What do you and five billion people have in common? Notably, you’re all on the internet. 63% of the human population has the potential to see your business online, so how can your website design branding stand out?

Think like this: a website brand speaks volumes about your personality. What makes things stick out to you? How do you, personally, want to portray yourself?

We’ll revisit this topic later, but for now, learn how to shape up your website design branding strategy.

Check out Our Seven Tips to Put Your Brand Front and Center:

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Define Clear Branding Guidelines

It’s one thing to understand what makes your brand stand out, but defining your guidelines is another vital part of the puzzle. Create a solid baseline to allow your company to understand exactly what to do to match your brand. 

When you look at a new Apple phone on the shelves, you’re certain the product will look sleek and modern with a decent chance that you’ll keep the box after it’s opened.

Their website is no exception. Apple uses negative space to enhance the visual appeal of their newest products, further emphasizing the modern feel of Apple devices.

Above all, their style is consistent. If you put a colorful mascot on the Apple landing page, it would look severely out of place.

One other example you’re likely to recognize – Nike tacks their logo on just about every product they have. Even though the word “Nike” isn’t always visible, the trademark swoosh lets the world know exactly what brand they’re dealing with.

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Create Strong Visuals

Looking to make your site content up to 180% more engaging? Just add visuals! Tailor your site to your branding image to leave a lasting impression.

Online marketing has the perk of being highly adaptable. Change it up however you see fit, but create an engaging webpage to keep your visitors interested. 

Here’s our website redesign for PMPT, a business all about keeping you moving.

In this case, we streamlined their website design to allow for a more efficient user experience in setting up appointments and navigating the site. Your visuals should be appealing, but not obstructive to the user. 

Website design branding is more than creating a good-looking website – it’s about making an informed decision to craft a product that works for you.

If you’re looking to buff out your designs, check out how we can enhance your brand.

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Minimize Text

One of the many keys to effective website design branding is in your text. Keep your viewers reading by organizing your ideas and sorting those ideas into easy-to-digest snippets.

For reference, long and wordy paragraphs might work for a research paper, but if you’re aiming for a broader audience, then keep it short and to the point.

Remember: less is more. Nothing turns away online visitors like walls of text, so spread out your paragraphs to keep your visitor reading deeper into your site. Break up your text into easy-to-read paragraphs and allow yourself to use vocabulary that suits your audience.

Overall, the focus should be on creating a comfortable user experience.

Three Things to Consider for UX Friendliness:

• Content hierarchy
• Bulleted lists
• Punchy sentences

The purpose of a title is to get your visitor’s attention and read what comes after. Good content hierarchy allows for quick recognition of topics that your audience would like to read.

Once you have your content separated, split it up some more. Break up your text into readable snippets formatted as a bulleted list.

Then, structure your text around being as visibly appealing as possible. Short and to-the-point sentences keep your audience’s attention.

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Develop Your Brand’s Voice

At this point, we’re mostly all familiar with Wendy’s Twitter marketing strategy and the many attempts to replicate it. The fast food chain created a definitive voice that puts them near the top in terms of creative online marketing. They remain memorable to customers by being consistently witty and snarky, but they never go overboard.

While Wendy’s developed their voice to reach a target audience that aligns with their identity, if you apply this persona to a high-end restaurant, it likely wouldn’t go so well.

Reason being, they broke a few rules to reach their brand’s voice. This is 100% okay since that’s the style nuance they chose. Your brand can also reach this by understanding what works for you.

For example, a hair dye company might use incorrect grammar to sound casual and laid back. On the other hand, a bank would use proper corporate language to look professional.

All words have a story to them, and it’s just a matter of you choosing the right ones for the job.

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Be Mobile-Friendly

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We would guess that there’s a smartphone nearby while you read this article. To be more accurate, there’s roughly an 84% chance that’s true.

Nothing says “professional” like having a responsive website – a design that seamlessly adapts to smaller screen sizes. Always remember that as your brand grows, more people will check out your website on the go. 

And when we say “more people,” we mean that nearly 60% of all web searches come from a mobile device. Bumping up your mobile website design branding has the potential to skyrocket your influence.

Maximize your opportunities to spread your brand by ensuring the mobile version of your site is well-tested and optimized for smaller devices. Your visitors are ready to go, and you should be too.

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Know Your Target Audience

As we said before, there are a lot of people on the internet. So understanding your target audience is valuable for moving your website in the right direction.

Keep an Eye on These Demographics:

• Age
• Location
• Gender
• Income
• Interests

Use analysis programs like Google Analytics or Hotjar to get your user’s information. For example, if you have a low engagement rate with organic users then you’re not hitting your target market.

This means that if your visitors see your site from a Google search and don’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll leave.

Take a look at your analytics to get a better understanding of who you’re dealing with. For example, if you’re aiming toward the older crowd but your average visitor is a 19-year-old male, you need to revamp your site’s design.

Once you get a good idea of who visits your site, you can get into the details of how to market directly to them.

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Stay Consistent

If someone told you that you could make 33% more money by using the same words, would you take them up on that offer?

The reality is: viewers are more comfortable with a consistent brand. Even using your signature colors could even boost your brand’s recognition by 80%.

However, proper website design branding has a few extra steps when it comes to building that recognition.

Every site has consistent aspects to it. For example, the buttons on your website should do exactly what they imply. A “buy now” button should always lead to the purchase page.

Given the same context, this call to action (CTA) should be the same everywhere else on the site.

This doesn’t only apply to your CTAs. Throughout your brand identity, you’ll notice consistencies that your visitors recognize. 

Now, apply this thought process to the rest of your website. You name it: banners, buttons, CTAs, structure, visual style, etc. Again, consistency is key when establishing a connection with your visitors.

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Piece it Together

Take another look at your website design branding. How do you want to portray yourself? Bold, casual, professional, or laid-back? Each of these pieces come together in a way that paints your image in the public’s eye.

Every section of this blog post represents another piece of the problem when creating a unique and identifiable brand.

Each step to website design branding is like a Rubik’s Cube. It’s a relatively common comparison in digital marketing because each stage has a specific purpose. For example, suppose you attempt the standard 3x3x3 puzzle without a specific method. In that case, solving it could take you between 20 to 43 quintillion tries. Branding isn’t any different.

Naturally, successful branding can be done without research. It just takes time and a little bit of luck.

If you’re looking to make your own luck, CreateApe is here to solve your marketing puzzle. We’ll use our tried-and-true processes with a team of experts to investigate, ideate, and create your next big idea.

Get in touch to get your branding right the first time.

Ahhh, UX Design Critiques…Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re a vital part of guaranteeing our designs are the best they can be.

As much as a designer wants their creation to be 100% their vision, we occasionally need outsider perspectives to help us spot flaws or reconsider user goals to ensure we’re fulfilling the product's purpose.

Though 92% of people believe constructive criticism helps them improve their overall performance, many employees (in any kind of work setting) struggle with taking and giving it. But why is that when the majority acknowledges its importance?

It all comes down to how it’s delivered. What seems constructive to the giver could be construed as pointed or downright bullying to the receiver (in vice versa).

The fact is that interpersonal communication skills influence the delivery and usefulness of our feedback. So, how can you ensure that your criticisms land just right and lead to actionable next steps?

