Top 3 easy website builders for your online store or service

There are more and more user-friendly website builders available nowadays. Here I’m recommending 3 that I think you can build a basic and simple website by yourself, without hiring a designer or developer. (If you want the website to look specific way or have interactive elements that are not included in the template, that’s the next level.)

Here's the comparison for Squarespace, Wix and Shopify.

Sqaurespace

My site is Squarespace and I’ve been a user for 7 years. The design interface is very clean, minimal and straightforward and the templates allow you to design a clean and modern website easily. (It’s relatively easy… I did still have clients come to me with clustered Squarespace sites and wanted me to clean it up.) I’m not 100% in love with the latest template 7.1. I think there’s still room for improvement. Like when I set the color theme and it automatically applies it on a section - there’s no way that I can change every detail by myself.

People used to complain about the SEO on Squarespace, but it actually has come a long way.

Wix

I built several free sites in 2015 and just used it again this year (for a client.) Easy drag-and-drop function is really beginner-friendly, but it’s also super easy to mess up the layout. So after you do the desktop view, you’ll need to go to the mobile view (usually it’s totally a mess) and readjust all the elements. As a web designer, Wix is not my favorite, but it makes making a website very easy and fun.

Shopify

Lots of small businesses with physical products use Shopify because it’s designed for selling products. The price point is higher than the other two options and some templates are quite pricy (~$400).

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Do not worry that you need to make a decision for the lifetime of your website. You can change your website builders if you don’t like it after a while. Things always have to be updated which means you might need to rebuild your website at some point - shift to the service that can accommodate your needs. Your domain can always connect to your new site as long as you know where you purchased your domain.

Any questions?
Shoot me an email and let’s see if I can solve your problems!

[INTERVIEW] Roasting coffee with a purpose - Unity coffee

Do you have a friend who is a coffee snob?

My friend Danny, will measure the weight of the coffee and water, hand grind coffee beans and brew with specific temperature. Anyway, he introduced me this amazing coffee brand called Unity, where the people care very much about their craft. Literally it's one of the best coffee i've ever had in my life.

I reached out to one of the founders, Tyler, and asked if I can interview him to understand how and why he started this brand. And here’s the video!

Design Thinking is more than just thinking

#designthinking has been trendy in tech companies or startups. More and more high education institutes offer Design Thinking courses (and yes I’ve been benefited from this trend and got hired as a coach or instructor.) More and more people see it as an opportunity to add Design Thinking or Creative Thinking into their skillset and hope to solve corporate problems, create a new product, or challenge their existing thinking framework.

As a person who teach and coach Design Thinking, it’s sweet and bitter for me to see how this got overused and misused, especially on LinkedIn. For example, people who took one class and would label himself/herself as Design Thinker.

An excerpt from a free PDF “What is Design Thinking” we made

Design Thinking is actually just a systematic “problem-solving” process that all product designers use. (The creation of a product stems from solving user’s needs.) When I was in school, Art Center College of Design, I never had a class called “Design Thinking” with all the lecture and case studies. (The only class with the most lecture was a research class where we learned the techniques of interviewing people.) We just had design project studio every term. In every project, we practiced this process, faced lots of difficulties throughout the project, and learned how to solve them. And that’s what Design Thinking is about - learning by doing.

Design is doing, not just thinking. If you never execute it, then idea stays as an idea. It won’t be created. You don’t learn cooking by watching YouTube videos if you never try to cook by yourself. Design Thinking is the same thing. You have to try to execute your ideas (aka prototyping), understand the complexity your proposed solutions, face the difficulties and try to solve again when it doesn’t work out. Design Thinking doesn’t just stop at the brainstorming phase.

Learn more about the basic of Design thinking: download the FREE PDF here.

