Wednesday June 01, 2005

Sun's brand gets a boost

Lots to be excited about at Sun these days: an articulate vision. Some compelling customer stories. And more than a few notable people.

Sure, I'm drinking the kool-aid. But what's honestly very refreshing about this brand boost is that it's much more than an ad campaign or a single shot of enthusiasm: we're changing the company; the way we create value; and the way we communicate, both inside and outside the family.

I've been working with a team of others within Sun who are looking across and within dozens of touchpoints -- myself leading environments and some killer audio, um, stuff -- and the change that's coming is unprecedented in Sun's two-plus decades of existence. It's rare that a brand boost ever goes this far, this broad, with brilliant folks working both the big picture and the small details. I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

Hugs aside, here's what it's really all about: brands are valuable assets [PDF]. And Sun's brand is headed for an exciting run. Share the ride, won't you? ( Jun 01 2005, 06:01:47 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Monday May 23, 2005

Designing Nissan's stake in the ground

Yet another design success story, this from the pages of Motor Trend (yes, Motor Trend):

Carlos Ghosn, the man who transformed Nissan, and who will take over Renault this month (May '05), writes in his memoir Shift: Inside Nissan's Historic Revival:

We realized From the moment we arrived that our design department needed some new blood. Nissan had two problems in this area. First of all, design was subordinated to the director of engineering. This was an absurd situation, an umbilical cord that needed to be cut.... second, we had to find a design head who could symbolize Nissan's revival, someone who had worked outside the company, someone with suffcient self-confidence and an international vision. ( May 23 2005, 03:46:29 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Monday May 16, 2005

Who owns the user experience?

Now appearing in the new issue of the ACM Interactions magazine: Who Owns the User Experience? Something we all probably find quite relevant. And something we'll probably all never come to an agreement upon.

So I'll spout off anyway with another few questions: who runs the company? Who drives our business strategy? Who's responsible, at the end of the day, for our reputation in the marketplace and among the public? Who's the only person who can drive the cross-organizational changes required to get the company moving in the same direction?

Let's face it: even though "user experience" seems to be an interaction-design, usability or digital-strategy thing (the question did appear in a computing journal ater all), this is, simply put, the wrong crowd for this question. None of these people or roles can own the breadth that is the gut perception that a person has about a company. Nor should any other single group or focus in a company.

All this can only be driven by the CEO. And the better CEOs are the ones who can articulate not only "the usual business stuff," but also their vision for the user experience -- right down to the interactions, ease of use and overall strategy that drive the products and perceptions we create. (Of course, having a good Chief Brand Officer can only help.)

Related reading, off the top of my head:
Marty Neumeier's The Brand Gap;
Shaun Smith and Joe Wheeler's Managing the Customer Experience;
and Peter Schwartz's The Long View.

Happy reading. ( May 16 2005, 10:23:03 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]