Basic rules for building effective websites — These principles are based on user perception and work every time. They guarantee your website will be attractive, convenient, memorable, and have high conversion rates. There’s a common belief among designers that users first assess any website visually, then logically. This is only partly true. The first impression is compound…

How to build a cohesive and effective brand — Today, I’d like to share something I have come to realize over the years of doing branding and brand design work. I hope it will help some readers get a new perspective on branding, find inspiration, and apply this approach in practice — both for marketing and design. Here’s an…

Creating positive impressions from the digital product through design — Designing impressions is a fascinating and rewarding science. User experiences should not be left to chance. It’s easy for designers to evoke momentary admiration. But if you want a random visitor to fall in love with your product, to remember it and become a loyal customer, you need to act…

An easy way to identify problems and optimize your website or app — When a digital product fails to meet expectations, its owner starts desperately looking for an explanation. The site looks good, all the functions are there — so where are the active users? The high conversion rates? What went wrong? Before shelling out on expensive testing, consider your website or app…

A guide to using touchpoints in brand promotion — What is this brand? Can I trust it? What will I gain from this purchase? Will I come back for more? These are some of the questions swirling around in a customer’s head when he or she arrives at a touchpoint. The customer experiences each touchpoint separately, making a decision…

An easy way to pinpoint startup branding problems — Branding comes with plenty of different mistakes. You can’t possibly remember them all. Indeed, it’s not always clear what to look out for. A lot of these mistakes are anything but obvious, lurking in the shadows like a ticking bomb. Luckily, the Five Puzzle Pieces will help you identify and…

A comprehensive project for a real estate investing platform — Have you ever done a project for a startup with no competitors? This is the rare occasion when there are no templates of functionality or platform design; indeed, there’s nothing like it, so you have to build it from scratch. Now see how the Outcrowd team handled the FlipX case. Client …

How to make your product more desirable and valuable for the users — Any product, whether digital or tangible, can be made more valuable in the eyes of users. Q: How come some generic selling propositions or even totally ridiculous products become hot commodities? A: The companies knew where to put the effort. They were on-target, purposeful, and methodical in their approach. Nobody…

An example of updating a brand’s image due to a change of strategy — The times when B2B companies didn’t need rebranding, restyling, and redesigning are long gone. This case highlights what rebranding means for a business and why it’s necessary for any brand’s development and promotion. The market of online services and B2B platforms is growing very fast. To sell and promote a…