[INTERVIEW] The story of starting Bonta artisan gelato in Bend, Oregon

When I just moved to Bend in 2019, my bf (now my husband, Jeremy) bought me some gelato and I was amazed. I've been the loyal customer of Bonta artisan gelato since then... However, their original signage was very confusing…

Bonta original signage before 2020 summer

Jeremy encouraged me to reach out to them to redesign the sign. I didn’t want to strike others as an arrogant designer bitching about their design so I didn’t do it. After a while when we decided we’ll move to Salt Lake City eventually, I finally contacted them and offered redraw the board for free gelato.

The challenge is fitting all the information in the limited space. After I hung it up, I asked if I can volunteer redo the board underneath (“Please order here”).

I can’t tell you how much gelato I had been eaten during that time. When my friends came visiting me, I also took them to this store. Emily got addicted to it and she actually gained weight in those two weeks climbing trip…

I actually never met the owner until this interview. Jeff is a quite laidback person with entrepreneur mind.

In 2006, they sold their house and did backpacking around the world for a year. And they fell in love with gelato. They had been wanting to start a business and at that time there was no artisan ice cream in Bend, Oregon. “Bend needed it at that time”, Jeff said. So they studied gelato with gelato master in LA, and his wife Julie went back east to study with gelato mastro learn how to make gelato. 

I asked how they know if the idea would work. Jeff replied “we didn’t. you have to take a risk.”

They started from their garage, and selling small scale in farmer’s market when they both had a full time job. Ice cream/gelato is actually a hard and costly business to start - there are lots of rules and regulations. The commercial kitchen they built in their garage was 100k. They finally opened their first shop in 2015. Even after years of operating, there are still so many challenges every day…

Now Bonta is growing a lot and expanding. For most of the people, it’s a chance to expand to other towns/cities. Jeff is very cautious about expanding too fast with the price of quality of the product and life. “If it’s mass production, it will no longer be artisan.” And for him, owning a business is having more flexibility and freedom- “Family first”. I have a lot of respect to this - knowing what you want in your life, what makes you happy and what’s enough.

How to have a consistent look and feel for your brand

You might have designers in-house, freelance designers and agencies generating creative assets for you, and all of them have different styles. What you need is a document called “style guide” defining what your brand style is. This article is going to explain what is included in a style guide and how that can help you to make sure you get a consistent style from different creatives (designers, photographers, videographers, etc.)

1. Logo usage

2. Typography

3. color theme/tone

4. moodboard for photography

5. graphic/illustration

This document can be as simple as 10 pages (you can see an example here) or like hundred pages for a big brand that has lots of assets need to define.

You can also document “voice and tone” in your Style Guide - how you would like to communicate with your audience in email, social media, and such. This document is not just for external use to make sure you have a consistent style, but it’s also a good way to show your sales manager when he/she has different thoughts on the brand look or social post. A well-defined style guide will help you save lots of dispute and endless discussion.

[INTERVIEW] Starting a business as a learning opportunity with Ottavio Siani

When I was working on O’so snacks graphic design around 2017-2019, Ottavio was the CFO/COO of that company. We never really met - only communicated over email and on one video call. After he left the company, I noticed on LinkedIn that he has been working as a CFO for several startups and has several businesses as well. I was curious that how he got that time, and what made him want to invest in those business ideas. And I’m glad he agreed to interview, because I found out how interesting he is as a person!

A lil background of Ottavio:

• Stanford alumnus 2008

• 10+ years in coffee industry

• Current CFO of Sienna Naturals, Port of Mokha, Climate Collective…

• Founder of HaoTable, Triangle Coffee, Lindo Camp…

How Ottavio evaluates if he wants to pursue a business idea

One of the businesses he started, Hao Table, was because his Chinese wife and him couldn’t find a good quality wok. His wife’s mom has a whole closet of woks she hated and called them “wibbly” (wobbly in Chinese accent.) He started to do some research and talk to the manufacturers in China, with his wife’s help. His initial investment was only about $5000 - for him that was the amount of money he would feel fine if the business didn’t go anywhere. Because he really likes cooking, ended up having lots of nice (and expensive) woks, and learning a lot! For that, that’s worth it!

