Savings.com site new feature, "UX'ed" by Charles Erdman

The Work

As part of their effort to continue building and launching features, I helped “architect” a new area of the site called “Answers.” This new service was a concept the company thought would deepen users’ relationship with the core service by engaging the emerging community in a new activity- becoming shopping guides. Savings.com has an active community of power users who scour the web looking for deals and coupons they can share on the site. “Answers” generates solutions or opinions to any question revolving around the researching and purchasing of products, services or merchandise.

I crafted the User Experience after careful examination of other Answer sites that have emerged on the web over the last year. Creating a forum for questions and answers is now a valued offering for many sites, not just Savings.com. It decreases call service volume and deepens the relationship with the brand. My workflow involved competitive research; feature inventories; whiteboard sketching of initial concepts and interaction patterns, before building finished wireframes.

UX process included white boarding an annotated wires by Charles Erdman.

Reference Sites

Here is a list of the sites I reviewed in order to architect an experience that was inline, and possible superior, within the context of Savings.com. Take a look and see what you think. By the way, Get Satisfaction is a Q/A site you can actually port and skin to your own company website. Pretty cool if any of you need it for your biz…

Mahalo.com
Yahoo Answers
Get Satisfaction
Deals.Woot
Aardvark

Client Site: www.savings.com
Partner’s Site: www.thegroop.net

P.S. I’m currently helping a team build the User Experience for the new MySpace re-design and re-brand, which will launch in October. Be on the look out for my next post to promote the upcoming releases of Focus (a UCLA and Dept. of Defense program), Quixote / Smashbox (Los Angeles production company) and JCPenney Rewards.

Problem: Nokia is struggling with a fractured product offering and image.

Solution: a renewed focus on the user’s needs and an immediate re-organization of all consumer-facing projects around this premise.

Irrelevant is a powerful word in a capitalist economy. Irrelevant happens when a company’s products or services don’t meet or exceed the baseline expectations. In the fast paced technology marketplace, if you don’t provide a comparable service you lose market share and become irrelevant in a very short time frame.

Nokia may still be the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, but that may not be enough to keep them relevant to the consumer dialogue happening around mobile applications, social networking and location based services. After reviewing their offering and taking an informal survey about their brand, I’ve generated some conclusions expressed in this post.

My observations are that (1) its all about the software; (2) Nokia must match their competitors before they can exceed them; (3) they need to leverage their newly emerging service platform; (4) they need to unify their communications to support one brand; and finally (5) I think they should consolidate their handset lines.

Here are my five thoughts in greater detail:

1. The Software Now Drives the Hardware

Hardware and software are no longer distinct in the eyes of the consumer. They must be as one. The touch screens place the emphasis on the software interaction. This new paradigm provides greater flexibility as the user interface (UI) can evolve over time and change according to an application’s needs. If the software must conform the hardware’s inputs, it is constrained. The hardware must only serve as a container for the software experience.

The fact that the UI drives the car is why Nokia may soon be irrelevant if their new flagship model, the N97, doesn’t create a stir with a satisfying TOTAL user experience. By total I mean the entire physical and screen experience. This includes: how the device sits in your hand; how the buttons feel when pushed; what feedback is provided upon input; how the UI behaves; how intuitive each transaction feels; and even how the whole phone syncs. Simply put, their OS needs to match the iPhone’s OS. That is the gold standard.

2. Match Standards

Nokia is still viewed as a hardware company by most of the world. They make a huge range of phones that serve a variety of audiences. If they are to succeed, their services solution (Ovi) needs to be fully integrated with their media handsets. If they can develop truly smart phones that has a comparable OS to their competitors linked to an expanding application marketplace, then they can match their competitors.

The key will be if they can do something unique with the core software applications (mail, calendar, contacts, media files, etc.). One application that is part of the Ovi offering is mapping. After a thorough review, my opinion can be summed up in two words, “not yet.” They haven’t even incorporated the basic features that we have been taught to expect by Google or Yahoo Maps. Once they can provide the baseline, then they can make incremental improvements.

The CEO has publicly declared that they are a “solutions company”. He has also stated that they are placing a greater emphasis on location based services. They will need to match the standard set by a number of others, like Google’s Latitude service, in order to fulfill on that promise. Once that is achieved, then they can start providing innovative solutions.

3. Be an Open API Service Provider

As with all social structures and software initiatives that are fluid, Nokia must harness the power of the community. Communities know what they want. They are quick to reward a product or service that successfully addresses a need.

To stay innovative, Nokia should focus on providing developers with their OS and Ovi Mapping API. If Nokia provides a solid OS and core applications platform, then fully opens (not partially) the APIs, the development community will go nuts. The mapping features can be expanded and touch all the core communiation and social activities. that model simplifies Nokia’s task immensely by placing the burden of innovation upon the community.

