Today, good design alone is not enough to bind customers to a brand in the long term. Value-based UX design – Good looks alone are not enough for a long relationship. This applies to love relationships as well as to digital applications.
Digital touchpoints – including websites, apps or TV applications – automatically and subconsciously leave the user with a certain image of a brand. Whether you like it or not, digital products always represent values with which the brand is associated. The risk that users get a “wrong” or even negative image of a brand is high if the brand value has not found its way into the product. But how exactly do these values make it into digital products?
The “mental concept”
Brand connection is created when people can identify with a brand’s values. This happens primarily through the emotional experience that a user has with the product or application. Accordingly, positive experiences must be created that are perfectly tailored to the brand values of the brand and the advantages of the target group. This includes ensuring that the application works smoothly and that the brand behind the product is perceived. If this is the case, the user can build an emotional connection.
For this to succeed, it is first necessary to define characteristics that fit the brand. Knowing what exactly distinguishes a brand and which attributes shape its identity is the basis for value-based UX design. This becomes a challenge especially when one’s own values cannot be clearly distinguished from the competitors. This danger exists especially with widespread, generic values such as “innovative”.
Once the appropriate brand values have been defined, the characteristics must find their way into the product through design elements. In addition to the most eye-catching elements such as font and color scheme. This also includes all the shapes used, as well as text tonality, moving images and sound. Cheerful colors and organic shapes, for example, are subconsciously associated with liveliness and vitality.
Our subconscious constantly compares whether our idea of a brand corresponds to the actual user experience in the product. The image that these associations evoke in us is called the mental concept. It is the basis for deciding which elements should best represent the brand values and thus make up value-based UX design. It is important to take all the senses into account and to weigh up which elements can best be used to convey a respective brand value.
Stumbling Blocks & Tips
When designing digital applications, there are a number of possible hurdles that should be taken into account. These include, for example, values that are difficult to reconcile at first glance, such as “tradition-conscious” and “progressive”. In order for both to reach the customer emotionally, a smart UX concept is needed. Another stumbling block can be fixed CI elements. The implementation is made more difficult when designers have to work with already defined colors or fonts that are not optimal from a UX perspective. Last but not least, they must then be meaningfully incorporated into the design of sometimes completely different touchpoints: Here, it is important to take into account the unique requirements of each touchpoint on the one hand and at the same time to find a way to convey the brand values consistently and recognizably.
The most important thing, however, is that the values are actually credible: After all, popular values such as “sustainable” should also be reflected in the company’s product features and strategic steps. Furthermore, the brand values should always be specific and clearly formulated. It is helpful to sum them up as succinctly as possible in one word, i.e. to choose terms such as “progressive” instead of “at the forefront of technical development”. Positive formulations and the avoidance of negations, such as “approachable” instead of “unlocked”, also reduce misunderstandings and ambiguities. Last but not least, it is important to select brand values that are relevant to your own product world and can vary depending on the industry: “dynamic” is suitable for car manufacturers, for example, and “close to nature” for food producers.
UX as part of the brand experience
If a digital application, such as an app, convinces with functionality and aesthetic and emotional experiences tailored to the brand, it will make a significant contribution to brand loyalty. However, UX design is only one part of the brand experience. A holistic brand experience includes all online and offline touchpoints. Including TV and radio advertising, trade fair appearances, advertising materials, social media channels, retail stores or customer service. To ensure the credibility of a brand, all touchpoints must reflect the respective brand values. Be harmoniously coordinated and convey a uniform image of the brand.