He tends to do everything himself when he starts a business. By doing that, he brings down the costs, minimize the risks, and also learns a lot. We had a conversation about the pros and cons of having investors. While working as a CFO for several startups that needs to report to investors often, he has not had any investors in his own businesses (yet). One of the reason is he enjoys the autonomy of the business and flexibility. On the flip side, he’s worried that he doesn’t go all in and can’t see the full potential of the business.

When I asked what it has been the challenge for him so far… it’s the doubt in his head that if he not trying hard enough…

It’s very interesting to know that he had a business that didn’t work. In his early 20s, he started a grilled cheese business for 9 months… he realized it was not a good idea since cheese was actually not cheap…
If you’re going to start a business and not sure what to do financially, he has cohort at Lindo periodically helping newbies to get started at the beginning. He personally almost paid the lawyer service $10,000 the first time he started his business! This business is obviously from his personal pain… Go check out what his offers on his site!

How to UNDERSTAND your users?

It’s always a good question if your users will like your new products, if your solutions are what they need, or if you are talking to the right group of people. There are quantitative (market research like a survey - you get lots of data) and qualitative ways to find out, and I’m going to talk about the qualitative way in this article. You get less amount of data but more in-depth. And I’ll focus on user research - how you can really know your users.

Observation / immersion

If you’re not even sure about how to describe your users, like the target users are the group of people you usually don’t hang out with. Go to the place where you gather and observe them. For example, I went to a skate park and just watch people skating and how they interact with each other when I did a project at Skullcandy that focused on GenZ. Or we went to mosques to observe salah (with their permission) when we did a project about understanding Muslins.

in-depth interview

Conduct the interview at subject’s place gives us a chance to observe the details of her lifestyle and believes.

After observation, you might have lots of questions about why and how they do things. Gathering all your high-level questions, and recruit the people that fall in your target user groups. Compared to traditional interview - you ask one question, he/she answers, and go to the next question. We encourage you to use laddering techniques - asking “why”. Be curious about the details they say, and ask why they said that or made that decision. One technique I found useful is repeating the key words they said (to acknowledge what they said) and pause for a while (resist your temptation to talk!) It prompts them to explain more.

Shadowing

With the user’s permission, observe how they do things. Compared to the first section “observation”, this one can be in a private setting like at his/her own place, studio, or shop. Ask their permission to document what they do (often with a consent form to keep information confidential), and lay it out as a user journey.

An example of a user journey that was conducted at the Front climbing gym in SLC, Utah

If you’re interested in more details about User-centered research, here’s the link to free PDF you can download.

[INTERVIEW] Prioritize your recreational passion with Dan Noakes

I found Dan Noakes’ YouTube video of backcountry skiing 3 sisters in a day when I was living in Bend, Oregon. Out of curiosity, I found him on LinkedIn and connected with him. I wanted to know what he does for a living so that he can live a life that centers around skiing. I was very curious because I want to be able to snowboard on the days I want (aka powder day). He nicely accepted my invitation for interview and I’m really glad that we had a chat. Here’s his story-

Dan currently lives in McCall, Idaho and he’s a freelance animator. He actually studied accounting since all his neighbors were accountants - so he thought that’s the way to make money. When he was working at ski resort in college, he was depressed that he wouldn’t be able to ski that much after he graduated. Then he discovered “down patrol” backcountry skiing in Utah in 2011. At one point in his life, he decided to quit his job in SF and learned animation - on the way to his ideal lifestyle.

How do you market yourself and get job leads?

1. Referral basis (from old coworkers.)

2. Cold email and send them the portfolio. Search agencies that are looking for freelancers. Occasionally there will be direct client work, but most of his works are from agencies.

3. meetup.com organize his own motion graphic meetup every month, and ended up teaming up with great friends. Also started an online community on FB.

