire raison d'ętre.
Business 2.0: The Perfect PR App.
The other day, I received a routine press release. It wasn't time sensitive.
It wasn't interesting. There was absolutely no way I or anyone else here
would've written about the contents of the release. Yet, it came in a FedEx
envelope sent via the highest, and most expensive, priority.
Computerworld: States formally object to proposed settlement between Toysmart and the FTC.
The objection was submitted by Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly,
who said in the filing that the effort to sell the customer data "is a breach of
Toysmart's promise and constitutes deception pursuant to the Consumer
Protection Act of Massachusetts"...
Kristiina Karvonen has written several papers on creating trust in cyberspace from an HCI viewpoint. check it out!
Refound 50 cups of coffee | swoosh no more. One of life's little pleasures is rediscovering a URL you thought you'd lost. Here a brave soul collects every logo featuring a swoosh. It's rather disturbing how many there are