april 6, 2009 enlighten | website design prepared for: fara warner and class
TRANSCRIPT
April 6, 2009
Enlighten | Website Design
Prepared for: Fara Warner and Class
Enlighten | A History of Innovation
Website Design and Development. Building enterprise-level brand sites and ecommerce sites for a diversity of top global brands.
CMS and Portal Implementation. Managing every facet of the CMS and Portal selection, migration and implementation process.
Rich Internet Applications. Pairing compelling interactivity and rich media with powerful data integration and delivery.
Web Analytics and Reporting. Employing powerful data collection and analysis to track ROI through our proprietary processes, providing a rich foundation and guidance for objectives-driven marketing investment decisions.
Managed Hosting Operations. Providing a top-notch hosting environment and managing every facet of our clients’ site performance, security, up-time and maintenance.
Internet Strategy and Planning. Helping businesses identify strategies that leverage the Internet, on-the-go technologies and social media for competitive advantage.
Online Advertising and Branding. Creating integrated online ad campaigns using rich media and emerging platforms.
Media Planning and Buying. Strategically planning online media placements that optimize reach, visibility and conversions.
Paid Search and SEO. Implementing search engine optimization and marketing campaigns for customer acquisition and branding programs.
Email Marketing / Digital CRM. Devising and managing online customer acquisition and relationship marketing programs.
Social Media and Marketing. Crafting strategies and Web 2.0 tools that connect brands and consumers.
Enlighten | Core Services
Enlighten | Sample Clients
Thinking About Web Design
Introduction
The Internet is BIG! More than 1.5 billion people worldwide use the Internet. By some estimates, there are almost 200 million live websites and
nearly a trillion live web pages.
The Internet is BAD! Rampant identify theft, cyber crime, piracy, Fox News, and
countless hours of productivity wasted on espn.com, Facebook, and YouTube.
The Internet is UGLY! www.webpagesthatsuck.com/
Bad Design is Pervasive…
Sadly, bad web design isn’t confined to your second cousin Billy working out of his attic with an eMachine, a pirated wireless connection, and a boot leg copy of DreamWeaver.
Many established, Fortune 500 corporations still fail to grasp the importance of good web design. www.berkshirehathaway.com (#13) www.cendant.com (#114) www.csx.com (#266)
… But the Impact is Hard to Ignore
Fortunately, more and more companies are waking up to the fact that there is a powerful correlation between web design and: Brand perception Customer satisfaction Product consideration Sales – both online and off
Loyalty
Website Design and Effectiveness
Balancing
good web
design and
effectiveness
can create
an epic
struggle.
Creative Programmer
IA
Client
Business vs. Customer Objectives
Business Structure
Business Processes
Online Opportunities
Growth Drivers
Customer Types
Customer Processes
Customer Needs
Customer Transitions
Business Objectives Customer Objectives
Online Interaction Models are Complex
Design
Does this site look like it belongs in MOMA?
Usability
Will this site make Jakob Neilson weep with joy?
Technology
Does this site take tech geekdom to a sublime level?
Interactivity
Is the interactivity mind-numbingly cool?
Brand and Integration Play an Important Role
No website is an island unto itself.
Online communications are always created within a broader context – other websites, print ads, television ads, brochures, retail outlet design aesthetics etc.
In the online world, user experience is the definitive brand statement.
Persona Design is an Emerging Practice
Persona Development
Identify highest priority customer and prospect segments based on business value
Conduct primary and secondary and research to understand the segments needs, behaviors
Augment this analysis with website analytics
Create persona profiles based on this research
Map cross-channel user scenarios for each of the personas
Testing and Measurement is Critical
There are five primary methods for gauging a web site’s design effectiveness.1. Pre- and post-launch usability testing
2. Satisfaction surveys (Foresee)
3. Brand perception surveys (Dynamic Logic)
4. Ongoing web site measurement / analytics (WebTrends, Google)
5. Optimization testing (Offermatica, Optimost)
According to a study by WebTrends, less than 20% of marketers have anything even close to resembling a comprehensive set of effectiveness measures.
Industry Context Impacts Design Choices
Effective design implementations vary widely across industry, brand, and project objective.
E-commerce – www.amazon.com and www.ebay.com Retail – www.kmart.com Media – www.nytimes.com and www.cnn.com Auto – www.miniusa.com and www.hummer.com Brand – www.nike.com and www.apple.com Web 2.0 – www.facebook.com and www.youtube.com Viral – www.shaveeverywhere.com Activation – www.ted.org
Practices to Embrace
Practices to Embrace | A Short List
Develop “design personas” to get a better understanding of your site users and their objectives.
Create navigation systems that are clearly labeled and easy to understand. Epicurious, Apple
Augment traditional design and layout principles with a judicious use of interactivity.
Blenderbox
Practices to Embrace | A Short List
Plan to continually tweak and optimize the experience. Comerica
Tell a story but don’t get in the way. Woot
Balance beauty with technical performance. Automotive sites
Develop interactivity with a clear purpose and sense of value. News sites getting better at this.
Practices to Avoid
Practices to Avoid | A Short List
Animation infatuation
Avoid looking like a Vegas casino
All beauty no substance
Prada
Getting too clever with basic functions like navigation
Ad agencies
Practices to Avoid | A Short List
Extensive load times even if the payoff is good If it’s not Google Earth, don’t make people wait for it
Make sure user effort and payoff are in balance
We still like a delightful surprise but the web is still overwhelmingly
about utility
Trends to Watch
Trends to Watch
Welcome to “The Cloud”
Destination vs. syndication and the rise of content portability
Talking vs. Listening vs. Participating My content, your content, our content
I’ve come unbundled and I can’t get up The model of aggregation and “bundling” has come undone
Free-conomics
Who’s going to pay for our addiction to “free”
Trends to Watch
Say anything…as long as it is 140-characters or less Tension between information and knowledge
Brand utility challenges notion of advertising noise Nike+ is a model more marketers want to explore
Too small to fail The efficiency of scale is being challenged by the power and
relevance of niche
Consumer control represents a seismic shift Product choice, limitless communication, and post-marketing
mindset
Tips for Entering the Job Market
Tips for Entering Job Market
Continue to invest in your communication skills… they are priceless.
Information is a commodity and knowledge is expected…take time to cultivate “emotional intelligence.”
Be curious.
Take time to anticipate.
“Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” (-Steve Jobs)
