3 Reasons an "Already Been Done" Idea Can Work

In my world I have been presented ideas to market only to have the owner give up. The main reason givin is that it is already been done. My message is "Done Give Up!" and here is why:

1. First to market doesn't necessary count you out. The first spreadsheet on the market was Visi Calc. It quickly lost share to Lotus 123. Lotus dominated for years but lost out to Microsoft Excel. I'll bet most of you did not know Visi Calc and Lotus 123 ever existed. Why did this happen? Windows came along. It was more user friendly. The takeaway: Products should be usable by a majority of people.

2. You don't have to be the best to have the greatest market share. In the days of the VCR there was a war between Sony's Beta and the VHS standard. Beta was clearly the best. So why did they eventually lose out to an inferior standard. Well the people behind VHS marketed their product to the people who really counted, the movie studios. The takeaway: Products should have support by the distribution channel.

3. Biggest user base doesn't me there is no room for a newcomer. Not too many years ago MySpace had cornered the market for social sites. Today it is FaceBook. But before either of those it was AOL. As a matter of fact over 70% of all users with email had an AOL email box. Where will it migrate next? Location based apps for your smart phone have become big news. Foursquare, Gowalla, Colors, Instagram, Neer and soon SwarmTrooper just to mention a few. Who will be on top or will they share users. I've been to events where I see a user check in on Foursquare and Gowalla, take Instagram pics, update Facebook locations and send Colors updates. The takeaway: The notion of "There Can Only Be One" just doesn't apply in a free economy.

Do you have a killer idea you gave up because it has already been done? Dust it off, finish it up and hire the Marketing Imagineer to promote it.

Fred Abaroa
The Marketing Imagineer
Fred [@] TMIFred.com
@TMIFred

If Only A Grocery Store Were Designed Like A Website!

Grocery stores are a marvel of organization. The aisles are all categorized by types of food. Most likely you'll start in the produce section on one side and end up with dairy on the complete other side. Milk, eggs and bread top the list as the most common thing bought. If your grocery store were a website those items would be on the front page. Wouldn't it create a better user experience if they were grouped together in the front of a grocery store?

In this case it is not about user experience, it is about selling food. Think about it. You go to the store to pick up a few items and end up with a basket full. It's genius. The user most likely wanders through almost every aisle. As they wander they see things "They need to buy". When you get to the check out there are more items waiting for you. These are known as impulse buys. By design you'll wait for at least one customer ahead of you. This give you time to buy one or two more things. I'd love to meet or be one of these grocery store designers.

This tactic has been used in many other industries. Magazines and newspapers were great at this. You would browse page by page and hit every ad along the way. The TV ad interspersed in the show you were watching. If you can think of other example post them in comments.

With the internet we have lost a great opportunity to market by taking away the browsing aspect. Information architects group information and allow you to go straight to it from any page on the website. This is all and good and give a good user experience. But is it really the most effective? Maybe there is a way to do both? Websites like Amazon post sections like "Frequently bought together" and "What do customers ultimately buy?" And like the grocery store these items are on the way to product details. Perhaps an insurance website could do the same. Maybe even have some articles about benefits of other insurance. Stories of claims received would be a good aisle to wander through. And of course having the impulse buys at the checkout.

A good UX designer will take the model of the grocery store and its marketing genius into consideration. If they don’t, call on me.

Fred Abaroa
The Marketing Imagineer
Fred [@] TMIFred.com
@TMIFred

10 Aspects of Good UX Design

Good UX design:

1. Should be innovative
2. Should make a product useful
3. Is aesthetic design
4. Will make a product understandable
5. Is honest
6. Is unobtrusive
7. Is long lived
8. Is consistent in every detail
9. Is environmentally friendly
10. Is as little design as possible

Lead me to your examples by commenting.

Fred Abaroa
The Marketing Imagineer
Fred [@] TMIFred.com
@TMIFred



What The User Needs To Learn To Have Greater UX!

