With over 3 million apps, 946 million websites and over 200 major social networks, the competition to capture user’s attention has never been more fierce.

How can your brand voice cut through the noise? How can it to become a market leader? This question preoccupies almost every business today and has resulted in a myriad of web design and content marketing strategies. 

London commuters

Image Source: Evening Standard

The answer lies in User Experience Design (UXD), the process of enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty by improving the usability, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the customer and the product.

Today’s users are tired of generic online copy and predictable interfaces. They not only demand an effortless experience, but one that creates a sense of human connection. 

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How can you achieve this through UX design? It sounds like it could be really difficult, but we like this simple three step guide that brand strategist Laura Busche outlined in her guest post for InvisionApp.

  1. Decide on your brand personality
  2. Define your brand voice
  3. Translate this into user experience 

Let's go through these steps one by one.


What is brand personality and why is it important?

brand personalityA consistent brand personality makes a brand more relatable and memorable to consumers. It makes your users feel more like they’re interacting with people than computer code, which makes them more likely to engage with your brand and purchase your product or service. This is why a consistent brand personality usually increases brand equity.

There are tons of brand personality to choose from, but they generally fall into 5 types which have their own unique set of traits:

Excitement (animated, light-hearted, passionate)

Sincerity (honest, thoughtful, polite)

Ruggedness (tough, athletic, forceful)

Competence (polished, accomplished, influential)

Sophistication (discerning, estimable, proficient)

Remember that your choice of brand personality will affect what users you attract (or put off!) so you should base your decision on the typical personality profiles of your customers.


What is brand voice and why is it important?

After defining your brand personality you’ll have a better idea of how to interact with the user. The next step is to ensure your brand story is told with a consistent voice. This will affect every stage of your user’s experience with the produce and will become a crucial part of your sales collateral, content marketing and customer support.

What is the difference between voice, tone and language? Voice is the overall style in which your brand communicates to the world, whereas tone reflects a particular attitude to a specific situation. Language refers to the words you use to express yourself.

“Your brand uses a specific language to address different situations with particular tones that reflect its overall voice.” Laura Busche

Once you’ve established your brand voice, it’s useful to create a set of guidelines and examples to help everyone on your team communicate with users in a way that is consistnet with your brand personality and voice.


How to Translate Brand Personality into UX design

UX plays a crucial role in shaping the way that customers perceive brands. This means that every single interaction someone has with your brand is an opportunity for you to improve how they see your company.

First-time user experiences may form a lasting impression, but you also need to consider those who have been interacting with your brand for weeks, months or years – across multiple devices and channels. So whatever framework you like to use to map out the entire user experience, your brand’s voice and personality should be incorporated at every singlecustomer touchpoint.

Transforming robot-speak into a vibrant voice and personality can be daunting, which is why it’s helpful to consolidate your decisions on design, voice, tone and language into a handbook. It helps you stay on-brand whilst allowing you to experiment creatively within limits.

Need some inspiration? Styleguide.io showcases a range of design and voice and tone guides from many of the world’s most loved brands including Apple, MailChimp, Lonely Guide, Starbucks, Buffer, GitHub and Buzzfeed.

In order for new products or services to be adopted by a mass market, strategy, design and development must work together to create a lovable brand and product that is compelling, easy-to-use and useful. Lying at the epicentre of these three disciplines, UX is future brand strategy. 

 

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Looking for a new UX position? Get in touch with our UX specialist, Milly Allen by emailing milly@burnssheehan.co.uk or connecting with her on LinkedIn. You can also browse our current vacancies and read some more posts on our blog for career advice and the latest tech industry insights.