So follow the open-source movement. Focus on creating a platform that encourages experimentation, commercial reward and community input. Considering the market share of handsets that Nokia enjoys, they can easily get momentum in their favor.

4. Unify The Brand

Nokia currently has a number of products and services that utilize different style guides and messages. This provides their marketing and service vendors with a huge opportunity to unify the consumer’s perception of Nokia.

“Comes With Music”, the Ovi Store, the Nokia Store, local and global websites, and .Mobi all appear different and disconnected in the online environment. There is little energy around their traditional marketing. It feels fragmented and unfocused. They need to consolidate their vendors and unify their internal fiefdoms. It’s a process of change management on a very large scale.

The rewards will be a consistent impression of the company and its services. Remember, a brand is not what YOU say it is. A brand is what THEY say it is. Capture your core audiences loyalty and their friends will follow.

5. Cull The Herd

Lastly, I think they need to bring down the variety of handsets they offer to fewer lines that target specific activities and budgets. Each line should service a particular need in a simple and elegant manner. Each phone should always, always sync with their software service, Ovi, so a continuous bond between handset and software services is established. The user must feel that they are taken care of by Ovi and Nokia. If a Nokia phone will be desirable if it allows for immediate ownership of cool apps, then people feel special. Consumer’s are all about how to be special within their tribe.

In a world of options, the consumer needs focus. Nokia needs to provide that focus and direct their audience to the right product. Right now, its too confusing.

In conclusion, if Nokia took just a few of these suggested steps, it would gain mind share again. From a recent survey I took of friends from the U.S. and European markets, I learned that Nokia does not control the conversation about their brand. It is a fractured perception- just like their offering. They are not perceived as relevant to the market forces that are driving the mobile industry.

To their credit, they may be putting in place the tools to reenter that space. They are probably wrapping all of their services into the Ovi Store and beginning to unify their brand. The launch of the N97 will hopefully make a splash. The mobile phone market is moving quickly and the consumer’s expectations of how their “media device” must behave has shifted in a massive way.

It’s time for Nokia to turn up the volume and be relevant to the consumer’s needs. It’s time for user-centered product development approach.

Now they are applying the idea of “SHIFT_” to the next generation of automobile purchasers- generation 2000 or the millennium generation. I was slow to realize that anyone born in the late eighties and early nineties is now at an age where their parents are buying them cars. I was slow, because… well… I’m getting older and didn’t realize that they were not only out of diapers, but have become official consumers…

The SHIFT_ tag may be a bit stale, but I could make the argument that the structure provides flexibility while reinforcing core brand qualities. The idea has been to distinguish Nissan as an innovator in the mind of the consumer. Nissan shifts the perception of an automobile- its uses, its design, its ability to inspire, its ability to aspire- away from merely transportation.

The website does this quite well particularly as it pertains to their newest model, the Nissan Cube.

As with everything, the “Millennials” are pushing marketing language to reflect their view of the world: transient, mobile, social, unhierarchical, abbreviated and global just scratch the surface. Chiat Day and Nissan’s interactive vendor (The Designory or are they back with Sapient?) acknowledges this in the website’s section dedicated to the vehicle. One of the first images even declares the car to be not an automobile, but a “mobile device.”

This model is funky, fun and unconventional. It would appear to compete with Toyota’s Scion series and Honda’s Element. The boxy styling is born from Japanese miniature designs that push small personal spaces in tight urban settings. The car has a small wheel base and place the occupants in a more upright position. I viewed a recent exhibition at the London Science Museum on this very subject.

This generation is unique in that it demands to participate with the media being designed for them. They want the opportunity to comment, share and come to their own communal opinions. They want to personalize. They want to tweak mass market products to feel unique. They are a generation who -in a time of endless options- want their choices to proclaim they are distinct from “others.”

Notice the marketing language of the site- its all about personalization. It speaks to two audiences- the child and the parent. The language says- Be different (yet part of a tribe). Be quirky (yet practical). Be unconventional (in your purchases, not in your judgment). It reassures the young adult that they are hip, cool, distinct and… special. And for the parents who are buying the car- be safe (a value statement) and affordable…

This marketing language represents a SHIFT in marketing insight. No longer should communications be “top down” emerging from the company and broadcast to the consumer. It is now about an evolving model of consumer-to-consumer communications with the company trying to participate. It is the language of social networking, blogs and instantaneous access.

However, this is not as new a conversation as it may seem. Quite the contrary, it is the old and relevant dialogue of branding where the consumer tells YOU what the brand is, not the company telling the consumer.

The take-away of this emerging dialogue is that we are at the cusp of a more “interactive” marketing era. The demands of a generation who want to be special in a world of options and commodities are just being felt as their purchasing power grows. Marketers must adapt to the new communication mediums and methods of breaking in to the conversation.

