The techniques used in video games can teach us lessons for all kinds of product experiences. Whether you’re explaining to users how your web app works or showing a user how to set up their smart phone for the first time, video games can help illustrate how to find the balance between instruction and entertainment.

Below are a few lessons that video games can share about creating great product experiences:

Don’t Expect People to Read the Instructions.

Many games include a tutorial at the very beginning to give users a hands-on lesson on how the game and controls works. The image above is from Call of Duty, showing the training course that serves as the first level. Simulating the actual gameplay in a structured environment gives users a chance to test things out.

Walking users through their first experience with your product will give them an opportunity to learn how to do something without any concerns about making a mistake or accidentally deleting something.

Take Advantage of Downtime

Most modern video games use load screens when first starting up or in between levels. It’s common to see tips or tricks included on these screens, so that users aren’t just staring at a dead screen. The image above (also from Call of Duty) shows how each load screen has an “Intel” area where game tips are shown.

With many products, there is going to be some inevitable downtime. It may be when a user is waiting for an email confirmation to show up in their inbox. Or as a travel site completes a search, or a device is being configured for the first time, or a piece of software is installing. Take advantage of that time to educate a user about a feature or tip that may not know about. By sprinkling this kind of information throughout the product experience, you will work towards building smarter and savvier users.

Build a Great Default Experience. Then Allow Users to Change It.

When game designers create a game, a lot of thought is put into how the controls should be setup. When a user first picks up the controller, the interaction should be intuitive, responsive and enjoyable. So nailing the default setup is crucial.

But there are always users who want to have specific preferences. Maybe they are used to a layout from a different game and want to configure this game to work in a similar way. Not allowing for this type of customization can lead to annoyance and frustration.

Most users won’t change initial preferences, so focusing on building a good default experience is a must. But allowing power users to go in and edit the experience to their liking is an important part of building loyal fans.

Saving Progress Should Be Easy.

I still remember playing the original Super Mario Brothers. Three lives, no way to save. You basically had to play it all the way through in one sitting. It was maddening (though oddly intoxicating for an 11 year old).

Most games today employ Checkpoints. As you’re playing, you’ll hit a checkpoint and your game is automatically saved to that point. Having your work saved without requiring a user to manually take an action is a good idea for obvious reasons: we’ve all seen hours of work lost when something happens to our computer before we saved it.

The less responsibility that a product places on a user for having to do certain tasks or follow certain practices, the better. One example of this is a shopping cart on an e-commerce site. If a user has added something to their cart, it should be there the next time they come back, regardless of whether or not the last transaction was completed (or even if they have an account with that site).

(Note: as I write this post, I see a Draft copy being automatically saved every so often in the toolbar. Nice work WordPress!)

Video Games Are Nothing But an Extended Product Experience.

A video game is judged solely on the experience it provides a user with. By adopting some of the best practices used by video game designers, businesses can ensure customers find their products both entertaining and easy to use.

But this raises an important question – what exactly is the client paying for? The process of creating that product or the end product itself? And where does the responsibility lie for deciding how that time is best spent?

“I thought of a better way to do this.”
When it comes to coding, there are endless ways to accomplish a specific task. Anyone who has ever written more than one line of code has had the experience of spending hours working on a solution, only to wake up the next morning with a “better” answer to the problem. It’s not uncommon to throw away huge chunks of code when a new idea comes along.

Designers can experience the same thing. Hours can be spent on a design, only to decide to scrap it for an entirely different approach. These decisions are often subjective, driven only by an individual’s own desire to produce something they consider “better” than what they had previously done. Even if a problem is already solved, or a design already completed, the drive to improve on it can add countless hours to a project.

To bill or not to bill?
In these cases, should the client be responsible for paying for work that may be thrown away? Or should the consultant not bill for the work, chalking it up to learning and consider it a cost of doing business? After all, many times when the choice is made to discard work, it is simply a matter of opinion.

Now, as a consultant myself, I may be biased, but I consider any work done on a project to be justifiably billable. If it weren’t for that client, your time could have been spent working on something else. So that time can be charged for.

From there, it is at the consultant’s discretion to decide what to charge for. Ideally, this should be taken into account before making the decision whether to redo something. There have been several times when I decided to start something over and not bill the client. But these decisions were made on a case-by-case basis.

While you can bill for any and all time you have spent working on a project, it is your duty to respect the client’s budget and make sure it is being spent responsibly.

Paying For the Product AND the Process
Exploring different solutions and occasionally having to revisit and revise past work is part of the process of creation. No one churns out perfect work the first time, every time.

