Communicating Your Product Designs

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Being able to communicate effectively with clients is easily one of the most important aspects of being a web designer. The communication process starts immediately as you’ll need to learn what the client wants and expects from you, and as you get to know more about their business. The process of creating a customer is a process of communicating your vision and values to the right set of customers in the market. Strategic messaging facilitates this communication. Communicating via design The same principles that are used when communicating with an interlocutor can be applied to interface design. Just like a writer or speaker chooses the right words to engage with their audience, a product interface should feature the right elements and interactions to clearly communicate a message to its user base. A notable logo and color scheme can help differentiate your product from those of your competitors, as can the shape of the product packaging. Bright colors attract attention and draw the.

Effective product communication is a competitive advantage that can help target receptive customers with your marketing messaging. Whether your product is consumable, durable or wearable, a product communication strategy is an integral component of a good marketing plan.

From an idea to the finalization, the product design process takes a few steps. Guaranteed to guide you through them towards the success, the most important factor is excellent communication. The steps in finalizing the product are: analyzing your business to suit the design, creating prototypes for you, letting you view them and have an effect on them to construct the product completely fitting for you, developing it and launching. Design is created after the client have expressed their vision. Wheter or not it comes true depends on how well your exchange of informations went. How to make sure it goes well? Let’s dive into it!

Making a Connection

In order to understand your needs, the designer must get the most out of you. How to help him with that? It makes a great difference if you will follow these rules in the meetings:

  • Make Eye Contact

This will make both sides feel like they can trust each other and lead them to be more open about their concept, therefore help ensure they’re on the same page when it comes to the project!

  • Get Comfortable

Some people prefere to hold conversations in public and others are fond of more private spaces. Make sure to pick an appropriate time and place for discussing the design. Meeting in person can help you see what each of you have in mind in terms of the design.

  • Remember to Have Open Body Language

Do not cross your arms, have a straight and relaxed posture, appear excited, ready to speak and listen. Body language works on our minds more than we think. It can help the information to flow better. In case you are talking about the product design over the phone – you can make your voice sound energetic and reassuring the designer that you are listening to them by simple sounds like ‘’mmm” or ‘’huh’’. You can as well paraphrase what they are saying to make them sure you understood.

  • Make Small Talk

Getting to know a little bit more about people you work with will help integrating you and have your conversations go smoother, with both sides more involved. This is really important, especially during long-term projects.

The Way the Designer Works

Another helpful thing to do is to learn about the personal product design process that your designer follows. Paul Ralph explained two basic patterns that designers follow in his article:

  • „Reason-centric perspective”

That’s when what’s there to achieve is stated at the beginning and must be thoroughly followed to complete the project.

  • „Action-centric perspective”

That approach mixes realizing what we want to achieve while already taking action.

A lot of the time, designers follow the second approach. What this means to you is that both you and the designer might find new goals as well as problems along the way. The good side is that it might make processing the project more thoughtful, observing it as it comes to life. When you understand how the production happens, you trust your designer more and become less afraid of a potential failure. Finding out how the designer stresses the matter, takes us to another point.

Ask Questions

As you might have learned in school, no question is a dumb question. Producing your concept as best as the designer can, requires them to know your fears, doubts and expecations. The more open about the abstract you are, the better they realize it. Maybe there is something you would like to understand about the product design process. Ask away. The designer will be happy to share their knowledge with you to make your cooperation better. You have the same impact on the project and should be equally involved. Make sure the designer keeps you updated on the project – that way you can avoid conflicts about the arising vision.

Check our new article Agile Project Management For Dummies -> be the scrum master!

