BRANDING BASICS

:) Something you might find interesting:

 Branding Dictionary

Logo – Authenticity

Title – Name

Tagline – Attitude

Category – Intent

Label – Storyline

           Color – Mood

Style - Beauty

Theme – Identity

Interface – Recognition

Brand – Love, Culture

.......So on and so forth

          Banding Encyclopedia

                     
                     User control and freedom

Users often get into OR choose some portal functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "to do OR emergency exit" without having to go through an extended dialogue. (e.g. light box) 

Consistency and standards

Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. 

Error prevention

Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action. 

Recognition rather than recall

Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible and memorable. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the portal should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate. 

Flexibility and efficiency of use

Accelerators – not witnessed by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the portal can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. 

Aesthetic and minimalist design

Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility. 

Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

Error messages should be expressed in plain language, relevant icons & symbols (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution/next step. 

Help and documentation

Even though it is better if the portal/solution can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help/training documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large (topic, category, information, meta, file type, size filters).

User Interface Factors

Object Level

Element Level

·         Layout ·         Template ·         Format ·          Shape ·          Size ·          Dimensions ·          Leading ·          Margin ·          Padding ·          Nomenclature ·         Pictures ·         Videos ·         Colors ·         Images ·         Styles ·         Content ·         Paragraph ·         Heading ·         Title ·         Byline ·         Alerts ·         Warnings ·         Notifications ·         Errors ·         Emails ·         Popups ·         Tooltips ·         Hover ·         Description

·          Logos ·          Icons ·          Symbols ·          Typeface ·          Rule/Bars ·          Border ·          Links ·          Placement ·          Animation ·          Success ·          Progress ·          Navigation ·          Menus ·         Login ·         Handlers ·          Search ·          Filters ·         Labels ·         Tables ·         Input-box ·         Radio ·         Checkbox ·         Bullets

HCI Level

Functionality Level

·          Monitors ·          Browsers ·          Printers ·          Mobiles ·          Keyboards ·          Mouse ·          Ram ·          Users ·          Lists ·          Libraries ·          Calendar ·          Date ·          Retention ·          Drop down ·          Input ·          Popup ·          Light-Box ·          Memorability ·          Readability ·          New tab ·          Window

·            Profiles ·            Personalization ·            Help ·            Forms ·            Web parts ·            Newsletter ·            Feedback ·            Campus ·            Email ·            Active/Inactive ·            Show/Hide ·            Tab index ·            Header ·            Footer ·            Menus ·            Feeds ·            Paging ·            Alignment ·            Validation ·            Delays ·            Effects ·            Pause ·            Play ·            Like ·            Ratings ·            Tags ·            Comment ·            Buttons ·              Filters ·              Metadata ·              Metrics/Stats ·              Adoption ·              Reports

Well, below are few basic points that a UI person has to consider while branding:

What: ________________________________________________

For whom: ___________________________________________

What is needed: _____________________________________

Against what: ________________________________________

What is different: ______________________________________

So that: ______________________________________________

• The goal should be to stimulate an engaging conversation that allows us to change perception, diagnose expectations and bring clarity towards the interface.
• The Portal personality, images, core competencies and characteristics, the impression that the team want to make as well as the words staff would use to describe the Portal is the basic framework

Consistency is Key

• As we are do - everyone in the branding team shall suggest what they want, see, think and feel about the portal.  That’s the story which should drive the impact beyond just the walls of pictures. Collaboration is powerful and effective. 
• What are the Limitations – for intranet it might be better to promote or get-it-right and not to go for too heavy branding?

Going about it…

• As conclusive and solid as our branding results might seem, other stakeholders -- especially staff, marketing team, customers, and prospects—must have an opportunity to weigh in on our design. What may sound good to us might disconnect with other users & stakeholders. Let us also build in steps at various stages of the brand work to make sure our conclusions are tracking. Whether it is round tables, focus groups, card sorting or other ways of getting the correct inputs, it will be invaluable (and avoid surprises down the road).
• Also we would like to create the "web style guide" document--a record of the results and decisions--in stages or chapters after every step in the branding process. Recommendations and key conclusions are captured in there and then distributed to the team and others, identified as requiring input (like senior management or board members).
• When we reach the conclusion of the branding process, we will have the complete story of our re-branded portal in a concise and compelling document that will serve as the basis for implementation and any tactical work that will result (like logo design, style, usage or refer-to guide, etc.)
  
  
  
  User Interface Analysis:

Requirements and schedules

Wireframes

Survey Results

Card Sorting Results

Team inputs

Communication Team

Risks/Issues and activities to minimize them

Adaptation & consumption of latest

Limitation on features & functionalities

Integration with third party applications

Content control

UI portions of deliverable documents

Header Specifications

Wireframe Documents

Low Level Branding

Portal Style Guide

UI portions of Information Plan

Dictionary for Errors, Warnings, Descriptions, Labels, Titles etc.

Use Cases, Story boarding

Reports, Metrics & Statistics

UI configuration control procedures

Configuration requirements, HCI etc.

Change management / Versions

Test cases