7 Tips For Better UX Design Critiques:

• Be straightforward
• Ask for explanations
• Offer suggestions
• Link feedback to goals and KPIs
• Ask open-ended questions
• Keep critiques relegated to in-person or video meetings
• Remove your biases
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Why Are Design Critiques Necessary?

UX design has a few too many moving parts for a single designer to handle on their own. Chances are that multiple team members, from interaction designers to web developers, will touch the project to ensure everything works as intended.

Even if a product requires several team members, everything has to gel together to create a cohesive experience.

By building a collaborative culture where cross-functional teams can offer diverse perspectives and keep each other aligned, critique sessions become a valuable asset in communication and risk mitigation.

In layman’s terms, design critiques (when done right) help your team feel supported and spark ongoing learning. And isn’t that what every designer wants out of their career?

Plus, the more your team shares tips and tricks with each other, the better the products will be in the long run. Through frequent critique sessions, designers and developers can continuously improve their processes and methodologies, leading to higher efficiency and cost-effectiveness (project managers, hint hint).

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Why Are Critiques So Intimidating?

With as many benefits as critiques have, you may wonder “How could anyone hate getting feedback on their work?”

Listen, digital product designers are artists. And we’re a sensitive bunch! There are a few (valid) reasons why someone would be apprehensive about getting their work criticized:

• Vulnerability: Designers put a piece of themselves into their work. They fear criticism and rejection.
  
• Fear of Negative Feedback: Nobody likes to hear negative feedback, even when it's constructive and especially when it’s something they put their blood, sweat, and tears into.
  
• Imposter Syndrome: Designers may worry that their colleagues will see them as impostors. This is true for junior designers or those new to a team.
  
• Time Pressure: Tight project deadlines can create apprehension. Designers may worry that they won't have time to make necessary changes.
  
• Perfectionism: Designers often strive for perfection in their work, and critique sessions can highlight imperfections. The fear of not meeting their high standards can exacerbate insecurities.

Critique sessions should be a safe space where everyone can share thoughts and not feel judged. The goal is to create an environment where no idea is a bad idea, kind of like an initial brainstorming session.

But how can you manage a collaborative critique session (where nothing’s off the table) and still remain productive?

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Setting Up Your Critique Session

Organizing a smooth critique session requires a lot more than just gathering participants. To keep things moving, the meeting organizer should limit the number of participants to the project team and a few design leads. A smaller audience allows people to focus on the big picture and leave space for everyone to share their thoughts.

Unfortunately, critiques can’t always be intimate affairs between close colleagues. So whether your meeting involves a select few or the entire organization, here’s what you can do to facilitate a structured, productive session:

• Define Clear Objectives: Begin by establishing goals. What specific aspects of the design are you seeking feedback on? What are the desired outcomes? Clear objectives help participants stay focused.
  
• Define Roles & Responsibilities: Typical roles include the designer presenting the work, reviewers providing feedback, and a facilitator/moderator managing the session.
  
• Set An Agenda: Outline the structure of the session, including time allocated for each component. You should also share this agenda with your teammates so they know what to expect.
  
• Time Management: Stick to the allotted time for the agenda. This helps maintain the session's momentum and ensures that everyone has a chance to participate. Use a timer to remind participants when a discussion is running too long.
  
• Record The Meeting: Use platform features or special software to record the meeting for participants to revisit later. With all the new AI tools available, you can find something that reviews your tone and delivery to improve your presentation skills.
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7 Tips To Elevate Your UX Design Critiques

Creating a no-judgement zone for constructive feedback is easier said than done. After all, the success of your session hinges on factors outside of your control.

It’s not just about the criticisms you give — it’s about how the receiver interprets your feedback and the active participation of everyone in the meeting. It’s more than strategizing products and design processes, it’s an essential team-building exercise that contributes to the ongoing success of your company.

Now that we’ve illustrated the pivotal role of critiques, let’s talk about ways to improve interpersonal communication through criticism.

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Be Straightforward

We get it, you’re not out to hurt someone’s feelings when you’re critiquing their work. But being vague or sugarcoating your feedback won’t lead to actionable takeaways.

Now, we’re not telling you to rip someone’s designs to shreds. Instead, try a balanced approach to your criticisms. State the positives, but highlight the drawbacks (sometimes known as the compliment sandwich).

By offering measured and straightforward suggestions, you’re giving the presenter clear feedback, helping them understand the exact issue you’re trying to convey without completely tearing them down.

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Ask For Explanations

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. What you don’t know is what you don’t know! If you’re critiquing a project you’re not involved in (or the person presenting is handling a different aspect of the project), you might not fully grasp the presenter’s thought process.

If you’re unsure about an approach, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification or further insights. Remember, designers immerse themselves in data throughout the project. They may have sound reasoning or verified metrics to support their design decisions.

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Offer Suggestions

Design critiques are just as much about user experience as the products we create — and nobody wants to feel like they’re solving a problem alone. Instead of explaining “what” is wrong and “why” it’s wrong, suggest alternatives and work through their blockers.

By transforming the critique session into a collaborative problem-solving opportunity, you’re encouraging a mindset of "we're all in this together,” where everyone bounces ideas back and forth to find the best solution.

This is also a chance to define user testing flows (or A/B tests) to see which solutions work better for the intended audience. Because you never really know what target users will respond to until you get the product in front of them.

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Link Feedback To Goals

Between iterations and client suggestions, it’s easy for the user’s needs to get lost in the shuffle. That’s why we need our team members to hold us accountable and help us remember the problems we’re trying to solve.

When critiquing a design, referencing research findings and user data bridges the gap between subjective opinions and objective reality. It also helps the designer understand that something could make sense to them logically, but not to the person they’re designing for.

When you present suggestions rooted in user research, you're not just offering opinions but contributing to the user-centered design process. This approach reminds your team of the shared commitment to creating designs that meet user expectations.

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Ask Open-Ended Questions

Asking open-ended questions during a design critique sparks critical thinking, detailed feedback, and in-depth discussions within the team. Think of them as a thought experiment to improve product designs.

Open-ended questions don't have a single, specific answer. Instead, they invite the designer to provide context, rationale, and insights into their design choices. They also help designers feel less self-conscious about getting involved since there are no wrong answers.

This open-ended approach prompts the designer and other participants to consider various scenarios and user perspectives, leading to a richer discussion.

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Remove Your Biases

We all have our own opinions on what looks and feels better. But we’re rarely the exact persona we’re designing for. So if you hate a color, trend, or phrase, it’s probably not useful feedback (unless you can find verifiable evidence supporting your bias).

User-centered design places the user's perspective and needs at the forefront of the design process. Its name alone acknowledges that what may be appealing or intuitive to one person may not necessarily align with the preferences and expectations of the target user group.

Remove your biases to ensure that the design solutions discussed in the critique are grounded in evidence and objectivity, creating a laser focus on the end user instead of personal whims.

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Keep Critiques Relegated To In-Person Or Video Meetings

While written critiques serve their purpose, especially for asynchronous communication and documentation, they don’t capture the depth and immediacy of in-person or video meetings.

In-person or video meetings provide an environment where participants can socialize, read expressions, sense tone, and communicate the purpose behind their feedback. Since we know how easily context gets lost over text, face-to-face meetings don’t leave as much room for misinterpretation.

