Designing for Other People’s Customers

Most companies create their website with user experience in mind—they make it easy for visitors to do what they want—but they miss the opportunity to create a site to guide the visitor into doing what the company wants. The goals of the visitor to a website are not necessarily the same for the visitor and the company. The visitor may be looking for information, doing research for a future possible purchase. The company, on the other hand, wants to make a sale, collect data, or provide a service. How can you turn a website visitor into a customer? Through good design.

Let’s take a look at four main criteria we can use to judge whether a design will aid in turning a prospect into a customer.

Content

  • Is your message clear? Interesting? Does it speak to the visitor?
  • Do you offer clear pathways for the visitor to follow?
  • Do you offer clear calls-to-action to take additional steps? Do you give the visitor multiple options (such as “Learn more” and “Sign up today?”)
  • Is the language appropriate? Is it gender biased? Could it offend?

Experience

  • Is the site easy to navigate? Are terms understandable and unique?
  • Are calls-to-action similar throughout the site? Is like content grouped by function?
  • Is the site responsive? Can it be navigated on phone, tablet desktop?
  • Is the site free of visual clutter? Is content organized in digestible “screens?”
  • Is the site navigable in adverse conditions? The visually impaired? Screen reading?
  • Is the content searchable? Is it well-organized? Tagged? Categorized?
  • Can the visitor make a direct connection to your company?

Technology

  • Is the technology you’re using appropriate for the visitor?
  • Does the site require technology that is not universal?
  • Is the site manageable by your staff in a timely manner?
  • Is it secure?
  • If you’re collecting visitor’s data, do you have a privacy policy that outlines the scope of what you do with the information?

Aesthetics

  • Does the site appeal to your prospect?
  • Are the images appropriate? Unique? Identifiable as your brand?
  • Are the colors and fonts used identifiable as your brand?
  • Do the colors and fonts aid the visitor in doing what you want?
  • Can the visitor scale the fonts (in case of the visually impaired)? Do the colors work for someone who is colorblind? Is it ADA compliant?
  • Do you prioritize information content and flow on smaller devices?

How does your online communication stack up? There are always trade-offs to be made in creating a website. A page that is aesthetically appealing might sacrifice legibility of the content to a certain degree, but in the end the site may be more effective. We call this disfluency.

Disfluency is the act of making something less clear, of slowing down the process of interacting with a page, in order to attain longer interaction and greater retention. Disfluency is just one of the tools we can use to help turn prospects into customers. To find out more, contact Studio 23. We’re ready when you are.

 

More Thoughts on Education

How do you promote a school? How do you attract prospects? And how do you turn prospects into applicants?

Since many educational institutions are tuition-driven, attracting prospects is typically the goal of most communication strategies. But how? And what should your message be? There are a few key attributes that every school has in varying degrees that prospects use to decide where they’d like to apply. To find out what these are, often a simple, informal focus group of incoming students can help the institution understand what attracted them, and help focus future messaging. Brand attributes that a school should review are:

  • Campus
    Is your school a sprawling parkland or part of the urban jungle? Do you have acres of open space or are you a cluster of buildings in an urban setting? Are there natural or historical features that distinguish your campus from others?
  • Alumni
    Who are your alumni? Are some well-known? Successful? Have they gone on to do interesting things? What do they earn on graduation? What rate do they graduate? And how strong and wide of a network do they form?
  • Faculty
    Who are your faculty today? In the past? Are any well-known? Are they mostly seasoned professionals that teach part-time, a course a week? Are they mostly full-time faculty committed to teaching and research?
  • Resources
    What special resources do you offer students? Are you a tech center endowed with the latest technology? Do you have athletic facilities that can train Olympic athletes? Do you have a world-class museum down the street? Do you have industry professionals working cooperatively with your programs?
  • Location
    What is unique about your location? Do you have snow-covered mountains? A sunny climate? A sandy beach? Access to cultural institutions? Are you able to attract prospects internationally or are you a regional draw because of convenience?
  • Academics
    What programs do you offer? Do you have a broad scope or an educational speciality? Is your strength in academic rigor? Vocational training? Are there programs you want to fill or grow?
  • Social
    What do you offer students socially? Do you have a well-respected football team with games every weekend? Is your school’s sports programs important to attracting students? Is the Greek system a large part of campus life? Is your campus in a rural setting where students make their own fun? Are you in an urban center where there’s a party every night? Are there special events that your school is known for?
  • Reputation/Mission
    Are you Ivy League? A local choice? Big Ten school with strong athletic programs? A party school with a laid-back attitude? A liberal arts powerhouse full of free-thinkers? A college that was historically a choice for minorities or women? Are you religiously affiliated?
  • Cost
    Are you a top-tier college worth every penny? Are you a good value for local students? Are you the best mix of tuition and income—the best value for your prospects?

