We’re massive on UI (consumer interface) and UX (consumer expertise) right here at Brandfolder. 

It’s not simply that we like clear, enticing design (though we do).

Firms are spending extra on advertising know-how than ever earlier than, however these instruments are a whole waste of time if nobody within the firm truly makes use of them.

Purchase the flawed system, and also you’ll quickly want to switch it — a course of that usually comes with a big price ticket connected. 

As we’ll present you, there’s no means for a Digital Asset Administration (DAM) platform to be actually profitable if it isn’t accessible and usable by everybody. 

With out a extremely usable DAM, lots of the belongings you spend a lot time creating find yourself going unused. That’s why so many CMOs are laser-focused on lowering asset waste and duplication. 

A straightforward-to-use DAM helps scale back model crime — stopping folks from utilizing outdated, out of date, or expired belongings, for instance.

However UI and UX aren’t nearly effectivity and utilization positive aspects.

A straightforward-to-use DAM also can drive income.

What We Imply When We Say ‘UI’ and ‘UX’

Let’s outline the phrases we’re utilizing so you recognize the place we’re coming from.

• UI = Person Interface: The particular design of the options inside your product.
• UX = Person Expertise: The general expertise of utilizing your product.

To cite designer Dain Miller, “UI is the saddle, stirrups, and the reins. UX is the sensation you get with the ability to experience the horse.”

Glorious UI creates a superb UX for everybody — even individuals who haven’t obtained coaching, together with exterior companions.

Let’s check out a real-life instance of how usability will help generate actual income for a enterprise. 

Getting Right into a Retail Accomplice’s Advert

The promoting director at a retail associate wants a product to incorporate in her upcoming advert. She works with a number of manufacturers and isn’t beholden to function any specific product or model in her marketing campaign. 

How will she select which product to function?

She wants two issues:

1. Pictures
2. Descriptions

To assemble photos and descriptions from many of the firms she offers with, she has to e mail a contact on the model and ask for the required belongings — together with the particular file format and measurement she wants.

In conditions like these, FINIS — a high swimwear firm — makes use of its DAM system to create a aggressive benefit.

As you’ll be able to see within the screenshot, they’ve positioned their Brandfolder library within the high menu of their web site.

This implies the advert supervisor has entry to all of FINIS’ digital belongings, any time she wants them, with out having to ship an e mail. 

Within the phrases of Jill Bennett, World Director of Gross sales and Advertising and marketing at FINIS, “Not solely are our prospects and staff capable of go and find the belongings they want, however they’re additionally capable of change the sizes into no matter file format they need. Now, we will work on the tasks that matter.” 

The Brandfolder library is straightforward to navigate and perceive with none prior coaching or information of the best way to use the system. Retail advertisers have many distributors supplying them with digital belongings. In case your system isn’t usable, they’ll seemingly discover a method to not use it in any respect. END —-That is key, as a result of retail promoting administrators deal have so many distributors, there’s no method to be taught the complexities of each system.

All the things she wants is out there — together with a number of file codecs and sizes — and she or he is aware of all of the belongings are updated and correct. 

She will additionally retrieve the belongings on her personal, in a matter of seconds, simply by clicking the hyperlink on the FINIS web site menu.

On this means, FINIS has made it very straightforward for retail companions to function FINIS merchandise of their advertisements.

That is how one thing so simple as a well-organized DAM can turn into a strategic aggressive benefit and a driver of income.

‘Simple to Use’ Is Good for Everybody

If there’s one factor we’ve realized watching how digital belongings are used, it’s this:

Folks typically take the trail of least resistance.

Your gross sales and advertising groups will have a tendency to make use of the belongings which might be best to search out — even when which means pulling outdated photos from their laborious drive.

Likewise, an advert supervisor can simply decide your competitor’s product over yours for a brand new promotion — just because she has new photographs readily available.  

Coaching Is By no means Common

“Design isn’t completed till any individual is utilizing it.”
— Brenda Laurel, PhD, Unbiased Scholar

Talking of coaching, it’s true that your system administrator wants superior coaching in your DAM system. That individual will personal the system and must know every thing doable.

Your inventive director and managers ought to in all probability obtain superior coaching too, since they’re typically those importing the most recent belongings.

Past these roles, nonetheless, the overwhelming majority of DAM system customers won’t ever get a lot formal coaching.

Your inside customers may get a short overview, however your exterior customers nearly definitely received’t.

For that reason, we don’t imagine “coaching” is an efficient method to drive DAM adoption and utilization.