4. Personal email more than social marketing. Personalize my communication. Also be mindful that not being pushy.

The most challenging part for this lifestyle for him is comparing himself with other friends. Dan has felt no one understands how much work you actually do as a freelancer. There are lots of hours of work like budgeting, thinking, planning… He didn’t feel the approval from people. People thought he’s not responsible and the shame hurts. (This is his perception to his friends and family. )

How to create a mood board/inspiration board?

What is a mood board?

It’s a collage of images that helps you to communicate visual ideas like color tone/vibe/style/quality. Some people get confused with “reference images” - which are a collage of the images that look good in their eyes but the style does not necessarily align with each other. Creating a good mood board requires the sensitivity to the tone/composition/mood of the photography. It is recommended to have designer or photographer friends to give you critique on your mood board the first couple times.

Why do you need a mood board?

It helps to communicate your visual idea. A brand ID designer would create a mood board to express a brand’s look and feel. A good mood board can help you to get the photo style you would like when you hire a photographer.

Application of a mood board

1. persona

I created a persona mood board for Green & Black’s rebranding project.

An image says a thousand words. Sometimes after having a persona workshop with my clients, I’ll put together a persona mood board to visually present the target audience and to see if they agree.

2. Brand visual identity

The mood board I created for Swell Van. Co

If you have experienced working with a branding agency, you probably go through some exercises defining “brand purpose”, “brand pillars” or “brand attributes”. After verbally defining your brand, it’s important to use mood board to capture the visual side and make sure everyone agree this is what the brand should “look and feel like”. Mood board is usually where I drew color theme for the brand visual identity that can apply on logo, website, packaging design, social, etc.

3. Photography

Photographer: Lindsay D’Addato

Either you’re hiring a photographer for your wedding, family portrait, pets or products, it’s helpful to provide shot list and mood board. It will help them to understand what you want - the quantity and quality!

Where you can find photos (for internal usage):

• Unsplash: free stock images

• Pinterest

• Google

• Instagram
  
  

[INTERVIEW] Not afraid of losing anything with Chel Al

Today I got a chance to interview the owner of one of the best bakeries in Salt Lake City, Fillings and Emulsions, Adalberto Diaz. He’s originally from Cuba, and has been on a TV show, Food Network's Best Baker in America in 2017. In 2019, he initiated “Buy a muffin, help an immigrant” and raised $30,000 for immigrants to reunite with their families.

With his extraordinarily delicious pastry and good heart, I really want to get to know him and know how he started his business. Keep reading to find out!

Q: How did you start your first business?

A: I started baking since I was 9 years old and opened my first bakery in Cuba in 1997 (25yo). I came to the US in 2000 (28) and worked at different places for 13 years (hotels, restaurants university, etc) until I feel I’m ready to open one in the US. Opening a restaurant is more than just making food. You have to love the idea of opening a business more than you love yourself. It will consume your time. It’s like a baby it won’t let you sleep, it gives you nightmares... it all comes with a reward, as long as you’re willing to sacrifice your time. It’s very important that your family support you, otherwise it will be really hard.

Q: What motivated you to start your own business?

A: I’m very creative. Working for other people doesn’t allow me to be creative. it’s the freedom to have my creative outlet. I want to make this for this holiday and I can just make it. If I work for others, I have to present my ideas and ask for permission. Of course, when you have your own business, you lose a lot of your freedom. But if this is what you want to do, it’s what you want to do.

Q: How did you market the bakery at the beginning?

A: I started to post on FB 3 months before I opened it. I interacted with people on social platform and ask for their opinions like what flavors they like. I also have been on TV show and was a teacher at the University so people already knew me. I had students who wanted to work for me.

Q: When did you know that you were ready?

A: I spent 13 years learning different things while working in different places. I had industry network, suppliers, techniques, human resources, etc. Without that, it would have been harder. 

I’ve been obsessed with their guava pastry… growing up in Taiwan, I used to have guava every summer. I definitely miss this flavor, and I was surprised to find this at his shop!

Q: How was it opening your first shop? Was it profitable at the beginning?