These methods ensure that the intent behind the feedback is accurately conveyed, leading to a more productive and collaborative critique session.

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Tips For Receiving Design Feedback

Yes, giving feedback can be uncomfortable sometimes. But let’s not forget that the receiving end can also throw us for a loop, especially when we’re so invested in a project and showing it to someone who’s not as involved.

We can be told to remove our egos from the situation a thousand times, but there’s still that feeling of disappointment when our hard work doesn’t go to plan. Don’t be upset with yourself when you feel this way — it happens with the best of us.

Here are a few tips to help you cope with negative feedback and turn it into something positive:

• Be Prepared To Answer Questions: Anticipate that reviewers may have questions about your design decisions. Be ready to provide context, rationale, and user research findings to help them understand your choices.
  
• Remain Open-Minded: Be receptive to different viewpoints and resist the urge to become defensive. Remember that critique sessions are about improving the design, not personal validation.
  
• Take Notes: Keep a notebook or digital note-taking tool handy during the critique. Jot down feedback, suggestions, and questions as they come up. This helps you capture valuable insights and ensures that you don't forget important points.
  
• Promote Equal Participation: Show your audience that you care about their feedback by asking follow-up questions and leaving room for discussion. As the designer, you can facilitate this by inviting quieter team members to share their thoughts and opinions.
  
• Avoid Immediate Rebuttals: When you receive feedback, it's natural to want to defend your design choices. However, it's often more productive to listen and absorb the feedback first, even if you don't agree. Take time to reflect before responding.
  
• Focus On Problems, Not Personalities: Remember that critique sessions are about evaluating the design, not the individuals involved. Keep the conversation centered on design issues and avoid personalizing feedback.
  
• Schedule Follow-Ups: After the critique session, schedule follow-up meetings to discuss and address the feedback received. This demonstrates your commitment to improvement and gives you a chance to present revised design iterations or ask for guidance if needed.
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Use UX Design Critiques To Your Advantage!

In the ever-evolving world of UX design, one thing remains constant: design critiques are necessary to ensure that our designs reach their full potential.

Designers often invest their hearts and souls into their creations, but the input of outsiders can help spot flaws and realign user goals to fulfill the project's purpose. While many still struggle with giving and receiving it, the key to effective critiques lies in the delivery and communication skills involved.

By mastering the art of design critiques, designers can create a culture of constructive feedback and continuous improvement, ultimately delivering better user experiences.

Design critiques are not just beneficial for team-building; they are a valuable tool in the UX designer's arsenal for success. So go forth, critique, and (as usual) be kind.

When you think of digital product failures, what comes to mind? It was probably a popular app that fizzled out or a “revolutionary” technology that was dead on arrival.

Digital products come in many sizes, shapes, and flavors. From websites and ebooks to SaaS systems and wearable devices, UX research and design affects online and real-world experiences equally. If one area falls short, it’s only a matter of time before the entire company crumbles.

According to Forbes, 70% of businesses either have a digital transformation strategy in place or are in the process of creating one. But a new cyber focus won't guarantee profitability or longevity — which is the biggest takeaway when observing noteworthy product failures.

As Yoda said in The Last Jedi, “The greatest teacher, failure is.” (Don’t come for us OT and prequel purists.) We follow this advice as UX designers because negative feedback and product failures give us a blueprint for defining best practices.

With Yoda’s nugget of wisdom in mind, let’s look at some infamous digital product failures and see what lessons they impart in this rapidly changing marketplace.

Our Top 6 Digital Product Failures

• Nike fuel band
• Microsoft Zune
• Myspace
• Crypto.com
• Vine
• Quibi
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What Causes Digital Product Failures?

We don’t want to dissuade you from launching your own product, but so many things can go wrong in the design or marketing process. In UX, the littlest design error or server crash can tank conversion flows.

This is why all our creations are thoroughly researched, tested, and QA’d before we launch them. Even then, there’s no long-term guarantee for success. Without a solid ongoing strategy, marketing plan, or sustainable business model, even the hottest products can become flops.
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Typical Factors:

• Lack of funding
• Minimal marketing efforts
• Assumption-based designs
• Premature launch
• Not adapting to market trends
• Edged out by competitors
• Faulty technology
• Failing to engage the target market

Of course, this isn’t the definitive list of all the things that can go wrong in business. Other factors like company acquisitions and legal challenges have the power to kill brands before they can leave a mark on their respective industry. 

Whether these contributors were out of the company's control or not, we can learn a great deal from their shortcomings and prepare ourselves for whatever the unpredictable digital market has in store.

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Revisiting The Top 6 Digital Product Failures Of Yesteryear

Maybe you used these digital product failures back in their heyday and have a nostalgic fondness for them. Or maybe you remember being sorely disappointed that they didn’t live up to the hype.

Whatever your perceptions are, we can still take a page from their book — but not for inspirational purposes.

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Nike Fuel Band

Who needs an Apple Watch or a FitBit when athletic wear behemoths like Nike have their own digital fitness tracker?

The answer is all of us.

Don’t ditch your preferred health devices anytime soon. Even though Nike was one of the first companies to offer fitness wearables with the Fuel Band in 2012, the novelty wore off quickly. They failed to grab a loyal audience and discontinued the product after just five years.
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What Went Wrong?

If you asked Jordan Rice, the former senior director of Nike NXT Smart Systems Engineering, the same question; he’d probably say “Shallowness.”

It’s no secret that health and wellness data are difficult to interpret, hence why we generally let Doctors take our vitals and set milestones for us. The Fuel Band presented users with lots of data about calories burned and steps taken, but its limited features didn’t help them contextualize what those numbers meant in the broad scope of their goals.

As fitness wearables evolved with more powerful sensors and robust data sources, the Fuel Band became obsolete in Nike’s respective markets.

“We tried to put data in the consumer’s hands, but I don’t know that we put depth in that data — a lot of it was data for data’s sake at times,” Rice said during a keynote presentation at Cambridge Consultants’ Innovation Day in 2017.

“I began to ask myself a little bit, how deep is this connection that we’ve actually created? Are people connected to the brand and the products? Is this data actually meaningful to them? [Is there] depth, are they taking any insight away from this, and are we really creating a gimmick?”

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Did Nike Recover?

Nike’s brand is still going strong with athleisure enthusiasts and sneakerheads everywhere. However, with the subsequent failure of their Sportswatch, it’s safe to say that their wearables experiment has pretty much tanked.

But Nike’s digital transformation wasn’t all doom and gloom. Once Apple announced its first smartwatch in 2014 (around when the Fuel Band started to go downhill), Nike quickly jumped on board with a running app developed specifically for Apple’s new device.

As of 2023, Nike and Apple are still compadres in digital fitness through the Nike Run Club — a powerful (and free) app for runners to track their calories, distance, and heart rate.

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Key Takeaways

• Translate Your Data: When a user is on a fitness journey (or just wants to monitor their health status), they need to understand what the data means to them.
  
  Are they burning enough calories daily to meet their weight loss goals? Are they taking enough steps to maintain their cardiovascular health? Is their high heart rate contributing to their high blood pressure?
  
  If the fuel band had more relevant features to put its data into context for the users, it would have made the experience more sticky for tracking health long-term.
  