Be Prepared for the Discussion

Realize how far is your idea planned and what challenges does it bring. Communicate them to your designer. Prepare a set of questions that will give answers to your concerns. Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer of your future product. What do you want him to see looking at it? What kind of feeling do you want it to arouse? What strong points will be bringing consumer’s attention and decide for them to buy it or use it? Remember to listen to what the person has to say and politely debate your opinions. You might have to be ready to compromise. If you think you are right, always speak your arguments to make the statement strong. It will show how important the project is to you. Know the strong and weak points of your concept. Showing how important the project is to you, engages the designer in it and makes it more than just another job to do. Emotional commitment creates a bond between you and the person, drawing them in to make them do all they can to help you.

Emotions

As huge role as emotions play in conversations, it is important to keep them healthy and reasonable. There are two sides to the conversation. First, you – someone who is expecting the final product to present your vision perfectly, hopefuly as fast and problemfree as it can. Second – the designer, who is hoping to be proud of their final product and to get your approval on it. Both sides are stressed. Is the designer able to do that? How long will it take? Is the costumer willing to compromise? How to cooperate and negogiate to prepare it down to the last detail? It is crucial to maintain yourself and accept that the product design process will take time. But it’s the time worth the wait to meet your expectations. How they will be met, relies on communication between the two of you.

Visual and Verbal Strategy

To get the point across, people typically communicate through images and words. Anthony Williams and Robert Cowdroy tested main elements of that in their study.

Verbal Strategies:

  • Technical Language

Using technical terms helps the designer, that way the person knows exactly what you mean.

  • Analogy

To explain your idea you can choose to affect person’s imagination by comparing your idea to another famous one. It is a great way to navigate the designer in which direction you would like to go.

Visual Strategies:

  • Gestures

Showing your idea by movement can apply to shapes, sizes, functions and ratio of one element to the other.

  • Drawings and Existing Graphics

If you cannot reach consensus on what you want the product to be like, you can illustrate it by sketching it or showing the designer an already exsisting design. You can also create a so called „mood board”, which is a presentation of colours, images and other inspirations that represent your vision.

Inform the Designer What the Product is for

Best product design process is followed by having as much information as possibile. Share whatever you can about your business, who is it for and why are you doing it, how do you want to operate it. That way the designer will know what will and will not work for the product. Infrom the designer about the target audience, they will understand where you are coming from and it will make the approach way clear to them. Showing and justifying to the designer your journey of how the concept was created in your mind – with as much details as possible, raises your chances of the designer to realize it perfectly.

Be Straightforward

You think the design is ok, but you would like it a bit better? Say it. Do not hold back on communicating what you like and do not like about the design. The person designing your product needs to know what they can improve on. The more you say, the closer you are to the desired result. Same with describing your abstract, you might have seen the design that you absolutely do not want. Show it to designer, so they know what to avoid.

Keep in Touch with Your Designer

In today’s world with all the technology, you don’t have to meet eye-to-eye with your designer. Set up ways to communicate with them while the project is being processed. You can exchange emails, texts, calls, videoconferences on Skype for example. At INVO we like to use Slack as well as emails and traditional phone calls. This will make it easier for you to give feedback. Make sure you are informed about changes made in your project. Give as many opinions as you can. Carefully analize why certain options are being chosen. The more attention you will pay to the project, the better it will turn out.

Brainstorm with Your Designer

Even if you have your idea all planned out, it is smart to take advantage of designer’s knowledge. They might point out weak points of your project, and bring new solutions to it. Remeber to listen to your designer and reflect on what they say. Experienced designers usually know what sort of design will bring you expected business results. Talking your idea through thoroughly with the designer will definitely benefit you. Always know why you are deciding on a certain thing the way you do.

Organize Your Speech

Remember, to be heard, you need to speak in a certain manner. One of the useful tips is to section out the things that you want to say. It is very effective to make pauses between sections, so that the person you are speaking to has time to process information in their head and be able to ask you questions, leading to an agreement on both sides. Do not rush the information. It may get misplaced. Take your time to explain your ideas. Giving yourself and the designer proper amount of time will improve your way of communicating. You both will be paying more attention, causing better thought processes.