As a substitute, we imagine the DAM needs to be really easy to make use of that everybody can discover what they want — even when they’ve by no means had coaching.

Use Instances: A DAM Ought to Be Intuitive for Everybody

“The following massive factor is the one which makes the final massive factor usable.”
— Blake Ross, Co-creator of Mozilla Firefox

Let’s deliver the considerably summary concepts of UI and UX into the actual world. In our work with a whole lot of firms throughout quite a lot of industries, these are real-life examples of DAM programs in motion:

1. A franchise distributing menus and coupons to franchisees

In the event you run a franchise enterprise, you in all probability ship a number of belongings to franchisees. Menus, coupons, membership packages, new merchandise, promotions — the listing is limitless.

Franchise homeowners aren’t DAM consultants and by no means will probably be. The better the system is to make use of, the upper the utilization you’ll see together with your belongings.

If a DAM creates a central supply of fact and go-to location for digital belongings, inventive groups save time. When Forrester studied the financial influence of Brandfolder on franchises, inventive specialists saved no less than 5 hours per week by eliminating particular person file requests from franchisees.

2. Manufacturers collaborating with companies and exchanging belongings backwards and forwards

You might need one or many companies you’re employed with. On this scenario, belongings are always flowing backwards and forwards between the in-house crew and the companies.

An company’s workers will nearly definitely not have formal coaching with a specific DAM platform. Usable DAM platforms, like Brandfolder, permit for a extra environment friendly workflow and shorten the time to marketplace for inventive campaigns.

3. An organization distributing supplies to a gross sales crew

It’s so irritating to create advertising collateral for the gross sales crew — solely to search out out that nobody makes use of it. 

Your gross sales groups is likely to be localized, unfold throughout the nation, and even world wide. Their focus is (and needs to be) on making gross sales calls and follow-ups, not on looking down the most recent digital belongings.

A straightforward-to-use DAM might be the distinction between closing a deal or your competitor successful out. Enormously rising the utilization of belongings makes the hassle of making the supplies worthwhile.

4. A producer sending product sheets to distributors, retailers, brokers, and so on.

Much like FINIS, producers are always releasing new merchandise and dealing to get them into prime channels, like at their retail companions’ shops and digital websites.

Whether or not these retail companions are on-line or brick-and-mortar shops, they want digital belongings (photographs, descriptions, product SKUs, and so on.) to advertise merchandise successfully. 

In e-commerce, high quality imagery and correct product data catch a shopper’s eye in a sea of product choices. For bodily shops, a usable DAM makes it simpler for retailers to function your merchandise in-store and in advertisements.

By eradicating hurdles to your retailer companions, you’ll obtain extra alternatives for promotion and improve model consciousness throughout quite a lot of channels. 

5. A meals and beverage distributor sending belongings to regional managers

A DAM impacts your inside crew as nicely. That’s very true in case you have a distributed workforce.

When you’ve got regional managers over operations, each area will get managed somewhat in another way.

A straightforward-to-use DAM will assist even the less-tech-savvy regional supervisor equip the crew with the most recent belongings. This prevents the inconsistency that makes manufacturers seem fragmented, inconsistent, or poorly managed.

The Key to Success in All These Conditions

All of the examples have the next traits:

• Belongings are loaded into the DAM platform by inventive and advertising groups 
• The system is, then, used extensively by inside and exterior common customers, with out specialised coaching
• If the system is straightforward to make use of, you’ll get higher outcomes 

When a DAM Is Arduous to Use for Untrained Customers, These Issues Occur

“Design was once the seasoning you’d sprinkle on for style; now it’s the flour you want at the beginning of the recipe.”
— John Maeda, Designer and Technologist

When a DAM system isn’t intuitive for many customers, these are the issues that we normally see occur: 

1. You get plenty of requests for belongings (by e mail, Slack, and so on.)

Electronic mail or chat message requests act as a default mechanism when information are laborious to search out.

In case your DAM is tough to make use of, a advertising director may hearth off a request to your inventive director for photos. A single request appears small, however they waste hours and hours to your crew.

A examine by Forrester discovered that Worldwide Advertising and marketing Administrators elevated productiveness by 12% when utilizing Brandfolder. This implies fewer requests in your inbox and extra accomplished tasks for the advertising crew.

2. Folks may use belongings they not have rights to

Some digital belongings expire or have a utilization license that’s solely legitimate to a sure date. 

