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Apple continues to set the standard for inclusivity with its latest iOS and iPadOS 18 updates, bringing a suite of accessibility features designed to help users with disabilities lead more independent lives. From eye tracking to improved voice control, these innovations emphasize Apple's commitment to making technology accessible to all.

Breaking Barriers with New Features

Apple’s newest updates introduce several game-changing features across different accessibility needs:

• Eye Tracking: Allows users to navigate their devices using only their eyes, making interactions seamless.
• Virtual Trackpad for AssistiveTouch: Enables users to control their devices by designating a small area of the screen as a resizable trackpad.
• Switch Control Updates: iPhone and iPad cameras can now recognize finger-tap gestures as switches, making device navigation more intuitive.
• Voice Control Enhancements: With Vocal Shortcuts, iPhone and iPad users can assign custom utterances that Siri can understand to launch shortcuts and complete complex tasks.

• VoiceOver Upgrades: Offers new voices, a flexible Voice Rotor, custom volume controls, and customizable keyboard shortcuts on Mac.

• Magnifier’s New Reader Mode: Enhances text clarity, making it easier for users with low vision to read on their devices.

• Braille Improvements: Includes multi-line Braille support with Dot Pad and Japanese language availability for Braille Screen Input.

• Hover Typing: Displays larger text when typing, customizable with preferred font and color.

• Personal Voice in Mandarin Chinese: Expands the feature to a wider audience, allowing users at risk of losing their voice to create a personal synthetic voice.
• Live Speech Enhancements: Now includes categories and works simultaneously with Live Captions, making real-time communication more efficient.

• Vehicle Motion Cues: Helps reduce motion sickness by providing visual cues in CarPlay, making car travel more comfortable for sensitive users.

• Color Filters in CarPlay: Customizable color filters enhance visibility and reduce eye strain while driving.

A Step Toward Greater Inclusivity

Apple’s latest accessibility features highlight its dedication to creating technology that serves everyone. By expanding voice, vision, and motor accessibility tools, Apple empowers users with disabilities to interact with their devices more freely and independently.

These updates reinforce an important message: technology should adapt to people, not the other way around. Apple’s innovations continue to pave the way for a more inclusive digital world where everyone, regardless of ability, can engage with technology effortlessly.

We get it. It can be frustrating to have so many font options and not know which one is best for your site. Will it look good on all devices? Will it be readable by everyone? Will it be eye-catching? Typography is more than just choosing a pretty font; it plays a crucial role in web design and accessibility. As Oliver Schöndorfer emphasized in his talk "Typographer vs. Accessibility" at Axe Con 2025, typography is about making text as readable and functional as possible. It's about ensuring your words have the right voice while still being accessible to everyone.

Accessible typography is boring?

One of the biggest misconceptions is that accessible typography must be plain and uninspiring. In reality, typography exists on a spectrum—you can be expressive while still being legible. The key is knowing when to prioritize aesthetics and when to focus on clarity.

For example, a brand logo can be playful and ornate, but crucial information like form labels, passwords, and instructions must be as clear as possible.

Serif or Sans Serif?

There has long been a debate about whether sans-serif fonts are inherently more readable than serif fonts. Schöndorfer debunked this myth by showing that readability depends more on letter distinction than on whether the font has serifs.

Consider a situation where you are trying to enter your password on a web page. Although sans-serif fonts (fonts in which the letters do not have small decorative strokes or "serifs" at the ends of their strokes) are always recommended, they would not be the best choice in this case because they do not allow you to distinguish between different letters and numbers.

Contrast Matters

Poor contrast can make text unreadable, especially for people with low vision or color blindness. According to WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), the minimum contrast ratio should be:

• 4.5:1 for standard text

• 3:1 for large text (18px and bold, or 24px normal weight)

Examples of Accessible Typefaces for the Web

1. Atkinson Hyperlegible – Designed specifically for readability, especially for visually impaired users.
2. Newsreader – A serif font optimized for screen reading.
3. Roboto – A modern sans-serif with excellent clarity.
4. Open Sans – A highly versatile and readable font.
5. Source Sans Pro – Designed for UI, making it a great choice for apps and websites.

Readability Best Practices

Even the best font can be hard to read if it’s not used correctly. Check out these tips for better readability:

• Test legibility by typing out I l 1 e O 0 C in different fonts and blurring them. If you struggle to distinguish characters, the font may not be ideal.
• Make text large enough (at least 16px for body text).
• Avoid full justification to prevent awkward spacing.
• Use underlines and italics sparingly (underlines should be for links, not emphasis).
• Avoid all caps, as they reduce readability.
• Use regular or medium weights instead of ultra-thin fonts.
• Ensure proper color contrast (minimum of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text).

Choosing the right font and applying best accessibility practices ensures that websites are both beautiful and usable for everyone. So next time you're picking a font, ask yourself: Is it both beautiful and accessible?

Editor's note: This blog summarizes key takeaways from Oliver Schöndorfer’s presentation at axe-con 2025 onTypographer vs. Accessibility. All credits, images, and information belong to him and axe-con 2025.

We love to see companies that not only provide a good user experience but also care about making that good experience accessible to everyone. Such is the case with Starbucks, in their axe-con 2025 session, "Starbucks Growth in Digital Accessibility: Leveraging Self-Paced and Live Training for Partners," the company shared insights on how they've made digital accessibility a critical part of their mission, ensuring that all employees, or "partners" have the tools and knowledge to support an inclusive customer experience.

The Heart of Starbucks' Mission

In 2024, Starbucks welcomed a new CEO, Brian Niccol, and reaffirmed its commitment to being the world's premier coffee provider while nurturing human connections—one cup and one neighborhood at a time. This mission is not only about serving customers but also about empowering baristas and support partners through accessibility initiatives.

Starbucks recognizes that digital accessibility is not just about compliance; it’s about building a culture that supports all partners in their roles, whether they’re serving customers or working behind the scenes. Through comprehensive training, Starbucks ensures that digital accessibility principles are integrated into every aspect of its technology, from design to implementation.

Accessibility Training: Customizing for Starbucks Partners

A key driver of Starbucks' success in digital accessibility has been their tailored training approach. While many companies offer generic solutions, Starbucks has aligned its digital accessibility training to specific roles within the organization. This personalized approach makes learning relevant and actionable for every partner, whether they're a barista or a software engineer.

The company uses a variety of training formats, from self-paced modules to live learning sessions, making it easy for partners to integrate accessibility into their daily work routines. This blend of formats ensures accessibility isn’t just a checkbox—it’s a core component of Starbucks' ongoing digital transformation.

Overcoming Challenges

Starbucks’ journey wasn’t without its hurdles. Early on, they faced challenges with the organization of their Learning Management System (LMS), making it difficult for partners to find relevant courses. To resolve this, they worked with Deque University to create custom learning paths tailored to different roles, ensuring that digital accessibility education was not only easy to find but also relevant to each partner’s unique responsibilities.

Carol Gardiner.

Additionally, Starbucks addressed language accessibility by translating key courses into French, recognizing their North American bilingual workforce. This move ensures that all partners, regardless of location, can engage with the content and benefit from the learning experience.

A Culture of Continuous Learning

Starbucks fosters a culture of continuous learning, with a special emphasis on accessibility. They’ve created a robust system where learning is integrated into every part of the business. Whether through "Learning Lab Fridays" for peer-to-peer education or the introduction of accessible technology, Starbucks empowers its employees to stay ahead of industry changes and actively contribute to the company’s inclusive goals.

One of the most impressive elements of this culture is Starbucks' commitment to reducing friction for partners. By ensuring that learning opportunities are easy to access and align with partners' work processes, Starbucks has made digital accessibility training a seamless part of their workflow.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Accessibility at Starbucks

The brand plans to expand its accessibility training library further, with courses assigned based on roles and career development goals. The company is also focusing on tracking course completions and analyzing data to continuously improve its learning initiatives.

By embedding accessibility into every aspect of their operations—from training to development—they’ve created a framework for success that not only meets legal requirements but also fosters a culture of inclusion and growth. It’s a powerful example of how a company can leverage digital accessibility as both a business imperative and a way to empower employees.

Conclusion

Starbucks’ approach to digital accessibility is a shining example of how investing in inclusive practices can enhance employee engagement and drive business success. By leveraging comprehensive, role-specific training and fostering a culture of continuous learning, Starbucks is setting a high standard for other companies looking to create a more accessible and inclusive workplace.

At axe-con 2025, it was clear: Starbucks isn’t just about great coffee, it’s also about ensuring that everyone, from partners to customers, can engage with their digital experiences in meaningful ways.

Editor's note: This blog summarizes key takeaways from Starbucks' presentation at axe-con 2025 on Starbucks' growth in Digital Accessibility Leveraging self-paced and live Training for Partners (Employees). All credits, images, and information belong to them and axe-con 2025.

At axe-con 2025, Vitaly Friedman, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Smashing Magazine, delivered a great session on Inclusive Design Patterns for 2025. It was a deep dive into the world of accessible design, with a special focus on how color blindness affects users and how designers can adapt to be more inclusive. Here’s a quick summary of the key takeaways that every designer should know.

Why Color Matters (A Lot)

Did you know that 300 million people worldwide experience some form of color blindness? It's more common than you might think, and it’s something every designer should be aware of. Color blindness can make it difficult for users to distinguish certain colors, particularly red and green, which can be a huge issue for accessibility if your design relies solely on color.

1. Don't Rely on Color Alone

This means using more than just color to communicate meaning. For example, if your design relies heavily on color, such as in error messages, be sure to add icons, shapes, or text labels to provide context, and if you have images, be sure to add alt text. This ensures everyone can understand your design, regardless of their visual preferences.

2. High Contrast Makes a Difference

Using high contrast between light and dark elements makes content stand out, making it easier for users to read and interact with. A simple yet powerful pairing is blue and orange, which works well for most users and offers both visual appeal and legibility.

3. Use Shapes and Patterns for Clarity

Adding extra shapes or patterns can help make your designs clearer. For example, in infographics or charts, you can use distinct patterns to differentiate sections. This small detail ensures that your design remains easy to understand, even if users can’t distinguish colors easily.

4. Be Mindful of Common Color Confusions

Some colors can be tricky for people to differentiate, especially as we get older. For example, colors like red and green or blue and purple may blend together for certain users. Make sure you’re choosing colors that contrast well and don’t confuse the eye.

Here are some quick tips to ensure your designs are color-friendly for everyone:

1. Blue is the safest color for users to perceive colors as you do. If you're ever unsure, blue is a solid choice.

2. Use any two colors you like, as long as they vary in lightness. This ensures there’s enough contrast between them.

3. Red and green are distinguishable for colorblind users, but they may not be able to tell which is which. Use other visual cues to clarify.

4. The safest color palette for colorblind users is to mix blue with orange or red. This combo works well across the board.

5. Avoid using pastel colors alone in your design. They can blend together, making it hard for users to distinguish elements.

6. Don’t mix red, green, and brown together. These colors can look very similar for users with color vision deficiencies.

7. Pink, turquoise, and gray don’t work well together. The colors can blur into one another, so it’s best to mix them with more contrast.

8. Avoid mixing purple and blue. These colors can be hard to differentiate for some users, especially those with color blindness.

9. When using red and blue, don’t mix them with green and pink. These colors may appear too similar and cause confusion.

10. Green and orange, red, or blue of the same lightness should be avoided. The lack of contrast can make them difficult to tell apart.

Conclusion: Designing for a Diverse Audience

Designers, entrepreneurs, and digital agencies should be creating dynamic, functional, and user-friendly designs—without always having to label them as "accessible." By considering color choices, adding alternate visual cues, and testing your designs, you’ll ensure that your work can be enjoyed by the broadest possible audience. These small adjustments will keep you ahead of the curve and make your designs truly stand out.

Editor's note: This blog summarizes key takeaways from Vitaly Friedman’s presentation at axe-con 2025 on Inclusive Design Patterns for 2025. All credits, images, and information belong to him and axe-con 2025.

Have you ever thought about why images are so important...not just in the digital world, but how important they are in telling a story, helping people, or making a customer fall in love? There's something called the "picture superiority effect," and it's a concept that says people tend to remember pictures better than text. In fact, there's a study that says the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text.

So, how do you make sure the images you’re using aren’t just filling space, but actively helping you rise above the competition? Let’s dive in and see why images matter and how you can make them work in your favor.

