Designing for your brand or business has evolved. 

The focus used to be on esthetics, and now the design has turned into an iterative process focused on the customer journey. 

By understanding the path to purchase and various touchpoints throughout, we can design with the intention to make it easier for users.
What's new?
What's new in Marketing?
Instagram Retires IGTV Brand, Merges Video Feed Posts into a Single Format - Instagram has made it official, with the merging of its long-form IGTV offering into a more general ‘Instagram Video’ format, meaning the end of separate IGTV branding - and ideally, a more streamlined Instagram experience.
Why Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp All Went Down Today - A FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, WhatsApp, and Oculus outage knocked every corner of Mark Zuckerberg’s empire offline on Monday that can most charitably be described as “thorough” and seems likely to prove particularly tough to fix.
Facebook whistleblower says the company has overcharged advertisers - Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has turned over documents that reportedly show the company knows about (and downplays) its role in human trafficking, perpetuating misinformation, and spurring serious mental-health concerns among teenagers.

What's Working?
Every consumer has a story. Every story has a journey. That journey details the joys and pains that each of your customers experiences when interacting with your brand.

 

You need to understand how these interactions connect, overlap, and influence the customer experience.

Let’s begin!
The Importance of User-Centric Design
User-Centric Design is important because it improves the user experience.

It is an iterative process whereby the design is constantly testing, learning and optimizing to ensure the path to purchase or conversion is easy for the end-user.

Tailoring the design towards the user through involvement makes it easier to understand and engage with your product.
Design Impacts Users
Creating with your user in mind requires research, strategies, and a willingness to adapt. 

Before you design, identify:

Who is using your product?
What are they using it for?
Why do they need your product? 
What solutions can you offer?

Create highly usable products that are easy to navigate and leave users with no unanswered questions.

Define your end-point and develop strategies that work towards it. 
Understanding Your Customer
You can define your user through the process of User Personas.

The designers need to understand:

Who the user is
What goal they are trying to achieve
Any blockades between them and their goal

When you define your user, you can focus on their genuine needs and avoid the development of unnecessary features and products.

Surveys are a great way to identify users and understand their motives and interests.
Understanding the User Journey