disclaimer: I am not a Branding expert but it is infused into the considerations of my work, so I am working through some ideas out loud.
In an earlier post I showed “Brand Needs” and “Business Desires” as consideration of the UX practice. I would like to amend that. I think it is actually “Brand Desires” and “Business Needs”
The attributes of a Brand are wishes. They are what a company hopes people will feel about their company and products. The Brand will exist even if these particular views/feelings of the Brand are not realized. It may not be the Brand perception we were going for but it doesn’t necessary mean the project was damaging to the business. We should do everything we can to further the desires of the Brand but keep a realistic perspective on our ability to effect it.
In the case of the Business, I was trying to get at the fact that what the company thinks they “need” from the digital realm may not always be accurate.
For example, they may want to increase traffic to their Help section because they feel it will decrease calls to customer service, but in reality an increase to the Help section may mean people are having trouble navigating or understanding the site. A business may also want to get people through the check-out process as quickly as possible to increase sales but if the customers expectations of the product or agreement are not properly set before check out this could result in fewer sales in the future.
The Business “Desires” the site to work in a particular way but the “Needs” of the business are what we must concern ourselves with. For example: the business must maintain profitability, it must not harm the customers, it must establish and meet expectations.
Of course we can often satisfy “Needs” and “Desires” but I am trying to see if there is a way to set priorities for our practice.
What do you think?