A: It was really hard. I didn’t make any money for 6 months, and I had to pay my employees with my credit card. The first year, I only took home 13k. I ate meat pie almost every day (the leftover)… Even though “everything was ready”, it was still difficult.

Q: How did you keep motivating yourself this is going to work?

A: People who came to the shop really liked what we had. I set mini goals: it’s ok to make $300/day… maybe we make $600/day?! Setting those mini goals gives us incentives to keep going. If you set a big goal, it’s a long road to get there (and you get discouraged along the way.) if you set mini goals, you can pat your back every time you reach a goal and celebrate with the team.

Q: Weren’t you afraid?

A: I can’t tell you I was. It’s because where I came from. The only fear is I would lose everything, But I came from nothing. I know I would be fine. Worst comes to the worst, my employees would be able to get other jobs. I can find another job, like I did before. And that wasn’t too bad either. 

Chef Al looked at me and said this when I mentioned about my fear of failure… (Indeed, Asian culture does not encourage try and fail.)

Q: You were earning over 100k before when you were working at a nice restaurant, and only got 13k in the first year of your business. How did you deal with this difference?

A: I was doing this for me. It’s about your point of view. I’m ok if my business doesn’t work and go in debt. Why would I be afraid of being in debt? Everyone in the US is in debt! Even millionaires! Also do not care about what people are saying, even your family. Don’t let that get to you, because it will.

Chel Al describes his “nihilistic optimism”.

Q: What was the hardest part or challenges since you had your own business?

A: Choosing the right person to be your business partner. Make sure that every agreement has to be written down. I had to close the shop for 2 weeks at the first year because the disagreement with my business partners. I fired that person, and got another person to partner with me. The reason why I needed business partners was because I couldn’t get a loan from banks. Because of my skin color and I’m an immigrant. I couldn’t even get a loan after 3 years into the business even though it was sustainably growing 150% every year.

You can find him at shop at West Valley, Mon-Fri morning.

Q: What’s your advice for people who want to start their own business?
A: LEARN! learn everything that requires to run that business. A restaurant is not about making food. Food is big part of it but you need to know food cost, market relationship, price value, you have to learn what it takes to run a business not just the food. Also, people (consultants, agencies) will come to you to do service for you and take fee, and you’ll end up with nothing. Like I mentioned, it took me 13 years to learn. 

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Chel Al now has 4 shops in Utah. It came a long way since he opened his first shop in 2013- which was only 900 square feet. It got significant attention in 2015, and they had to move to bigger location. And it has been consistently growing and expanding. The secret of owning a successful business for him is good quality, good team, good people, support community.

What social posts work for consumer brands 2022?

If you’re launching a brand that makes consumer product in wellness/health/lifestyle/beauty industry, this guide will help you to create an effective social account that works. If you haven’t figured out your brand strategy yet, check out this easy guide. Otherwise, let’s keep reading.

If you’re managing Instagram account, make sure that your post optimize the available screen space- keep the image 4:5 (vertical) and video 9:16. But be aware of how it shows in the feed (square) especially if you have text on your image.

I categorized 6 basic things you need to help build your community on your social platform-

1. Introduce your products with beautiful and consistent product shots

Photographer: Lindsay D’Addato

Based on your brand style guide (if you don’t have one, contact us right now), create a moodboard and hire a good photographer that aligns with the style you’re looking for. Instagram content still works like a gallery- keep it clean, consistent and on-brand is the key.

2. Explain why you’re better with educational posts

Examples from Nature’s Sunshine social feed 2022

It’s important to help people understand what differentiates your products and competitors; why they should care; what benefits your products offer, etc. This type of post can be achieved by adding text, graphic or illustration on image with simple background (for the sake of readability.) You can see examples that we used bottle rendering image + illustration, product + ingredients photo + callout, and product + model (kid’s hand indicates that it’s a kid’s nutrition product) with callout.

