User Experience Researcher
Visual Design
Measuring the expression of a brand
Purposes
Evaluative Summative
Data Types
Quantitative
Commodity
Attitudinal Traces
Methods
Surveys
Instruments
UserTesting.com, Qualtrics, Excel, Adobe Creative Suite
01 | Project Overview
In an effort to unify Vivint's portfolio of home security and automation products, the Industrial Design Team created a Visual Design Language. This language was intended to guide design into a 10-year strategy given the full product lifecycle of product development.
The teams had worked for years to bring cohesion to Vivint's existing portfolio, which historically consisted of disparate products from various manufacturers. The Industrial Design (ID) Team had finally grown into a headcount that afforded more forward-thinking strategy.
02 | Problem
The company could not fund a full, single portfolio redesign for its products. Product design occurred towards the end of a current device's lifecycle or at the inception of a new product.
Based on how long it took to bring a more cohesive look to Vivint's products, the team forecasted a portfolio redesign timeline of 10 years. The team wanted some evidence to support a visual design strategy that could maintain relevancy and appeal over such a long period of time considering changing trends in technological products.
03 | Research Goals & Objectives
The goal of this research was to provide the evidence that would defend the decision to move forward with a single preconcept* that would govern future design efforts among multiple preconcepts.
A note on the term "preconcept"
The only artifacts that I had in conducting this research were a set of 3 dimensional renderings of actual product designs. This determined the most appropriate method given that images are single-sensory stimuli. I walked the teams through the various stages of stimuli through the research process to help set the correct expectations for the final outputs. I was then able to guide the ID teams to create the best renderings to accurately depict the design concepts.
04 | Strategy & Methodology
Beneath the methodology of the survey were multiple frameworks that I've used to help ensure in-depth evaluations of designs across the multi-dimensional complexity of preference.
The following framework originates from the Offenbach Theory of Product Language and cites three dimensions of conscious thought when developing an opinion of a design.
Building the Strategic Framework
Visceral
Level of consciousness
Formal-Aesthetic
Dimension
This is the dimension in which first impressions are formed, the initial impact and feel that gives us a visceral level of consciousness.
Behavioral
Level of consciousness
Indicative-Instrumental
Dimension
Serving as a sign or indication of the expectation of a product's function to serve human needs.
Reflective
Level of consciousness
Symbolic-Social
Dimension
This is the dimension in which a product reflects the identity of an individual and their needs for membership and status within a social group.
Questions a consumer might ask themselves
What do I think about this?
What can I expect this thing to do based on how it looks?
How does this make me look to others?
Structured into each level of consciousness is Charles E. Osgood's work on the semantic meanings of words, referred to as EPA (Evaluation, Potency, and Activity. Osgood's groundbreaking work established semantic differentials in the world of research and gave researchers a way to map meaning.
Evaluation
Dimension
Goodness
vs
Badness
The degree to which something is perceived as positive or negative. It captures overall desirability of a concept.
Behavioral
Dimension
Powerlessness
vs
Powerfuleness
The degree to which something is perceived as strong or weak. It captures perceived strength, magnitude, or influence.
Activity
Dimension
Quietness
vs
Liveliness
The degree to which something is perceived as active or passive. It captures perceived dynamism, movement, or energy.
Questions a consumer might ask themselves
What do I like it or hate it?
Is it stronger or weaker than me?
Is it faster or slower than me?
I then created a document, in this case a spreadsheet, that I used to translate the brand language into a mapping tool. I worked in close collaboration with the design teams to ensure we did not lose the brand intent through this translation.
Implementing the Strategic Framework
The next step was to translate the visual design language from one that designers spoke and understood into one that consumers could understand. I worked with the designers in a series of workshops to explore terms we could implement through a survey.
We landed on a 30-item semantic differential questionnaire that represented the visual design language across the three levels of consciousness, incorporating the three dimensions of sentiment within each level.
The Survey Methodology
Participants
Proportional sampling of age and gender(50/50), home owners
Study Design
Between Subjects
Stimuli
Digital images of concepts and variants
Methods
Semantic Differentials
Instruments
UserTesting.com
Each group of survey participants were shown an image depicting three product designs that reflected the design direction for a single concept or variation. The product designs were presented in relation to common objects to help participants determine their actual size.
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For comparative data, we showed three separate groups of participants designs from existing competitor products.
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I also included a group of participants who were shown a fake concept as a means to help test the sensitivity of the differentials selected for the measurement.
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The survey was launched through UserTesting.com to ensure full participation and to capture qualitative insights.
05 | Analysis and Synthesis
When the surveys were all completed, I began the tasks of analyzing all of the data. First was assessing reliability, confidence intervals, variance, and other basic statistical analyses. This was followed by dozens of cross-tabulations to explore patterns and differences based on demographics and preferences.
Measurement Sensitivity
The design intended to test the sensitivity did prove successful. Ultimately the design was hated - and the empirical evidence was statistically significant. Using various military technologies and Adobe Creative Suite, I created a design that was in opposition to many of the intend qualities of the ID team's intent.
The results, depicted by a red line, clearly show its deviation from the other designs presented in the study.
06 | Conclusions
Based upon to data presented from the research, the ID team was able to choose a single direction, with executive sponsorship, in which to move forward into the next phase of high-fidelity prototypes.
All design concepts were plausible solutions based on an initial analysis of the data, but through further, deeper review and with supporting sentiments expressed from participants in UserTesting.com, a single idea did emerge above all others.
07 | Retrospective
Overall the research initiative proved successful in its intended outcomes.
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The team had a definitive direction with the support of leadership
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Extra costs were avoided in unnecessary production modeling
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There were even a few extra benefits that the ID team gained throughout the process of this research.
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The frameworks gave them a forward thinking strategy for future branding and visual design language exercises. Almost two years later, they are utilizing the methodology employed in this study
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​Product Marketing began collaborating with research to utilize insights further upstream in the development process