Increased access to personal data has enabled brands to communicate more effectively with their audiences. R/GA’s Chloe Gottlieb looks at how this information is now being used to motivate consumers to change lifestyles
Gone are the days when brands could effectively broadcast one-way messages to an audience with no expectation – or means – of a response. The most beloved brands today engage in conversations with people that can feel personal, even private. To aid the dialogue, marketers are using data in order to create simple tracking tools that help customers gain insights about themselves and even change their behaviours for the better: to lose weight, get more sleep, consume less electricity, save more money, or run a marathon. These tools are the beating heart of successful digital brand platforms, deepening customers’ self-awareness and strengthening ties between peers.
Because the brand acts as a facilitator, rather than an active participant or ‘salesman’, the relationship between customer and brand changes, building trust. And because the data customers are tracking is personal, they’re motivated to interact with the platform more often, which helps build sales. Nike+, the running platform developed through a partnership between R/GA and Nike, for example, has been credited with driving considerable sales increases in running shoes. As customers become invested in monitoring their progress, they’re more likely to turn to the brand that offers a reflection of their personal history the next time they have to replace a pair of trainers, or upgrade their car, or open a bank account.
When Nike Football (US) wanted to engage high school football players, data streams were harnessed from sports websites Max Preps and Stats Inc in Head2Head (another platform created by Nike and R/GA), which allows users to compare themselves with other players at any age and at any level. To lower the barriers to participation, personal information upload must be seamless and require little work on the participants’ part. Thus, to get started with Head2Head, the player enters their name to receive an instant visualisation of their stats displayed next to those of any high school opponent or pro player.
Self-tracking tools like this demonstrate how raw data can be transformed into branded and personalised experiences.
In their raw form, data sites often look like Excel spreadsheets intended for statisticians. But integrated within a simple, intuitive interface, the numbers can come to life through gorgeous visualisation and robust functionality. Until recently, one of the main limitations of traditional data visualisation was its focus on aesthetics over usefulness. Its main purpose was to easily and clearly communicate the data’s meaning. These new tools require both a balance of form and function. To invite participation, designers are then challenged to organise data so that it is easy to absorb, filter, compare, personalise, and share. The tools with the most intuitive interfaces encourage more frequent interaction.
As we enter what has been referred to as the most measurable age in history, there are opportunities for designers to explore data from a larger variety of sources, including personal sensors, self-reporting feeds, government sites, and Google streams. But central to any discussion of using personal data in this way are questions of ethics. One challenge for designers is how to incorporate the appropriate levels of control and privacy within the experience. How much personal information do customers really want to divulge or safeguard with a brand? What is the boundary between sharing and over-sharing? Likewise, what is our appetite for receiving constant updates about our friends’ progress with their weight loss, training, or carbon footprints? While there are warnings about the effects of information overload, indicators show that there is actually a growing appetite for the sharing of self-assessment data within social networks.
Take for instance Nike+, whose social features have been critical in keeping people engaged with the running platform. It now includes 2 million members who have logged more than 297,728,640 km (185 million miles). Runners are able to automatically broadcast their Nike+ data, including the distance, speed, and time of their runs, with their social networks on Facebook and Twitter. In a social context, these otherwise dry numbers become status symbols displayed with pride and currency that is traded among runners. To non-runners, these updates become a form of viral marketing that piques interest, enticing them to join in.
Data can also become a motivational force for social good. For example, while people are interested in reducing their carbon footprint, many still lack the information to shift their consumption patterns. A host of self-tracking tools are becoming available to help people manage their home energy consumption. Tools like EnergyHub communicate with mobile devices and alert people to places in the home where energy could be conserved. These systems help track and manage energy use of the entire home, and of individual appliances, in real time. Broadening beyond the individual home, they also connect members to others in their community so that reducing one’s energy becomes a game-like challenge.
Another source of untapped data that has the potential for large-scale environmental impact is the automobile dashboard’s instrument panel. Although a reliable reporter of what a car is doing at any given moment, the instrument panel typically tells people nothing about their performance as drivers. Ford sought to change this when it hired ideo and SmartDesign to figure out how to make the Ford Fusion Hybrid’s instrument panel a tool for more fuel-efficient driving. The SmartDesign team visualised drivers’ efficiency through clusters of leaves displayed on either side of the main instrument panel. As drivers observe their progress and are coached by SmartGauge to increase fuel economy over time, they ‘earn’ more leaves. Using a feedback loop from an on-board computer to achieve similar results, AKQA’s eco:Drive system for Fiat helps users analyse consumption and emissions on each journey they make and receive advice on how to drive in order to create less impact on the environment. Drivers who are more conscious of their ‘eco-responsible’ driving can expect to reduce their CO2 emissions by 15%.
The wave of data-driven applications continues to grow as people use their data to make positive shifts in their lives.
It is not hard to see a near future with a looming digital divide between committed self-trackers enabled by brands offering them tools for streaming analytics for health, financial security, and emotional well-being – and those who remain, quite simply, out of the loop.
Chloe Gottlieb is executive creative director, interaction design at R/GA in New York
We’ve seen some great gadgets and equipment for designers. So many cool stuff, that we could actually assemble infinite perfect office spaces! Every week we’ll assemble a perfect office, and we’d like you to help us. What equipment would the perfect office have?
Not only gadgets and equipment, but also furniture, sound system, gaming stuff (for lunch time!). A designer is totally allowed to dream with the perfect office, and that’s what we’re gonna do here! Comment telling us your suggestions, or even better, you may tell us via twitter. Alright? I hope you guys enjoy this brief selection. Cheers! 
