Virtual Reality is Reality

Design Management Review, Winter 2009 by Walton, Thomas

We live in a world full of stuff - the things we buy, from ketchup to cars; the buildings we live and work in; the tools we use to keep in touch, from cell phones to computers. But while we can touch all this stuff, what truly touches our lives and changes the way we think is the much less tangible, yet more compelling, world of virtual reality. Today, what seems most influential are the relationships nurtured in brands, the environments developed digitally, and the interactions we share online and via wireless communications.

Interaction and branding

At its most basic level, digital design is the gateway to an extraordinary spectrum of dynamic associations with people, friends, customers, organizations, businesses. In this issue's keynote article, Bill Hill, founder of MetaDesign in San Francisco, along with colleagues Ying Liu and David Summers, offers insights on this interaction that engages individuals as they share talents and interests, come together around key values and beliefs, seek to improve how we live, and shape the many products and services we use and buy. Their comments wander from the social exchanges on Facebook and Flickr to the user evaluations on sites such as Amazon and Travelocity. And they look in depth at Barack Obama's inspiring online campaign, the benefits of developing digital medical records and databases, and the advantages of using virtual prototyping in soliciting user feedback, expediting the product development cycle, and ensuring the integration of materials and processes during fabrication. Clearly, the realities of cyberspace are transforming our world.

Cutting a cross-section through one of the most ubiquitous aspects of this reality, Jo Davison, vice president of creative at the Larsen design consultancy in Minneapolis, probes what it takes to design successful "third generation" websites - those that deliver satisfying, richly detailed, branded experiences. Sites need to be approachable, easy to use, and informative, and satisfy and delight in ways that exceed expectations. For the global industrial company Banner Engineering, this meant providing robust product information and fine-tuning navigation to meet the needs of different customers in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For the Best Buy Foundation, it meant tapping into the opinions and ideas of young people with interactive experiences that let the teens help determine how the Foundation's dollars would be awarded. For Albertsson Hansen Architecture, it meant establishing a gallery of projects that spark the imaginations of visitors and show off the firm's talents and expertise. This kind of design engagement is a must as the Internet has become a destination of choice for so many.

Two articles further pursue this discussion in analyses of Web design and effective brand relationships. Both highlight the social dimension of websites as significant - peer reviews, networking, one-on-one exchanges, and access to product and brand history. In this context, William Faust and Leigh Householder of Ologie in Columbus, Ohio, distill three critical traits of Web branding:

* Be knowable - genuine, distinctive, and something that individuals can connect to

* Be relevant - responding to the question "Why should I care about your brand today?"

* Be sharable - proudly able to share a message about the brand with others

These qualities are key elements of what they define as an "authentic" brand, one that is founded in a real story and connected to fundamental human truths, and that appreciates smart customers. A second article by Nita Rollins, from Resource Interactive, also in Columbus, fine-tunes the connection between the Web and brands with even more precision. She segments Web-brand interaction into four groups: those who want information and to complete tasks; those who are looking for a personal experience and a sense of privilège; those who value being part of a group and being entertained; and those who seek cultural change and want to promote innovation. Rollins's point is that Web designers need to devise specific strategies to reach each of these audiences. Perhaps, however, the most significant message in both stories is that digital branding is emerging as a sophisticated design challenge.

Some frontiers in digital design

Obviously the Web is the high-profile focus of digital design, but there are lots of other creative arenas in this medium. We feature three in this issue. Stephen P. Anderson, of Richardson, Texas-based Viewzi, reports on his firm's take on search engines. Instead of moving toward a onesize-fits-all, he starts by asking, "What kind of search experience is appropriate for this specific search?" His answers are a preview of the future. To find chicken recipes, for instance, he tries limiting the options to pages that provide photos and includes thumbnail images in the results. In a list of recipes for pecan pie, ratings rather than pictures are included in the list. Other types of views are a page where the link is a Screenshot rather than text, a timeline where content date becomes a sorting mechanism, and a 4-Sources search that lets users compare the results from Google, Yahoo!, Ask, and Microsoft.