1. Images Help You Create a Memorable First Impression

You know the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but let’s be honest—most people do! When users land on a website, that first impression is crucial. Studies have shown that visitors form opinions about a website in under 0.05 seconds. In that tiny fraction of time, images can either draw them in or send them clicking away to your competitor’s site.

Think of your hero image as the “first handshake” between the user and your brand. It should instantly convey the vibe of the website, whether it’s professional, playful, luxurious, or innovative. If your image is generic or doesn’t resonate with your audience, you’re losing out to a competitor who’s using visuals that speak to the user’s needs and desires.

Take a look at the hero image of one of our clients, El Pupusodromo, where we use characteristic elements of the brand, show the products offered by the restaurant and highlight the personality of the brand and its love for Salvadoran cuisine.

2. Images Set the Tone for Your Brand

The more unique the visual is (compared to other visuals in the same industry), the more memorable it will be. In today’s market, every brand is looking for ways to differentiate itself. Images are one of the most powerful tools you have in your UX design arsenal to do just that. They help communicate the brand’s personality in ways words can’t. Think about the Apple website—it’s all sleek, modern, and minimalist. Their use of large, high-quality product images gives a sense of sophistication and innovation.

If you provide web design services, your job is to ensure the images on the site stay true to the brand’s voice. That means selecting images that match the overall style, vibe, and tone your client or company wants to project. The right imagery can make your website feel unique and give it that “wow” factor that your competitors might be missing.

For Mamá Lycha, a brand that produces and exports Latin American food products, it was very important to reflect that their products are of Latin American origin and that they understand their target audience very well.

3. Images Can Drive Conversions (and Keep Users Engaged)

The more concrete and literal the visual, the more memorable it will be. Want to stand out from the competition? Start thinking beyond just the visuals. Great images don’t just look nice—they also guide the user’s behavior. Think about how a well-placed image can drive someone to click a button, fill out a form, or make a purchase.

For example, if you’re working on an e-commerce site, showing your product in action (e.g., a person wearing the clothes or using the gadget) makes it more relatable and enticing. This creates a connection with the user, which can significantly increase conversion rates.

4. Images Help Your Content Stand Out

In today’s fast-paced world, users don’t have time to read long blocks of text. A webpage overloaded with content can easily overwhelm a visitor, and that’s where images come in. Visuals help break up content, making it easier for users to skim and digest information quickly. It also adds some personality and appeal to the text-heavy areas.

Plus, in a world of memes and viral images, users have come to expect engaging, interactive, and even humorous visuals. If you’re offering something that your competitors aren’t—such as an infographic, a tutorial video, or a creative image gallery—you’re more likely to stand out and keep users engaged longer.

On our website you can visit the About Us section to see the animations we have created to describe each of our services.

5. Optimize for Performance (and User Retention)

The longer a person looks at an image, the more likely it is to be remembered. You can have the most stunning images, but if they make the website slow to load, you’ve just handed your competition a win. In a world where users expect fast, seamless experiences, slow-loading images are a huge turn-off. A website that takes too long to load is a guaranteed way to lose customers.

Google has even made page load speed a ranking factor for SEO, so faster images will help with both user experience and your search engine visibility. Optimizing your images for performance is key to keeping your website competitive.

6. Responsive Images for a Mobile-First World

Did you know that over 55% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices? If your images aren’t optimized for mobile, you’re losing out on a huge chunk of your audience. They might see a broken layout or images that load poorly, which could send them straight to your competitors’ more mobile-friendly sites.

Responsive design isn’t just a trend; it’s a must. Your images need to look just as good on a small screen as they do on a desktop.

At the end of the day, your job as a UX designer is to create an experience that’s not only functional but memorable—and images are your secret weapon. They can help set the tone, build a connection with the audience, enhance your messaging, and drive conversions. The right image can elevate a website from ordinary to extraordinary.

So next time you’re designing, think about this: How can your images help users connect, engage, and act? If you can nail this, you’ll have one more edge over your competition.

We’ve all seen the buzz around inclusivity, and for good reason: more and more, people are demanding that brands not only look out for their needs but actively make their products and marketing accessible to everyone. This isn’t just about doing the “right” thing (though that’s a big part of it). It’s about opening up your brand to new audiences and creating marketing that resonates with people of all abilities. Accessibility isn’t just a checkbox—it's a creative opportunity waiting to be explored!

Take Purina’s recent announcement, for example. The pet food giant is launching a major accessibility push in UK with its Bakers brand, and it’s setting a new standard for how companies can think about their packaging and advertising.

Starting in 2025, all Bakers packaging will include NaviLens technology—a simple but innovative feature that allows people with sight loss to access crucial product information with their smartphones. This tech is a game-changer, allowing customers to scan a code from up to 3 meters away, get nutritional info, allergy details, and even personalized feeding guides—all read aloud in their language of choice.

Shoppers will also be able to access feeding guidelines for their pet and can choose to hear more detailed product information including the ingredients, allergen and recycling information. All the information provided through NaviLens will be read aloud in the pet owner’s phone's language of choice, or they can choose to view it on their device, using accessibility tools.

It's free to use; customers only need to download the NaviLens or NaviLens GO apps, which are compatible with all smartphones. (Purina Article, 2024).

For marketers, this is a powerful move. It’s not just about offering a new product feature, but about creating an entirely new way to interact with your audience. So, how can you take inspiration from this and start building more accessible marketing campaigns? Let’s dive into some ideas!

1. Start with Empathy: Understand Your Audience’s Needs

Creating accessibility ideas for marketing starts with understanding the different ways people experience your product, service, or brand. For example, Purina didn’t just add NaviLens codes to their packaging because it was cool—they took the time to understand the needs of blind and partially sighted dog owners. They realized that feeding time is a cherished moment between pets and their owners, and it’s important that these owners can make informed decisions about what they’re buying for their pets.

This is where empathy comes in. Step into the shoes (or paws!) of your customer and think about their user experience. What barriers might they face when interacting with your product? Is there a way you can make it easier for them to navigate the shopping experience or engage with your content? And once you understand those needs, you can get creative in how you address them.

2. Think Beyond the Usual Tools: Get Creative with Tech

In today’s digital world, accessibility isn’t limited to just making your website screen-reader friendly (though that’s still incredibly important!). As the Bakers example shows, new technologies like NaviLens are opening up exciting possibilities for innovation. Imagine using technologies like augmented reality or voice assistants to help people access information in ways that make sense for them. Or how about creating interactive ads that adapt based on the user's needs, whether it’s captions, sign language options, or text-to-speech features?

3. Empower Your Audience Through Personalization

Personalization is a hot topic in marketing, but accessibility gives it a whole new layer of meaning. In Purina’s case, the NaviLens app doesn’t just tell you what’s in the product—it helps users navigate based on their specific preferences (life stage, lifestyle, allergies, etc.). This personalized experience is incredibly valuable to blind and partially sighted dog owners, but it’s a smart move for any brand. By making sure your audience can get tailored, relevant information at their fingertips, you create a more inclusive and memorable experience.

Think about how you can make your campaigns more personalized for different groups—whether it’s offering a range of content formats, adjusting the messaging for different needs, or using technology to streamline the experience.

4. Partner with Experts and Communities

One of the key reasons why Purina’s accessibility push works so well is the collaboration with the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People). When you’re working to make your campaigns more accessible, consider reaching out to organizations, communities or marketing agencies like Digi-Clicks that specialize in this space. They can help ensure your initiatives are genuinely helpful. Plus, you’ll get invaluable feedback on what works (and what doesn’t).

Partnering with the right groups also gives you a deeper understanding of your audience and shows a genuine commitment to inclusivity.

Final Thoughts: Accessibility is a Win-Win for Everyone

Ultimately, accessible advertising isn’t just good for the people who need it—it’s good for your business, too. Creating campaigns that are accessible can help you reach a wider audience, build stronger connections with your customers, and enhance your brand’s reputation as one that cares. Plus, it can lead to exciting, new ways to engage with people that you might not have thought of before.

If you've ever heard the term alt text and wondered what all the fuss is about, you're not alone. But here's the thing: alt text is crucial for making your website more accessible, SEO-friendly, and user-centric. Plus, it’s super easy to get right once you know the basics.

In this blog, we're going to break down what alt text is, why it matters, and most importantly, how to write it the right way. Let’s dive in!

What Is Alt Text, Anyway?

Alt text (short for “alternative text”) is a written description of an image that appears when the image can’t be viewed. It's often used by screen readers to help visually impaired users understand what's in an image. But it also helps with SEO (search engine optimization) and can even improve your page's loading speed. So yeah, it’s pretty important!

How to Write Alt Text Like a Pro

Now, let’s talk about how to write alt text that’s both helpful and easy for everyone to understand. Follow these simple guidelines to make sure you're doing it right.

1. Be Descriptive and Concise

Alt text should describe the content and function of the image clearly and briefly—aim for 125 characters or less. You don’t need to go into a ton of detail, but make sure you give enough info for someone who can’t see the image to understand what it’s about.

Example:

• Bad Alt Text: “Athletes”
• Good Alt Text: “Track athletes at the starting line of a race on a sunny day, surrounded by trees and spectators.”

See the difference? The second one paints a clearer picture and is far more helpful.

2. Context Matters

Always tailor the alt text to the context in which the image appears. What’s the image trying to convey in the bigger picture of your content? If the image is meant to support a certain point or highlight an idea, your alt text should reflect that.

Example:

• Bad Alt Text: “A dog.”
• Good Alt Text: “A playful dog running through a sunlit park during a spring afternoon.”

The second one helps users understand the vibe and the feeling of the image, which is super important when conveying a message that matches the surrounding content.

3. Function Over Form for Functional Images

If the image is doing something functional—like a button, link, or icon—your alt text should focus on the action or the function of that image, not just its appearance.

Example:

• Bad Alt Text: “Search icon.”
• Good Alt Text: “Search for articles on home improvement.”

For functional images like buttons, your alt text should describe what happens when the user clicks on the icon or image.

4. Leave Decorative Images Blank

Sometimes, images are just there for decoration (like a pretty background image or a design element). If an image doesn't add meaningful content, you don’t need to describe it at all. Just leave the alt text empty (alt=""). This tells screen readers to skip over the image entirely, helping to keep things clean and efficient.

Example:

• Decorative Image: A background pattern of circles.
• Alt Text: alt=""

This is the best practice for images that don't provide any useful information.

5. What About Complex Images Like Charts or Graphs?

When you use images like charts, graphs, or infographics, your alt text should provide a quick summary. But if the information is complex, it’s a good idea to link to a more detailed explanation.

Example:

• Bad Alt Text: “Graph.”
• Good Alt Text: “Bar chart showing sales growth from 2023 to 2024. Detailed report linked below.”

This helps users quickly understand the key takeaway of the image, and if they want more info, they can easily access the full content.

6. Text in Images

Sometimes an image includes text, and in those cases, it's important to include that text in the alt description. This helps people who can’t see the text, or if the image is too small to read clearly.

Example:

• Bad Alt Text: "Birthday Invitation"
• Good Alt Text: “Elegant birthday invitation celebrating Diana's birthday on October 25, 2021, in Malaga, Spain. RSVP to 00 777 889.’”

Don’t leave out the info that could be crucial for understanding the image!

7. Avoid Redundancy

You don’t need to repeat information that’s already mentioned in the surrounding text. If the text next to the image already explains what the image is about, your alt text should just complement that.

Example:

• Bad Alt Text: “Photo of a dog with a ball.”
• Text Nearby: “Our dog loves playing fetch!”
• Good Alt Text: “Dog fetching a ball at the park.”

In this case, you don't need to mention "photo of a dog," because it's already obvious from the surrounding content.

8. Skip "Image of" or "Picture of"

When writing alt text, don’t start with phrases like “Image of” or “Picture of.” It’s redundant and just takes up space. Get straight to the description!

Example:

• Bad Alt Text: "Image of a sunset over the ocean."
• Good Alt Text: “Orange and pink sunset reflecting on calm ocean waves.”

Alt Text Examples for Different Formats

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s check out some examples for different types of images:

1. Logos

When adding a logo, the alt text should describe what the logo represents.

• Poor Alt Text: “Harvard.”
• Good Alt Text: “Harvard's Crimson Veritas Shield.”

2. Icons

Icons are often used for actions, like clicking or downloading.

• Poor Alt Text: “Printer icon.”
• Good Alt Text: “Print the Event Schedule.”