Communicate Better

Now you know ways to help the designer make your vision come true. A key ingredient to make the product desing process go smoothly and get on that finish line – clear communication. Without it the product will not come out the way you want it. It is very important to realize that whatever you communicate, the designer will try to use to create your product. Keep in mind at all times, that the more you say, the better. With a lot of information having to be conveyed, you must pass it in a valid way, being sure the designer knows what it is that you want. Communication is an art. Be patient and try to keep your designer on the same page as you!

Communication is what holds people together – and the same goes for people and brands. Communication is forever, and always a vital part of the product. If customers like the way you communicate with them, and it makes them feel loved and taken care of, it will probably translate into more sales and more revenue for you.

We live in the digital age, where the information streams are endless, and it’s easy for brands to get lost in the noise. That’s why many businesses agree that it’s becoming more difficult to communicate with consumers than ever before. There are so many media and communication channels, – so how do you find the right way to catch your audience’s attention?

What Is a Business or Product Communication Strategy?

A communication strategy is a guide that helps transform a company into a brand. It’s kind of a light beam that shows you the way and the approach to your audience. It helps you learn how to provide people with additional value in form of high-quality content, and how to communicate with them in a way that will make them love your product. (Or not hate it, ha!)

I know, it does sound a bit complicated, so why can’t we just play it by ear? Why do we need a company communication strategy? The general answer is that if you want to run a successful business, you need to plan your course in advance. Sure, you need to be flexible and ready to change, if necessary, but to work efficiently, you have to set your goals and define the purpose of what you’re doing.

Any strategy is a canvas for decision-making. A communication strategy will help you define your audience(s) and consistently articulate your message, so that both staff and stakeholders can be on the same page about what your product is all about. This unification will also lead to smarter decisions and save a lot of time and money. If you understand your audience, you will direct your efforts more precisely, and with the alignment of staff, board and other stakeholders, it will be easier to get your message across.

One more reason – and an oh-so important one – to get yourself a solid communication strategy is to measure success. When putting together your strategy, include benchmarks and an evaluation process. Later on, you can see whether your business achieved the goals you set, or if you need to make a mid-course correction. Be prepared to experiment!

Developing a Communication Strategy Plan, Step by Step

If it’s the first time you’re developing a communication strategy for a business, you should get some sort of communication strategy to-do list to make sure you don’t forget anything. Here’s an example of marketing communications strategy cheat sheet on what’s important:

Define Your Business Objectives

First of all, start with assessing your business’ current situation. After you’ve established where you’re at, think about the short- and long-term goals for your business. Why did you start this business in the first place? What are you trying to achieve? What needs are you fulfilling? Usually, business objectives include:

  • profitability (making sure that revenue is always ahead of the costs of doing business)
  • productivity (maintaining equipment, training staff, etc.)
  • good customer service
  • employee retention
  • protection of core values
  • growth and change management
  • marketing.

For example, you own a company that helps sell music, both digital and physical, via the web and an app. You offer an exquisite selection of music that sells well. You make sure your app functions properly, and that all technology, including payments and music streaming, is up to date and functions properly. You can afford to pay your employees a decent wage, which leads to good employee retention. You help your employees learn by signing them up for workshops, seminars, and other professional events in IT, music promotion, monetizing music from streaming services, etc. You build a good team that grows.

Define Your Communication Objectives

From the business objectives, we step over to the communication objectives. For a business to be successful, they both have to align, because if you don’t know where you stand in the market and where you’re supposed to go, it’s too early to set communication objectives. For instance, if you don’t define your pricing policy, there’s no sense in defining a target audience that will be able to buy your product for a certain price.

Decide what your startup wishes to achieve in the communication sector. For example, in the beginning you want to inform potential customers, partners or collaborators about your company, raise brand awareness and brand recognition, create demand for your product, and build loyalty. This will help you make your business profitable and help it grow.

