15 Things You Didn't Know About Design

Ross Johnson of 3.7 Designs filled in at the last minute at LA2M on 11-2-11, but you would not have been able to tell based on his polished and informative presentation. Johnson is a Michigan entrepreneur, author and a website design and strategy talent. Based on his training and experience, Johnson used his presentation to give useful ideas and tips on graphic and web design.

Johnson began his talk entitled “15 Things You Didn’t Know About Design,” by explaining that design plays an important role in many aspects of our lives. He noted that there are important characteristics of design that can make or break its value to a business. A poorly designed website, for example, is considerably less useful to a business than one that is appealing and functions well. He said that it’s commonly believed that design is art. But from the perspective of a trained designer, design is more of a science, because it is based on predictable results from a target audience.

With that target audience in mind, his first of 15 points was that design is subjective. The designer and business need to focus on who the design is trying to attract not their personal preference. This point also ties in with the second of 15 which is that biologically we all see colors differently. Each brain works differently and so each person has a unique way of seeing things.

Johnson explained that human brains are wired to recognize faces. So point number three is that using faces in design is powerful. People will focus on faces and are drawn to eye contact and smiles. He said that a smiling face can create a connection with the viewer. Point number four is that people will follow a gaze in design. This can be a useful tool or it can create unintentional results, like directing the viewer’s focus off the page.

Johnson’s point number five was that design influences our senses and perceptions. It can affect taste and preference. He talked about a product taste test that involved varying containers and how that influenced participant’s preferences.

Points six and seven go hand in glove. Johnson noted that our initial reactions are subconscious or visceral. Our body reacts to images which we then mentally justify. Johnson’s point seven was that when we mentally justify our subconscious reaction, we can even reconstruct our memories. He said that memories are rarely accurate.

In explaining point eight, Johnson emphasized that everything in design should be intentional, because people look for meaning in everything. If there isn’t a reason behind something in design, viewers will create a reason.

In covering point nine, Johnson noted that all decisions are emotional and that without emotion people can’t make decisions. He cited a study of people with emotion specific brain injury that caused them to have great difficulty making decisions. He said that emotions need to be taken into account if taking action is the desired result of viewing a designed product or website.

Point number ten was an explanation of Hick’s Law which Johnson described as the more options there are, the harder it is to make a decision. He cited a product display study which offered as few as 6 and as many as 24 choices. The study found that with 24 choices only 3% purchased. But with 6 choices, 30% purchased. He said that this demonstrates how important it is to not overwhelm the viewer with too many choices.

With point number eleven Johnson used business cards and business forms as examples. He said that people assume that things and information placed in close proximity are related. So with a business card, it makes sense to put a person’s title by their name and the phone number near other contact information.

Johnson pointed out that we are programmed to notice things that are different. Point twelve, he explained, is that if you want people to notice something it must stand out from what surrounds it. Humans don’t like to have things catch their attention in a jarring way, but different is more effective. This ties in with point thirteen which Johnson said is we instinctively ignore what’s not immediately relevant. We don’t see street signs unless we need them and we don’t see banner ads if they look the same and are placed in the same position repeatedly. Humans notice change and differences.

In point fourteen, Johnson explained that humans understand information in “bite sizes” more easily. Applying this to web design might mean showing brief snippets with an option to click to learn more. He cited Twitter as an example.

Johnson pointed out that an esthetically pleasing design can be perceived as easier to use when it’s not. He used differences in ATMs and website designs to describe point fifteen. He said that esthetically pleasing design helps us relax, think better and solve problems more easily. He explained that a website or product that is beautiful is automatically perceived to be better and easier to use.

With all of these important points taken together, it’s clear that design needs to be planned and conscious. You can view Johnson’s entire presentation by checking the LA2M archive.

Trends in Social Media for Business

Summarizing the recent presentation at LA2M of Dave Linabury is very much like capturing lightening in a bottle.  Audience members were struggled to take notes fast enough.  This recap isn’t comprehensive because Linabury’s talk was so rapid and so wide ranging it would be difficult to cover everything. 

Linabury is Director of Interactive for Campbell-Ewald, one of the country’s leading advertising agencies.  He is considered one of the top minds in social media in the US.  His expertise was on full display as he galloped through over twenty topics.  Using the format “What’s Hot and What’s Not”, he covered everything from social music to games to blogging to streaming video.  While the title of the talk noted a focus on business, there were many topics of interest for the consumer as well.

He began his talk by addressing interactive music.  In the social music category he compared Pandora.com with Grooveshark.com.  Linabury said that the more mature Pandora is showing its age and the Groove Shark offers a better interface for the consumer and the musician, as well as an excellent music archive.  In music sharing, Linabury noted the virtual demise of Myspace.com and explained the advantages of Soundcloud.com.  For musicians, there are far more interactive possibilities with Sound Cloud.  As Linabury pointed out, MySpace isn’t viewed as relevant.  In the buying music category Linabury picked Spotify.com over Apple.com/itunes.  He explained that itunes has too many rules and that Spotify offers a broad range of convenient and useful functions without the rules.