3. Lifestyle shots

Photographer: Christian Raguse

People follow the brands that can help them achieve what they want, or align with their lifestyle. Some action shots in the feed can also make the content more engaging and fun. Think about the user scenario for your products and plan for the photoshoot - indoor or outdoor, what types of models that resonate with your audience, what activities or actions should be involved in the content. Usually outdoor brands heavily invest in action and lifestyle photoshoot and show in their feed because that’s what their audience care the most.

4.Trendy tik-tok videos

Either you have tiktok account for your brand or not, a short video (reel) works much better than the static image. From my observation, it has higher chance to get followers, and get higher engagement in general. Build a library with a list of videos that are in the trend and also are on brand, and select a few that are easier to execute to start.

5. Showing your process and authentic side

Example: A social post (slides) about the sustainability report from Nature’s Sunshine

People like to see “behind the scene” - how you make this happen, the team update and how the products are made. It’s also an opportunity to show humane side, your authentic voice, vision and causes.

6. Encourage the conversation with engagement posts

The goal of this type of post is increasing the engagement rate. Throw out a topic that’s often discussed or resonated with your target audience, and see what they respond. Use this type of post sparingly, otherwise it can get annoying and too intentional.

How to get attention on Instagram feed

For the longest time, I would crop my photo to square for social posts on Instagram. I’m managing and creating social assets for several companies and we never had a disagreement on square content since the IG grid is square. Until I got yelled at by my friend Topher, who has been a ski content creator and managing several social accounts. He said no more 1:1 image. 4:5 vertical is how you optimize the space in the feed.

This visual mockup will do the justice for 4:5 vertical content

For video, no longer post 16:9 horizontal format on Instagram when most people view it on mobile. You can see the difference in the mockup below.

16:9 video can even tell the difference between horizontal and vertical formats

While they will all be square in your brand content grid, how it’s shown in user’s feed will effect how much attraction it gets.

A small tip makes a big difference.

FREE Design Thinking Worksheet

“Design Thinking is the sophisticated way of problem solving”, said my husband, who has no design background but has been listening to me talking about this and that occasionally. (To keep our conversation interesting, I usually don’t talk about the details of my work. But sometimes I rant.)

I’ve been coaching Design Thinking at INSEAD EMBA school for almost two years, and recently I think other people would benefit from this systematic framework too. I started to draft the simplified course materials and brainstorm the topics that people will be interested in. (It’s going quite slow with the full-time job I have now.) As an introvert, recording video will always be procrastinated. So PDF hand-out is a more preferable way to spread my love to public.

I’ll try to sketch out the video course and record a few soon. But before that, you can download your FREE Design Thinking Worksheet PDF below.

What does "GOOD" mean?

The longer I work in the industry, the more I understand the power of GOOD design. It doesn’t just make the brand look good (which is what most people think is why they need “design”), it tells a better brand story, and it solves business problems.

So what is GOOD design?

The goal of design is to solve a problem. A product must solve the user’s needs - functionally and emotionally. Design is not art, which can be more about self-expression. GOOD design makes decisions around the users, not based on the preferences of designers, marketers, or even CEO. “Looking good” is the result, not the cause.

What does GOOD look like?

This is very subjective. There’s no universal way of GOOD looks. A 50-year-old married male does not dress the same as 17-year-old single male teenager. They appreciate different types of music, decorate their rooms in different ways, talk in different manners and follow different accounts on social media (probably using different platforms too). So it’s very important to understand who your target audience is and design for them. Design by community (having all the stakeholders involve in design feedback) will only create something that doesn’t work for any audience.

What does GOOD business mean?

Since I know the power of design, I’m more conscious about what impact I have. Thankfully I’m in the position that I can select the companies I’m working with and I’m grateful for the opportunities those brands offer. Here are the rough criteria for a GOOD business-

• Take care of their people and respect the relationships with the customers, vendors, creators, etc. Treat everyone equally and pay fair.

• Planet > profit: care about their impact and the environment. Minimize waste and be conscious about if their strategy encourage consumerism

• Be honest and transparent about their process and work

• Give back!