A client may sometimes feel that this can be a waste of money, but a consultant who just plows through a project, without reevaluating the best way to do things, will end up costing you much more in the long run.

The traditional process for getting a project started usually involves writing it down. Drafting a business proposal, or creating a requirements document, are often the first step we take in bringing an idea to life. And it can be a valuable exercise to help perfect and hone a concept within your own mind. But when it comes to sharing it with others, the written word can leave too much open to interpretation. Whether you are dealing with an investor, a freelance designer or developer or even internal staff, most of us are visual creatures. We need to see something in order to fully internalize what we are dealing with.

Sketching Out Ideas
I have always been a big fan of wireframes. For those of you unfamiliar with a wireframe, it’s sort of like a blueprint for a website, showing the basic elements that will be included on each page of the site. They allow people to get a sense of a project in a way written documents can’t match. Until someone, especially a client, sees an idea sketched out, you can never be sure that everyone is picturing the same execution.

That’s the biggest problem with relying too much on technical specifications and requirements documents. While many people assume it creates agreement on what is being worked on, it is often a false sense of agreement. The developer has one thing in mind, and the client has a completely different interpretation. That is why stories of unsatisfied clients and poorly-managed projects are all too common. Putting ideas into wireframes helps create consensus. You will also be surprised how people will take your idea more seriously when they can actually see it for themselves.

No Longer Just For Designers
Luckily, there is a tool out there that can help anyone build a wireframe, regardless of technical or design expertise.

Balsamiq Mockups is a great product that allows for quick and painless wireframe construction in an easy to use drag-and-drop interface. There is a free trial available, and the purchase price for the full version is reasonable. (As a disclaimer, I have no affiliation with the company and no financial incentive to recommend the product.)

Even with the design ability to create wireframes from scratch, I have been using Balsamiq quite a bit lately and feel the need to share it with others. It has saved me a ton of time and makes what can be a time-consuming task much easier. I have also worked with too many clients who spend vast sums of money on a web project, only to be unhappy with the end result. Starting out with a robust wireframe is a great way to avoid that happening to you.

Sharing Your Idea
There are many different reasons you may be involved with creating a website. Maybe you work for a company that is planning a redesign, or perhaps you are a budding entrepreneur who dreams of launching your own start-up. Whatever the case, you will probably need to involve other people at some point. And when you do, remember, instead of just telling someone what you have in mind, it’s always better to actually show someone your idea.

Do that and you will greatly improve your chance for success.

To template or not to template? At what budget/scale should you spring for the custom design? I hate templates but they do serve a purpose. I have a friend who’s running a consulting business on his credit card, so for him the template is an unfortunate necessity. Still I wonder if $1000 worth of custom branding/design wouldn’t pay for itself within a few months.

As a designer who also happens to be a big believer in keeping budgets small, my answer might be somewhat predictable:

It depends.

In general, I think templates serve a valuable purpose. Using templates anyone, regardless of skill level, can get their business or idea off the ground on a shoestring budget. Domain names for a few bucks, cheap hosting, and a good template make it easy to launch a website. The abundance of free and inexpensive templates available online eliminate any excuse for not having a professional looking online identity. It may not be terribly unique, but looking polished and professional is the bare minimum these days.

On the other hand, a custom design allows you to stand out from the crowd, and better communicate your brand values to your audience. A unique look will make your site more memorable and will allow you to structure the site exactly the way you want to. By working with a talented designer (or by being one), you can work to develop a brand and look that will differentiate your business and create value over the long run.

Since this is admittedly a wish-washy answer, I put together a few questions you can ask yourself to help decide which direction is best for you.

Can I afford custom design?
This is obviously the most important question. If budget alone is the reason you haven’t launched a website, then by all means go with a template. There are tons of great sites out there for free or inexpensive templates. One of my favorites is Open Source Web Design.

Is my business the actual website, or does my website promote my business?
This question attempts to determine how important a unique site will be at this stage of your business. If you need to launch a site to promote your consulting business, or your cookie delivery service, or landscaping company, starting out with a template is fine. If you want to launch a web startup and the business is the actual site itself, then having a unique look is more important. A well-designed site becomes part of your brand’s value and will play a bigger role in your success. However, if you can’t afford custom design, I would still suggest using a template vs. not launching the site at all.