Apart from achieving business/organizational objectives, communication objectives can also include:

  • Сreating brand awareness
  • Building loyalty (both within target audience and employees)
  • Stimulating a want or desire
  • Imparting knowledge
  • And many more…

And always remember: it’s important not only to set goals, but also to make sure you’re moving towards them.

Analyze Your Current Situation

Any communication strategy should begin with an introduction. This should contain information on your business and outline its activities and products, main focus and functions, and where it’s based.

There are specific tools that will help you analyze your current situation and continue develop communication strategy for your business’s future.

SWOT analysis is all about listing your organisation’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Think about what these mean for your business if there are any weaknesses, how can they be turned into opportunities, and how threats can be avoided or eliminated.

PEST analysis is a tool that takes into account Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors that may affect the work of your company. These can be either positive and negative, and you should list the reasons why they will have an effect on your startup’s operation. PEST analysis should help explore new thinking, not just conform with what you have at the moment.

Sometimes, you may see other abbreviations – PESTEL (the E and the L stand for Environmental and Legal) or STEEPLE (with the addition of Ethical) or STEEP (including Economic and Environmental instead of Legal), but basically it’s all about the same processes.

Research Your Competitors

Whenever you start a new venture, you will obviously check out what your competitors in this field are doing. It’s good to see what’s in the market you’re entering – so on one hand, you know your options, but on the other, you don’t repeat what has already been done. The idea is to create something unique that will fill an empty niche.

The same goes for communication strategies. You need to see how your competitors build a communication strategy to understand the market better, and to create your own unique positioning.

Also, go to your competitors’ websites, examine the customer experiences they offer, check out their pricing, shipping, etc. Knowing all this will help you get an edge over your competition.

First of all, you will see where your competition directs their communication. Then you will see how they do it, and monitor their behavior. Using this knowledge, you’ll be able to anticipate their moves, which will help you always stay one step ahead.

Conduct Target Audience (TA) Research and TA segmentation

Having explored the field and what your competitors are up to, it’s now time to learn about your target audience. You don’t want to spend your precious limited startup resources on an overly broad audience that doesn’t want, need, can afford or appreciate the product you invested so much time and money in.

If you’re at a loss and can’t describe your future customers on the spot, go back to the time when you planned your business. You must have thought about who your product or service is going to appeal to, or who you want it to appeal to the most. This is the answer that reveals who your target audience is, the people to whom you’re going to direct your communication and advertising. Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

  • Make a list of populations or individuals you want to sell your product to. The list can be pretty long and cover a wide population range. For the music app, it can be as wide as “male and female adults 18-99 yo with access to high-speed Internet”.
  • Rank your audience to see who in it is the most important target at the moment. Although music is a common interest among all age groups, younger people tend to be more acquainted with technology and prefer apps and streaming over CDs, for example. Accordingly, you will want to communicate your digital services to them first.
  • Do audience segmentation to make your advertising even more targeted. This means breaking down your audience according to certain criteria, or on the needs of a certain group, so you can deliver your ads at the right time and in the right place.
    For example, you can promote different releases depending on the geography of their popularity or relevance, like Independence Day playlists or Christmas discounts.

It used to be quite simple. The demographic-based principle used to be the the largest picture of a consumer: is the person male or female? How old are they? Where are they based? etc.

These days, these metrics don’t help you that much – people use different smartphones, laptops, tablets, wearable fitness bands, etc. not to mention countless apps, browsers, emails and more.

Consumer behavior and working patterns change, and lifestyles and people’s values evolve and transform – which is why the next logical step in the evolvement of this principle is creating user personas.

Define Consumer Insights

To get a hold of all of these characteristics and be able to use them for your communication and marketing strategies, you’ll have to conduct consumer insight research. As soon as you get inside the head of your customers, you will find out why they made this purchase, why online and not from a store, why on a weekday and not or a weekend, etc., and make a prognosis about their behavior in the future.