  
• Keep Up With The Tech: Wearables were a new frontier when Nike released the Fuel Band, but they failed to adapt to the technological advancements.
  
  Let’s do a quick side-by-side comparison. When stacked next to the Apple Watch, the screen feels primitive and lacks the customization features of its counterpart. The Apple Watch ticks all the right boxes, feeling sleek and sophisticated while accommodating a workout.
  
  With a few ongoing design tweaks (and maybe some user testing), Nike could have found a way to update the look and feel of their product without sacrificing their brand identity.
  
• Have A Back-Up Plan: Thankfully, the Fuel Band wasn’t the nail in Nike’s coffin. Honestly, could you imagine a world without Jordans?
  
  While we can’t all have Tim Cook on our board of directors, keep your finger on the pulse of the industry at all times. If things go downhill for your company or product, look for avenues to keep your digital presence alive through partnerships.
  
  Even if your product isn’t the game-changer you were hoping for, a partnership can bring in strategic opportunities that allow your company to keep innovating despite setbacks. Who knows, there might be a Nike Run Club waiting in your future!
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Microsoft Zune

“Another one bites the dust…” - Apple, probably.

Seriously, we can’t overstate how much the iPod shook up the MP3 industry. With its sleek design and more storage space than any portable music player before it, other products couldn’t compare. That didn’t stop them from trying though.

Microsoft released the Zune in 2006 to compete with the iPod, boasting a larger screen with the same features and price. On top of that, they created the Zune Marketplace where users could purchase music, similar to the iTunes store.

So, if it functioned as well as the iPod, why was it such a hardcore flop?

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What Went Wrong?

While Apple meticulously planned, designed, and tested every version of the iPod, Zune rushed to keep up with them and always fell short. Zune is the perfect case study for building products around assumptions instead of research and discovery.

The first mistake Microsoft made when creating the Zune was assuming they had a viable market share. After all, Apple was raking in major dough with the iPod. Where could they go wrong? (Spoiler: they went very, VERY wrong.)

The Zune was about the same price as an iPod, but Apple already dominated the industry and lower-priced MP3s were still in circulation. Users couldn’t justify spending the big bucks on a lesser-known product.

The other mistake was that Zune failed to innovate with its features and functionalities. We always say not to try too hard to reinvent the wheel, but there has to be a unique value proposition if you want to emerge as a true competitor.

Besides the Zune-to-Zune song-sharing feature (which wasn’t tested or validated with users), the product was an iPod ripoff. As a result, Microsoft failed to capture even 10% of the marketplace and eventually discontinued the Zune in 2014 — losing almost $3 million in revenue.

When reflecting on the catastrophic failure of Zune, President of Yeti LLC Tony Scherba cited the lack of user research as the source of the digital product failure. He stated: “If it had (done user research), Microsoft would have learned before release that consumers didn’t truly value Zune’s features. The company assumed they did, and that was its downfall.”

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Did Microsoft Recover?

Microsoft’s poor timing was one of the biggest contributing factors to this digital product failure. Just a year after its release, Apple dropped their first iPhone — a smartphone with an MP3 built-in! That should have been the end of Microsoft in the portable tech landscape, right?

Even though Microsoft was late to the smartphone game (again), they launched the Lumia touchscreen phones and tablets in 2011 to phase out the Nokia brand. But since Nokia was an established brand and Lumia wasn’t, customers didn’t take the bait. Microsoft’s mobile business was discontinued in 2017.

It was a valiant effort, but alas, the Apple vs Android debate rages on without a mention of Microsoft. The company still lives on through the Office suite, Surface devices, and Xbox, but we can assume Microsoft smartphones are dead (for now).

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Key Takeaways

• Research Matters: Not only did Apple beat Microsoft to the MP3 market with the iPod, but they built their product strategy around immersive user research. The iPod designers were passionate music fans — but to create a product for music lovers on the go, they went to great lengths to observe potential users in their natural environments.
  
  This information is critical in product design, development, and marketing decisions. Microsoft should have followed Apple's lead when constructing the Zune and sought to gather user feedback throughout development continuously.

• Don’t Copy: They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but not when you’re trying to sway users away from their preferred digital product. When you're up against a tech giant like Apple, you must give your audience a reason to switch.
  
  Digital products give you space to experiment with technological capabilities, so it feels like a wasted opportunity to peddle a carbon copy of an already successful product. If Microsoft had done a more in-depth competitive analysis, they could have discovered a stronger value proposition for Zune.
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Myspace

Spike up your scene hair and alert your top eight friends…We’re throwing back to the early 2000s with this one!

Myspace, one of the first social media platforms, was a MASSIVE hit when it launched. With robust profile personalizations and new avenues for gaining an online following, it paved the way for digital connections, music subcultures, and the age of the influencer way before Instagram.

Speaking of other platforms, Myspace was easily usurped when Facebook and Twitter came around with simplified platforms. If users craved the personalization Myspace offered, then why did it fail?

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What Went Wrong?

While many tech-savvy users cited their personalization features as a big draw, the lack of consistency between pages created confusion in accessing basic features like user profiles and messaging portals for the average user. 

The customizations caused crashes because they were not compatible across browsers, creating more avoidable frustrations in the user experience. 

The complicated UX resulted in a product that was confusing, frustrating, and difficult to use — leading to low adoption rates. It also showed competitors its weaknesses, allowing them to improve the structure and nudge Myspace out of the limelight.

Had Myspace prioritized an intuitive experience over flashy profiles and interactions (or followed Facebook and Twitter with the streamlined UI), we’d probably be following Tom Anderson as closely as we follow Mark Zuckerberg or Jack Dorsey.

(Yes, we know Elon Musk runs Twitter now. But Jack Dorsey got the ball rolling, and we have to give credit where credit’s due.)
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Did Myspace Recover?

Until the last few years, Myspace has been a nostalgic footnote in the digital age. The hip teens and twenty-somethings who created the first profiles are all grown up now — and who doesn’t want to go back to the age when our only responsibility was updating our profile song?

But as Myspace’s former co-owner Justin Timberlake once said: “What goes around, goes around, goes around, comes all the way back around.” As social media becomes more commercialized and inundated with ads, users fondly remember the platform’s alternative roots and (in some circles) crave a comeback!

We saw this nostalgia in full force when an 18-year-old from Germany replicated the code to Myspace’s website and branded it SpaceHey. This rootsy and spirited “rebrand” launched in late 2020 and garnered an impressive 750,000 users as of August 2023.
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Though SpaceHey isn’t an official Myspace project, it launched a thousand think pieces from digital publications about the merits of resurrecting the platform in the age of TikTok. While it’s too soon to tell if the real Myspace will return, we have a few notes for its future resurgence.

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Key Takeaways

• Embrace Iteration: Before it became the social media juggernaut of the early 2010s, Facebook had a slow start polishing its platform. It went through several iterations before it caught on, adopting several new features and redesigns from 2005-2010. Even now, Facebook goes through new iterations and user flows to maintain its relevancy.
  
  If Myspace does make a comeback, they’ll have to keep a close eye on their competition and remain open to incorporating new layouts and technologies. Remember, the final product is rarely perfect, and optimization is the key to staying ahead of the curve.

