Online branding is fundamentally about the direct experience that the user enjoys. Whilst much offline branding and advertising is about creating a 'feeling' about a certain product or service, usually though advertising and sponsorship, in the online environment the website IS the product or service.
Improving 'brand experience' online is not normally regarded as the primary goal of a usability strategy. In some circles usability and branding would even be seen as mutually exclusive, based on the assumption that successful branding relies on ever more garish visual design and an extensive use of animation, audio streaming, or whatever the latest cutting-edge technology might happen to be.
Of course in the real world nothing could be further from the truth. Online branding is fundamentally about the direct experience that the user enjoys. Whilst much offline branding and advertising is about creating a 'feeling' about a certain product or service, usually though advertising and sponsorship, in the online environment the website IS the product or service. If you are hiring a car at Hertz.com for example, the site is your whole experience of the company - and impressions of the brand will be based on that interaction.
With this in mind, what makes more sense - packing the Hertz site with visual design, real-time movies of Hertz TV commercials and interactive tours of the Hertz HQ, or enabling users to hire a car as easily as possible, from first enquiry to final booking? Helping people achieve their goals as quickly and easily as possible is at the heart of high quality user experience, and creates a positive impression of the company itself.
It should not be forgotten that a brand itself merely provides a shorthand way of viewing a company. As experts will tell you, a brand is merely the visible element of a corporate ethos - the 10% of the iceberg above the water. When the user is interacting directly with a company, there is less need to let the 10% get in the way of the whole experience.
Not all companies, however, are able to conduct business online in the way Hertz can. Think of a company such as Coca Cola, which obviously cannot supply their product online, or even sell online in any realistic way. For companies such as this, most online presences will be much more focused on that 10% that is the permanently visible corporate 'branding'.
However, sites such as these must still remember to provide the type of experience that web users enjoy. It has been said before but bears repeating - the web is an active medium, not passive in the way that television is for example. This means that web users are goal-driven and usually seeking for specific information or looking to complete a transaction of one type of another. Very few web users go online to enjoy the latest Flash animations.
With this in mind, online branding should aim to help users get a 'feel' of the company and convey important messages as effectively as possible. Sometimes the best way of achieving this goal is via a simple information resource - at other times producing a more multi-media experience for users may be justified. There is no hard and fast rule here - the most important thing is to TEST the results in order to ensure you are getting the right message across.
The Benefits of Viewing User TestsThe benefits of user testing have long been established. It is still important however to try and maximise these benefits. One way in which this can be done is by viewing the user test yourself.
The Experience is KeyIt is important to remember that the experience a person has using a product or service is every bit as important as that product or services usability.
The Advantages and Limitations of Focus Groups in the Design ProcessFocus groups are a great way to collect information from several people very quickly and cost effectively. They are mainly used to gauge people’s reactions and feelings to items, however when used appropriately they can also be used as part of user requirements gathering.
Five Rules For Better Bank WebsitesInternet banking is here to stay and the major banks are all busy figuring out how to expand their business online. Online banking is all about convenience and functionality but what about the bank’s public website? It is often a struggle to achieve the right balance between information and product sales, between user functionality and marketing requirements.
Back To Basics: How Poor Usability Effects AccessibilityIn recent user testing with a range of participants including Visually Impaired (VIP) and Blind users we found that the majority of problems were common across all groups. However the effect of poor usability is more severe for users with visual disabilities. Surprisingly all of the issues are very familiar and are easy to fix so we thought we’d revisit some of the basics of accessible web design.