All this is actually what customer development is based on – it’s the perfect way to develop a product specifically for your audience. Steve Blank, the founder of the customer development approach, says, “There are no facts inside the building, so get the hell outside.” Which means you have to go out there and get your data.

But keep in mind that there’s no single tool to help you get consumer insights – you can’t get them from a focus group or a survey. You need to go through a combination of activities to gather relevant information, and analyze what you get.

Communicating Your Product Designs For Beginners

Determine Channels of Communication

At this point, you already know your target audience and the basics of its behavior. Now, make a list of media outlets and channels that can help you reach them. Think carefully: where does your message have the best chance of catching their attention? Before creating the messages and the content, you need to know the format of your communication with your customers. You need to find out what communication channels your target audience already uses.

For example, if you’re creating a persona, what social media does he or she use? Where does he or she read their news? Does this persona read newsletters? A proper UX research will help you understand not only where, but also how, which is no less important.

By the way, if you’re defining communication channels for your audience, don’t forget an option called omni-channel communication. Right now, it’s considered to be one of the most progressive ones.

Communicating your product designs pdf

And, considering the effects of different channels on the recipient, plan a timeline and key dates to know to whom and when you are going to communicate.

Define Positioning and Key Messages for Different Target Audiences and Channels

A company’s positioning and core messages help people understand why a company is useful, what values it has, what it believes in, and how it stands apart from its competitors. It’s like you’re meeting a new person and need to decide whether you like them or not, based on what this person does and their views on life.

Messaging can come in the form of a tagline, ad slogan, headline, or a sales pitch. Whatever it is, the message has to be consistent across all of the brand’s marketing channel, whatever segment of your TA you’re addressing, and suit the channel. Just remember to keep the message relevant and appropriate to the group you’re speaking to.

To get your message across successfully, try to follow this formula:

Identify audience segment -> Identify key message -> Identify reason to believe -> Identify the most appropriate channel

Communicating Your Product Designs Pdf

Communication Strategy: The Template

This is probably a lot to take in at once – but trust me, this is all very important to planning your business and your future. So let’s try to put all we’ve learned into a graphic.

  • Overall Business Objectives
    Establish where you are and where you want to go.
  • Communication Objectives
    Define your communication goals and how they align with your business objectives.
  • Current Situation
    Analyze inner factors that can affect your business, like your company’s strengths and weaknesses and external factors like politics, the economy, etc.
  • Research your competitors
    Know your competition to get an edge over them.
  • Target Audience
    Establish who your target audience is to know what communication style to choose and how to sell them your product or service. Use customer insights.

Communicating Your Product Designs Using

  • Communication Channels Go through the list of your target audiences and think of the most appropriate communication channels to use to reach each audience. Make a timeline according to your planned key activities in the near future.

Communicating Your Product Designs Online

What’s Next?

Part of your communication strategy is the content strategy. This is all about the management of any media you produce or own, be it written, visual, or downloadable.

You decide who you’re creating it for, and what problem it’s going to solve for the audience. Then you can brainstorm content ideas. Keep in mind that your content is what shows your values to the entire world, and, among other things, gives your audience additional value. Apart from that, you decide how your content going to be unique, what format it’s best transmitted in, and through what channels. After you’ve done all of this, you schedule and manage the content creation and publication. Free drawing programs for mac.

The communication strategy was all about how to reach your audience, how to grab their attention, how to create decent content, not just content for the sake of it. The content strategy is part of a bigger tool set that helps you do this.

Right now it may be hard to believe, but everything I’ve described here is critical to understanding where your business is and how to communicate with your audience. It will help you understand your business and your future better.

As we said earlier, communication is the bond between all of us. It is what helps us through good days and bad days. Communication between people and brands has its ups and downs, just like communication between people. And if a person doesn’t like what you’re saying, it may be hard to convince them that your product or service is worth their attention. But if you start to apply respectful and caring types of communication strategies in business development, you’ll be guaranteed some loyal customers and a better chance of success.

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