• Keep The Focus On The Users: When conceptualizing a design, you should seek to understand the needs and motivations of users and design the product around their instinctive behaviors. We think SpaceHey is pretty successful in this category, tapping into the nostalgia of its audience and bringing back the features they loved.
  
  But the user experience isn’t just about design, features, or functionalities — it’s also about the environment you cultivate! In the Vice article we linked above, the users interviewed cite the focus on art and music as a major plus for SpaceHey’s identity.
  
  By conducting user research, creating personas, and testing prototypes, you can uncover these nuances and design validated solutions to ensure positive digital experiences and ongoing product value.

• Optimize For Mobile: Most people still used flip phones when Myspace was a big deal. For those who don’t remember, mobile internet access was non-existent around that time. So, while mobile optimization wasn’t the reason for the platform’s downfall, it’s something to pay close attention to if Myspace comes back.
  
  Whether we like it or not, social media platforms NEED mobile optimization if they’re going to succeed. If users are adamant about keeping the vintage look and feel with the same high-level customizations, Myspace will need to spend extra time ensuring the UI is responsive across devices.
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Crypto.com

Let’s ask the question that absolutely no one on the face of the earth has been asking themselves for the last year or two…Is cryptocurrency finally dying off? If people were already apprehensive about investing in this non-tangible currency beforehand, the Crypto.com hacks didn’t help.

As the market grew between 2020-2022, many investors started managing their assets on online platforms. But as we know, with sensitive information like finances, privacy and security should never be skimped on.

Crypto.com made the fatal mistake of not considering these factors when developing the platform — resulting in data breaches, loss of customer trust, and negative publicity for the company.

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What Went Wrong?

Crypto.com became the number one target of attacks due to the large amounts of money being transferred. Because the platform lacked data encryption and password managers, hackers easily bypassed the two-factor authentication and gained access to online wallets.

About $18 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from 500 users, resulting in a PR firestorm where the company had to reimburse the stolen assets. Even though they performed a systems audit and improved the organization’s security posture after the fact, the damage was done.

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Did Crypto.com Recover?

A digital business can bounce back from a security breach, but on such a large scale with a massive sum of money stolen, user trust (the thing all financial management platforms should prioritize) was dead from then on.

Crypto.com officially closed its U.S. Institutional Services in June of 2023 as a result of government regulators filing lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase. While the company claimed the closure was due to the current market landscape and limited demand for their services, we aren’t wrong to assume the hacks played some role.

While the retail trading app still exists, the current regulatory environment for bitcoin trading, coupled with the crowded marketplace for digital management apps paints a grim picture for the future of Crypto.com.

Since the closure was recent, it might be too soon to tell if Crypto.com will survive or not. The lawsuits are from U.S. regulators — so it could still thrive with its international customers. But we can use the hacks as a cautionary tale about the importance users place on security and privacy.

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Key Takeaways

• Conduct Frequent Security Assessments: Every digital company should ensure its products are designed with security and privacy in mind. That includes performing regular maintenance to guarantee sensitive data is properly encrypted.
  
  When you protect your user’s information, you protect your business assets. Data protection, encryption software, and regular product maintenance are worth the investment. Keep in mind that softwares can change between versions and leave data vulnerable, so frequent audits are a must.

• Be Transparent About Data Collection: After Facebook’s data mining scandal in 2018, users are far more cautious with their online privacy. You must be forthcoming about how you’re using their data to improve the user experience and build trust.
  
  Make sure your privacy policies are easy for the user to find and understand, and notify users of third-party cookies to obtain consent. Additionally, companies should educate users about the measures they have in place to protect their data. Give them that extra reassurance that their data is in good, trustworthy hands.

• Don’t Trade Quality For Fad-Chasing: This isn’t particularly directed at Crypto.com, but it’s important to remember when you’re creating a product to capitalize on a digital trend. Timeliness is crucial, but quality matters more at the end of the day (looking at you, Zune).
  
  Yes, the competition is stiff in the crypto management market. But if users prioritize safety and intuitive features, focus on making those aspects the best they can be. Never rush to put out your product, especially one that handles finances or healthcare information.

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Vine

The concept of quick-bite content wasn’t completely novel in the early 2010s. If you think about it, some of the earliest viral YouTube videos were only a few seconds long. Vine built its entire identity around this idea, allowing people to create short 6-second clips that cater to our waning attention spans.

Vine was purchased by Twitter in 2012 and quickly became the most downloaded video-sharing app on the market. Users were flocking to the platform to watch viral videos and (hopefully) launch themselves into internet fame with a low-effort yet hilarious clip.

Ask any millennial to reference an internet video. They’ll either quote something from the early days of YouTube or throw in a classic Vine. But how did a platform that gave us so many legendary moments die out so quickly?

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What Went Wrong?

Vine’s 6-second video technology meant anyone could become a content creator. But with other video-sharing platforms emerging, Twitter failed to capitalize on Vine’s early success with future iterations — ultimately leading to its downfall.

The problem here came from Twitter overestimating the value of their property due to its exponential growth in a short period. But with our limited attention spans, it was way too easy for users to get distracted by a shiny new platform.

The newfound popularity of Instagram and Snapchat sent Twitter into panic mode, fearing that strategizing with Vine would make their platform irrelevant. Instead, they shifted their focus to their 30-second video feature.

This lack of product strategy, internal creative differences, and virtually no ad revenue spelled disaster for Vine. Its top creators also needed a way of content monetization, leading to them abandoning the platform in droves before it eventually shut down in 2016.

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Did Vine Recover?

Though Vine died out eight years ago, the memes it popularized still live on through YouTube and TikTok compilations. They could make a comeback, right?

Well, yes and no. The nostalgia’s strong enough to draw some curiosity, but could it reasonably compete with TikTok?

When Elon Musk officially acquired Twitter in 2022, one of the first ideas he explored was reviving Vine. Through a poll posted on Halloween last year, nearly 70% of users responded favorably — indicating some market demand.

However, a one-off poll isn’t the same as thorough research and competitive analysis. And we know that users rejected Vine as a Twitter-only feature (look up the Vine Camera debacle for more information). If Musk is serious about a renaissance, he should play his cards carefully.

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Key Takeaways

• Strategy Never Ends: Vine quickly gained notoriety through viral videos brimming with personality and celebrity-generated content. But after all the glitz and glamour wore off, competing platforms lured users away with similar functionalities, but more substantial value.
  
  When you capture an audience’s imagination like Vine did in the early 2010s, give them incentives to stick around long-term. If the platform had implemented some better video editing technology, sounds, or filters, it could have competed with Snapchat and (eventually) TikTok.

• Pay Your Creators: While paying people for short snippets of content with minimal production value doesn’t seem like the most lucrative practice, it’s worth it for the amount of traffic and ad revenue you can bring to your product.
  
  We see the power of influencer marketing in our everyday lives. With the attention Vine got from established entertainers and rising internet stars, they should have leveraged a partnership program with these users to help them produce original content — bringing their online followers back to the platform.

• Acquisition ≠ Success: When Twitter bought the platform from its founders for a whopping $30 billion, they probably thought Vine was set for life. Unfortunately, not all acquisitions are made equal.
  
