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Design for the Digital Age... Are you ready?
I attended the Design for the Digital Age Conference, put on by the RGD on Thursday, September 18th. Some great content came out of it, and I felt I should share some of it with you. See my 8 key takeaways below.
1) As Steve Dotto from DottoTech.com pointed out, disruptive technology (new technology that unexpectedly replaces an established technology) is always cheaper and more accessible. It can destroy those who didn’t see it coming, but it creates opportunity for those who take advantage and embrace it. Think of AM radio VS the iPod or Satellite Radio. Be aware of this, keep your eyes and ears open to what’s happening out there and figure out how to leverage it and work with it to your advantage. Choosing to remain ignorant can have more negative consequences than you can sometimes imagine.
2) Steve Dotto and Carlson Marketing’s mobile marketing guru and avid blogger, Phil Barrett agreed on this very point. Building your own personal brand is as important as building up a professional resume. Be sure to manage and watch this responsibly, and like a hawk. Building your own blog will act as an extension of your portfolio. Everyone should check and see if their personal domain name is available. Mr. Bob Avery, have you registered bobavery.com as yet? If so, do it now. Have you checked out Twitter? If you’re not familiar with it, is allows you to post tidbits of information to your connections. (ie. “I’m speaking at a conference with the RGD” or “I just launched a new website for Canadian Tire”). Your community will watch in awe at all of the interesting things you’re doing within your industry, and will come to respect you for your initiatives.
3) Social media is impacting design in a great way, stated Phil Barrett. It’s not about design anymore as much as being driven by “experience”. It’s not about creating a “sticky” site anymore, but about syndication. It’s not about simply publishing content anymore, but about enabling participation with your content. One-way VS. Two-way conversation, based on interactive and ongoing feedback. Single media VS. converged / cross-media. Brand to mass audience VS. brand to individual consumer. Fully controlled messaging to messaging shared with consumers and consumer groups. Do you see where I’m going?
4) .Mobi – The first and only internet domain designed for mobile. Works on any mobile phone in the world. Anyone looking to design a site for mobile should go to http://dev.mobi for a style guide. It’ll help you to ensure that your site is properly optimized for .mobi. Some points to note when designing for .mobi.
-Quick download times
-Easy navigation
-Clean pages, no frames
-Sharply defined usage objectives
Anyone wanting to design their own mobile site for free (and in 5 minutes) can test one at www.mobilesitegalore.com. Give it a try.
5) We were lucky enough to have Jean-Pierre Lacroix from internationally acclaimed Shikatani Lacroix Design Inc. join us to discuss what is driving change, from the pre-digital era to today’s digital era. Previously, designers were thought of as “magicians” and wizards of their art. The process to getting things done was slow, drawn out and complex. Today, technology is the “magician”. Companies now want things faster, cheaper and better. They’re also looking at more integrated programs, and more efficient ways of running the process. Some of the things driving the change include faster trends, heightened competition, increased processing power, software capabilities, compressed processes, fast digital approval platform, lower cost threshold, the world is “flat” with access to global content, and better collaboration tools.
6) Then came Ryan Wolman, Creative Director from interactive agency Henderson Bas, who urged us to be careful about overusing the word “Viral”. It doesn’t mean adding a “tell-a-friend”. If it is viral-worthy, your users will find a way to spread the word on their own, without your assistance. Many clients feel that they can create a page on their website that enables user commenting, and that this will take off. However, social media works because it enables consumers to dialogue with one another in their own space. Why would they come onto yours to share with one another when they can create their own, own it and have more freedom to chat?
7) One key take-way that Wolman stated is common practice at his agency is to create a “risk management” list with the client pre-launch of any potentially viral or social media campaign. Users are going to talk, so it is imperative to prepare clients for this, and to discuss how to address it. This preparation speaks to many of the things that could spark up any negative attention with consumers (ie, does your product pollute the environment, do you have unhappy staff that are boycotting your company, is your product perceived negatively by a large group of people?, etc.) The important thing to note is for the client to always be honest about their brand, and for them to address the community, the brand-haters and brand advocates.
8) And lastly, the topic that’s always on marketer’s minds when it comes to social media. How do I measure my ROI? First thing to note – viral marketing rarely works as an isolated execution. The brand has to be built with “social” in mind. You need to establish benchmarks and goals before the campaign begins. What are your key success factors? Don’t let it all be about clicks – let engagement also be an important factor. Don’t be afraid of failure. Test. Evaluate. Learn. Apply. Optimize. Try again. Think about it this way. This gives you the opportunity to try out a number of different mediums and tactics, finding what works for you, as opposed to spending $1M on TV and seeing the same results as what you’ve always seen.
Fantastic day. Great conversation, and an opportunity to keep up-to-date on what’s going on out there in the world of digital media.
~Trina Boos/ Director of Business Development / Torque
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