Tag Archive for: UX

A Logo Is Just An Empty Container

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The logo is just an empty container

By fiifi DZANSI

A logo is mostly overrated.

Many untruths surround these little graphic icons that mislead many business owners.

UNTRUTH: A logo is all the brand is about. 

TRUTH: A logo is part of the brand. Everything your business does come together to form the brand

UNTRUTH: A logo must describe what a business does.

TRUTH: Not necessarily. Simply, a logo is a graphic icon that reminds people about your business. Example. The Apple company makes computers and smart devices. However, their logo is a fruit.

UNTRUTH: The more sophisticated the logo, the better.

TRUTH: A simple logo is more memorable.

UNTRUTH: Anybody can design a logo.

TRUTH: Only seasoned designers can design memorable logos.

UNTRUTH: Every business needs a logo

TRUTH: A business owner who doesn’t know what a logo does obviously doesn’t need a logo. So is a neighbourhood shop whose aim is just to eke out a living.

UNTRUTH: Great logos create great businesses.

TRUTH: What a business does would determine whether the logo would be successful. Example. Nike’s swoosh is one of the most recognizable logos in the world. This is because the apparel company produces quality and innovative products people love.

Research Before You Buy

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Research before you buy

By fiifi DZANSI

They can sell you anything, whether it’s in good shape or not.
For them, receiving money is all that counts, not earning a good reputation for selling quality stuff.

It’s usually not discreet to let the shop attendant persuade you to buy something.

Read about the product first. Or ask trusted friends to recommend.

What’s your budget?
Why do you need it?
Could you do without it?

Trends come and go, but quality products live long.

Popularity Syndrome – The Quest To Gain Internet Fame

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Chasing Internet fame

By fiifi DZANSI

This is how social media works.

The more you post, the more likely you are to reach many.

The more people you reach, the more likely you are to get likes, shares and comments.

More of these could bring you fame.

That fame qualifies you as an influencer, your ticket to wealth.

It sounds simple on the surface but more complex and soul-sucking beneath.

Because platforms are acutely congested, it’s difficult for your posts to reach myriads of people. Unless you’re famous, you need to put in the work. 

As humans as we are, we always look for shortcuts. And we almost always find it. People have discovered the shortcuts to internet fame. Sad to say, many of these shortcuts are riddled with insanity.

Trolls. They roam free on social with impunity. They jump any trending topic bringing their sarcasm, racism and sometimes obscenity. Many are drawn to trolls, thereby giving them the numbers to become influencers of some sort.

Political fake news. Fake news spread fast on the internet. But they say political fakes news spreads the fastest. These kinds of a report where facts are manipulated to look like lies and lies are decorated to otherwise spark massive conversations and incense people. 

Obscenity. This is perhaps the king of them all. People in their hearts crave things of sexual nature. 

A recent survey suggests that women who show heavy behinds and breasts in a rather lewd manner are gaining attention. And the algorithm spreads such posts to many because of the interaction they get.

Because of this, many women are spending thousands of dollars on plastic surgeries to enhance various body parts and make them sexually attractive.

Unfortunately, some in their chase for this fleeting popularity have descended so low and have thrown away the little dignity they had left.

Negative Feedback

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Bill Gates quote on customers

By fiifi DZANSI

Negative feedback mostly isn’t an attack on your personality.
It’s a call for you to step up.

The Dream Weaver

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Michael Phelps quote about dream

By fiifi DZANSI

Nothing comes out of nowhere.

There’s a creator behind everything.

First, there’s a big dream birthed as a simple idea.

Layers are added and many more deducted.

Again and again and again.

Until the sun breaks out of its shell.

Social Copycats

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A woman juggling ideas

By fiifi DZANSI

Twitter was the latest social media platform to add stories (or fleets) to their features.
But it was short-lived.

Stories started with Snapchat, where a post disappears within 24 hours.

In their attempt to collapse Snapchat, Facebook added stories to all their platforms including, Instagram and WhatsApp.

LinkedIn dived in too.

Social media platforms make more money when people spend a lot of time using their products.

To keep people glued to their screens, these companies keep adding features upon features to their products. And they give exposure to those who use these new features as an incentive to motivate the masses.

Gradually, they are all imitating each other and may soon become identical twins.

With this, they orchestrate our lives. We’re quick to jump on any new trend, making fools of ourselves in our search to gain more followers.

It’s not uncommon seeing grownups sacrificing their dignity for fame that is so fleeting.

How People Buy In The Twenty-first Century.

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By fiifi DZANSI

We buy after listening to what our peers have to say. Not what a shiny ad tells us.