Is there any reason I can’t switch to a custom design later?
In 99.9% of cases, the answer here will be no. Even if you use templates to build your site, you can always develop a custom design later on. Launching early will give you an idea as to how viable your business will be before you fork over the cash for a custom website. And it can provide some insight as to what people respond to, what areas of your site users visit, and what they click on. This can help you have a more informed design process when you do take the leap to custom design. Just don’t forget to add some analytics to your site when you’re starting out.

As for when to move to a custom design, I think your specific business will dictate what the right moment is. You will usually recognize when a templated design is holding a business back. If you launch an online business and experience a nice amount of traffic but a low amount of conversions, such as sign-ups, then a custom design may help you convert that traffic into paying customers. Ideally, the right moment will be once you have some money rolling in. The best situation would be for the business for fund its own design.

It’s easy to create barriers between having an idea and executing on it. For many businesses, the first step is launching the website. Using templates allows us to breathe life into an idea now, as opposed to waiting until we can afford custom design. In fact, even as a designer, I decided to use an existing WordPress template for this site and customize it, rather than find the time to create one from scratch.

Templates can provide a free and fast bridge between idea and reality. The most important step in launching any business is just jumping in, so use whatever means you can to just get in the water and start splashing around as soon as possible.

Bloggers especially have been attracted to the service, having arguably helped contribute to the company’s current success. The site is a great way to share bite-sized chunks of wisdom with others, helping to drive readers to your full-sized blog for insights longer than 140 characters.

An important piece of building awareness and driving traffic through Twitter is the information contained in your profile sidebar. This is where you can tell others who you are and why you are worth listening to. And there is a place to link back to your website. That link is the reason for this post.

The line containing your website URL currently has what seems to be a character limit of 25 characters. Unfortunately, that includes the label Web along with a full URL starting with http://www, which leaves a measly 6 characters for your website name after the ellipse is added.

As an example, let’s look at the profile of blogger and Four Hour Workweek author Tim Ferriss:

This profile tells people a little bit about Tim and what they can expect from him. It also links to the website promoting his book. However, the way Twitter displays the link, all we are shown is fourho, which (while mildly amusing) doesn’t really explain much. As many bloggers use Twitter to promote themselves and their blog, it would be nice to display more of or all of the domain name and drop the unneccessary extra characters. Even if the entire domain name still wouldn’t fit, 25 characters would be a lot more useful than the current six.

Here is how Tim’s profile could look with this minor change:

That’s a huge improvement. This way, readers can actually see the name of the website, letting bloggers better promote their site to potential readers. And from a usability perspective, this is still just as effective. The label and http portion don’t communicate any functionality that isn’t shown in the second example.

I see little reason for Twitter not to make a change like this. For a service based on making every letter and character count, it is surprising to see such poor efficiency. And it would make every Twitter user who has a related website happier, especially bloggers and marketers.

So, Twitter, are you listening?

He recently made purchases from two different websites. One site had a clean and polished look to it, and projected a sense of credibility and professionalism. The other site wasn’t as polished and as he put it “was clearly a family run business.” But the site achieved a level of authenticity that made it feel trustworthy. Seemingly two opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet these different approaches worked for both of them.

The way your website, or your logo, or your marketing materials look all have a big impact on the impression that potential customers have of your business. It is important that you do your best to think about the way your business is being portrayed. Regardless of which approach you use, if you don’t come across as trustworthy and credible, , it won’t matter how good your idea or product is.

Basically, what he is saying is you have a choice: Do you want to hire a head, or are you looking to hire hands?

If you know what you want, but you don’t know how to write code, or use Photoshop, that is a very different situation than hiring someone for their expertise. If you are hiring someone for their creativity, you have to be willing to listen to their point of view. Giving someone no direction when you really already have something in mind is just going to create frustration and lead to a lot of back and forth on both sides.

And, selfishly, if you know what you want, but just can’t bring it to life, you can usually get a better rate on the project. Paying for someone’s thought process and creativity is an unneeded expense if that’s not what you’re really looking for.

So make sure, going in, you know what you want. It’s the best way to guarantee you’ll get what you need.

The traditional red and white Campbell’s soup can with its gold medallion, dating from the turn of the 19th century, inspired confidence in generations of American consumers. It was redesigned in 1994 to show a mouthwatering picture of the contents because the company found that although people were keeping cans in their cupboards at home, they were not actually eating the soup. The colors and medallion remain, although less prominently than before the design change.

As marketing channels become more and more cluttered, the important of packaging design is going to continually increase. The package will have an increasing responsibility to visually illustrate the product and brand attributes. The importance of logos will decrease, as more consumer decisions are made at the point of purchase. Something to think about.

Source: brandchannel.com