3. Images as Links

When an image is a link, describe what will happen when it’s clicked.

• Poor Alt Text: “Question Mark.”
• Good Alt Text: “Contact Support.”

Why Alt Text Is So Important

Alt text does more than just help those who can’t see images. It also boosts your SEO rankings and helps your pages load faster. Plus, it shows your commitment to making your site accessible to all users—so don’t skip this step!

Wrapping Up: Alt Text Made Simple

Alt text is a small thing that makes a big impact. It’s your chance to make sure everyone, no matter how they’re accessing your content, can understand and enjoy the images you share. So, take a moment to write thoughtful, descriptive alt text, and your website will be that much more inclusive—and SEO-friendly, too!

Ready to start updating your alt text? Let’s make the web a more accessible place, one image at a time!

If you're ready to make your brand's social media shine in 2025, you've come to the right place! Social media is constantly evolving, and staying ahead of trends is crucial to remaining relevant, connecting with your audience, and standing out in a crowded space.

So, what updates should you be making to your brand's social media profiles in 2025? Let's dive into a few key areas that will make a big impact!

1. Update Your Profile Picture & Cover Photo

Let’s start with the basics: your profile picture and cover photo. These are the first things people see when they visit your page, so it’s important they look good and represent your brand well.

• Profile Picture: If you’re using an old logo or photo, now is a good time to refresh it. Make sure it’s clear, high-quality, and aligns with your current brand. If you’ve updated your logo or product lineup, your profile picture should reflect that change.
• Cover Photo: This is the big image at the top of your profile. Think of it as a digital billboard for your brand. You can use it to highlight a new product, special sale, or upcoming event. Just make sure it’s visually appealing and looks great on both computers and phones.

Tip: You don’t need to be a graphic designer to do this. You can contact us to help you!

2. Update Your Bio and Contact Info

Your bio (that little text section under your name) is key! It’s where new followers or potential customers will look to understand who you are and what you do.

• Keep it clear: In a few words, explain what your business offers and why it’s awesome. For example: “Handmade candles that smell amazing and brighten up your home.”
• Add a call-to-action: Encourage people to take the next step. Maybe it’s visiting your website, checking out your latest product, or following you for exclusive updates. A simple “Shop our latest collection” can do wonders.
• Make sure contact info is up to date: If you’ve changed your email address or phone number recently, make sure that info is correct and easy to find.

3. Show Off New Products or Services

Have you launched something new recently or made updates to existing products? Let your audience know! Social media is a great way to keep people informed about what you’re offering.

• New products: Make sure to update your posts, stories, and bio with info about your latest products. Include clear photos and descriptions.
• Highlight what’s special: What makes your products different? Are they eco-friendly? Handmade? Exclusive? Share that! People love learning about what makes your business unique.

4. Give Your Branding a Little Refresh

Does your brand feel a little stale? It might be time for a small branding refresh. This doesn’t mean completely redoing everything (unless you want to), but just updating a few things to keep it feeling fresh.

• Colors & Fonts: Are your colors and fonts looking outdated? Try updating them with more modern or trendy options, but still stay true to your brand’s personality.
• Logo Update: A small tweak to your logo can make a huge difference, especially if it’s been a while since you’ve given it a fresh look. Just make sure it’s still clear and easy to read when it’s small (like on mobile screens!).

5. Experiment with TikTok for Business

If you’re not already using TikTok, it’s time to consider it for your brand. TikTok continues to be the platform of choice for younger audiences, but it’s also attracting people from all walks of life—and businesses of all sizes.

• Use TikTok’s unique features: From short clips to live streaming, TikTok gives you tons of ways to engage your audience. Plus, it’s perfect for brand storytelling in a fun, authentic way.
  • 💡​Pro Tip: Experiment with challenges, dance trends (if that fits your brand!), or quirky videos that showcase your product in action. Your audience will appreciate the realness.
• TikTok Shopping: TikTok has also rolled out shopping features that allow users to buy products directly through the app. If you’re a product-based business, this is a huge opportunity to make shopping easier for your followers!
  • 💡​Pro Tip: Set up a TikTok shop or add product links to your TikTok posts. Then, create fun, engaging videos that subtly promote your products, encouraging people to click and shop instantly.

6. Use More Video!

Let’s be honest—video is where it’s at. It’s no secret that platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are blowing up right now and video content gets a ton of engagement.

But don’t stress if you’re not a video expert—there’s no need to overthink it. Here are some easy ideas:

• Behind-the-scenes: Show how your products are made or give followers a peek into your workspace.
• Customer Reviews: Share short videos from happy customers talking about how your product or service helped them.
• Live Q&A: Go live and answer questions from your followers. It’s an awesome way to connect and show the human side of your business.

Don’t worry about being perfect—just have fun with it, and your audience will appreciate your authenticity.

7. Take Advantage of New Formats

Social media is always evolving, and new platforms or features are popping up all the time. Staying on top of these trends is key to keeping your brand fresh and engaging.

• Instagram Threads: Threads, Meta's new app, is designed to be a more conversational, Twitter-like platform, and it’s gaining traction among Instagram users. This is a great way to engage in real-time conversations, share updates, or get more personal with your audience.
  • 💡Pro Tip: Share sneak peeks of new products or services, answer customer questions, or engage in trending conversations. Since Threads is more casual, it’s perfect for behind-the-scenes content, thoughts, and even memes related to your brand. Don’t be afraid to experiment with informal, witty posts to stand out.
• Vertical Videos on LinkedIn: We all know that LinkedIn is great for professional connections, but did you know that vertical videos are becoming game-changers there too? LinkedIn is pushing video content, especially in mobile formats, and vertical videos are perfect for easy, on-the-go viewing.
  • 💡Pro Tip: Share customer success stories, expert advice, product demos, or even quick tips about your industry. These types of videos show your business's personality while positioning you as an authority in your field. And since LinkedIn is still catching up with TikTok-style content, it's a great opportunity to get in front of an audience with fresh, engaging videos.

8. Use Instagram Stories & Reels for More Engagement

Instagram Stories and Reels continue to dominate, and these formats are incredibly powerful for keeping your brand at the top of mind. Stories are perfect for short, fun, or behind-the-scenes content, while Reels give you the chance to go viral with creative, snappy videos.

• Instagram Stories: They disappear after 24 hours, so use them for time-sensitive content like flash sales, limited-time offers, or new arrivals. It’s also great for behind-the-scenes glimpses into your business that show what goes into making your product or how you come up with new ideas.
  • 💡​Pro Tip: Use polls, quizzes, and question stickers in Stories to engage your audience directly. Not only does this encourage interaction, but it also gives you insights into what your followers care about.
• Reels: Reels are Instagram's answer to TikTok, and they’re super popular for quick, entertaining content. It could be something like a fast-paced tour of your shop, a "how-to" tutorial, or even a customer testimonial in a playful, engaging format.
  • 💡​Pro Tip: Use trending music, sounds, and challenges to get noticed in the algorithm. Reels are also a great opportunity to showcase your brand’s personality—so don’t be afraid to get a little quirky!

9. Keep Your Customers in the Loop

Social media is all about connection. People follow your business because they want to know more about what you do, your values, and what’s going on in your world. In 2025, people are looking for brands that feel real, so try to engage with your audience on a personal level.

• Reply to comments & messages: Show your followers that you care by responding to their questions and feedback. It’s all about building a relationship!
• Share user-generated content: If a customer posts a photo of your product or talks about how much they love your service, share it on your feed. This helps build trust with potential customers.

10. Check Your Analytics

All social media platforms have free analytics tools that show how your posts are performing. You can see what people are engaging with the most, what time your audience is online, and which content gets the best response.

Using this data can help you tweak your posts for more engagement and better results!

Wrapping Up: Stay Fresh to Stay Relevant.

These social media updates don’t have to be overwhelming or complicated. Just take it step by step and focus on the things that’ll help you connect with your audience and show off your brand in the best possible light.

Remember, the goal is to look fresh, stay engaged with your customers, and have fun with it. Social media is a tool that can work wonders for your business if you use it right!

Ready to give it a try? Let’s make 2025 your best year on social media yet! 🎉📱

We’ve been scouring the latest design resources, checking out emerging brand campaigns, and analyzing digital shifts to bring you the most anticipated web and graphic design trends for 2025. With so much happening in the design world, staying ahead of the curve is key, especially when it comes to visual style and user experience. 

From bold typography and AI-driven personalization to immersive 3D elements and sustainability-driven aesthetics, we’ve identified the top 5 graphic and web design trends that are set to take over in 2025. In this post, we’ll break down what we believe will be next year’s most exciting and impactful design trends , based on our research and insights from across the industry.

Let’s jump in and explore what will dominate the design landscape in the year ahead!

1. Bold Typography Takes Center Stage

Typography is becoming a central design element in 2025. Gone are the days of subtle, understated text. The new wave of design trends is all about oversized, bold fonts that grab attention and make a statement.

Why it’s trending: With content overload online, standing out visually is more important than ever. Bold typography creates a focal point that engages users immediately, whether in digital ads, websites, or social media campaigns.

Example:

2. AI-Driven Design Elements for Personalization

In 2025, expect to see AI-driven design elements integrated into web and graphic design. Thanks to new AI tools, designers can offer personalized, user-centric experiences on a larger scale.

The Adobe MAX 2024 event made it clear that AI will be even more integrated into Adobe’s suite of creative tools, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Adobe XD. These features will help designers work faster, enhance their creative outputs, and even generate new content with minimal effort.

Why it’s trending: AI enables designers to create interactive and dynamic layouts that respond to user behavior, which helps brands engage their audience in a more meaningful way.

Example:

3. Future in Motion

According to Canva, its users' trending searches for social media posts, company videos, and pitch presentations were motion (109%), animation (78%), and interactivity (46%), which points to more and more movement in graphic design.

Why it’s trending: Animated gradients and dynamic typography create motion in designs, enhancing the storytelling experience for users.

Example:

4. Retro Futurism: Blending Past and Future

Retro futurism is all about combining nostalgic, vintage design elements with futuristic concepts. This 2025 graphic design trend is making a huge comeback, especially on the web,  where bold and colorful graphics, neon fonts, and futuristic visuals create a unique blend of the old and new.

Why it’s trending: Retro futurism resonates with a wide audience because it evokes feelings of nostalgia while still embracing the future. It’s a playful way to push creative boundaries in 2025.

Example:

5. Mechanical Botanical

According to Canva Trends, this design style mixes natural textures with gradients and negative space to create harmony.

Why it’s trending: In 2025, brands that align with environmental values will likely incorporate sustainable design elements into their branding. This includes eco-friendly colors, natural textures, and simple, minimal designs that promote sustainability.

Examples:

Wrapping Up: The Future of Design is Now

As we look ahead to 2025’s web and graphic design trends, the focus is on pushing creative boundaries with bold typography, AI-powered personalization, immersive 3D experiences, retro futurism, and nature-based design practices. These 2025 graphic and web design trends are all about engaging users on a deeper level and providing them with an unforgettable visual experience.

Staying on top of these trends will give you a leg up in the ever-evolving design world. Whether you’re revamping your website, creating new marketing campaigns, or designing a fresh brand identity, these trends offer endless possibilities for innovation. Keep experimenting, stay creative, and let these trends guide you into 2025!

Sources: Canva, Piktochart, VistaPrint.

Do you want to leave a lasting impression? Then you should try microinteractions. At Digi-Clicks agency we’re aware that to create a satisfactory user experience, every detail counts, so what better way to demonstrate it than to incorporate these small details in key moments where the user interacts with your site?

Key points of this article:

✨​Microinteractions are small, simple animations triggered by user actions to enhance the user experience.

✨​Subtle animations, like Facebook's reaction icons or Instagram's heart animation, draw users' attention to key actions.

✨​Microinteractions make experiences more memorable by integrating playful brand elements.

✨Microinteractions work well during loading, file uploads, social sharing, call-to-action buttons, and text selection to enhance user engagement.

Microinteractions are animations in the design of your site that are activated when people perform an action. These animations are short, simple and require no effort for the user.

But just because they are simple doesn't mean they are not valuable, in fact, there are good reasons to use them: 

1. To attract attention

Example: your favorite social networks

Have you noticed that each Facebook reaction has a little animation that shows each emotion? they are subtle but they sure get attention. Just like the big heart that appears on Instagram every time you Like a photo, or the cute heart animation when you click on the Tweet.

