Let’s start this with a game. Joana Galvao, the founder of GiF Design studios has created this simple demonstration.
Scroll through the carousel and note your answers:
Did you see how much the visual appeal of your brand matters?
Studies suggest that people tend to remember visuals over text. You surely want the audience to remember your product/services. Good designing is a very crucial element to create a memorable experience.
At Clientjoy Agency Summit, Piccia Neri got together with us and discussed how and why ‘Good Designing equals Good Marketing’.
According to Piccia, “Design is more about planning rather than styling”.
Let’s understand how good design can benefit you. There are different best design tools to use as an agency
Characteristics Of Good Design
What does a good design look like? Good to see, for sure. But, is that enough?
You must remember that the audience interacts with your design and therefore, there is much more to it than the visual appeal.
Usefulness
Usefulness is defined as “the degree to which a product enables a user to achieve his or her goals, and is an assessment of the user’s willingness to use the product at all.”
What is the single most primary reason for things/ products/ services to exist?
It is to be used and to be consumed. Right?
Therefore, a good design needs to be useful. It needs to provide ease of use to the users.
Will you be more willing about using a bicycle with a comfortable seat or one with a rock hard seat?
Value Creation
A good design should be able to solve a problem and create value.
According to Liedtka (2014), the design thinking process needs to answer four questions — What is? What if? What wows? What works?
Here, ‘What Is’ refers to what is currently seen in the present. ‘What If’ builds on the present and envisions a new future. ‘What Wows’ helps to think of solutions that really stand apart and ‘What Works’ tests the possible solutions with actual crowd in the real world.
Let us imagine an idea situation here:
It is a pleasant day and you are out for the movies with your friends. You grab a tub of popcorn and a glass of coke.
You don’t want to slurp and finish the coke in one go, you want to enjoy it thoroughly throughout the movie. But, what do you do? Where do you keep the glass?
There’s a little space on your seat but it would probably spill right?
Ah, there! We have a problem.
Ta- Da, not anymore! This is a classic example of ‘design that solves a problem’.
User Centricity
If you struggle while working on a design, always remember to look at it from the user’s perspective. The designer needs to focus on the user’s needs in each phase of the design.
In order to create a good user centric design, the designer needs to gain an extensive understanding of the user, their tasks and their environment.
A good design focuses on the involvement of users at every stage. In order to create a good user centric design, one must:
- Understand the context of use.
- Specify user requirements.
- Design solutions.
- Evaluate solutions against requirements.
Piccia showed a brilliant example of how design shows empathy towards the users.
A hospital in California designed these toy cars for taking children to the operation theatre.
We can see how a terrifying experience has been turned into a pleasant one through a good designing methodology.
One of the key takeaways from the discussion with Piccia is to always remember that ‘Rather than focusing on showing the features to your users, one must focus on showcasing the benefits’.
The most important user benefits through good designing can fit into either of these three categories:
- Offering peace of mind
- Time saving
- Cost saving
About Piccia
Piccia is a creative graphic designer. Currently at Cloudways, Piccia delivers exceptional UI/UX for E-commerce store owners, design agencies, developers and bloggers who host their websites through the cloud hosting platform. She has established a boutique graphic design studio and has worked with global brands.
Piccia helps businesses by understanding their core design needs and waving her creative wand over her clients. She has successfully created many websites, identities, logos, books, posters, and marketing materials that make heads turn. She carries extensive experience in working for projects such as the Palestine Film Festival, BFI-LLGFF Film Festival, and more.
Do you want to look at more examples of how AirBnB was able to flourish after they invested in good designing practices?
Check out the full video of Piccia’s session powered by Cloudways here:
