As a musician I sometimes find a part in a song that I don’t care for, it might just not sit well with the rest of the song. So I try a bunch or different ideas hoping lightening strikes. Sometimes this works, other times it’s best to step back and look at the whole song, the bigger picture. The same applies to design, development and marketing in a lot of instances.
Looking at what your main goal is instead of changing and tweaking things to kind of work is a better process to utilize in a lot of scenarios. Asking yourself questions like “what message do I want to communicate?” or “what is easiest for my customers?” can help you solve with an end goal and then allow you to work out what steps you need to meet it.
The idea of having one main goal and the steps to reach it certainly isn’t new, but it’s something that can be overlooked.
Clear Messaging
In a lot of cases I’ve been approached with lists of problems that a website has and the ideas of how it can be “fixed” just with a new layout. In this case I have to ask what the main goal of the website is. Is it solely for informational purposes? If so, what is the hierarchy of information that your users should find when visiting? If the website is e-commerce driven then you certainly want the process of shopping to be simple and intuitive.
Having a clear vision that’s communicated to your users is key regardless if it’s for a website, social media campaign or even business cards. Putting yourself in the shoes of who you’re reaching for a moment and really asking yourself if your messaging is clear can be extremely helpful.
So grab some coffee, and put pen to paper. What’s your goal?
