MinneWebCon 2017: Separating the user from the brand

Transcript

1. SEPARATING THE USER
   FROM THE BRAND
   Editorial Brand Experience without Strategy
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2. ABOUT ME
   ➤ Marketing/Content Strategy/
   User Experience
   ➤ Master’s in Higher Education
   ➤ Master’s in User Experience
   Design (soon!)
   ➤ REALLY big research nerd
   ➤ Crazy cat lady
   ➤ @amygracewells
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3. SO WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY?
   ➤ Select and create:
   ➤ user tasks
   ➤ useful personas
   ➤ user journey
   ➤ Use this information to:
   ➤ develop a rough message
   architecture that combines
   the needs of the user with
   organization goals
   ➤ use card sorting to validate
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4. THE AVERAGE
   SITE HAS 11
   USABILITY
   CATASTROPHES.
   (DESIGN ELEMENTS THAT PREVENT
   USERS FROM COMPLETING TEST TASKS)
   Source: Nielsen Norman Group
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5. 48% OF USERS
   DIDN’T REALIZE THAT
   THE UNIVERSITY
   OFFERED THE
   PROGRAM THAT
   THEY WERE
   LOOKING FOR
   Source: Nielsen Norman Group study
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6. “Usability:
   The extent to which a product can be
   used by specified users to achieve
   specified goals with effectiveness,
   efficiency and satisfaction in a
   specified context of use.
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7. “Branding is the art of aligning what
   you want people to think about your
   company with what people actually
   do think about your company. And
   vice-versa.
   Jay Baer
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8. USER GOALS
   It’s not you, it’s them
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9. USER GOALS
   DON’T CARE
   ABOUT YOUR
   BOTTOM LINE
   Focus on goals, motivations,
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10. USER GOALS VS. TASKS
    ➤ Car rental company
    ➤ Task is to rent car easily.

    Solution: provide quick and simple procedure for renting a
    car.
    ➤ Goal is to have a great vacation in other country.

    Solution: besides easy car renting, provide a customer with
    a country map, list of sightseeing, hotels, and restaurants.
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11. CREATING GREAT USER GOALS
    ➤ Story about a user. When driving along unfamiliar roads, I often catch a
    glimpse of an interesting-looking shop or restaurant. Unfortunately, I am
    usually on my way to an appointment, it is unsafe to pull over or the place
    is closed. It would be great if I had some way to remember the name of
    the place or its location so I could research it and return if I want.
    ➤ User story. As a driver who frequently travels in unfamiliar areas, I want
    the ability for my GPS to record my current location so that I can
    remember interesting places.
    ➤ Request. I wish I could remember my car’s current location when I am
    driving along an unfamiliar route. That way if I see someplace interesting,
    I can easily locate it later.
    ➤ User goal. I would like to be able to return to interesting-looking shops,
    restaurants or locations that I encounter while driving in unfamiliar areas.
    http://pragmaticmarketing.com/resources/get-to-the-user-goal
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12. ACTIVITY: USER GOALS
    ➤ Choose three to five of your top user tasks or goals.
    ➤ For each, explain the user motivations and likely emotions.
    ➤ For each, jot down how you can support that goal or how the
    user completes it.
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13. UX PERSONAS
    Motivations, not demographics
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14. USABLE
    PERSONAS
    DON’T CARE
    ABOUT AGE
    Focus on goals, motivations,
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15. EFFECTIVE PERSONAS
    ➤ Represent a major user group for your website
    ➤ Express and focus on the major needs and expectations of the
    most important user groups
    ➤ Give a clear picture of the user's expectations and how they're
    likely to use the site
    ➤ Aid in uncovering universal features and functionality
    ➤ Describe real people with backgrounds, goals, and values
    https://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/personas.html
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16. CREATING EFFECTIVE PERSONAS
    ➤ Conduct user research: Answer the following questions: Who are your
    users and why are they using the system? What behaviors, assumptions,
    and expectations color their view of the system?
    ➤ Condense the research: Look for themes/characteristics that are specific,
    relevant, and universal to the system and its users.
    ➤ Brainstorm: Organize elements into persona groups that represent your
    target users. Name or classify each group.
    ➤ Refine: Combine and prioritize the rough personas. Separate them into
    primary, secondary, and, if necessary, complementary categories. You
    should have roughly 3-5 personas and their identified characteristics.
    ➤ Make them realistic: Develop the appropriate descriptions of each
    personas background, motivations, and expectations. Do not include a lot
    of personal information. Be relevant and serious; humor is not appropriate.
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17. https://youtu.be/B23iWg0koi8
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18. https://www.uxpin.com/studio/blog/ux-designers-5-minute-guide-lean-personas/
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20. ACTIVITY: DEVELOP A UX PERSONA
    ➤ Choose a user group based on tasks/goals.
    ➤ Describe their motivations, behaviors, and/or beliefs.
    ➤ Add in emotional states as related to your org or goals.
    ➤ Add other valuable information such as affiliation to your
    organization, interests, etc.
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21. USER JOURNEYS
    Follow the yellow brick road
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22. WHAT IS A USER JOURNEY?
    ➤ A user journey is a series of steps (typically 4-12) which
    represent a scenario in which a user might interact with the
    thing you are designing. They can be used for 2 main things:
    ➤ Demonstrating the way users currently interact with the
    service / website / product
    ➤ Demonstrating the way users could interact with the
    service / website / product
    http://theuxreview.co.uk/user-journeys-beginners-guide/
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23. BENEFITS
    ➤ Demonstrating the vision for the project
    ➤ They help us understand user behavior
    ➤ They help identify possible functionality at a high level
    ➤ They help you define your taxonomy and interface
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24. WHAT TO INCLUDE
    ➤ Context – Where is the user? What is around them? Are there
    any external factors which may be distracting them?
    ➤ Progression – How does each step enable them to get to the
    next?
    ➤ Devices – what device are they using? Are they a novice or
    expert? What features does the device have?
    ➤ Functionality – What type of functionality are they expecting?
    Is it achievable?
    ➤ Emotion – What is their emotional state in each step? Are
    they engaged, bored, annoyed?
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28. https://atendesigngroup.com/blog/connecting-content-user-needs-and-business-goals 28
    