The first step is to create the dialogue and chatter. Next, try and influence it by appropriating the forums for communication. If I were Nissan’s marketing group, I would now create a Cube Owner affinity site which would consist of community stories around vehicle modifications, trips and experiences. Help the car owners own the site. Make it a hub for all things Cube. Generate third-party after market merchandise. In essence, create sustainable buzz and indespensibile membership. SHIFT how the Millennials view their transporation…

Mr. Mau was spot on with this statement and it is exactly the experience I had checking out a bike in Paris, France. The process was rife with usability gaps making me aware of the system’s design.

Problem: A difficult check-out process discourages use.

Solution: Create two entry paths into system for repeat and first time users.

On one early Parisian morning before my family had awaken, I left our hotel and approached a bike station. The kiosk was inviting and after first reviewing the display screen and then the input device, I started punching buttons. I selected my language (British) and then started the process of checking out a bicycle.

The verification and selection process essential is broken down into two phases which was never communicated to me. I’ll start with the first.

Phase One:

1. Activate screen
2. Indicate length of rental pass: one day or one week
3. Chose payment method
4. Swipe card
5. Enter card PIN
6. Card confirmation
7. Receive receipt of day pass purchase and pass number.
8. End session.

Now I should have been on top of this, but during the first phase, I swiped my card and made my first mistake. I was focused on the main screen to provide feedback on my card status. What I missed was that the second screen – located at waist height – was waiting for me to enter my PIN number. Since I didn’t see this prompt, the credit card verification process failed and my card was declined.

I had to re-initiate the process with another card thinking my funds had run dry. I finally realized my error and looked down. I felt a bit foolish, but completed the task. The kiosk printed out a receipt and thanked me for the business. Wait, how do I get the bike? Was I going to be charged for a bike that I didn’t have? I was NOT feeling secure in this transaction (a key usability principle of all digital task flows).

I started the process again, unknowingly starting phase two.

Phase Two:

1. Activate screen.
2. Enter in the day pass number.
3. Receive confirmation that the account is active.
4. Indicate that you do not need help or want to check the status of your account. Instead, select the equivalent of “rent a bike”.
5. Enter the bike number you wish to rent.
6. Bike position is now primed for you to remove the bike (maybe it stays that way for ten minutes?).
7. The screen indicates that the process is now complete and “signs off” returning to the home screen.
8. Walk to bike position, press button and remove bike from the station.

At the point where I was prompted to chose a bike number, I left the kiosk to go inspect the bikes. I wanted one that was clean and had inflated tires. Of course, during this time someone could have come in and started their own checkout. When I returned to the kiosk with my memorized bike number, the screen had timed out…

Obviously the system should have prompted the user to chose a suitable bike before initiating the checkout process. OK, let’s start this again…

After going through the necessary steps again and getting to the seventh step, I notice that the prompt is NOT asking me to choose from all the bikes available, but from two of the approximately twenty bikes available at this location.

I walk out to inspect which of the two is in the best condition and upon my return find the screen has timed out again. This was now officially frustrating…!

This was a longer process than I had anticipated. I was being required to learn the system through trial and error. If this was a website, I would have moved on to another task by now. My time for a ride around the city in the early morning light was being eaten up simply trying to figure out how to checkout a bike- the purpose of the program.

The point of this post is to show how interfaces in the real world are similar to online or mobile ones. If it’s poorly executed, we are aware of the flaws and our perception of the whole business proposition is negatively affected. Each application must be designed with the end-user in mind. Usability design practices must be observed to develop tasks flows that are intuitive and consistent.

My solution for this problem would be to have two entry methods in to the system. The first is for newbies who are being acquainted with the system and require greater guidance. The second is for repeat users who are on the fast track. If this simple solution were instituted, it might encourage a larger population to use the bikes. I know I’m not the first tourist to be frustrated by this process.

A communal bike system is an excellent resource and should be a model for all urban areas. However, this execution failed to live up to the promise. It felt like the processing requirements of each technical system (identify verification, payment transaction, time/place stamping, etc.) were poorly integrated.

Ultimately, I had a very enjoyable bike ride. I experienced Paris at a human pace while getting exercise and using no petroleum. I will use the system again, but next time, I’ll know how to work with its eccentricities to get to my ride faster. Fortunately for government, there doesn’t exist a competing rental program.

This new bike frame, from Brano Meeres Engineering, epitomizes the experiments of individuals testing and developing till a new product becomes commercially viable. Traditional bike frames have experimented with new materials over the years with the goal of decreasing the weight, increasing strength and influencing the frame’s flex. Now comes a frame that adds another goal- use a sustainable material.

Reading the designer/developer’s blog entries communicates the challenges and tests using a new material. Not only does this new material have an aesthetic appeal, but from a cradle-to-cradle perspective, it is right on target. FYI- the term of Cradle to Cradle is a phrase coined by Walter R. Stahel in the 1970s and popularized by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

I hope I’ll be able to find these in my local bike shop in the near future. View the originating site here.