When discussing shopping Linabury favored Heartsy.me over Etsy.com.  Both offer unique, artistic hand made goods, but Heartsy offers products at a discount.  In social gaming he suggested trying Cityville the urban version of Facebook’s Farmville.  He also liked Angry Birds Seasons over Angry Birds saying, “It’s just cooler”. 

Linabury also made recommendation for visual media.  He recommended Instagr.am over Flickr.com.  He explained that Instagram made it easy to share photos from almost any phone to any site.  He noted that Instagram offers a variety of photo filters that can be applied before publishing.  Linabury picked Boxee.tv over Netflix.com.  Boxee offers equipment for sale or it can be set up on any computer.  It offers streaming video from internet sources, an apps library, a social function and interactivity with your personal media library.  In social video, Linabury liked Spreecast.com better than Skype.com.  Spreecast is a social video platform that allows people to broadcast together.  He also suggested the video platform associated with Plus.google.com (Google+).

If you need a question answered, Linabury recommends you try Quora.com over Answers.yahoo.com.  Quora is a collaboration of experts, sort of a cache of research on a wide range of topics.  Yahoo Answers is more of a message board for public opinions on questions asked.  If you blog, Linabury suggested the micro blogging site Tumblr.com.  He said that it appears that Google is tiring of Blogger.com and isn’t putting much effort into updating the look or interface.  Tumblr allows for posting text, photos, quotes, links, music and videos.  Reposting is easy.  It’s like Twitter.com for bloggers: pithy, compact and lively.

For social group sites, Linabury picked Google+ over Facebook.com.  He liked Google+ for the ability to direct content to specific groups.  He noted that Facebook was forced to make changes with the introduction of Google+.  He also mentioned that Google+ isn’t available for businesses yet.  In the meantime, he believes that Facebook is one of the most effective social media marketing tools that businesses can use.

Linabury covered more topics than are included here.  For more on this fascinating presentation, view the video in the LA2M.org archive.  For more information on Dave Linabury, check out @davezilla, Davezilla.com, Davelinabury.com, Socialthreat.com, Linkedin.com/in/davezilla and Facebook.com/dave.linabury.     

Relationship Marketing: Owning Spot 1 in Their Mental Rolodex

Terry Bean is beyond a doubt one of the most high profile speakers LA2M has hosted.  He was graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a BS and MA.  He has been a business networking professional for over 15 years and is founder of Networked Inc.  He also started and is the driving force behind MotorCityConnect.com, an important Detroit area networking group.  He sits on the advisory boards of Operation Kid Equip and Empowermind.  Bean is also the recipient of the 2009 Presidential Volunteer Service Award from President Obama.  He is a recently published author of a book on networking entitled “The Universal Guide to Business Networking”.  Bean is also an accomplished and well know public speaker.  His website TryBean.com offers more information on his background, activities, skills and services.

Bean’s message to the LA2M audience was simple: ask better questions in business and relationships and take time to listen to the answers.  He said that listening is a very underrated skill.  Quoting Stephen Covey is stated “Seek first to understand, then be understood.”  He noted that the better you listen and understand another business person, the more they will value that business relation.  It also offers an opportunity to learn if the other business person is a good referral contact.  Do they know someone who you would benefit from meeting?

Bean encouraged the audience members to plan their networking before attending an event.  He said to think in terms of what type of contact or referral would be helpful to your business and company goals.  Another thing he recommended was planning and practicing your “ask” before a networking event.  Business people need to be able to say how they can be helped.  He explained that people are programmed and want to help others.

Bean emphasized that the “ask” needs to be concise, simple, crisp and no more than 13 seconds like the Pledge of Allegiance.  He noted that Twitter has helped with focused communications.  He explained that it’s important to know your audience, rehearse your message and make it compelling, confident and fluid.  He said to specifically describe your ideal client in your “ask”.  Bean said “You don’t get 100% of whatever you don’t ask for.” 

Bean also said that your “ask” needs frequency through networking events, social media and SEO.  Other frequency tools are email, direct mail and phone calls.  Bean explained that an important result of networking is referral introductions.  He encouraged audience members to use relationships to leverage them for introductions and to share referrals as well.  He said to follow up to get closer to the new contact through a phone call or setting an introductory meeting.

In conclusion, Bean illustrated the changes in what businesses look for in a service provider.  1.0 We used to get paid for what we knew and could do.  2.0 Then it was not what you knew but who you knew.  2.5 After that it was who knew you.  3.0 now, it is how you are known.  He said always DWYSYWD (do what you said you would do) and always give back to your community.