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29. ACTIVITY: SHOW YOUR YELLOW BRICK ROAD
    ➤ Choose one of your user goals and persona.
    ➤ Sketch out the steps to complete.
    ➤ Add in emotional states.
    ➤ Add other contextual information such as pain points or
    required functionality.
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30. MESSAGE
    ARCHITECTURE
    We are this, we are not that
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31. YOU CAN’T
    FORCE A
    BRAND
    EXPERIENCE
    Focus on goals, motivations,
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35. “A message architecture is an outline
    or hierarchy of communication goals
    that reflects a common vocabulary.
    Margot Bloomstein
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36. http://brand.wvu.edu/brand-positioning/messaging-map
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37. http://www.creativeco.com/portfolio/b2b/nonprofit-marketing-brand-refresh
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38. ACTIVITY: WHO YOU ARE
    ➤ Choose three separate words that are the core of your organization.
    ➤ For each word, write three statements that support that attribute.
    ➤ For each statement, write a sample sentence or content chunk that
    would represent voice/tone.
    ➤ Example: supportive
    ➤ We have a 5 to 1 student to advisor ratio to ensure each student
    receives attention.
    ➤ Our faculty receive top teaching awards from
    ➤ Our living/learning communities pair students with peer and
    faculty mentors.
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39. ACTIVITY: WHO YOU ARE NOT
    ➤ Choose three separate words that are the opposite of your
    organization or that you want to diminish.
    ➤ For each word, write three examples of what you do not do.
    ➤ For each word, write a sample sentence or content chunk that
    would represent voice/tone.
    ➤ Example: arrogant
    ➤ We do not brag without concrete and citable evidence.
    ➤ We do not diminish others for our own gain.
    ➤ We do not exclude others to make ourselves look better.
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42. CARD SORTING
    Discover or validate your brand
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43. CONFIRM
    YOUR
    RESEARCH OR
    ASSUMPTIONS
    Brand-based card sort
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44. https://www.amazon.com/Content-Strategy-Work-Real-world-Interactive/dp/0123919223/
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45. WHO WE ARE
    WHO WE’D LIKE TO BE
    WHO WE AREN’T
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46. ACTIVITY: CONFIRM WITH CARD SORT
    ➤ Choose 10 words that both represent and do not represent
    your brand or organization.
    ➤ Create teams of three and practice by have two complete your
    card sort.
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47. DO WHAT IS RIGHT
    And sell it to stakeholders
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48. USERS VS. STAKEHOLDERS
    ➤ Stakeholders often have a
    difficult time removing
    themselves from the equation.
    ➤ Do they directly contribute to
    goal success? (donations,
    memberships, applications)
    ➤ Do they represent your user
    groups?
    ➤ Do they use your website for
    the same things as your users?
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49. BRANDING AND SUPPORTING USERS CAN GO TOGETHER
    ➤ Your users own your brand. Their experiences dictate brand
    attributes.
    ➤ They will always believe their experience, not what you tell
    them. (think nonverbal vs. verbal communication)
    ➤ If your users can easily complete their goals, they will be more
    receptive to brand messages.
    ➤ Good user research does not lie.
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50. ACTIVITY: SELL TO STAKEHOLDERS
    ➤ Pair up.
    ➤ One person will act as stakeholder (dean, VP
    , president, etc.)
    ➤ Don’t be too easy on your partner. Give them a few
    objections to help them practice.
    ➤ The other person will report on their user research, show
    documentation and tools created (persona/user journey) and
    tie it organization goals.
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51. ONLINE TOOLS TO HELP
    Don’t recreate the wheel
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52. CHECK THESE OUT
    ➤ https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-research.html
    ➤ Online card sorting through Optimal Workshop
    ➤ Validately for usability testing
    ➤ Content Strategy at Work by Margot Bloomstein
    ➤ https://www.amazon.com/Content-Strategy-Work-Real-
    world-Interactive/dp/0123919223/
    ➤ Nielsen/Norman Group https://www.nngroup.com/articles/
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