• Grow sustainably - otherwise, the company will just be struggling, let alone paying fair, giving back…

Obviously, these are all subjective statements. These are just the GOOD people that I like to hang out with and also work with. There’s nothing more exciting than seeing the positive impact you bring from your hard work!

Brief intro of User-centered Research

FREE PDF download here

User-centered research is debatably the most important phase in Design Process. It helps us to discover insights about user’s behavior. It’s more than just asking questions - there are lots of techniques that can find out what they need and want in subconscious level.

User-centered research is a qualitative approach while market research usually generates quantitative data. Both are useful in understanding your users. Quantitative research can bring great amount of user data in the short period of time (ex: survey) but you can only get the conscious level of information that people share. Qualitative research (ex: interview and observation) is more time consuming but it helps you to understand the subconscious level of desire and latent knowledge.

Download your FREE PDF here -

In the FREE PDF, I listed 6 different methods that you can do in your user interview. Be aware that every practice works well for specific type of questions, with good laddering technique. If the participant feels uncomfortable during the interview, you should STOP right away. Give him/her some space and time, and ask for permission to continue the interview.

Extended reading from Toptal: How to Conduct User Research as a Team of One

There are lots of books in the market about user-centered research, I recommend two books here-

Interviewing Users: How to uncover compelling insights

Universal Methods of Design - this book is more like a dictionary than an intro.

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Any questions? Feel free to email me: cerrateng@gmail.com

What is Design Thinking? -Free PDF

This easy-to-read guide is created for people who don’t have prior experience in design but are curious about the process. This system was initially developed by IDEO and it has been prevalently used in corporates as a tool for innovation.

What you need before you start-

child mindset
Kids are known for their creativity before they get stifled by the society. Be open-minded and curious. Have fun learning in the process!

not afraid to fail
In the project that you don’t know the answer to the challenge at hand, you need the courage to experiment and fail. Be optimistic. Fail early and often.

let go of comparison
Have confidence in your own ideas! Also no judgement in your or others’ ideas.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE PDF DOWNLOAD HERE!

Talk, in a smarter way

You might be surprised how many people are not good at talking. I believe you have been in a conversation that that other person just go on and on and on and still don’t get to the point. It happens not just in casual conversation but also in professional setting, like a hours-long corporate meeting. As a design consultant and design coach, I found this problem is prevalent in first time meeting with C-level managers or entrepreneurs: You speak out loud whatever is in your mind without organizing in a way that others can understand. It’s frustrating for a listener, and it’s wasting everyone’s time.

To help you to communicate more effectively (so you can get funded) or help others to understand what’s in your mind, let’s take a look of some basic rules:

Structure your thoughts before you talk

Pretty basic rule but everyone forget - WHAT, WHO, WHY, HOW, WHERE. Keep every subject one or two sentences. Make a list of what you want to cover in the conversation and re-arrange the order in a logical way. Same rules when you’re writing an email or make a presentation.

Straight to the point

What do you want from this conversation? I’m usually very clear about the purpose of conversation at the beginning and make sure both are on the same page. I usually keep the greeting and casual chat very short. There’s other time and place we can chit-chat. Please don’t overwhelm a person just met you with trivial details. No one cares. If the other person wants to know more any specific details, he/she will ask.

Don’t make assumption

Don’t assume what people know. They don’t live in your mind so please make your points as clear as possible, with the simplest language. (Of course, the level of language depends on who you’re talking to. )

No acronym

Some business people like to use acronyms that other people don’t really use. And some of them are even self-made. It’s the best way to confuse people or scare them away. Of course there are some exceptions to use acronym - if you know your listeners already know it, or confirm with them if they understand it.