2. Create memorable experiences

Example: RememBear

The site to store your passwords has a simple concept, but by having "Bear" as part of their brand identity, they take advantage of it in their UX Design, as in this microinteraction of the bear that "watches" that you write your master password correctly. How could users forget something so cute?

3. They help confirm the action.

Example: Google

The Google Assistant has a microinteraction that indicates to the user when it is listening to your request, going from the 4 dots to lines that look like sound waves. This helps to reaffirm that you have activated the app when you say "Hey Google". 

4. To Add Personality and Delight

Example: Duolingo

Duolingo, the popular language learning app, uses microinteractions to create a fun and engaging experience. When users complete a lesson, they are greeted with a burst of animation, such as stars or confetti, celebrating their achievement. This small but impactful microinteraction adds an element of fun to the learning process, encouraging users to continue progressing.

5. To Guide and Direct Users

Example: WhatsApp and Slack's Typing Indicators

These apps use a simple yet effective microinteraction to show when someone is typing in a conversation. A small "..." appears next to the person’s name in the chat, indicating that they are actively typing a response. This is a subtle but valuable way to manage expectations and prevent users from interrupting with a message that might be redundant. It also fosters real-time interaction, making conversations feel more immediate.

Example: Apple’s Progress Bars

Apple’s macOS uses a simple microinteraction in progress bars. As the task progresses, the bar fills up, accompanied by a slight animation to indicate activity. It’s a clear visual guide to let users know that their task is in motion, removing any doubt or impatience that might arise when waiting for something to complete. This simple feedback increases perceived performance, even if the process is taking time.

6. To Provide Error Feedback and Prevention

Example: Airbnb

Airbnb, the popular vacation rental platform, uses microinteractions to help users prevent booking errors. When a user inputs invalid information, the platform uses color changes and visual cues (like a shake or highlight) to indicate where the mistake was made. This guides users to correct the error quickly, making the booking process smoother and less prone to mistakes.

7. To Increase Engagement Through Gamification

Example: Fitbit

Fitbit, the fitness tracker brand, uses microinteractions to gamify the user experience and motivate users to hit their fitness goals. For example, when users reach their daily step goal, the app displays a celebratory animation—confetti or fireworks—along with a congratulatory message. This type of rewarding microinteraction reinforces positive behavior and makes users feel accomplished.

Conclusion

These are just a few of our favorite concepts, but you can incorporate microinteractions into pretty much anything. Just be careful not to overwhelm your users with too many flashy animations or other distracting elements; this could cause them to get confused or lose their intention to act. 

You can try it at these perfect moments to enhance your user experience:

• On loading pages. 
• When uploading a document.
• When trying to share an article on social networks (like this one!).
• In call to action buttons
• When selecting a text

From social media reactions to language-learning rewards and onboarding guides, these subtle animations not only make your product more enjoyable but also help it stand out in a crowded digital landscape. When done right, microinteractions don’t just support your design—they enhance it, making your site or app feel more responsive, intuitive, and enjoyable to use.

If you are a business owner looking to engage your customers, use microinteractions to showcase your brand personality and provide a great user experience!

The 404 error must be one of the most known by Internet users, and its popularity is due to the fact that it is an almost impossible error to avoid in any website you browse. So why not take advantage of this great opportunity to show your brand identity?

Here are some of Digi-Clicks' favorite 404 error examples and an explanation of why they work, so you can be inspired to create your own. 

Summary:

The 404 error page is an unavoidable part of browsing the web, but rather than just showing a standard message, many brands use this opportunity to showcase creativity and enhance user experience. A good 404 page not only explains the error but can also keep users engaged and connected to the brand.

In This Article:

• What Are 404 Error Pages?

• #1 DashThis – Features a Lord of the Rings reference.

• #2 Amazon – Apologizes for the error and introduces users to the company's dogs.

• #3 Disney World – Uses beloved characters to diffuse any frustration.

• #4 9GAG – Incorporates humor and memes.

• #5 IMDb – Shows movie quotes related to the error.

• #6 MAD – Offers an interactive site that keeps visitors engaged longer.

• #7 LEGO – Stays true to its playful brand voice.

• #8 Blizzard – Uses humor and gaming language to keep users entertained.

• #9 Spotify – Uses a spinning LP record and provides alternative navigation.

• #10 Kualo – Turns the 404 error into a fun game.

• Bonus Examples

• Conclusion

A little bit of context: A 404 Error page appears when the user has mistyped a URL, when the link has been deleted or when the access has been moved. It's important to let the user know why they didn't find the information they were looking for, but to improve their user experience, you can do this with a personalized page and an invitation to continue exploring options within your site.

1. DashThis - Movies and Memes

Why does it work?
Because it shows that they know their Persona well, using a reference to the Lord of the Rings movie, not only in the text but also in the graphics, keeping the brand style.

2. Amazon - A sweet apology

Why does it work?
Amazon apologizes to the user for the error but also offers something in return: the opportunity to meet the dogs that "work" with them. The user was looking for something, but ended up finding gold.

3. Disney World - Too cute to be mad

Why does it work?
Because the brand leverages its well-known characters to "blame" them for the mistake, so the user doesn't feel like they're the one who made the mistake.

4. 9GAG - Simple and smart

Why does it work? 
On a humor and meme site, the best thing they can do is show their personality and "laugh at their mistakes" in a way that users are familiar with, with the Simpsons and Blink-182.

5. IMDb - A clever quote

Why does it work?
How can a movie and entertainment site make the most of a mistake? Easy, by proving they are the best in their industry. IMDb puts different quotes from famous movies adapted to the 404 error and offers a link to learn more about that movie.

6. MAD - Switch your attitude

Why does it work?
MAD designed a nice interactive page. You can spend hours on this error page just turning toggles off and on to create a new message. 

7. LEGO - Still Awesome!

Why does it work?
It's a creative, funny 404 page, and with a commentary that supports their brand identity

8. Blizzard - Brand identity at its best

Why does it work?
The big video game company has a cute animation with one of its characters (which by the way makes a move that is a wink to a famous meme) in a blizzard, of course, and closes with a Call to Action in the language of the game! which makes it even funnier.

9. Spotify - 404s and heartbreaks

Why does it work? 
In addition to showing brand identity with the LP record resource, it gives the user options to visit other links that might be useful for what they were trying to find.

10. Kualo - Playing for the 404

Why does it work? 
This is one of our favorite ideas because it turns an error into a game that invites people to stay on the site longer, so it doesn't feel like frustration for something they didn't find but a great discovery.

BONUS EXAMPLES!

Intrapan - Let’s make a sandwich!

Why does it work? 
Encourages users to interact with the site, keeping them on the site longer and creating a unique connection.

12Wave - Lost in space

Why does it work? 
In addition to a UX design that makes everyone fall in love with their website, 12Wave
took the opportunity to create a simple animation that is in line with the brand identity.

Alongside - Feeling lucky?

Why does it work? 
Alongside is "a community that allows anyone to participate in cryptoeconomics" and for its 404 error page it took the opportunity to show a game where the user has to "collect" cryptocurrencies in a basket. As the user collects more cryptocurrency, the page shows how much "their profits" are.

This is a great example of how to combine what your company offers with a good user experience.

Feeling inspired yet? Contact us and let's make the best 404 error page together! 

Social media has changed the way businesses connect with their audience, and in 2025, it’s going to be bigger, bolder, and more immersive than ever. As marketers and entrepreneurs, it’s crucial to stay ahead of the curve. But with so much change, how do you keep up with the latest trends? That’s where we come in!

Whether you’re a brand looking to revamp your social media strategy or an entrepreneur trying to break through the noise, these insights will help you plan for a successful year ahead. And if you’re unsure where to start, don’t worry—we’re here to help you craft a social media strategy that works for YOU. Contact us! 

1. AI-Powered Social Media Content Creation

In 2025, AI will continue to play a huge role in shaping how we create and manage social media content. From AI-generated copy to automated content curation and personalized recommendations, AI will make it easier to create content that resonates with your audience while saving you time.

According to Hubspot, 83% of marketers say generative AI helps them create significantly more content than they could without it, and the Hootsuite Social Media Trends 2025 Survey shows that the number of marketers using AI  for most of their social media efforts is growing.

Why it’s important: AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E have already proven how valuable automation can be for marketers. By 2025, expect AI to help with everything from generating post ideas to crafting hyper-targeted social ads based on data-driven insights into your audience’s preferences.

💡 Pro Tip: While AI tools will help you streamline content creation, don’t forget that authenticity will still be key. Use AI to enhance your strategy, but make sure your brand’s voice and personality shine through.

2. Video Content Everywhere (and for Everything!)

Video isn’t new to social media, but by 2025, short-form video content will be even more important. With TikTok leading the charge, platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and even LinkedIn have all integrated short videos into their algorithms. By 2025, video will be the preferred content type across all platforms.

Why it’s important: Video content is highly engaging and provides more opportunities to showcase your brand’s personality. Expect even more emphasis on live video, interactive stories, and shoppable videos that allow users to purchase directly through the video itself.

💡 Pro Tip: Start integrating video into your strategy NOW—whether it’s live streams, behind-the-scenes content, or product demos. Video will become a core part of your digital marketing strategy in 2025.

3. Social Commerce is Going Mainstream

The rise of social commerce (buying directly through social media platforms) will continue to explode in 2025. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Pinterest already offer in-app shopping features, and it’s only going to get bigger. By 2025, we expect social shopping to become as mainstream as browsing an e-commerce website.

Why it’s important: Consumers increasingly want the ability to purchase products while they’re scrolling through their feeds. Social media platforms will continue to improve their shopping experiences, with features like live stream shopping events, virtual try-ons, and enhanced product recommendations.

💡 Pro Tip: If you’re a brand that sells products or services, make sure your business is set up for social commerce. Take advantage of shoppable posts, product tags, and live streams to increase your sales and improve the customer experience.

4. Augmented Reality (AR) & Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences

As the world of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) continues to evolve, expect to see more brands using these technologies to create immersive, interactive social media experiences in 2025. From virtual try-ons to interactive product demos, AR and VR are the next big thing for social media engagement.

Why it’s important: These immersive technologies allow customers to experience products in entirely new ways. Imagine trying on clothes, testing out makeup, or even attending virtual events all through your smartphone or VR headset.

💡 Pro Tip: Don’t wait for 2025 to start experimenting with AR and VR. Platforms like Instagram and Snapchat already have AR filters, and brands are increasingly using these technologies to enhance customer experiences. If your business is ready to innovate, start building AR or VR experiences into your social media strategy now.

5. The Rise of Niche Communities and Micro-Influencers

In 2025, niche communities will continue to grow in importance. Social platforms will prioritize hyper-targeted groups over broad, mass audiences. Instead of reaching out to millions of people with generic content, brands will focus on building stronger relationships with smaller, more engaged groups.

Why it’s important: Micro-influencers and niche communities offer brands more authentic connections with their target audience. By working with influencers who have smaller but highly engaged followings, businesses can tap into a more loyal customer base that trusts their recommendations.

💡 Pro Tip: Look beyond celebrity endorsements and think about partnering with micro-influencers in your industry. These influencers have higher engagement rates and can help your brand connect with a more specific, passionate audience.

Ready to Take Your Social Media to the Next Level in 2025?

These social media trends are just the beginning of what’s to come. In 2025, the key to success will be staying innovative and adaptable while still keeping your audience at the heart of your strategy.

👉 Reach out to us today to discuss how we can help elevate your social media presence and set you up for success in 2025! 💬📈

Sources: Hootsuite, Metricool.

If you’re always on the lookout for insights that can give your team an edge in today’s competitive B2B landscape, the 2024 Buyer Experience Study from 6sense has just dropped some crucial findings across North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific (APAC) that can help us refine our strategies and engage buyers more effectively.

The New Buyer Reality

First off, let’s talk about the most striking takeaway: B2B buyers are nearly 70% of the way through their purchasing process before even talking to sellers. That’s right—by the time they reach out, they’ve already done a significant amount of homework. In fact, 85% of buyers have defined their purchase requirements before making first contact. This means we need to shift our thinking and strategies to meet buyers where they are in their journey.

Key Insights to Guide Your Strategy

1. First Contact is Buyer-Led: Buyers initiate contact with sellers over 80% of the time. This is a clear indicator that we need to focus on building relationships and making our brands more visible and appealing well before they’re ready to engage.

