While the idea that the customer should feel positively about their time with you is ages old, the idea of “user experience” and the UX industry as a whole is still relatively new. We use the term “user experience” a lot with the people we work with because our holistic marketing strategies are based entirely around their audiences.
For us, creating a positive user experience isn’t just a goal – it’s the POINT.
What is User Experience and What Does it Have to Do With Branding?
According to Google, the definition of User Experience (UX) is, “the overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use.”
Most definitions of this term will focus mostly on the tech side of things and it certainly feels quite tech-y when abbreviated to UX, but personally we think of user experience more broadly.
User Experience vs User Interface
So we don’t get lost in the sauce, let’s get that tech-y part out of the way. You’ll see user experience interchanged with user interface a lot, but there is a distinct difference between user experience vs user interface and it’s pretty significant.
User interface (UI), refers to your site, app, or platform. This is what people engage with. The interface is absolutely part of the experience – but it shouldn’t be mistaken for the whole thing.
User experience refers literally to the entire experience that your customer will have with your brand from start to finish. Anything your customers, fans, or followers interact with and how they feel about that interaction is part of the full experience. This means from the moment they’re exposed to your social media post, or the SEO title of your article, throughout the experience on your website, again when they sign up for your emails, through the entire checkout process.
And it doesn’t stop there either! Physical products are also part of the user experience your customers have with your brand. Packaging, including how the box lands on their doorstep, plays a major role in consumer decision making (especially whether they’ll purchase again) and should 100% be in line with your branding.
Are you starting to see why branding and user experience make such a great pairing?
How to Get into the UX Mindset
To get into the UX mindset when building your brand identity, consider your brand from your ideal audience’s perspective. Taking a step back and looking at your brand from the user’s perspective helps with decision making and brings clarity to your overall vision.
Pretty soon, you’ll be able to incorporate the UX mindset into every part of your brand! So this way, every time you make a post, write an article, update your product pages, or optimize for search engines, you’re going to be creating for your audience.
Here at Dandelion Branding, we focus on UX because we specialze in creating one holistic brand strategy that encompasses the full user experience. Cohesion and clarity across all of your platforms are the name of the game here. When your communication is transparent and cohesive, it’s easier for your brand to be recognized and trusted.
Branding and User Experience: 5 things to Focus On
To start, clear your mind. Put yourself in someone’s shoes who knows nothing about your brand, your offer, or your products.
Step one: individual branding and user experience questions
Look at these five parts of your brand as objectively as possible and answer the questions.
1 – Your website
- Does it communicate exactly what you do and what you sell?
- Is it representative of what you want to portray as a brand?
- Does it have enough information on it that a sustainable buyer will trust that you’re not greenwashing?
- Will your audience have an easy time understanding it?
2 – Your offer or your ordering experience
- Is it easy to understand?
- Is your checkout process simple to move through?
3 – Your ads
- Do your ads make sense for a new audience to engage with?
- Are you asking people to take a specific action too soon? (sustainable audiences often don’t impulse buy)
- Will your ads make sense for your brand – are they in your brand voice?
4 – Social media & other outward facing content
- Is your social media and your content representing your brand voice?
- Are you talking about topics that make sense for your brand?
- Are you covering information that your audience needs or wants?
5 – Physical products and Packaging
- Do your products arrive with the care that your audience expects?
- Are you in line with your brand values with the packaging that you choose?
Step two: cohesion
Here’s where we do things a little bit differently. Because we’re so focused on being holistic, we also make sure that your user experience is the same throughout your brand. Look at any two parts side by side and answer these questions:
- Is what you sell clear?
- Do both of these parts of your business use the same brand voice?
- Is it simple, clean, and easy to understand?
- Is it simple, clean, and easy to use?
- Would the same type of person be interested in these two things?
- Would a user be able to identify that both of these things came from the same brand?
- Do they (or could they) link together without being confusing?
If you answered no at any point then you may have some cohesion updates to work on. Cohesion strengthens brand identity. Building your brand identity increases the connection with your users and improves the user experience across all the aspects of your brand. It helps your audiences understand what they should expect from you – both within your content, and with the quality of your products or services.
If you’re still unsure on where to begin with your UX, please schedule a call with us.
If you don’t know who you’re speaking to and how to speak to them it doesn’t matter how much energy you put into your UX design, you won’t see results. Connecting your branding and the experience of your users is how to sustainably grow your brand.