  When you’re making a deal to sell your property, discuss product strategy and long-term vision before you surrender the rights. Now, all the work Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov, and Colin Kroll put into their idea is down the toilet — which can’t be revived by the original team again due to legal limitations.
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Quibi

Besides Crypto.com, this is one of the more recent digital product failures. But it’s hard to remember the last time a product launch was this disastrous.

Lauded as a revolutionary new way to consume content on the go, Quibi was a new streaming service created by former Disney chairperson and DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. With a creative mind like Katzenberg leading the project and the arsenal of Hollywood stars creating original content for the platform, it should’ve been a slam dunk…right?

Yeah, no. Quibi crashed and burned less than a year after its launch. How do you manage that with so much star power and nearly $2 billion in funding?

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What Went Wrong?

Honestly, it might be quicker to talk about what didn’t go wrong:

1. A Reno 911 reboot (which went to The Roku Channel after Quibi went under).
2. An original series called “Survive” starring Sophie Turner, who always deserves more work.

That’s about it. But because there’s a lot to learn from digital product failures like this, we’re diving into it anyway.

As a mobile-first platform with short-form content designed to be watched during your morning commute or at the gym, timing was an issue. Quibi officially launched in April 2020, right around the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns. As you can guess, this rendered the whole purpose of the product pretty well useless.

“But people could’ve stayed home and watched on their phones, right?” Absolutely! The circumstances surrounding the pandemic were 100% out of Quibi’s control. But instead of regrouping and adapting to the situation, they released the product as-is with some deeply flawed functionalities.

The biggest complaint that users had was that the platform wasn’t mobile-first, it was mobile-only. You couldn’t live cast the programs on your TV, severely limiting its usage scenarios and running counterintuitive to the binge-watching experience.

It wasn’t just the restricted functionalities of the service that hindered Quibi; it was the content itself. About half of the $2 billion budget went to securing big-named actors for original programming, and the rest went to releasing shows that wound up shelved by their respective studios (and probably for a good reason).

But really, even in 2020, did we need ANOTHER streaming service? Were people willing to shill another $5/month for a Punk’d reboot? The whole project reeked of poor planning and no understanding of how users consume mobile content.

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Did Quibi Recover?

While Quibi’s meme-worthy implosion was recent (shutting down for good in late 2020), there have been no rumblings about a comeback. It’s safe to say Katzenberg and co-founder Meg Whitman have shelved it indefinitely.

But that’s not to say mobile-only content streaming couldn’t work. After all, users devote hours to their TikTok wormholes — where 3-5 minute videos rake in millions of views and shares. Where do they succeed where Quibi failed?

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Key Takeaways

• Pay Attention To Market Viability: We live in very different times since the advent of streaming. Netflix proposed a cheaper solution to cable TV, but now the market is so inundated with streaming services that watching all your favorite programs across them costs as much as your old cable package.
  
  With any new streaming service released in 2023, positioning is everything (mobile or otherwise). What does your platform offer that your competitor doesn’t? Why is a subscription to your service worth the five bucks?

• Prioritize Content, Not Celebrities: Look, we’re not above celebrity culture. It’s an effective marketing tactic that can introduce your product to a new audience. But even our favorites can produce some serious stinkers.
  
  These days, streaming services live and die by their original content. A well-known celebrity or IP provides recognition, but users need to be confident in the material they’ll be seeing long-term to convince them to keep their subscription.

• Understand Your Technology: Katzenberg gave us some pretty modern stories from his time at Disney and DreamWorks, but Quibi was his “Ok boomer” moment. It’s pretty clear neither he nor Whitman understood why we’re on our phones all the time.
  
  Yes, the portrait-to-landscape transition made for a more pleasing viewing experience. But TikTok and Instagram have that social component, driving the FOMO that keeps us swiping away. With digital products, everything’s connected (the technology, content, and interactivity). If one (or in this case, all three) areas are lacking, you have a sure-fire recipe for a failure.
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So, What's The Point Of All Of This?

The more we learn from the wrongdoings of other companies, the better our products will be in the future!

As a digital design firm, we care about creating memorable experiences and pushing the boundaries of what we can do with technology. However, these things take time, trials, and (occasionally) errors.

Like most of our blogs, our aim is not to offend — it’s to educate! Actually, we went pretty hard on Quibi. But Jeffery Katzenberg is probably keeping busy with a new business venture, so we hope he doesn’t mind.

These digital product failures show us the vital role strategy and UX design play in the success of digital products and businesses. Instead of beginning a new venture blindly, we can look to these cautionary tales to guide us and help us protect our brand.

Conceptualizing a new product is an exciting time for a company. If you want extra reassurance that you’re taking the right precautions, our strategic and user-focused design process will help you hit all the right notes with your target audience. Start a project with us today!

Our society is always on the go. Everything that works on a desktop needs to work on mobile devices.

Mobile optimization is not an afterthought in UX. Statistics show that internet access through mobile devices makes up more than half of the global web traffic. Technology gives us solutions to several everyday needs, and mobile devices make those solutions more immediate. 

UX designers consider the circumstances the user is under when interacting with a product. Whether adjusting an interface for smaller screens or translating it into a convenient mobile app, a good design should be intuitive and user-friendly across all devices.

Every device has its limitations, so some adjustments are necessary to ensure a smooth UX. These design principles help improve the usability and overall experience of your mobile interface.

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Hand Position Controls

Our thumbs can only stretch so far.

The most comfortable way we use our phones is to hold them in one hand and let our thumbs do the scrolling. Depending on the user's device or hand size, it may be hard to reach some elements on the screen.

This illustration shows the easiest and most difficult places to reach on the screen. Think of this as a framework for mapping out a mobile design. Keep the most important elements near the center and the less important ones along the border.

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Content Placement

Speaking of the most important elements…

A smaller screen means limited space, but that doesn’t mean you need to clutter all your content together to make it fit. Prioritize the importance of your content and let that shape the placement on the page. Our attention spans are short when we’re using our phones, so be sure the content on your homepage catches your user's attention right away.

Plan the map of the interface around the user’s goals. Why are they using your app, and what are they trying to accomplish? Landing page rules apply here — your user should understand the function right away and know where to go to complete their goals.
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Intuitive Navigation

Simple designs are king in web design and emperor in mobile UX.

There are more incidental and environmental factors at play when using a mobile device. For example, the user could be at the grocery store needing to check their account balance through their bank’s app. They don’t have time to stop and go through multiple steps to accomplish a simple goal.

Painless, logical navigation is essential when we’re on the go and need something done quickly. Try using minimalist designs, unambiguous CTAs, and recognizable symbols (ex: a trash can icon to delete things, a bell icon for notifications, etc).

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Tap/Swipe Friendliness

Our fingers are much less precise than a mouse.

When you have external links clustered together or small CTA buttons, it’s likely the user will end up clicking the wrong thing. Make sure control buttons, links, and CTAs are large enough for our fingers to target them.

Swiping is also an easy way for the user to control the interface. How many apps do you know of that built their entire navigation around swiping? It’s designed to keep us engaged for hours because we only see one piece of content at a time — so incorporate swiping when appropriate.

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Minimize Typing

It’s hard to walk and type at the same time.