2. Preferred Vendors: A staggering 81% of buyers have a preferred vendor before even starting conversations. In North America, this figure is even higher at 84.6%. What does this mean for us? It underscores the importance of creating awareness and preference long before a buyer reaches out.

3. Engagement is Key: On average, buying group members have 17 interactions with each vendor they’re evaluating, with APAC buyers engaging even more. This is a reminder that our efforts shouldn’t just stop once a buyer shows interest; we need to provide valuable touchpoints throughout their journey.

Navigating Regional Differences

While the study reveals consistent global trends, there are still notable regional variations. For example, buyers in the APAC region evaluate an average of 5.2 vendors, compared to 4.1 in EMEA. Understanding these nuances can help tailor your outreach and engagement strategies based on the specific dynamics of each region.

The Role of the C-Suite

Interestingly, when the C-Suite is involved in the buying process, cycles tend to be shorter, and buying groups are smaller. However, this wasn’t observed in North America, where C-Suite involvement is relatively consistent. Engaging with executives effectively can speed up decision-making, so ensuring your messaging resonates at the highest levels is crucial.

What Drives Decisions?

So what really influences buyers’ decisions? The study highlights that price and product features are the top factors, with ease of implementation following closely behind. As CMOs, we must ensure that our value propositions clearly communicate these aspects to potential buyers.

Rethinking Our Approach

Given these insights, it’s time to rethink our traditional demand generation tactics. Here are a few strategies to consider:

• Build Awareness Early: Create content and campaigns that engage potential buyers before they reach out. Think of educational resources, webinars, and thought leadership pieces that resonate with their needs and interests.

• Focus on Relationship Building: Develop strategies that foster genuine connections, whether through social media engagement, personalized emails, or networking events.

• Leverage Data and Signals: Utilize buying signals and analytics to identify potential buyers and optimize your marketing spend. The more informed you are about buyer behavior, the better you can tailor your approach.

• Integrate Your Efforts: Move toward integrated marketing strategies that align sales and marketing teams. This ensures everyone is on the same page and working toward common goals.

Conclusion

The 2024 Buyer Experience Study offers invaluable insights that can help us navigate the evolving B2B landscape. By understanding buyer behavior and adapting our strategies accordingly, we can enhance engagement, drive preference, and ultimately improve our revenue outcomes. Let’s embrace these insights and lead our teams to success in the year ahead!

Here’s to smarter marketing and more meaningful connections with our buyers!

Adobe MAX 2024 just wrapped up, and wow, what an event! If you’re a designer, you’ll want to pay attention to the incredible updates that Adobe has rolled out across its suite of applications.

We asked our Art Director, Natalia Molina, to share her thoughts on her favorite updates and what they might mean for the future of designers. Let's jump in and see how these new features can supercharge your creative process!

Photoshop: A Canvas for Innovation 

First up, Photoshop! The latest enhancements in Generative Fill are a game changer. Imagine being able to create stunning visuals with just a few clicks. The AI-driven tools now offer more seamless editing options, allowing you to focus on what you do best—being creative!

As Natalia put it: 

"Without a doubt, the protagonist in Adobe Max was artificial intelligence. Although the generative fill has been used in previous versions and is quite useful, it still lacked precision, so these advances show a great evolution by understanding the context of the photos and offering multiple options. 

I was very impressed by the fact that there is now a "harmonization button" called Project Perfect Blend. Basically, it is a function that integrates an image on a background environment, then it understands the background and the image in front of it, adds shadows and highlights, evens out the color temperature, and integrates it perfectly. 

This seems to me to be a great advance in retouching issues - even challenging our work as graphic creatives - I think it is time to learn and take advantage of these new tools to optimize our creative processes.

This perspective is particularly relevant with the newly introduced tools in Adobe Photoshop. By prioritizing the process, designers are encouraged to explore and experiment, leading to richer outcomes.

Premiere Pro: Editing Made Easy 

Video creators, rejoice! Premiere Pro has upped its game with new AI editing tools. Automated scene detection means you can spend less time sifting through footage and more time telling your story. Plus, the collaboration tools are supercharged, making teamwork a breeze.

And let’s not forget about audio! The new mixing and enhancement tools will help you achieve that professional sound without the headache. Your videos are about to get a major upgrade!

Illustrator: Vector Magic

For our vector aficionados, Illustrator has some exciting updates. The new AI-powered design suggestions will help inspire your next masterpiece, suggesting elements based on your unique style. Talk about having a personal assistant for design!

For Natalia, this means more consistency in the designs: 

Not only can we create editable vector illustrations from a prompt, but now we can go from a 2D to a 3D illustration without losing the style of the same illustration, i.e. we can rotate the illustration in different orientations and get it in different perspectives.

Now we have an even friendlier connection between Illustrator and Photoshop, for example, I can create a realistic vector with the Illustrator prompt and just hand it over to Photoshop and easily integrate it into our composition with lights and shadows and still be editable.

And if you love working in 3D, you’ll be thrilled with the improved 3D effects. Now you can create eye-catching graphics with just a few clicks. It’s time to elevate your designs!

Lightroom: Photography Made Fun 

Lightroom is stepping up with new AI image enhancements that can automatically adjust your photos based on your style. Talk about a time saver! The new community features will also help you connect with fellow photographers, sharing tips and inspiration along the way.

And if you’re always on the move, improved mobile synchronization means you can edit your photos anywhere, anytime. Your creativity won’t be limited by your location!

Wrapping It Up 

The Adobe MAX Conference 2024 has unleashed a wave of new features and tools that empower designers to create like never before. Whether you're into photography, video editing, or graphic design, there's something for everyone. So gear up and dive into these updates! Your next big project is just around the corner, and if you need ideas to get started, check out our projects for inspiration!

Natalia Molina

If you’re just starting out with your brand and thinking about diving into the world of social media, you’ve come to the right place. It’s super exciting, but it can also feel a bit overwhelming. Let’s break it down and chat about why having dedicated social media channels for your brand is a game-changer, and how you can get started on the right foot!

Why Separate Social Media Channels Matter

• Professionalism: Using a personal profile for your business can muddy the waters. Having separate channels shows you mean business! It gives your brand a professional look and helps build trust with potential customers.

• Targeted Content: Your personal social media is likely filled with family photos, vacation pics, and memes. While that’s great for connecting with friends, your brand needs a focused approach. Separate channels allow you to tailor your content specifically to your audience's interests.

• Analytics and Insights: Business profiles come with tools that help you track engagement, audience demographics, and performance. This data is invaluable for refining your strategy and understanding what your audience loves.

• Brand Voice: With a dedicated channel, you can establish a consistent brand voice and identity. This consistency helps create brand recognition and loyalty among your followers.

• Networking Opportunities: Having separate accounts allows you to connect with other businesses, influencers, and customers in your niche. It’s a fantastic way to grow your network and collaborate!

First Steps to Create Your Brand’s Social Media Channels

1. Define Your Brand Identity:

Before you dive in, think about your brand’s mission, values, and target audience. What do you want to convey? How do you want to be perceived? This will help guide your content and tone.

2. Choose the Right Platforms:

Not all social media platforms are created equal. Research where your target audience hangs out. For example, Instagram is great for visuals, while LinkedIn is perfect for B2B connections. Start with 1-2 platforms that align with your goals.

3. Create Compelling Profiles:

When setting up your profiles, use a consistent brand logo as your profile picture and write a catchy bio that encapsulates your brand. Include links to your website and other relevant info. Make it easy for people to know what you’re all about!

4. Develop a Content Strategy:

Plan the kinds of content you want to share. Will you post tips, behind-the-scenes looks, or customer stories? Create a content calendar to keep your posts organized and consistent. Variety is key, so mix it up!

5. Engage with Your Audience:

Social media is all about connection. Respond to comments, answer questions, and engage with your followers. Show them you’re listening and value their input.

6. Utilize Hashtags and Trends:

Hashtags can help you reach a broader audience. Research popular hashtags in your niche and incorporate them into your posts. Jumping on trending topics can also boost your visibility!

7. Monitor Your Progress:

Keep an eye on your engagement and growth. What type of content gets the most likes, comments, or shares? Use this data to adjust your strategy and keep improving.

Final Thoughts

Launching separate social media channels for your brand is an essential step in building your online presence. Not only does it help you look professional, but it also allows you to connect authentically with your audience. So, roll up those sleeves and get started! Your brand has a story to tell, and social media is the perfect place to share it. We’ll be more than happy to help you with your brand strategy in the process!

Hey there, folks! October 1st is International Day of Older Persons, a time to celebrate our amazing seniors and the wisdom they bring to the table. But let’s also take a moment to think about how we can make the online world more accessible for them. After all, everyone deserves a great experience on the web, right? Here are some tips for marketers and designers to ensure that seniors can easily connect, engage, and enjoy their time online.

Why Accessibility Matters

More and more older adults are hopping online, whether it’s to stay in touch with family, shop, or just browse for fun. But let’s face it: the web can be a bit overwhelming, no matter your age! Many seniors may also face challenges like vision problems, slower reaction times, or even just a steep learning curve with new tech. It’s our job to make sure our digital spaces are welcoming and easy to navigate!

Accessibility Tips for a Senior-Friendly Web

1. Go Big or Go Home:

Seriously, bigger text is better! Make sure your website allows users to increase text size easily. Also, high-contrast color schemes can make the reading way easier. Think bold!

2. Screen Readers Are Your Friends:

Many seniors rely on screen readers. Make sure your site is compatible so they can listen to your content instead of straining their eyes. Familiarizing your older audience with tools like NVDA or VoiceOver can really boost their experience.

3. Keep It Simple:

Navigation should be as straightforward as possible. Use larger buttons and clear menus. If they can find what they’re looking for without breaking a sweat, they’ll keep coming back.

4. Alt Text is a Must:

If you’re using images, don’t forget the alt text! This little addition helps visually impaired users understand what’s going on. It’s a quick fix that can make a big difference.

5. Touch-Friendly Design:

Many seniors prefer using tablets or smartphones over a traditional desktop or laptop computer. Make sure buttons are big enough to tap easily, and keep them spaced out to avoid accidental clicks.

6. Video? Don’t Forget the Captions:

If you’re sharing video content, always include captions and transcripts. This not only helps those with hearing difficulties but also makes it easier for seniors to follow along.

Let’s Celebrate Together!

As we honor the International Day of Older Persons, let’s work together to create a digital landscape that welcomes everyone. By implementing these simple tips, we can make sure that older adults not only join the conversation but feel valued in the online community. Let’s bridge that digital divide and celebrate the unique contributions of our seniors. If you need a hand, contact us to make it possible!

Hispanic Heritage Month is a fantastic opportunity to connect with your audience on a deeper level and celebrate the rich tapestry of cultures and histories that make up our communities. Whether you’re looking to highlight your business’s values, engage with a diverse audience, or simply show your support, this is the perfect time to get creative with your social media and marketing strategies. Here’s a friendly guide to help you shine during this special month!

Engage Your Clients: 5 Creative Marketing Ideas

1. Showcase Hispanic Stories and Voices: Share inspiring stories and testimonials from Hispanic clients, partners, or influencers. Feature these stories on your social media channels, blog, or website to highlight their contributions and experiences.

This is something we did for one of our clients, Mama Lycha! We highlighted an employee's story and followers loved getting to know some of the team behind the brand.

2. Celebrate with Special Offers and Promotions: Offer special discounts, limited-edition products, or themed promotions that honor Hispanic culture. This could be anything from a Hispanic-inspired menu item to exclusive sales tied to the celebration.

Example Offer: “In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, enjoy 20% off our new [product] inspired by traditional [Hispanic culture] designs. Don’t miss out on this special offer!”

3. Collaborate with Hispanic Influencers: Partner with Hispanic influencers or content creators to co-create content or host live sessions. Their unique perspectives and following can help amplify your message and reach a broader audience.

For El Pupusodromo, we partnered with a Latina influencer known for recommending restaurants in Houston. We made the video in Spanish and English so that everyone could enjoy the experience.

4. Host Virtual Events and Webinars: Organize online events that delve into Hispanic culture, such as cooking demonstrations, dance classes, or educational webinars. These events can be a great way to educate your audience during a fun virtual experience.

Example Event: “Join us for a virtual salsa dancing workshop with [Instructor’s Name]! Get ready to move and groove while learning about the history and cultural significance of salsa.”