Copenhagen Chair
Mid-century modern design meets old-world club attitude in the Copenhagen Chair. Sporting an egg-like design inspired by 1950s Danish design, the chair is wrapped in hand-distressed leather for a look that belongs in a long-standing cigar bar, and sits atop a brushed aluminum base that lets it swivel 360 degrees. Also great choice for the aspiring villainous world dominator’s desk. (at Uncrate)
Smash Hit – Shelf
From “The Who” to “The Clash”, from Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain, guitar smashing has become a time-honoured sacrament of rock ‘n’ roll. Bring this gesture of irreverence and fervour to your home, captured in a truly unique design that’s ready to steal the show in any ambiance. Smash Hit’s delicate matte lacquer finish is complemented by striking vinyl wall decors, which can be interchanged, allowing you to always update the shelf with a fresh and intriguing new look. (at Design Spotter)
Monsters Seating
Giant, soft, elastic monster seating “trained to put you in very uncomfortable positions.” The project is a collaboration between Pieke Bergmans and Innofa/Stretch Textiles, exhibiting at via Tortona 12 during Milan Design Week. (at Moco Loco)
Offside Wenge Table Football
A convertible foosball table that can be used as a dining table. The “playing surface and bars can be removed and hung up on the wall like a painting. In its place a wooden board can be used to make it a normal table.” A tempered glass table top is also available. (at Moco Loco)
Log & Squirrel Self Watering Planter
Pour water into the log and wait for the little squirrel to pop up and say hello. As long as you can see the squirrel you’ll know that your plant is a happy little plant but if the squirrel ducks back down into the log, it’s time to water the plant! It’s a perfectly pleasant planter for the home or the office. (at 7Gadgets.com)
iCharge Eco DX Solar Power
The iCharge Eco DX Solar Power is capable of harnessing the Sun’s power to recharge your cellphone but it is also possible to use a USB port or an AC Adapter to recharge it’s included 1350mAh battery. (at7Gadgets.com)
Preparation is key to successful management of any project, and design projects are no different. The more preparation that both client and designer do right at the start, the more smoothly the work will go.
I find checklists can be very useful, so I’ve prepared a checklist of things that clients should provide their designer at the outset. To follow this list will ensure the client and designer are dealing professionally as well as creating an efficient workflow.
A budget
Knowing the client’s budget allows the designer to establish what they will be able to realistically achieve for the money, and to perhaps suggest a range of options.
A complete list of the client’s design requirements
The client must make clear at the beginning just how much design work they will require, e.g. layout for a business card, letterhead and envelopes OR logo design plus web design plus email marketing template. Occasionally unexpected new design needs emerge for the client when a job is well underway, but any “extras” which are requested after work has commenced will involve more time and money, and should be bound by a new contract.
I once had a prospective client say “We don’t know yet how many layouts we want, so can you just give us a rough quote estimate in the meantime?” How can a designer quote on an unknown quantity or scale of work? That would be like asking an architect to quote for designing your house but not telling him how many rooms you want. It’s impossible.
A clear outline of why the design work is necessary and what the client expects to achieve
Whether it’s a print campaign, posters for a conference stall or a multimedia presentation, every design job involves a goal to be fulfilled. It’s good for the client to think through precisely what that goal is when preparing to meet with the designer. Equally, it’s important for the designer to ask questions about the client’s objectives, because the designer’s job is primarily about meeting the client’s needs.
An outline of who the target market or audience is for the design work
This is very important information which will guide a designer in all aspects of the work they do. An advertisement or poster aimed at teenage boys will look vastly different to one designed to catch the attention of their parents. Look at a well-designed promotional campaign and you will easily be able to tell who it has been designed for. A client who has a detailed understanding of their target market will get the design which best suits their needs.
A deadline
Even if the work isn’t urgent, a deadline is important for effective time management. Unless the scale of the design work is small, it may be useful for the client and the designer to negotiate a series of deadlines for stages of work.
High quality images
If the client has an existing logo to be used in the design work, it should be provided in vector format. The most common vector formats are Postscript (.eps) and Illustrator (.ai). A vector format allows the logo to be made bigger or smaller without losing image quality and clarity. A .jpg file is not a vector format and may not represent a client’s logo at its best, depending on its size.
Any photographs provided by the client should have a high resolution. The best resolution for photographs is 300dpi (dots per inch). I always recommend this to my clients even if the photographs will go on the web. Although the final photo will be published on the web at the lower resolution of 72dpi, I prefer a higher resolution to begin with. This enables me to better optimise any photographs (where necessary) and there is greater scope for resizing.
Images and text in their final form
Any text, photographs, illustrations or other material provided by the client should be given to the designer before work commences. It can be a drain on time and resources if a designer is left waiting for these things halfway through a project. All materials provided by the client should be in their final form with no future revisions necessary. Any changes which have to be made after the design work has been done will cost time and money.
Ownership info for third party images and text
When the client is providing images or text sourced from someone else, it’s crucial to also provide information on the legal permissions which have been obtained for the use of the material (if any are required). If attribution is required, the details should be provided to the designer before any work commences. This also applies for any other material (e.g. music or video) obtained from a third party.
Samples of previous design work (where applicable)
If a client has a seasonal marketing campaign, or their corporate identity needs to be revised, it will help to provide past design samples to the current designer. It’s useful to discuss what worked or didn’t work for the client last time, particularly in terms of customer/audience response or the direction which the client and/or their organisation wishes to take in future.
This may seem like an extensive list but all of the above can easily be covered during the first meeting to discuss the design brief.