When we’re on the go, we may not have time to fully formulate our thoughts and type them out in a way that makes sense. You don’t have to eliminate keyboards altogether, but there are a few ways to minimize the need for typing.

More and more digital products have voice UI because it’s so much faster to speak than type. Autocomplete features can also help the user quickly finish words and sentences when they’re on the move. You can also streamline logins by using thumbprint verification. As technology evolves, our options become limitless!

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Text Legibility

Don't make text smaller to fit the screen.

Good designs are legible and easy to navigate. The biggest part of UX is communicating with your user. If your content is hard to see, they’ll have a hard time comprehending your interface. A good rule of thumb is to keep text above an 11-point font so it’s visible without zooming in.

Let’s go back to content prioritization for a minute. On top of looking messy, cluttering your content onto the page distracts from any important messaging you are trying to communicate. Decide which pieces of text are the most important and make sure your user can read your content without struggle.

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Environmental Adjustment

Day or night, make sure your design can be seen!

Outdoor conditions can affect our technology. Some lighting and environmental conditions are less than favorable for screens. We’re reliant on apps when we’re out, and we need to use them no matter what mother nature throws our way.

Make sure your page elements are visible in all conditions. This is possible when there is enough color contrast between the background and controls/text. The user should be able to identify important icons so they can navigate the page under poor lighting.

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So Why Is This Important?

As smartphone usage increases, there is almost an expectation that every website has a mobile version to match. These design principles help us translate the things that work on a desktop into an interface that can be used anywhere.

Over half of the world’s internet traffic comes from mobile devices and that number is only going to go up! As UX designers, we need to ensure our solutions work on all devices to keep users engaged and satisfied.

Do you have an awesome site that’s ready to go mobile? CreateApe can help! Contact us today!

At CreateApe, we speak the language of love. Not only are we here to help you traverse the jungles of UX/UI, but also the groves of the heart. We love holidays around here, so it’s no surprise we want to spoil our significant others on Valentine’s Day. Depending on your significant other’s tastes, the bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolate from the grocery store might make the cut. For most of our team, it’s impossible not to fall into a trap.

First, it starts with flowers, but then comes the contemplation of adding a nice piece of jewelry, maybe a candlelit dinner, or the gadget they’ve been casually slipping into a conversation for the past two weeks…

For the average American on Valentine’s day, we found that the classic roses and chocolates aren’t cutting it anymore. According to USA Today, 55% of Americans who plan to celebrate Valentine’s day are estimated to spend $143.56, reaching total spending of 19.6 billion. That’s 1.4 billion up from last year.

As our team searched around for gifts this year, we couldn’t help but notice some of the amazing Valentine’s Day landing pages that excel in their UX that made us open up our wallets (and our hearts of course). We’re a sucker for a good landing page, especially one made for the holidays. After all, they’re one of e-commerce’s biggest tricks and of course, fun for everyone.

So whether you’re shopping for a gift to surprise your Valentine or getting something nice for yourself, it’s okay we all do it, here are five landing pages that have a special place in our heart.

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1. Amazon

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Amazon is like Disneyland for procrastinators. Their prime shipping appeals to the masses and they know that it’s their strong suit during the holidays. On their homepage, they immediately show categories for all of Valentines Day’s most popular gifts. They include a concise section of gift choices, chocolates, flowers, jewelry, and gift cards. Not only making life easy for the user but also giving them a place to start.

To make life even easier, they include gift categories for certain demographics (yes, even your pets) and organize their site based on your Valentine’s Day plans. Date night in? No problem. Galentine’s Day? They already have pre-selected items and showcase the easy to shop possibilities. UX is about not having to make the user think, and Amazon does the thinking for you with their landing page.

Not only is each option presented for optimal use, but each option they promote is also visually separated by shades of pink, red, and purple accompanied by compelling photography. This allows users to segment each alternative without risking information overload.

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2. AT&T

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There’s something to be said about the power of a strong hero image. AT&T decided to pass on the various shades of pink and red in its design but instead went with a bold and captivating hero image that reflects AT&T’s brand identity of connecting people through their services.

The image speaks for itself, but text placed in the hero evokes tone and romance. Besides the image, the header and the call to action carry the heaviest weight on the page. The user’s eye immediately goes to the image of the couple and then to “Shop Gifts.” The clean and simple design is alluring and clearly paves out the users desired path.

Even when scrolling down the homepage, AT&T excels at directing the user to options. The packaged deals that indicate what phone plan are the best for you and your Valentine are mapped out and showcased in boxes with clever copy such as, “One for you. One for your valentine.”

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3. Chanel

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Chanel’s landing page features their most popular product during Valentine’s season, perfumes. Again, they use a powerful hero image to convey the emotions attributed to the holiday. Using light pink contrasted with the masculine black perfume bottle evokes desire, confidence, and love.

The most powerful part of Chanel’s landing page is within simplicity. They do an excellent job at straying from the overwhelming and kitschy Valentines Day ad’s that can appear too sales-y. They stay true to their brand heritage as a sleek timeless brand while giving the user an easy way to shop their products. The user is left wanting to seek the same emotions the landing page emits and explore Chanel’s other products.

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4. Kenneth Cole

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In 2019, standing out among the crowd can be a challenge. Kenneth Cole hit the mark this Valentines Day with their provocative and clever landing page. Instead of leading users to follow the desired path, they encourage the user to simply stay on their site with their attention-grabbing header “This Valentine’s Day Get Some For Date Night.”

Kenneth Cole does a great job of utilizing white space. Immediately the eye is drawn to the text in the middle of the page and there’s a purposeful weight assigned to “Get Some for Date Night.” The contrast between black and white makes it impossible to escape from their bold and playful design and piques interest in what Valentine’s Day items you can find on their site. If you’re looking for direction, we personally love their jeans.

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5. Lancome

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Lancome’s page showcases makeup how-to’s and three different looks you can try on Valentines Day. The best part of Lancome’s landing page is their storytelling element. They have the user imagining themselves in every different scenario wondering what their Valentine’s Day possibilities hold.

Each photo is linked to the product’s that are used in each look. This makes it easy to shop and pick out items based on the user’s needs. The emotional appeal is strong throughout the page, as you’re left wanting to emanate the same emotion Lancome has captured and explore their products.

Even cards and lipstick kissed letters are in the background of the makeup photos, adding to the allusion and asking the question what’s in the cards for your Valentines Day?

One of our biggest motto’s is UX/UI inspiration comes from everywhere. Whatever your plans are on Valentines Day, we hope you’re inspired and surrounded by the ones you love! And in the spirit of user experience, get some for date night.

Storytelling in UX gets your audience emotionally invested in your product. Usability leaves an impression, but your product’s story keeps it relevant and relatable.

How often have you turned off a movie because it wasn’t sucking you in? Or have you ever watched a movie all the way through when it started strong, but didn’t stick the landing?

Our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter (thanks TikTok…). The actual statistics vary, but a 2020 report from the Nielson Norman Group estimates that you only have 10 seconds tops to catch and keep your users attention.

So, how do you visually convince your user to keep scrolling when they rarely look below the fold? Should you try to cram all the information into the header and hope they read everything?

No, dummy! No one (and we repeat NO ONE) is going to read all that. When it comes to getting your user hooked, your digital product needs a captivating and well-structured story.