5. Share Cultural Insights and Fun Facts: Create and share infographics, videos, or blog posts featuring interesting facts about Hispanic cultures, traditions, and history. This educational content can engage your audience and spark conversations.

At Digi-Clicks, we like to share insights based on data, and last year we shared some statistics about Hispanics and their behavior with our followers.

Engage Your Employees: Endomarketing Ideas

1. Host a Heritage Month Kickoff Celebration: Kick off the month with a lively celebration that includes food, music, and cultural activities. This could be a virtual or in-person event that sets the tone for a month of joy and excitement.

2. Organize a Cultural Potluck: Encourage employees to bring in dishes from their heritage for a potluck lunch. This is a great way to share traditions and enjoy a variety of flavors while fostering team bonding.

3. Create a Heritage Wall: Set up a physical or digital “Heritage Wall” where employees can share photos, stories, and artifacts related to their heritage. This visual display can help celebrate and recognize the diverse backgrounds within your team.

4. Feature Employee Spotlights: Highlight different employees each week, sharing their personal stories and cultural backgrounds. This can be done through internal newsletters, team meetings, or on your company’s intranet.

5. Offer Workshops and Learning Sessions: Organize workshops or learning sessions on topics related to Hispanic culture, such as language classes, art workshops, or history lessons. This provides employees with an opportunity to learn and engage with the culture.

Hispanic Heritage Month is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the vibrant cultures and contributions of the Hispanic community. By engaging both your clients and employees with these creative ideas, you’ll not only honor the month but also build stronger connections and a more inclusive environment.

Remember, if you need custom ideas to design your marketing strategy for this season, or if you want to get your team involved in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in 2024, contact us today!

Hey there, marketing mavens! Ready to dive into the sizzling world of consumer behavior this summer? We're about to explore some hot trends to make your marketing efforts shine brighter than the summer sun.

Key points of this article:

☀️ ​For summer 2024, consumer behavior is shifting toward a mix of traditional and experiential trends. 

☀️​ Nielsen IQ data shows an increase in spending on condiments, fruits, ice cream, facial cleansers, pet food, and cold remedies, reflecting increased outdoor activity and health concerns. 

☀️ Consumers are also prioritizing experiences, as evidenced by GoogleTrends and Tripadvisor, with many planning domestic and international travel despite economic concerns. 

☀️​ Gen Z is using the season for self-discovery and personal transformation, while Millennials are focused on family and social gatherings. 

☀️Understanding these trends allows brands to tailor their marketing strategies to seasonal preferences and behaviors.

What are the most popular things to buy during these months?

Nielsen IQ data reveals the products that move the most this summer, from food and pet products to skincare and pharmaceuticals.

• Condiments: People plan to spend more on condiments this summer, likely for a good backyard barbecue. On average NIQ sees a 27% increase in sales for ketchup, mayo, and mustard during the summer. 

• Watermelon: 82% of yearly watermelon sales occur in the 93 days that make up summer.

• Ice Cream: Nothing signals the start of summer like the variety of ice cream on the streets. With kids on vacation, ice cream consumption is expected to increase during these months.

• Facial cleansers: Summer is when people are most concerned about how they look, and this year, they are also worried about how they take care of their skin.

• Pet Food: Children are not the only ones who will have extra fun during these sunny days, so pet food purchases will increase to keep their energy up for more hours while visiting the park.

• Cold Medicine: With more people out of the house, the chances of catching a cold also increase, so people will prepare by buying more medicine.

What are the summer 2024 trends?

According to The Pinterest Summer 2024 Trend Report, this summer is all about embracing bold, fearless styles and showing off your unique personality. People are getting creative with their summer eats, adding inventive twists to classic dishes and hosting unforgettable dinner parties. When it comes to decor, it’s all about vibrant, eclectic choices that really let your personal style shine.

• Maximalist summer fashion trends: Rock and roll vibes are back, with lots of edgy, alternative outfits, eye-catching patterns, and unique silhouettes making a splash. Searches for styles like “tomboy femme” (+3900%), “Alt baddie” (+5550%), and “Rock and roll outfit” (+1050%) are on the rise.

• Adventurous summer foods: Searches for “fun things to cook” and “summer special recipes” are up by 1060% and 135%, respectively, and it looks like mango is the star of the season, with searches for “mango float” and “mango sago” seeing a big boost!

• Y2K and 90s Beauty: Nostalgia is in full swing this summer, with searches for “90s makeup look” and “2000s makeup” skyrocketing by 270% and 580%, respectively. Looks like the beauty trends from the 90s and early 2000s are making a major comeback!

• Elegant Tea Parties: Pinterest is buzzing with ideas for summer get-togethers, and searches for summer tea parties and themed dinner parties are definitely on the rise. People are also really into hosting cozy, intimate dinners at home, with searches for “dinner party” jumping by over 6000%. It’s all about enjoying quality time with loved ones in a relaxed, stylish setting.

What are the most popular activities people are looking for this summer?

As we kick off Summer 2024, one thing's certain: people crave experiences more than ever. After being cooped up for so long, they're itching to get outside  and make every moment count. This means they're not just looking to buy products; they want to immerse themselves in meaningful experiences that resonate with their values and aspirations.

If you need proof, look no further than GoogleTrends. It shows how Americans are planning various activities for the season:

What are the most popular destinations for the summer of 2024? 

According to the annual Summer Travel Index from Tripadvisor, 95% of respondents plan to travel as much (51%) or more (44%) than last summer, despite some concerns about economic headwinds. More than a quarter (26%) of Americans plan to spend $5,000 or more on their trips.

Top global summer destinations for U.S. citizens include:

• Cancun, Yucatan Peninsula

• London, England

• Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Top domestic summer travel destinations for U.S. citizens include:

• Las Vegas, NV

• Myrtle Beach, SC

• Orlando, FL

What does summer mean to Gen Z?

Earlier this year, Pinterest Business shared some interesting data on how brands can prepare for sunny days based on what their users are searching for on the platform.

In the case of Gen Z, 7 out of 10 Gen Z weekly Pinterest users say they use summer as a time for self-discovery. That includes solo time, like self-care and solo adventures, as well as meaningful moments and experiences with friends.

Gen Z is looking for inspiration to transform their home spaces, inspiration to choose their clothes during these months, and activities to take care of their bodies, regardless of gender.

What do millennials want to do this summer?

For millennials, summer is different: more than 9 in 10 weekly millennial Pinterest users say they focus on family and friends during the summer.

They want to host backyard parties, plan tasty meals, and renovate their homes to become their friends’ summertime party spot.

Why is it important to understand the changes in consumer behavior during the summer? 

Your user persona is constantly changing, and knowing their behavior during each season will allow your brand to offer discounts on the products they need at that time of year, give them the experiences they are looking for, and advertise with the right messages to get their attention.

So, there you have it: a glimpse into the wild and wonderful world of consumer behavior for Summer 2024! As you gear up for the season ahead, keep these trends in mind and get ready to make a splash with your marketing efforts. Remember, it's all about creating unique experiences, embracing solo activities, tapping into outdoor adventures, mastering social media, and delivering personalized touches that leave a lasting impression. 

Need help tailoring your marketing strategy to these seasonal preferences and behaviors? Contact us to make it happen!

Hey there, marketers and digital enthusiasts!

With the Paralympics 2024 now behind us, it's time to reflect on the incredible strides made in digital and social media accessibility. This spectacular event didn’t just showcase extraordinary athletic talent but also set new benchmarks for how digital platforms can be inclusive and engaging. Let’s look back at how the Paralympics 2024 revolutionized accessibility in the digital world and what marketers can learn from their approach.

Breaking Barriers, Building Connections

The Paralympics wasn’t just about athletic prowess; it was about making sure that everyone, regardless of their abilities, could engage with and enjoy the games. This commitment to inclusivity was clearly reflected in their digital and social media strategies.

1. Embracing Accessibility from the Ground Up

The team behind the Paralympics 2024 understood that accessibility couldn’t be an afterthought—it had to be integral to their digital presence. Their websites were designed with accessibility in mind, featuring screen reader compatibility, adjustable text sizes, and color contrast options. This thoughtful design ensured that all fans could easily navigate and enjoy their content.

*The Paralympics 2024 website included an accessibility widget for users to adjust contrast, and text size, hide images, and much more.

2. Interactive and Immersive Experiences

The 2024 Paralympics embraced interactive features that catered to a wide range of needs. From experiences offering immersive views of the events to interactive social media campaigns that encouraged fan participation, the Paralympics set a high bar for digital engagement. These innovations not only enhanced the user experience but also invited a broader audience to be a part of the action.

*The Paralympics 2024 social media channels encouraged fan participation in the comments with questions like “What was your favorite moment of Paris 2024?”

What could have been better?

It's impossible not to think about the connection between accessibility and the Paralympics, especially in 2024 when there are so many tools on social media to provide options for different types of audiences with disabilities. We missed more accessible content on the Paralympics' social media, like captions, alternative text, and descriptions that would have helped users  understand the games and the emotions of the athletes and other fans.

This is certainly something we hope will improve in the next edition of the Paralympics.

*A video posted on X (Twitter) for the 2024 Paralympic Games lacked captions and alternative text, making it difficult for some users to understand the emotions or reactions seen in the multimedia content.

Lessons for Marketers: Inclusivity is Key

As marketers, there’s a lot we can take away from the Paralympics’ approach to digital and social media accessibility:

1. Implement Accessibility from the Start

Just like the Paralympics, starting with accessibility in mind is crucial. Ensure that your website, app, and digital content are designed to be inclusive from the beginning. It’s not just about adding features later on; integrating them into your initial design and strategy is key.

2. Be Proactive with Content

Don’t wait for feedback to make your content accessible. Use alt text for images, provide captions for videos, and consider various ways to make your content engaging for all users. Proactive measures show that you’re committed to inclusivity and enhancing the overall user experience.

*Some users complained about the lack of accessible social media content about the Paralympics. Credit: Alexa Heinrich on LinkedIn.

3. Engage with Your Audience

Interactive and immersive experiences can set your brand apart. Use digital tools and social media to create engaging and accessible campaigns that invite participation from all users. Whether it’s through interactive content or inclusive live events, find ways to connect with your audience on a deeper level.

4. Measure and Iterate

Finally, keeping an eye on how your accessibility measures perform is essential. Use analytics and user feedback to continuously refine your approach. Accessibility is an ongoing journey, not a destination.

Wrapping It Up

The Paralympics 2024 didn’t just break records on the field—they set new standards in digital and social media accessibility. As marketers, we can draw inspiration from their approach to create more inclusive and engaging digital experiences.

Ready to make your digital strategies accessible and inclusive? Contact us to guide you through the process.

Let's talk about a topic that can make or break your company's online presence: choosing the right web design agency in Houston. Your website is often the first impression potential customers get of your business. So it's crucial to get it right. Here's a simple guide to help you navigate the process and choose the perfect web design partner for your business.

1. Define Your Goals

Before you even start looking at agencies, take a moment to outline what you want to accomplish with your website. Are you looking for a complete overhaul or just a few tweaks? Do you need e-commerce functionality, or is it more about showcasing your brand and services? Clarifying your goals will not only help you communicate your needs to potential agencies, but will also ensure that you choose an agency that aligns with your vision.

2. Check Their Portfolio:

When choosing a web design agency, one of the most crucial steps is to thoroughly review their past work to ensure their style aligns with your vision. A well-curated portfolio provides a window into the agency’s creative capabilities and design approach. By examining their previous projects, you can assess whether their aesthetic and functionality resonate with what you envision for your own website. A diverse portfolio often signifies versatility and creativity, demonstrating their ability to tackle various design challenges and adapt to different industries. This insight not only helps you gauge their design proficiency but also ensures that their work reflects a style and quality that meets your expectations and complements your brand identity.

*At Digi-Clicks we have a broad portfolio of brands ranging from manufacturing to food.

3. Evaluate Their Process

A good web design agency will have a clear and organized process. They should be able to walk you through their steps from initial brainstorming to final launch and beyond. Ask about their approach to project management, timelines, and how they handle revisions. You want an agency that is transparent and communicative, making sure you're involved throughout the process and that your feedback is valued.

4. Consider Their Technical Skills

Web design isn't just about looking good - it's also about functionality. Make sure the agency you choose has strong technical skills. They should be proficient in various coding languages and platforms such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and popular content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Drupal, or Shopify. They should also be familiar with SEO basics to ensure your site is optimized for search engines from the start.

