We've all been there. The need to find a product that fits our exact need. Some of us have had the experience of finding that perfect product, admiring how beautiful it was showcased online or on an app, purchased the product, admired the packaging and branding, and then tried to use the product only to realize it was exactly the product you didn’t need.
How could this have happened? Research was done, kind of. And it looked nice on the app! The culprit. Human-centered design. Or rather, a lack thereof.
A product or service may be professional, helpful, and priced correctly. However, if no one is asking about you, the person purchasing or engaging with a product or service, website, app, or the latest Nike shoes, then it only makes sense the result would be lackluster. Of course Nike would never do that. Every one of their products is built so specifically for their fine-tuned audience.
To put yourself in the customer's shoes at every decision about every design choice is human-centered design. At Winmore, this is the design practice there at the beginning and end of each project. Whether it’s a website, app, logo, or ad rest assured that we have tailored each product to a specific audience.
We believe human-centered design is the key to creating engaging platforms that create repeat customers, and so do companies who utilize human-centered design like Airbnb, Kellogg's, and Colgate. Each of these companies are willing to live and die by human-centered design, and its power to innovate and streamline increased user experience and engagement. UPDATE: Nobody on that list is dying.
Let's take a look at these three companies and how human-centered design has confidently positioned them as industry leaders now and in the future.
3 Ways Human-Centered Design Means Business (Growth)
1. Airbnb
Imagine you had no idea what services or products Airbnb offered. Then imagine a friend tells you they stayed at "an Airbnb" for vacation and they raved about the experience and how easy it was to find the perfect place to stay using Airbnb. They even recommended you used Airbnb for your next location.
Well, the time for planning vacation comes around and you remember this conversation with a friend. When you do a quick web search for "Airbnb" and you get directed to their website you are presented with this image.
Immediately you see you can plug in the location for your vacation, what dates you are planning for your vacation, and how many people you are vacationing with. You came to Airbnb's website with an idea of what service they offered based on a recommendation of a friend but with no prior information about the company. In a matter of seconds and a few keystrokes, you are on your way to planning your vacation without ever navigating away from the homepage.
Airbnb excels at using human-centered design to make the process of using their services as painless and simple as possible. And it’s not just painless, and simple. It’s flat out fun! An elementary-age student could help plan their family's vacation with this simple layout and that’s why it works. Human-centered design, specifically for AirBnB, is applied as simplicity. Simple interfaces allow imagery and important details to be king, and the truth is, that’s all the user wants.
Simplicity is a value and core ethos even at Winmore. When it comes to designing websites, apps, or graphics SAY LESS. Nobody likes the guy who rambles. A bold, powerful, yet informative design is one that resonates with an audience.
2. Kellogg's
Everyone knows what cereal is. Everyone knows about Kellogg's brand and many of its product offerings. However, Kellogg's takes the human-centered design approach to address the needs, wants, and questions of their clients. Upon going to their website you will find this screen.
In our day and age of concerns about health and what we are eating and putting into our body Kellog's has anticipated some of the questions, needs, and requirements their customers may have and address them right away.
You see how Kellog's calls themselves, "one of the original plant-based wellbeing companies'' as fast food restaurants battle it out over the next best plant-based meat product. Kellogg's positions themselves ahead of the plant-based diet game, yet out of reach from health trends.
If you look to the sidebar you'll notice one of their tabs is about "sustainability." Kellogg's has been upfront and honest with their sustainability efforts as western culture continues to make decisions based on not just what impacts them, but the world. Customers want to know how the products and services they consume are sourced, how workers are compensated, and the impact they are having on the environment.
Anticipating the questions, needs, and requirements of the customer is a key practice of human-centered design and one we focus on in our discovery process at Winmore. The revelation and clarity between truth and assumptions must happen before anything new is created. Oftentimes Winmore will aid teams as consultants, applying design thinking exercises to uncover these insights. Speaking of insights. Did you brush your teeth today?
3. Colgate
How can a toothpaste company practice human-centered design? We are so glad you asked. Colgate is in a relatively new industry, since Americans didn't start regularly brushing their teeth until World War II, and are still battling people seeing the need for and how to use their products. So, when you go to their homepage you will see an image like this one below.
Colgate recognized there are customers of theirs worldwide who may not have access to dental health plans, which means they also may not have access to dental and oral health education, so they have formatted their website and services to reflect these concerns.
You can easily see a chat bubble, a picture with a call-to-action to reach out about dental health questions, and ways they are spreading oral health education worldwide. These are all ways Colgate has used human-centered design to determine the educational needs of their audience, and meet them. They are answering the question, "Why should I care about my oral health?" that customers around the globe may be asking rather than asking, "How can we sell more toothbrushes?" What’s the alternative? More ads about white teeth and toothpaste. Instead of pushing product, Colgate pushes the problem, while holding the solution in their back pocket. That’s sales by human-centered design.
This key factor of human-centered design is about asking the right questions. At Winmore, we make sure to ask questions to know your audience even better than you do so we can build them an experience that makes them loyal to your brand.
If you are interested in human-centered design and how it can help transform your business, then check out our work and contact us for a free discovery call. You have nothing to lose… well, except for that extra time and money that you could have from growing your business. What are you waiting for. Email or call us today!