Your DAM librarian retains your system up-to-date, however the platform has to work for everybody. It might sound odd and even humorous {that a} coworker has “private laborious drive,” but when the flawed asset is posted on the flawed time, the corporate may very well be sued for a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars}. 

A current examine by Forrester discovered that “all belongings which might be uploaded to Brandfolder have been vetted and authorised by the advertising and artistic crew and any outdated belongings are eliminated. This ensures that end-users solely have entry to authorised belongings, and considerably reduces the chance for a franchisee or company to submit an incorrect or out-of-date asset.”

3. Folks create their very own (low-quality) supplies

Clip artwork disasters are actual. 

“Model crime” — the usage of the flawed brand, font, picture, and so on. — also can drive inventive administrators loopy.

Gross sales may make their very own slides. Advert managers may pull a picture from Google photos, then crop it incorrectly. 

4. Folks use outdated, out of date content material

The DAM needs to be the only supply of fact for digital belongings. When it’s not, outdated and out of date information are certain for use.

How We Design Brandfolder for Glorious UI and UX

That will help you get the most important ROI doable out of your DAM system, we’ve labored laborious to make Brandfolder as straightforward to make use of as doable.

On evaluate websites like Capterra and G2, it’s one of many issues folks typically point out after attempting our product.

We wish your crew (and your companions) to search out what they want, once they want it.

How We Design Brandfolder for Usability

Listed below are a couple of of the issues we do to make sure Brandfolder continues to be an easy-to-use platform.

We discuss to customers

We frequently discuss to entrepreneurs, inventive groups, DAM librarians, and others — together with Brandfolder prospects and people who use different programs.

It helps us keep knowledgeable in regards to the day by day challenges you face as you handle your system. 

That means, we’re not guessing at what you want.

AI and Machine Studying

Brandfolder’s AI and machine studying applied sciences change what completely different customers see as they navigate the app. 

This helps every consumer discover the digital belongings they want quicker, and it could actually additionally counsel choices the consumer won’t have even know existed.

Alignment with usability finest practices

Brandfolder’s app follows the usability tips frequent to lots of the main apps.

For that purpose, when a consumer opens Brandfolder for the primary time, it’s going to really feel acquainted and intuitive, as a result of it follows the conventions they’re used to.

We additionally embody quite a lot of accessibility choices, serving to guarantee as many individuals as doable can use the app.

Pinned content material for standard searches

Brandfolder directors have the flexibility to see the most well-liked searches within the system at any given time.

Many admins will use the reporting to “pin” belongings which might be standard at a given time. This straightforward act creates shock and delight from customers once they log in and instantly discover precisely what they had been on the lookout for.

Cellular optimization

Over half of net site visitors now comes from cell units, not desktop machines, and the pattern towards cell continues to extend over time.

For that purpose, our product crew dedicates a considerable amount of time and power to the cell consumer expertise of Brandfolder’s software. 

We all know consumer wants differ on smaller screens, so our design of the expertise must be approached as such. We work to declutter the interface, scale back complexities, and create a easy navigation. 

Duties are simplified to enhance UX, and on this means, we optimize the expertise of looking for digital belongings, which is what our customers inform us they do most frequently on cell.

Usability that works for folks all through your group

Brandfolder’s tagging and group allow completely different folks out of your group to search out what they want — even when they search in very alternative ways.

For instance, a advertising affiliate may know to seek for current photographs underneath “Spring 2019.” 

Somebody in gross sales wouldn’t know to go looking by date. As a substitute, they will search by product identify to search out the identical photos. 

Likewise, an government may desire a image of a pair laughing. She might not know the product used within the photograph or when it was taken, however she will be able to nonetheless discover it by looking the system for “couple laughing” after which clicking “comparable” when she finds one she likes.

Customized branding

Brandfolder might be custom-made to suit your model. Add your brand, customized header, and pictures to tailor the feel and appear of your Brandfolder.

This creates a model portal that’s aligned to the remainder of your net properties, making it really feel like a pure extension of your model.

Conclusion: Usability Has a Direct Affect on the ROI of Your DAM Funding

A straightforward-to-use DAM system has the potential to avoid wasting important time and improve your general income. 

For that and all the explanations above, UI and UX are focus areas at Brandfolder.

A straightforward-to-use DAM system will make everybody’s life simpler — together with you, your inside stakeholders, and your exterior companions. 

Brandfolder helps a whole lot of manufacturers scale back busywork and pointless requests of their inventive groups. Click on right here to be taught extra about how we work.