5. Check Client Reviews and References

Don’t just take an agency’s word for it—look at what their past clients have to say. Check out online reviews and ask for references. There are platforms like Clutch.co that allow you to know the web design agency in Houston, where you can filter your search according to the services you need and the references of their clients.

*Digi-Clicks is one of the Web Design Agency in Houston registered in Clutch.

6. Understand the Pricing Structure

Web design can be a significant investment, so it’s important to understand how an agency’s pricing works. Some agencies charge a flat fee, while others may have a tiered pricing structure based on the features you want. Be clear about what’s included in the price—such as design, development, maintenance, and any additional costs. Make sure there are no hidden fees and that you’re comfortable with the budget.

7. Evaluate Their Post-Launch Support

A great website doesn’t stop at launch. You’ll need ongoing support for updates, troubleshooting, and potential upgrades. Ask the agency about their post-launch services. Do they offer maintenance packages or support contracts? Knowing you have reliable help available can save you a lot of headaches down the road.

8. Look for Strong Communication

Effective communication is key to a successful partnership. Your  web design agency in Houston should be easy to reach, responsive to your queries, and proactive in providing updates. During your initial interactions, pay attention to how they communicate. Are they clear and professional? Do they listen to your needs and offer thoughtful suggestions? This is a good indicator of how the project will go once you’re working together.

In conclusion, choosing the best web design agency in Houston involves a combination of clear goal-setting, careful evaluation of expertise and process, and trusting your instincts. By taking these steps, you’ll find a partner who not only creates a stunning website but also helps elevate your brand and drive your business forward.

Remember, you can always contact us if you have any questions or would like a consultation!

Hey marketers! If you're looking for some serious inspiration on how to rock your digital game, look no further than the Paris 2024 Olympics. These folks didn't just prepare for the games; they set the bar high for digital readiness. Let's dive into how they aced it with their website, social media, and accessibility.

Revamping the Website: More Than Just Looks

The Olympics 2024 website wasn't just a pretty face. It was a powerhouse of information and engagement. Behind the glitz, Paris 2024 made smart moves based on data. Analytics guided their content strategy, helping them understand what fans loved (and what they didn't). Marketers, analytics isn't just numbers; it's your secret weapon for personalized marketing.

Ok, so they knew their audience - global sports enthusiasts hungry for updates. So, what did they do right?

*Home page of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games website.

• User Experience (UX) on Point: Navigating their site was smoother than butter on a hot croissant (excuse my French pun!). From schedules to athlete bios, everything was neatly organized and easy to find. Marketers, take notes: a seamless UX keeps visitors coming back for more.
• Valuable Content: Paris 2024 didn't just stop at event schedules. They dished out behind-the-scenes stories, athlete interviews, and interactive maps of venues. Why? Because great content builds a community. For marketers, it's a lesson in creating value beyond the product - engage your audience, and they'll stick around.

*The Olympic Games Web site features stories about athletes, guest performers and Olympic sports.

• Mobile Optimization: Their website was more than desktop-friendly; it was mobile-optimized to the T. With more users accessing content on phones than ever, this move was a slam dunk. Marketers take note: if your site isn't mobile-friendly, you're missing out big time.

Social Media Blitz: Connecting Globally

You can't talk digital without mentioning social media, and Paris 2024 nailed it. Their social game wasn't just about posting; it was about creating a buzz.

• Engagement, Engagement, Engagement: They didn't just broadcast; they interacted. Live Q&A sessions with athletes, polls on favorite moments, and user-generated content flooded their feeds. Marketers, think beyond scheduled posts - engage in real-time, and your audience will feel connected.

The official TikTok account of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games shows the variety of content and formats used to capture the attention of followers.

Accessibility: Opening Doors to Everyone

Now, let's talk about something crucial: accessibility. Paris 2024 didn't just pay lip service; they walked the talk.

• Inclusive Design: Their website was a champ in accessibility. Text-to-speech options, high contrast modes, and keyboard navigability made sure everyone could access their content. This isn't just about compliance; it's about inclusivity. Make your brand accessible, and you'll win hearts.
• Multilingual Magic: With a global audience, language barriers could've been a hurdle. Not for Paris 2024. They spoke the language of their fans - literally. Their website and social media spoke multiple languages, breaking down communication barriers. Take a cue, marketers: speak your audience's language, and they'll listen.

*Changing the language of the Olympians website not only changes the language but also adapts some content to attract the attention of visitors from other countries related to the selected language.

Wrapping It Up: Learn, Adapt, Excel

So, there you have it, fellow marketers. Paris 2024 didn't just host the Olympics; they orchestrated a digital symphony that resonated globally. From a kick-ass website to social media wizardry and inclusive design, they set a benchmark for digital readiness.

Take their lessons to heart: prioritize user experience, engage authentically on social media, champion accessibility, embrace tech innovations, and let data be your guide. Because in today's digital age, it's not just about participating; it's about winning hearts and minds.

Did you know July 26th is National Disability Independence Day? 🎉 In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law to protect people with disabilities from employment discrimination and to provide solutions to reduce the barriers they face every day, including those in the digital world.

Thanks to the ADA, designers, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and volunteers have made great strides in providing more opportunities for people who need them. But the idea of empowering people is nothing new; in fact, you'd be surprised how much progress we've made over the years thanks to accessibility. 

These are the 5 inventions you use every day that were originally designed as accessible solutions.

#1 Typewriters

Although there are different opinions about who invented the typewriter, the Italian Pellegrino Turri, who invented the first prototype of typewriters out of love for his fiancée, Countess Carolina Fantoni, stands out. She was blind and found it difficult to write letters to Turri.

*One of the most famous typewriters was the Remington brand.

#2 Kitchen Utensils

Sam Farber, founder of the OXO cookware brand, noticed that his wife found it difficult to peel vegetables with a knife and invented more convenient tools that adapted to her needs. Today, utensils like vegetable peelers help people with motor disabilities, and many people feel more comfortable using them.

#3 Text messaging

After the invention of the telephone, people with hearing and speech disabilities needed a tool that would allow them to communicate in a similar way. James Marsters, an orthodontist who had lost his hearing as a child, created a device called a TTY that relayed typed conversations through a telephone, which was later used to create text messaging (SMS) for implementation on cell phones.

*Text messaging is now used by all of us in our daily lives.

#4 Subtitles

The purpose of captioning has always been to allow people with hearing disabilities to access audiovisual information such as movies, interviews, and series, but it is also used by people learning a new language, elderly people navigating the web, people in noisy environments or, conversely, in places where extreme silence is required, such as a library.  

#5 Straws

In 1930, Joseph Friedman thought of a way to adapt glasses so that people who were ill or had motor disabilities could drink without difficulty, his invention: straws. It took only 10 years for this invention to become very popular in American hospitals, and thanks to him, they are still very useful today. 

*The first straws were used to enable people with different disabilities to drink beverages without difficulty.

What’s Next?

With advancements in AI, robotics, and wearable tech, the possibilities are endless. Imagine more personalized solutions, greater affordability, and tech that adapts seamlessly to individual needs. Together, we can keep pushing boundaries and making a positive impact.

This National Disability Independence Day, let’s celebrate how far we’ve come and the awesome tech making it all possible. Share stories of empowerment, highlight innovative devices, and amplify voices advocating for inclusivity. Together, we can raise awareness, foster understanding, and create a more accessible world for everyone.

Keep rocking those social feeds with positivity and advocacy. Together, we’re making a difference! 🌟#DisabilityIndependenceDay #AssistiveTech #InclusionMatters

As we dive into the electrifying world of soccer (or football, depending on where you are), there’s no better time to talk about the Copa America and the whirlwind of marketing opportunities it brings. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just getting acquainted with the game, understanding the marketing game around soccer can give your social media strategies a serious boost. Let’s kick off!

The Copa America Buzz

First things first: what is the Copa America? It’s one of the oldest and most prestigious international soccer tournaments, where South American national teams battle it out for glory. Think of it as the South American equivalent of the Euro Cup but with its own flair, drama, and of course, superstar players like Messi, Neymar, and Suarez showcasing their skills.

Let’s crunch some numbers to understand the sheer magnitude of soccer’s influence on social media:

*Average Facebook Engagement Rate Per Post, All Industries

• Facebook: Of course, we had to mention Facebook first, because according to Rival IQ's 2024 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report, the sports industry exceeds the average engagement rate on this social network, and this 2024 tournament is no exception, teams are very active posting about their training sessions, match highlights and player content... and the fans seem to love it!

• Instagram: During major tournaments like the Copa America, soccer-related content sees a surge in engagement. In 2021, posts related to the Copa America on Instagram generated over 150 million interactions.

• X (Twitter): On X, the Copa America final match in 2021 between Argentina and Brazil garnered over 10 million tweets. That’s a massive audience ripe for engagement!

• YouTube: Video content related to soccer consistently ranks among the most-watched on YouTube. From match highlights to skill tutorials, there’s no shortage of content that fans crave.

Why Should Social Media Managers Care?

If you’re managing social media for brands or businesses, events like the Copa America are gold mines for engagement. Soccer, being the world’s most popular sport, attracts billions of eyeballs globally. Here’s where your strategic hat comes into play:

1. Global Reach: Soccer transcends borders. The Copa America alone reaches millions across South America, Europe, Asia, and beyond. This means your content has the potential to go viral on a global scale.

2. Passionate Fans: Soccer fans are passionate, loyal, and engaged. They don’t just watch the game; they live and breathe it. Connecting with this passionate audience can drive brand loyalty and advocacy.

3. Content Opportunities: From live updates to behind-the-scenes footage, there’s no shortage of content ideas during the tournament. Creative campaigns centered around game highlights, player stories, or fan reactions can resonate deeply with your audience.

Marketing Strategies That Score Big 🏆

Now, let’s talk strategy. What are some winning plays in the world of soccer marketing?

1. Real-Time Engagement: Soccer matches are dynamic, and so should be your social media presence. Live-tweeting, posting real-time updates, and engaging with fans during key moments can significantly boost engagement.

1. Influencer Partnerships: Collaborating with soccer influencers or players can amplify your reach and credibility. Their endorsement can drive traffic to your channels and humanize your brand.

2. User-Generated Content (UGC): Encourage fans to share their experiences, jerseys, or even predictions related to the tournament. UGC not only builds community but also generates authentic content that resonates with your audience.

Key Takeaways for Social Media Managers

As you gear up for the Copa America or any major soccer event, keep these key takeaways in mind:

⚽Timing is Everything: Plan your content calendar around match schedules and key moments to maximize visibility and engagement.

⚽ Visual Storytelling: Use compelling visuals and videos to capture the excitement and emotion of the game. Highlight player reactions, fan celebrations, and iconic moments.

⚽ Data-Driven Decisions: Analyze engagement metrics in real-time to optimize your strategy. Identify what works (and what doesn’t) to refine your approach throughout the tournament.

Remember, the Copa America isn’t just a soccer tournament; it’s a celebration of culture, passion, and unity. As content creators, we have the power to amplify this excitement, connect with diverse audiences, and drive meaningful conversations around the game. So, lace up your boots, sharpen your social media strategy, and get ready to score big in the world of soccer marketing!

Got any favorite soccer marketing campaigns or tips of your own? Share them below and let’s keep the conversation going! ⚽🚀

#CopaAmerica #SoccerMarketing #SocialMediaStrategy #GameOn

As the temperature rises, so do the opportunities to refresh your content and engage with your audience in a whole new way. There are many ways to tailor your website for the sunny days ahead. Let's dive in!

1. Improve the user experience

In the summer, people are looking for seasonal offers, featured products, or added benefits for those sunny days. The first thing you can do is improve the UX by creating a category called "summer" so people can quickly access what they are looking for.

*IKEA offers special discounts on its website for outdoor essentials, knowing that people spend more time in the garden or barbecue during the summer.

2. Summer SEO

Internet searches change with the seasons. Searches for outdoor activities, travel destinations, fun activities for kids on vacation, and even searches for skin care products and refreshing foods increase.

Identify keywords that are trending during these months and create content on your website or adjust your existing content to drive people to your brand.

*Pinterest Business creates specialized summer items for its target audience using trendy keywords.

3. Highlight Summer Products and Services 

Give your summer offerings the spotlight they deserve by featuring them prominently on your website. Whether you're promoting seasonal products like BBQ grills and sunscreen or offering special summer discounts and promotions, make sure they're front and center for visitors to see. Consider creating dedicated landing pages or banners to showcase your summer lineup.

