Personalization can be awesome for people. I go to a website, I’m already logged in, it knows what I like, I’m getting all the content that I want, but we’ve seen what’s happening with social media and algorithms. You can be put into a bubble that really shields you from information that you probably wanted to know and didn’t realize you weren’t being shown.
Adam Kurzawa is the Head of Partner Development for ExpandTheRoom (ETR), an award-winning digital design and marketing agency built on the Purpose-Driven Design framework.
In this episode of Velocitize Talks, Kurzawa discusses the user experience, values and marathons.
On purpose-driven design (2:17)
One of our purpose-driven design principles is “usefulness depends on empathy,” so if we are solving someone’s problem, we’re doing their job right. They don’t care about the solution we create; they just care that we solve the problem.
Purpose-driven design is essentially a user-centered content marketing strategy to help you connect with your audience in an authentic way. According to one study, 77% of Americans feel a “stronger emotional connection” to purpose-driven companies over traditional companies.
(ETR lays out their 8 guiding principles here.)
Conscious storytelling (3:25)
If you’re going to spend that time and effort in crafting a longer narrative, you better make sure that it’s something people are going to care about.
The average user attention span is… wait for it… around 7 or 8 seconds. That’s not to say that the right narrative can’t be a powerful marketing tool for enhancing your brand. In fact, some research has shown that consumers are 20+ times more likely to remember a fact contained in a story as opposed to on its own.
An inside job (4:15)
One of the barriers for agencies like ours is not just the competition from other agencies but brands and companies insourcing this kind of work. They’re getting more savvy as things like development get more commoditized.
A recent study by Merkle found that almost half of data sourcing work is estimated to be outsourced. Third in line is Creative Development.
Up with people (6:51)
We all hear these stories about robotic process, automation and AI, and computers taking over our jobs, but the reality is for the next couple decades we’re still building products for people and if someone can’t engage with it right off the bat and have it solve some kind of unique need for them then we’ve just missed the mark.
In a study conducted by WP Engine, “The value of values: Building better digital experiences with AI,” more than 93% of brands see a positive return on investment in Artificial Intelligence. AI can also complement the personalized user experience, as envisioned by actual humans.
It’s less about technology now for us and more about solving a specific need.
To learn more about ExpandTheRoom, visit their website. Follow them on Twitter at @ExpandTheRoom.