Note: See all my notes from Internet Summit 2011 by clicking here.

Here are my quick and dirty live notes from Sherry Bastion’s talk at the ISUM2011 conference on 2011-15-2011. Thanks for a great talk, Sherry!

Apologies for the formatting — this is a crude copy & paste…

Usabillity: Digital Experiences that Build Brand, Loyalty, and Sales

Sherry Bastion, Web Creative Director, Lenovo US

@sbastion

Consistency

Being the same type of person/brand online as you are offline.

Relevance

Best brands speak to customer needs

There is no such thing as a neutral exchange — customers who respond to surveys saying “I don’t know” or “I don’t care” are actually having negative experiences.

Building Brand/Loyalty with a website.

Step 1: Get Noticed.

“Awareness” is how people spread the word about your company/offerings.

Step 2: Spark Interest

Give visitors content they understand, about your product. In the funnel, this is a “consideration” point.

Videos, customer reviews, people talking about your product.

The idea is to cause a transformation, converting a curious browser into a paying customer.

Step 3: Invite Revisits

You got them once, now get them to come back again.

Turn one-time buyers into repeat, lifelong(?) customers.

Step 4: Motivate Advocates

Allegiance: Inspire your best customers to evangelize your products and/or services.

75% of people make a judgment about an organization’s credibility based solely on the design of their website.

It takes an average of 50 milliseconds to make that judgment: I hate it, I love it, I don’t know what to do.

People respond to trustworthiness — what people are responding to is their expectation of who you are. Does this site engage me in the same way as the thing that brought me here?

There are many different roles in the organization that go into website design — they all touch each other and overlap. It’s hard to “stay in your lane” because of that. Writers care about what their words will look like, and designers care about what the pages will say.

Site optimization is something that happens every day. You don’t do it once and walk away.

THREE IMPORTANT PILLARS OF USABILITY

Content, Design, Information Architecture

Even basic formats carry meaning.

Wall of text -> formatted wall of text -> visually designed presentation

Help your users succeed.

As a designer, you’re not in control of the experience — the users are. They’ll show you by whether they’re happy with your site, whether what you did is right but they’re the ones driving it, not you. If you don’t serve their needs they’re not going to continue to be a customer.

Design to evoke an emotional response. (the HOW)

Engage the user with relevant content. (the WHAT)

Make your content findable. (the WHERE; domain of the Information Architects)

Earn a lifetime of loyalty by inspiring & rewarding your best customers (the WHY) - rewards programs, members content, etc. Make them proud to be associated with you.

On a website, the interface IS the brand. Usability becomes the art of making visitors persistent.