Every school is evaluated by prospects based on these criteria and the criteria vary in importance by student. For some, a park-like campus of a liberal arts school in Southern California that offers a variety of interesting courses is the way to go. For others, the big city excitement of a New York school with its access to professionals in a creative field is a better choice. Or for some, a grassy campus outside of an urban center at a school that’s less expensive but well-respected fills the need. No school can be everything to every student and knowing your strengths is crucial to establishing your message. Understanding how to adapt your promotional materials for the greatest impact is what Studio 23 does best.

We create communication strategies and implement designs that attract prospects but we don’t stop there. We create designs—whether online or off—that make it easy for prospects to connect to clients. Our single-minded goal is always to focus the prospects on becoming applicants, and applicants becoming students.

Studio 23 Wins Core77 Poster Contest

Conservation Poster by Lee Willett / Studio 23

ConservePosterStudio 23 is proud to announce its poster submission to Core77.com’s Sustainable Refrainables competition has been awarded a jury prize by the Core77 design community. Over 400 entries were submitted and ours was voted fourth most popular meaning the poster will be produced as transit shelters that will be displayed in San Francisco for one week prior and during Design Week in San Francisco, June 13-19, 2011. If you’re in the city in mid June, keep an eye out for our poster.

Project
Create a poster with the phrases that move people toward sustainable design and business solutions.

Background Info
Core77 collaborated with the San Francisco chapter of AIGA to support their fourth biennial Compostmodern conference. The conference, dedicated to promoting and inspiring sustainable design solutions, is geared to established design firms and advertising agencies, emerging designers, design students and strategists who are interested in cultivating sustainable design by becoming catalysts for cultural, social and ecological transformation. Compostmodern 2011 will explore the current and future potential for ecologically sustainable growth and responsible design, focusing on real world solutions and practical applications of design thinking.

Task Definition
“Sustainable Refrainables” is a poster design competition celebrating words of persuasion. Designers tell stories. We use those stories to convey complex ideas in an engaging and meaningful way. One of those most complex ideas we deal with is about sustainable design—how to do it creatively, and how to garner support from our clients to do it effectively. Frameworks can get dry very quickly. Case studies can only take you so far. Often times, what we really need is a powerful opening salvo to jumpstart the dialogue.

The Compostmodern Core77 Design Competition invites designers to share those mantric phrases they find most powerful in communicating positive action. Maybe the phrase is something as simple as “I never use the word ‘sustainability.'” or “The first rule is listen. The second rule is to ignore what you heard and do it better.” or “There is no silver bullet, just silver buckshot.” Whatever your magic phrase, design it up in poster form, upload it to the competition site, and comment on your favorites. We’re looking for your most graphic, persuasive quotables!

All five winners will have their posters produced as transit shelters that will be displayed in San Francisco for one week prior and during Design Week in San Francisco, June 13-19, 2011. Posters will also be produced and awarded to the winning designers.

A Stylish New Look

Styleworks of Union Square Branding and Identity by Lee Willett / Studio 23

StyleWorks1Styleworks of Union Square asked Studio23 to create a new identity, stationery system and website as professional and stylish as themselves. Studio23 rose to the challenge and created a simple and elegant identity that is changeable for various audiences and uses. The business cards, shown below, took the form of an apparel tag—a perfect metaphor for a company that helps clients look their best. The website explains the various services of the company and helps to generate new clients.

And how does the client like the new identity? Let’s just say, it’s a perfect fit.

C-Suite Inc. Fashion Recruiting

C-Suite Inc. Website Design

c-suiteC-Suite Inc.C-Sutie Inc. Promotional Materials

Studio 23 completed a comprehensive branding initiative for C-Suite Inc., an executive recruiting company for the fashion industry. The initiative included logo development, website, print ads and direct mail marketing campaign. We were able to develop a look that was instantly identifiable yet professional in it’s communication. The Web site targets the executive audience with a mix of upscale fashion photography and corporate literature. And the robust content management system allows our client to edit the content as necessary.

Studio 23 Gets Reel Power Online

Studio 23 launches ReelPowerSalons.com, a site offering free film discussion salons for its members. Aside from its free service, the site also serves as a promotional vehicle for its founder’s empowerment coaching services and offers visitors a complimentary life coaching session as an incentive. A shopping cart system was employed to register members and track salons. HTML promotional emails were also deployed to generate a buzz.