Newsletter

Welcome. In this quarter’s newsletter, we concentrate on users, focusing on what makes smart user-centred digital and mobile design. We also give you an in depth expose into our Emotional Engagement Monitoring tool which heralds a new era in behavioural research.

I would be very interested to hear from you directly if you have any feedback..

Ben

Ben Langdon, President, Foviance

• Smart user-centric digital design
• Valuing the mobile experience
• An evolution in behavioural research

User-centric design is both a long-standing concept and a contemporary issue for many online businesses. Essentially it involves realigning design values from the viewpoint of end-users and customers, embracing their desires and needs throughout the whole creative process. Rather than developing technology and functionality built purely for business benefit, and then bolting the user experience on top of that framework, user-centric architecture embraces user behaviours, rather than forcing them to fit around business objectives.

Like any design philosophy, a user-centric project demands a certain degree of discipline and cooperation from every team involved if agreed goals are to be met. When we’re asked to develop a user-centric design, the first thing we must do is to focus on those users, find out what they want and need, and then optimise our design recommendations based upon our findings. Of course we always expect a certain degree of conflict between what users want and what is deemed necessary to meet business objectives – the need for advertising is one obvious potential clash. But sometimes this conflict of interest can be more fundamental.

In the ideal user-centric design process, Foviance consultants will start from scratch, fulfilling the brief by conducting user research, focus groups, one-to-one discussions and any other methods necessary to find out precisely what users are looking for. Based on those insights we can then develop an information architecture consisting of templates and wireframes – the blueprints of website design – and negotiate specific design elements with our client, taking into account business needs wherever possible in the most user-friendly way. Once the wireframe is signed off, internal creative teams or graphic design agencies take over to make the barebones of the wireframe design beautiful as well as functional.

Unfortunately problems can arise when graphic design teams work simultaneously with customer experience researchers, rather than waiting for the necessary user-centric blueprints to be produced. If graphic designers aren’t creating assets based upon user research, then there is every chance that business owners will select their visually impressive Photoshop mock-up of the site front-end over the rudimentary but functional user optimised framework designs.

Of course businesses want their websites to look fantastic, but actually aesthetics are rarely the most important business requirement. A smart user-centric experience will be functional, measurable and tailored to please paying customers. Sometimes there has to be compromise. Graphic design teams have been known to work simultaneously with our consultants, but to create the site in business-approved modular elements rather than as a complete design. This limits our information architecture to an extent, but at least grants us the flexibility to move modules around guided by client feedback.

Ultimately we get great satisfaction from helping businesses to fulfil their visions of customer-centric websites. We achieve this most effectively by working together with clients as far as possible to avoid any unfortunate contradictions along the way. All of us are liable to fall head-over-heels in love with a an attractive but shallow front-end if we’re not too careful, but we much prefer encountering a smart, beautiful, web design that works intelligently.

This article was written as part of the April 2012 newsletter

The key challenge in the multi-channel space today revolves around the mobile experience, and how to make it work harder in retail environments. Walk around any large store this weekend and you’ll see shoppers consulting their smartphones and tablets to check prices on the shop floor against those on comparison sites and apps. Although this might appear modern and progressive for the retailer, there’s actually a real danger that stores merely become fancy showrooms for online sellers. Indeed it could be argued that the biggest e-commerce players of all, such as Amazon, are turning all real-world stores into their own hard-working shop-fronts.

We would like to help more retailers grab their own piece of that pie. In order to do that, we first have to work out where they can best add value to the overall end-to-end shopping experience. For example, why do people go into physical shops in the first place, and at what point in the shopping journey do they take that step? Clearly for some purchases, shoppers just feel the need to see and touch products for themselves. But retailers must ensure that people savvy enough to research products online can also locate, buy or reserve those items in-store. The alternative is to risk seeing them return home to complete transactions with other retailers.

Bricks and mortar retailers need to be innovative to ensure that shoppers choose their website, mobile site or dedicated app, rather than those of third-parties. They can then entice potential buyers to their actual store with the promise of a more engaging experience.

Imagine that you are in the market for a new television and that you find a model you like on an electrical retailer’s website. That retailer is in danger of losing you almost immediately to a trawl of price comparison sites, unless it hooks you into its sales cycle early. This might entail offering you an engaging mobile app to download, tailoring directions to your nearest store, and promising richer information when in-store through the same branded app.

There are many advantages to retailers of pushing brand awareness and engagement right at the start of the sales cycle, and encouraging potential buyers to make the trip to the shop floor. If a shopper has chosen to visit a particular store in person, it should certainly be possible for the retailer to incentivise those individuals to use its own branded mobile app or site over those of third-parties. The retailer must gain a position to push more information to potential buyers, monitor their actions through analytics, build a more personal relationship with those customers, even upsell. Exploiting this new channel will also have the effect of lowering the sales burden and cost of physical staff by essentially rewarding self-service as far as, or even beyond, the point of transaction.

Transparency in transactions is always valued by customers. In-store, they will have tangible products in front of them that they can touch and evaluate. They gain face-to-face reassurance that they are not being ripped off entirely, and that they are in control of an open and transparent transaction. It might not ultimately prove the very cheapest deal available, but as long as it is competitive, the extra value offered by a physical experience can be made to fill the gap – just so long as it feels sufficiently engaging and worthwhile.

The first step then, is to get a decent mobile website. This is a moderately straightforward process and immediately enables slick browsing of product ranges as well as secure transactions if desirable. Links can be made to physical products through stock item codes, or if the retailer is in a position to dedicate more investment, then a mobile app coupled with a smart phone or tablet can provide barcode or Quick Response (QR) code scanning at additional development expense. By holding customers’ hands throughout their end-to-end journey, retailers are more likely to inspire loyalty and regain those all-important sales. The final consideration is to ensure that this multi-channel experience doesn’t lead to a new breed of scanning customers treading on the toes of traditional shoppers (literally or otherwise). It’s vital that the trading channel chosen by these customers is also protected – in harmony with the smartphone generation.

This article was written as part of the April 2012 newsletter

Businesses and brands want to get as close as possible to capturing how their customers feel about their products and services. At Foviance we have been at the forefront of revealing conscious reactions of consumers though a range of research techniques.

Now with EEM™ we’re also able to unlock the subconscious and provide analysis of hidden customer impressions and reactions. We help clients to understand their customers’ subconscious behaviours so that they can optimise experiences to heighten engagement, encourage transactions and boost revenues.

Learn more about Emotional Engagement in our specialist area.

Information video (4min 46 seconds)

This article was written as part of the April 2012 newsletter

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