In the past, there was a banku seller in our neighbourhood at North Kaneshie when I was growing up. This seller had the tongue of a razor. She insulted customers and made obscene, derogatory remarks often. She served some of the best meals I’d ever tasted. But socially, she was horrible.

Every morning, though, the neighbours all queued to buy. We ignored her ill manners because she was the only one around.

Fast-forward to 2021. With such an attitude, I’m not sure this woman would survive in the business. Now there’re so many alternatives around.

Humans have become many on the Earth, and the internet has brought us all together. We may live in different towns, cities or countries.

On the internet, we are all together at the same place. With a tap or click, I can be anywhere I want to.

This is how we buy in the twenty-first century:
First, we look for what we want to buy online or ask a friend to recommend a brand.

We look for specifications.

And finally, before buying, we read reviews.
These are other buyers’ opinions of the customer experience.

Products with the best reviews sell well.

In previous years, companies spent huge budgets on tv and radio ads. And we bought whatever they pushed to us.

Now our peers’ opinions play a significant role in the buying decision.

What’s Your Brand Selling?

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A hand holding a shopping bag

By fiifi DZANSI

Is your brand selling the right product or service?

Brands that compete on quality or price lose out, eventually.
A newer brand could become cheaper or offer more quality than you currently do.

Also, people buy based on what a brand makes them feel or the status the brand elevates them to.

When I don a ‘Converse All Stars’, I feel liberated and ready to create.
Birkenstock footwear makes me think about the environment.

People don’t stand in front of shelves and examine the percentage of durable materials present in a product.

We’re emotional beings. That’s what moves us.

It doesn’t mean you can create crap, switch on the emotion button and expect people to come rushing in.

No.

Your product/service must be of high quality.

Allow your emotional values to dictate the message you put forth.

When in doubt, check Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ campaign.

Postcard From The Countryside – A Human Connection

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Post boxes at the General Post Office in Accra, Ghana

By fiifi DZANSI

We need more organic human connection.

When I took the above photo of post boxes at the general post office in downtown Accra, I felt how obsolete post offices have become in recent years.

The nostalgia almost choked me.

People have moved light-years away from writing letters. Now we call, text or email. And everything happens digitally and so fast.

New tech replaces an old one.

Back in the heydays of the post office, we queued for several minutes to get our chance to post letters. Because life there was a busy one.

It took many days, weeks or even months to receive letters, but it was worth waiting. We peeled stamps, wet the gluey part a bit with saliva and stuck them on envelopes before tossing them in a huge box, hoping they got delivered on time.

Some disappeared in transit, while others landed in the wrong hands. Again, a few were returned for bearing incorrect addresses. At least the latter brought some closure.

Letters had this human connection. They touched every aspect of the soul. You could feel, taste, smell a message in your hand.

Some girlfriends used perfumed inks to write and sealed their letters with the gloss on their lips. Such words were kept close to the heart, in the breast pocket.

A young man placed a letter on his chest in bed with tears streaking down his cheeks. Maybe he got dumped, or perhaps it was the longing for more love.

For me, it’s the process of writing (not typing) that awes me. You get to be in sync with your thoughts and emotions.

As you move the pen in such a swirl, you perceive your inner voice fluttering, descending from above to come rushing through your veins and muscles onto a paper.

Words begin to form from mere alphabetic letters and take a seat beside each other. Like printing from a computer. Just that you feel every bit of this process.

In the end, there’re elegantly dressed bits and pieces of thoughts adorning a page.

To pour your inner self on lines on paper through indelible ink is organic and human. It allowed the presence of a person far away to be felt, something you can’t get from a video call today.

Furthermore, the imperfection of a cancelled word, or the carelessness of words provocatively squatting on lines, expose our fallibility and give away what’s unsaid.

Letters are so precious. We keep them in our safes to this day and hang some on our walls.

Their ability to touch the heart cannot be matched by any modern tech.

Simple Product Designs

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The hammock is a simple product design

By fiifi DZANSI

Simple product designs help reduce the burden on our shoulders.

Life is already full of troubles. 

People prefer elevators to stairs. With the elevator, you don’t have to do a lot of walking. 

It’s more comfortable to take Uber than a conventional taxi. 

Where I Live, it’s advantageous to shop at the mall rather than the little shop in the neighbourhood. 

The mall is spacious enough for your family and friends to walkabout. 

All products have price tags on them, and you can take all the time you want to decide what to buy.

Social medial makes it more straightforward to make friends than on the streets. Just click, click or tap, tap, and become friends with people all over the world.

When you design simple products or services that address real challenges, they make life more relaxed.