The entire sum of human knowledge can be accessed directly from a glowing rectangle in your hand. In just two generations we’ve created a science fiction then delivered a science fact.
But the internet has a dirty secret. The fact that we can get a can of unicorn meat delivered to us in less than 24 hours is no longer amazing. We’re swimming in a tepid bath of the world’s information and I think we’re beginning to see what’s behind the curtain. We’re beginning to realise that using the internet is frustrating.
When I say frustrating, I’m not referring to the information, I’m talking about the way we get to that information. How we interact with the Internet, from research buying a new car to logging into your banking details, is generally really poor. It’s like the service aspect of digital channels has been ignored in the rush to put this information online. We delivered the future so how on earth did we get here?
As ever, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The major reason was that rush to put services online in the first place. Cost efficiencies were grabbed, functionality was scoped out and duly implemented to the letter. And in this crucible of innovation something was lost. A lack of personality and empathy in the final product gave rise to the culture of “Computer Says No”. We see it every day and we grudgingly accept the durge of badly considered online experiences. Digital has been slow to recognise this problem and even slower at working out how to rectify it.
At Good we do the standard user journey mapping and a lot of deep thought goes into the user experience for each of our client’s websites. But we believe that you need to layer brand values onto this user experience. That’s not about the logo or the font but understanding how the brand values influence the website from the big splash image to the way that error messages are shown. This is what lifts the experience from beyond functional to the pleasurable.
At Good we’re saying enough to ‘computer says no’ and demanding more ‘computer says please and thank you’. More ‘computer says how can I help?’. More ‘here’s a nice surprise’. We’re wanting more moments of delight that are inspired by brands and the values that they represent. This is what we’re calling Good brand behaviours.
We’ve always seen Good as a hybrid agency, one that lives and defines brand at its heart but can be excellently placed to uniquely deliver on these brand values in digital channels. We’re still on the road in making the Internet a little less frustrating. Drop me a line if you’d like to see more on how we’re achieving some great results.