Setting the right expectation and matching with right experience
Giri Ram
The success of any digital product hinges on a crucial factor: aligning user expectations with their actual experience. A mismatch between what users are promised and what they encounter can lead to frustration, erode trust, and even result in the loss of customers. As a UX designer, collaborating with the marketing team is essential to bridge this gap, ensuring that the product delivers on its promises.
In this blog, we explore the intersection of UX design and marketing, highlighting why their collaboration is vital and how it creates a cohesive and user-centered product journey.
The Role of Marketing in Setting Expectations
Marketing serves as the first touchpoint for users, introducing them to the product through advertisements, campaigns, and branding efforts. It paints a picture of what the product offers, emphasizing benefits and value.
Why this matters:
Marketing creates user expectations by:
Defining the Product’s Value Proposition: Highlighting features and benefits that appeal to the target audience.
Creating Emotional Appeal: Establishing an emotional connection that influences users’ decisions.
Shaping Perception: Framing the product’s identity through branding, messaging, and visuals.
When done effectively, marketing generates excitement and draws users in. However, if the experience fails to match these promises, it leads to disappointment, undermining the brand's credibility.
The UX Designer’s Responsibility
While marketing creates expectations, UX design delivers the reality. As the user’s journey unfolds, UX designers must ensure that the experience matches or exceeds what was promised. This requires a deep understanding of both user needs and marketing commitments.
Key responsibilities of a UX designer in this collaboration include:
Ensuring Consistency:
Aligning the product's design and functionality with the promises made by marketing.
Example: If marketing highlights “effortless onboarding,” the UX designer must create a seamless and intuitive onboarding process.
Validating Promises with Research:
Conducting user research to ensure that marketing claims are achievable and realistic.
Example: Verifying that a feature marketed as “time-saving” indeed reduces effort for the user.
Designing to Fulfill the Brand Message:
Translating the brand's identity into visual and interaction design.
Example: If the brand’s tone is playful, the product’s design should include vibrant visuals and engaging interactions.
Collaborating Early and Often:
Engaging with the marketing team early in the product lifecycle to shape campaigns that reflect the actual experience.
Example: Participating in message crafting and reviewing visuals for accuracy.
Practical Steps to Align Marketing and UX Design
To ensure seamless collaboration, here are some actionable strategies:
Shared Understanding of the User Persona:
Both marketing and UX teams should have a unified understanding of the target audience. This alignment ensures that promises resonate with user needs.Co-creating User Journeys:
Work together to map the user journey, identifying key touchpoints and ensuring consistency across marketing and UX.Feedback Loops:
Establish feedback mechanisms where marketing insights inform design decisions and vice versa.Pre-launch Testing:
Validate marketing claims with prototypes or beta versions of the product to identify and address any discrepancies.Ongoing Collaboration:
Regular check-ins between marketing and UX teams post-launch help adapt to user feedback and refine the experience.
Benefits of Collaboration
When UX design and marketing work hand in hand, the impact is transformative:
Enhanced User Trust:
Delivering on promises builds credibility and fosters trust among users.Improved User Satisfaction:
Aligning expectations with reality leads to a positive user experience and higher satisfaction levels.Stronger Brand Loyalty:
Consistent and reliable experiences create loyal users who advocate for the brand.Higher Conversion Rates:
Accurate and appealing marketing, coupled with fulfilling experiences, results in improved user acquisition and retention.
Conclusion
In the journey from awareness to product adoption, marketing sets the stage, and UX design ensures the story has a happy ending. By collaborating effectively, these two functions can create a cohesive and impactful user journey. As a UX designer, taking ownership of this collaboration helps bridge the gap between expectation and experience, ensuring that users find value and delight in every interaction with the product.
By delivering on promises, businesses can create products that resonate with users, drive loyalty, and stand out in a competitive market. After all, a product that aligns its promise with its experience doesn’t just meet expectations—it exceeds them.