Usable Clicks

Usability, Everyone Get Involved

Usability and user experience aren’t words that typically make their way into a media professional’s daily routine. It’s an activity reserved for UX and design teams and is something most media professionals take for granted, both buyers and publishers. Although the skill sets of UX and media professionals are on opposite extremes, design and user experience dramatically dictate campaign performance. Anything that can swing conversion rates, page views per visit, and overall engagement with the brand should be discussed with as many stake holders as possible.

When creating microsite campaigns, direct response campaigns, brand engagement campaigns, and even banners there are a few tips that I picked up at at the UX Team of One panel at the 2009 SXSW interactive conference. The talk and examples were largely aimed at UX professionals but were alarmingly relevant to the entire project team, from developer to media supplier.

Tips and embedded presentation slides after the jump…

These tips and notes are all thanks to an inspired presentation by Leah Buley from Adaptive Path.

Tips to become more involved

• When starting a new campaign ask to see analytics and user flow data for the page you are driving to. Are there user paths that your creative should speak to? Does the creative speak to a feature or product that is buried deep in the navigation?
• Use a conceptual framework. Grid out your user extremes and place the current product into the grid. Is this your target audience? If not, say something. (Example of 2×2 Framework – more in the embedded slideshow below)
  

  2x2 Product Brainstorm Grid

• Keep an inspiration library. Take screenshots of competitors to the brand or product you are working on. Find what they are doing well and share those with the team. It might not spark immediate action but it will spark a discussion and be in front of the design team come redesign time.
• Decorate your workspace with ideas from your brand/product and others. Post up good examples of what your consumers want. It will eventually allow you to connect more with the consumer you are selling to.
• Even if it’s just an exercise for you, draft up design principals. These are to be what your brand/product should live by. If your creative, landing page, and media don’t speak directly to or help further these principals then throw out the execution. Every movement, whether its creative or media space, should extend these principals to the user. See some popular examples of design principals below.

Example of design principals

Tivo example:

• It’s entertainment stupid
• It’s tv stupid
• It’s gentle
• Users privacy

Google Calendar example:

• Easy to share
• Joyous to use
• Drop dead simple
• More than boxes on a screen

Evite example:

• Make it addictive
• Help me manage
• Increase engagement

It’s not always easy to convince clients or internal teams to invite or extend brain storming sessions, but keep asking. Explain to them the importance of the initial marketing impression. Users and consumers are fickle and hard to keep, everything should be done with the purpose of extending the core principals.