5 Tips for Storytelling in UX

• Choose a genre
• Consider the scenarios
• Treat the story as a hero’s journey
• Learn to love editing
• Focus on world-building
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What Makes a Good Story?

Every person or brand has a story. Whether or not the user gets invested in the story depends on how you tell it.

Most stories (especially movies) follow a three-act structure: Set-up, confrontation, and resolution. This structure could translate to a website or digital product, but not every story needs three clearly defined acts.

If you’ve ever taken an English or creative writing course, you might have seen the mountain story structure chart. It maps the entire plot from beginning to end, starting with the exposition, followed by rising action leading to the climax. 

After the story reaches its peak, everything starts to settle by wrapping up plot points and reaching a resolution.
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Let’s apply this structure to a brand story (using Spotify as an example):

• Exposition: Spotify was founded in 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon as an answer to the music piracy problem in the early 2000s.
• Rising Action: Spotify starts earning revenue through their “freemium” business model and selling ad space. They also started acquiring other music discovery platforms as early as 2013.
• Climax: Though their focus was primarily on music from the beginning, Spotify started offering podcasts in 2015 when they reached 60 million active users.
• Falling Action: Spotify continues to acquire podcasting companies, along with platforms for sports, entertainment, and pop culture media. Podcasts become a cornerstone of their media library.
• Resolution: By Q4 of 2021, the number of monthly active users grew by 18% year-over-year. This roughly translates to 406 million users.

Of course, this isn’t the ONLY way to present your personal or brand story. Iconic movies like Pulp Fiction (actually, most Quentin Tarantino movies) are notorious for not following the three-act structure. And plenty of stories function as short vignettes instead of having a strong central plot (looking at you, “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac).

But if you’re not a wildly acclaimed author or Oscar-winning screenwriter, these structures can help any novice writer with storytelling in UX.

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5 Tips for Storytelling in UX

So you’re putting together a digital product. You have all the flows sketched out and all the steps the user needs to take to accomplish a goal. Now, you have to give your user a reason to follow through.

How do you give the user the right incentive to stay to the end and come back for more? By telling a story along the way that hits all the right beats and resonates on a personal level.

Every product has a story to tell. But if you’re not sure where to start, you can always follow these five simple tips for storytelling in UX design.

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Choose a Genre

It’s safe to say that there’s no such thing as a “general audience” in UX design. The best digital products have a focused niche that solves problems for a clearly defined demographic.

Just like science fiction novels are a bigger hit with the comic con crowd and some people can’t handle ultra-gory horror movies, a digital product’s story works better when it’s tailored for its intended audience.

You can start by defining the purpose of your product (an app for finance management, an integration software for client management, etc). But that’s just the beginning. The story should always have additional layers for a more distinct personality.

Once you identify the product’s target audience, consider how you’re going to communicate with them, how you’re going to establish and structure the goals, and how you’re going to pitch your solutions to your potential users.

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Consider the Scenarios

You could write the best novel ever that wins every literary award under the sun, and some people would still rather wait for Netflix to adapt it into a TV show. Why would someone rather binge a TV series when the source material is so much better?

They might not be big readers, to begin with. Or they might not have time to finish a 1,000-page from end-to-end. How do you get your audience to take that crucial first step with all those figurative “blockers” in the way?

Audible is an excellent example of turning those user pain points into opportunities (we promise this isn’t a sponsored post 😜). A huge online audiobook library helps literature enthusiasts enjoy stories without taking time out of their day to sit down and read.

These scenarios also apply to the accessibility of the product. It helps to put yourself in the user’s shoes and think about when and where they need to use the product (on the bus, at the gym, or in a crowded nightclub). What flows or messaging would assist them or drive them away in these scenarios?

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Treat the Story as the Hero’s Journey

The kids call this “main character syndrome” — but when we’re out to accomplish a goal, we’re only thinking about our needs and wants. Whether the user is booking a trip or launching a business with your digital product, they’re your Batman, Wonder Woman, or Luke Skywalker as long as they’re using your interface.

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Let’s break down the hero’s journey to see how it could apply to your digital product.

Ordinary World

• Call to adventure: The user stumbles upon your product and takes in the information.
• Refusal of the call: The user may have trepidations about taking the first step. How will you incentivize them to begin the journey?
• Meeting the mentor: Your chatbot or onboarding process is your Obi-wan Kenobi. Show the user they’ll have a guide along the way.
• Crossing the threshold: The user heeds the call by creating an account or beginning the conversion process.

Unknown World

• Tests, allies, and enemies: Gauge the user’s wants, needs, and ability levels, direct them towards what they want, and steer them away from what they don’t.
• Approaching the inmost cave: The user’s doubts and fears may crop back up before they move forward. How will you help them soothe those anxieties?
• The ordeal: The user draws upon their skills and past experiences to accomplish their goal, buy a product, start a campaign, etc.
• The reward: Reward the user with any incentives you provided earlier (product discounts, a month of free membership, etc.)

Back to the Ordinary World

• The road back: Reward in hand, how do you help the user get back to “the ordinary world” (AKA, the starting point)?
• The resurrection: How do you incentivize the user to come back to your product?
• Return with elixir: How do you get the user to keep seeing your product in a positive light? How will you represent how they’ve improved or succeeded on their journey?
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Learn to Love Editing

The first draft of a story is never perfect, EVER. Your favorite novel probably went through several rounds of edits by the author, their peers, or their publishing company.

When the novel is finally released, that’s it (at least, until the publishers decide to run a re-release). If there are typos and grammatical errors, you can’t fix them and automatically publish like you can on a WordPress site.

But with storytelling in UX, your product and content can go through several iterations until the story is flawless and leaves a lasting impression on the user.

Yes, internal reviews, user testing, and revisions take some time. But it’s a valuable opportunity to polish and fine-tune your product’s story.

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Focus on World-Building

If we’ve said it before, we’ll say it again...Version 1 of your digital product is just the beginning. It’s up to you if the saga continues.

You don’t have to plan out an entire extended universe like Marvel, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings, but think about how you can build upon the existing story with a sequel. It could be a new product that answers a different user need or a feature that gives your product a whole new layer of usefulness.

Sequels get a bad reputation for never being as good as the original, so proceed with caution. Do lots of research and spend plenty of time at the drawing board before releasing your own The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, or Shrek 2.

Just like a business grows and improves, so does the user. They have the potential to discover new abilities and possibilities in the digital world. Always be thinking long-term instead of reveling around in your short-term success.
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Using Storytelling in UX to Make Meaningful Products

There’s an intention behind everything in UX. Every button, color, link, and word is meticulously placed to engage and guide users through their journey. And nothing makes a user feel more “seen” than a relatable story.

After all, whenever you’re talking to a friend and they start telling a story, they’re not trying to direct the attention back to themselves. That’s them trying to relate to you and empathize with your struggles.

Through storytelling in UX, you give the product more context and create a sense of familiarity with the user (even when there’s no actual human interaction). Your product story, both in and outside the interface, is the heart and soul of the user experience.

A functional, good-looking product is only half the battle in UX design. Use storytelling to give it a colorful past, immersive present, and promising future.

Need help fleshing out your story? Our designers and UX writers know how to really paint a picture with words and visuals. Start a project with us today!