I was able to attend a wonderful Air Show a few weeks back. Although the event planners did a wonderful job there was one thing the attendees needed to make the User Experience over the top, manners.

Yes, I said manners. Let's examine this just for a second. As we were leaving the air show the line of cars we were in did not move for 40 minutes. Finally someone got out of their car to find the problem was no one was letting any other car in. Our moms all would have said "Take your turn!" When the attendees started doing this we were able to get out of the lot. It also seemed to be faster since, at least, we were making progress.

I have noted other times when I have had a bad user experience manners could have helped. For example when we board an airplane we are asked to put small items under the seat. But how many times have you found no space in the overhead bins. How about the person with a full grocery basket in the 20 or less isle, the family who spreads themselves walking on a bike trail, the person who decided to cross the street in front of you instead of going to the crosswalk 10 feet away and waiting for the light. Take a look this week how many times your experience would be better with a little manners.

We can't change the way other people act, this is true. We can change the way we act and teach our family to do a better job. Let's be the solution!

Fred Abaroa
The Marketing Imagineer
Fred [@] TMIFred.com
@TMIFred

 

How To Rethink UX!

I had written a piece of software back in the early 80s that my mom hated because it was hard to use. This was my introduction to UX or User Experience. I realized I had learned some of this in art and photography classes. I added to this my study of psychology and received a great title, Senior Software Engineer of Human Interface Design. Today UX is bigger than ever but you'll never see the benefits if you are not looking for it!

Here is a really simple example: You buy chocolate milk for $3.39. It is easier for you to give the cashier a five dollar bill. Great user experience so far. She hands you back a dollar, your receipt and the coins on top. Here is the problem as small as it is. The user now has to make sure the coins don't fall off the stack while separating the dollar from the receipt to put back in your wallet. The UX solution is simple. hand back the coins first, then the dollar, pause and ask if you would like the receipt in your bag.

Notice the very subtle change that created a whole new and better user experience. Here is another: My built in scion GPS. To program in a location I first put in the address number, then street, then city and state. This is just like any user would do in filling out a form that asks for address. The user is very familiar with this and thus many GPS adopted this as a User Friendly interface. The problem I have encountered is "No such address or street or city". My Tom Tom’s rethought interface asked me to input an address in the reverse. It starts with State, then as I am typing in the city it shows me what is available, same with street and finally number. Although backwards to what I am used to I quickly picked it up and am a lot happier.

Here are a few tips on how to rethink UX:

1.  Throw away any preconceived notions. There is the story told of the newlywed who made a pot roast. When asked why she cut off the ends of the roast she said, "My mom always cut off the ends". Her mom was then asked the question and gave the same answer. The grandmother was asked and answered, "My pan wasn't big enough to hold the whole roast."

2.  Watch children. and how they solve a problem a great way to solve UX problems in the adult world. A truck had driven into a Tunnel but was slightly too big and got stuck. They tried every which way to extract the truck from its predicament. Nothing worked. A little girl watching all this said, “Why don’t you let the air out of the tires?” Many times there is a simple solution.

3.  Ask a typical user. Not necessarily the decision maker. A high school had a problem with the girls restroom mirror being cover with lipstick marks. The school board with all its education could not find a solution to this problem. The person taking the minutes said she had an idea. The board would not acknowledge the young women. A week later the problem stopped. The board was stunned, what had happened to make the teenagers stop kissing the mirror. The young secretary explained, “I went into the bathroom where the students could see me clean the mirror with water from the toilet.” The users know best.

I have been at a loss as to how to conclude this blog for week. UX has fascinated me for decades prompting me to read books on human behaviour and market research techniques. This is an area that can make a tremendous difference in your branding and sales. It can be used in every industry and aspect of your life from parenting to being the most effective CEO. Get a free consult from...

Fred Abaroa
The Marketing Imagineer
Fred [@] TMIFred.com
@TMIFred