Make sure your listeners are still following you

Sometimes people go on and on and on… and listener already zone out and they don’t even realize it. Take breaks often and confirm with your listeners if they need more clarification.

people lose their interests faster than you think

It’s human nature that our attention is toward to our needs first. If what you’re saying is boring, your listener’s mind will inevitably wander… “what should I eat later?” “Hmmm… do I need to do the laundry tonight?” It doesn’t matter what your social status is. If you are not good at communicating, you lose your audience. Keep in mind that everyone’s time is precious, even your employees. You might pay your employees to sit there listening, but their mind is not obligated to be there.

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If the person you’re talking to has the problems listed above, you should politely interrupt him/her and ask the questions that guide him/her back to the track. Of course, in some circumstances (like corporate meetings) you can’t do that to higher managers. But maybe you can forward this article to them. ;)

What's the difference between design and business consultant?

You’re starting your own business, or you’re in the process of restructuring your business. You need a more innovative way because you want to survive or even thrive in the competitive market nowadays. You need an expert help you set up your business plan or come out with a new disruptive product. Your first thought might be hiring a business consultant and maybe have someone sketch for you later… but wait, what’s design consultant? “I thought designer only draws… How can a designer help my business? ”

The answer is no, not everyone designer can help you with your business strategy. Design consultant is the one understanding how design process can elevate your business and help you think outside of the box. Design Thinking or Creative Process has been a trendy term that is overused by people who don’t even have design training. It’s a user-centered process created by the founder of IDEO, David Kelly, almost 30 years ago and has been broadly adopted as a standard in the industry. It has been more noticed and valued in the past decade and even lots of business strategy firms started to learn and apply to their process.

So what are the differences between design consultants and traditional business consultants? Here’s the simple chart I made -

Despite the chart might be oversimplified (this is designed to be quickly understood not in-depth reading) and mostly from my personal observation (as I’ve been coaching for numerous business consultants), you can tell one has more divergent approach and the other one prefers single path. My previous boss (CEO) used to like to say “let the number talk!” I do agree that when it comes to test the ideas, data is the way to validate which one works. But it doesn’t help you to generate a new idea, a better product for users, or atypical solutions help you sell in the market.

Design consultant helps you to look into the problems in user’s shoes. When you’re solving user’s pain points, improve their life or give them what they want, it’s the solution that will sell - which is a good business. The design process is not just for designing a better product; it also can help you to restructure your company, rebrand, or provide a better experience for your employees. Design consultant guides you through the process and you’ll learn the design thinking by doing.

What is persona and why does it matter?

Years ago when I just learned about Persona at school and in a team project a girl kept questioning my HIPHOP dancer persona setting.

“Why is she living in Austin?”
”Well… as I’m using a real dancer that I follow as an inspiration, she lives in Austin.”
”No. You have to tell me why she lives in Austin. It has to make sense.”

You don’t need to drive everyone insane in persona exercise. You only define the details that matter to your brand. So, what is persona exactly?

Persona is your TARGET AUDIENCE a.k.a IDEAL CUSTOMER.

It’s a set of customer profiles that guides your branding, marketing and sales strategy.

I made a pdf that has a persona example and how you can apply to brand identity, marketing and sales channel.

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD HERE!

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD HERE!

This guide is created for people who want to start a company and wonder how to do branding and marketing right. I use outdoor industry as example but it can be applied to other industries as well.

*Cover photo and persona model courtesy of my friend, Brant. 

How to design your first outdoor product

Product design is not an art, it is a science. The design process is a systematic way of bringing your ideas to life. A product designer is not merely a sketcher, they are problem solvers. In major outdoor brands, each step of the process is owned by a different expert. It took me years of schooling and professional experience to fully understand the methodology.

7 steps to design your first product:

1. Define problems

2. Marketing research

3. Understand your users

4. Distilling Insights

5. Brainstorming/ideation

6. Prototyping

7. Color, material and finish

FREE pdf download HERE!

This guide is particularly created for outdoor or sustainable brands but it can be also used in other industries. The goal is helping you to have the basic understanding of design process.

It’s normal to feel confused or frustrated creating your first product. If you have any questions about the process, feel free to contact us.