*This year, Starbucks is promoting new summer beverages on its website.

4. Create Seasonal Content: 

Use the summer season to create fresh, relevant content that resonates with your audience. Brainstorm blog posts, videos, infographics, and social media content about summer themes, events, and activities. Share tips for staying cool in the heat, summer recipes, travel guides, and more to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.

*Walt Disney World Resort's blog features 4 activities perfect for summer with the kids

5. Optimize for Mobile

With people spending more time outdoors and on the go during the summer months, ensuring that your website is optimized for mobile devices is essential. Ensure your site loads quickly and is easy to navigate on smartphones and tablets. Mobile optimization is key to providing a seamless browsing experience for users, whether they're lounging by the pool or soaking up the sun at the beach.

6. Incorporate Seasonal Imagery 

Swap out those winter landscapes and snowflakes for images that capture the essence of summer. Whether it's photos of sun-kissed beaches, refreshing iced drinks, or families enjoying outdoor activities, incorporating seasonal imagery can help set the mood and evoke the feeling of summer for visitors to your site.

*IKEA changes the images and videos on its home page to highlight summer products in a real-life context.

7. Engage with Summer-Themed Campaigns

Get creative with your marketing campaigns by incorporating summer-themed contests, giveaways, and challenges. Encourage user-generated content featuring your products or services in summer settings, and leverage popular summer hashtags to increase visibility and engagement on social media. Remember to keep it fun, interactive, and relevant to your brand.

*The PERDUE brand launches a competition to win a grill, an air fryer and its products to enjoy during the season.

So there you have it, a comprehensive guide to spicing up your website for the summer season! By implementing these tips and strategies, you can create a sizzling online presence that attracts, engages, and delights your audience all summer long. So what are you waiting for? Let's make this summer one to remember!

Picture this: you're scrolling through your feed, and boom! Your favorite burger joint just dropped a post about their latest creation – a plant-based burger that tastes just like the real deal. Welcome to the future, my friends, where innovation meets deliciousness.

So, what's on the menu for the future of food? At the Future of Food: Marketing Innovation in the Food Industry conference at SXSW 2024, we heard from Jay Livingston, Chief Marketing Officer of Shake Shack, and Fernando Machado, Senior Marketing Advisor at NotCo, about their expectations and their formula for innovating to keep consumers' attention in such a competitive industry. 

Let’s start with Sustainability.

As the world becomes more environmentally conscious, so does our food. Say goodbye to carbon footprints and hello to eco-friendly dining. From farm-to-table initiatives to zero-waste kitchens, the future is all about reducing our impact on the planet.

But sustainability isn’t just about going green – it's also about embracing new flavors and ingredients. The future of food is diverse, flavorful, and oh-so-exciting.

“(At Shake Shack) We really want to, like, elevate everything that we do, and we want to make sure that we keep that consistent around the world, whether it’s the design of our physical spaces, whether it’s the ingredients that we use. (...) There are certain things we’re not going to compromise on. You know, our bacon, we use Niman Ranch for most of our bacon in the US, the protocol of sustainable farming that Niman follows when raising basically pigs is something that we don’t want to compromise on. So, we have been keeping those really strict guardrails in mind about what's important to our guests, and what we’re going to stick with, and then, with that in mind, we want to innovate around that.

We always have what we call LTOs, that stands for limited-time options, and we’ll often quarterly have a limited-time sandwich: basically fried chicken sandwiches and burgers (...) so we’re always going to innovate on those classics to grab people’s attention where we can and create a little bit of that buzz. We’re not somebody that can just sit back and just let everybody come to us, we want to create that buzz, but, we want to do it through a great product.”

Jay Livingston

Chief Marketing Officer

Shake Shack

Partnerships 

The food and restaurant industry is so vast that it will continue to rely on partnerships between them to create amazing products. This was the case for NotCo and Shake Shack when they decided to collaborate. The two brands had the same vision, the same drive to be creative, bold, and courageous, and they were able to agree to launch non-dairy shakes to Shacks in New York and Florida. 

This is one of the best examples of how collaboration between brands can capture the attention of consumers.

“I do think that (collaborating with other brands or doing partnerships) is part of the future of food because I don’t think anyone is going to define the future by itself (...). I think that a diverse point of view will come, and will bring an outcome that is stronger. That’s why we want to have a partner, so that they can challenge you and so on, and so forth.”

Fernando Machado

Chief Marketing Officer

NotCo

Technology & data supported 

Leaders in all industries know that technology and knowing their consumers will keep them in business for years to come. That's why at Digi-Clicks, your trusted UX and marketing agency in Texas, we also recommend a UX report that allows you to make decisions based on how your users feel, not on assumptions.

“I want to become more of a fact-based decision-making organization, I want to be instinct-led, but data-supported. So I want the data to keep us from making mistakes, and I want to highlight opportunities that we have.

As marketers, I think that our job is to try to balance that good hard data with the craft, the art around being creative.”

Jay Livingston

Chief Marketing Officer

Shake Shack

So, what are you waiting for? The future of food is calling, and it looks delicious. As leaders of food companies, and restaurants, and even as marketing managers, we need to embrace innovation, celebrate diversity, and savor every bite. Bon appétit! 🍽

There are many ways to analyze your brand's social media behavior beyond the number of followers. Rival IQ's 2024 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report is a great way to guide you based on your industry's performance, allowing you to analyze what's working and what's not on each social media platform and how you can improve your marketing strategy.

But at Digi-Clicks, we know you like your information short and sweet, so here are the key facts that all marketers should know.

What was analyzed?

Before we start, you should know that for this report, Rival IQ analyzed more than 5 million posts and 10 billion likes, comments and favorites on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter from top brands across 14 industries: Alcohol, Fashion, Financial Services, Food & Beverage, Health & Beauty, Higher Education, Home Decor, Influencers, Media, Nonprofits, Retail, Sports Teams, Tech & Software, and Travel.

Prepare to be dazzled, because the results are fascinating. 

#1 Engagement in general is on the decline.

We are talking about organic engagement, the connection you create with your current followers and new people who come thanks to searches or hashtags. 

Although everyone talks about TikTok, the truth is that it is the one that has dropped the most compared to 2022, maybe because the younger generations get bored with the platforms quickly or simply because people are no longer interested in connecting with brands, just consuming content.

The real surprise is that Facebook has remained constant over time.

#2 Frequency of publication is not directly related to engagement.

There are industries such as media (where brands such as The Economist or The New York Times were analyzed) that publish more on most social networks than other industries, but their engagement does not manage to exceed the average engagement rate of the platforms.

Here is a good example to show you: on Facebook, it is the industry that publishes the most per week, but its engagement is very low.

#3 Don’t forget to use hashtags

Hashtags, especially those related to holidays, help industries achieve top engagement rates. So don't be afraid to use them, but with caution, use between 3 and 5 to avoid being considered spam on social networks.

Check out the best hashtags on Instagram for some industries:

#4 Higher Education and Sports Teams Industries are Top in Digital!

We have a lot to learn from these industries and their social media formula because it is definitely working. Not only do they exceed the average engagement rate on many of the social networks, but they have taken it upon themselves to post frequently in a variety of formats.

Social media is a wild ride – it’s always changing and evolving. So don’t be afraid to shake things up and try something new. Whether it’s hopping on the latest trend or experimenting with new features, staying relevant means staying agile.

So there you have it, folks – the Rival IQ’s 2024 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report summed up in a nutshell. Now go forth and conquer the digital frontier, one post, tweet, and story at a time! 🚀

Social media has changed the way content is created and the way we view it. Influencers, companies, and marketing agencies are trying to grab the attention of their followers in different ways every day, but the new key may be simpler than it seems: just add captions. 

Here's what the great minds of Vimeo and Rev, had to say about accessibility and captions at the SXSW conferences.

What are captions?

They are the transcriptions of videos, but they are also a way to create new content, make it more understandable, more entertaining, and even reach new audiences by making it available in different languages.

For millennials and Gen Z, they are their favorite way to watch videos on social networks or their favorite series on streaming platforms, but for people with hearing disabilities, captions are the only way they can access information, it's a way not to feel excluded, to be able to understand and enjoy the same information that the whole audience is receiving.

How do they benefit your brand?

“So I think there's two sides of the coin: so one side is compliance and the other side is user engagement. So from a user engagement standpoint, when you add captions, it is proven that it increases 80% the user engagement and the time that the user spends watching the video. So from a content creator storyteller standpoint, that is crucial for delivering the message, and when it comes to captions and the experience itself, I think that every word really matters. So if you get the message right and you're able to convey the message through captions, for those people who are either watching the video with the sound odd, which is 82% of the video consumption online happens with the sound off, or someone who is hearing impaired and wants to understand what is being said on the video, that's crucial, right? 

And then the compliance side is really important because (...) just as a fun fact: in 2023, over 2300 lawsuits happened in the US related to the American Disability Act. so there's a compliance side of things and then there's engagement and the reach side.”

Fernando Trueba

CMO

Rev

A conflict between people who like captions and those who do not.

While there are many benefits to having captions, brands are still trying to figure out how to please all of their followers, including people who don't like to see captions because they "prevent" them from watching the video or distract them from the scenes. Vimeo's Zohar Dayan believes that this conflict can be resolved to make everyone happy:

“So I think, in a way, captions have become part of the creative or aesthetics of videos. Think about videos on TikTok today, you know, they have these stylized captions that there are a million styles that also emphasize certain words as the person is speaking, and that's part of the creative of the video. So we try to offer all the creative tools for creators to be able to create videos that contain those types of captions.

But on the viewer side, you also have the Vimeo Player, one of the most popular players in the world. We leave it up to the viewer if they want captions on, if they want them off, so the user can decide which ones they want to watch and also the style, the size, the color, the location, and so forth.”

Zohar Dayan

Svp Of Product

Vimeo

A great start to accessibility

Captions allow you to provide a better user experience for everyone, but those with hearing impairments will be more than grateful. It has been proven that actions that support communities create a better feeling toward brands, increasing the possibility of attracting more potential buyers. 

An action that seems simple leads to the empathy needed to think of more accessible methods to implement on your website, in your marketing campaign, in your social media videos. Get inspired to do more for your audience by reading our article on how to make your website more accessible.

If you ever wondered how Mattel (yes, the Barbie and Polly Pocket company) creates new toys every year, or how PepsiCo manages to remain one of the industry leaders, the SXSW 2024 conferences gave us their best tips for any company to innovate.

Innovation is about taking risks.

All change involves some risk, and no organization is exempt. The biggest risk they can't afford is staying in the comfort zone.

(Innovation) it's actually the lifeblood of what keeps people terested in your products, your brands, your services, and anything that you're putting out there. 

Innovation is also a risk, and depending on the company, depending on the product, depending on your timelines, depending on the capital investment required, the tolerance for risk can change. There's always some, "how much is the right amount?" is the magic question. 

Mattel is not risk averse, because a lot of the stuff we do make or make does work, so it balances it out, and innovation is a critical part of how that works, both selling into retail, retailing the customer and ultimately creating desire with the end consumer.

Chris Down

EVP and Chief Design Officer

Mattel

Innovation is about being resilient.

Technology, the economy, politics, and even people's stage in life all affect their behavior, and brands have an obligation to keep pace and find new solutions for them.

What it takes to innovate, it's the resilience, you know, in a company. It's the thick skin that's required. There's a lot of ambiguity around innovation, and you've got to be very much in that comfort zone that things can change very quickly and very rapidly, and that ability to be agile and to pivot and to be able to march in a different direction that suddenly has appeared in front of you.

I think it's a very particular individual and a team and a construction that can come together around a problem to solve, for that matter, to identify a new problem and then be able to rally around it and be able to stitch together a lot of expertise of multiple disciplines in order to advance that problem toward a solution fit.

So that agility, I would say, is the key to the success of innovation.

Phil Sage

Sr. Dir: Design & Innovation HUB, North America

PepsiCo

Innovation comes from leadership, imagination, and prototyping.

Technology, the economy, politics, and even people's stage in life all affect their behavior, and brands have an obligation to keep pace and find new solutions for them.

The reality is that, you know, change is scary, and taking risk can be very scary in a corporate evnronmente, and so, how to manage that risk, how to introduce that risk, how to convince the team, you know, (that's why) leadership is very important.

(...) There's also the fact that innovation by definition means getting into the unknown, right? something new. So how do you make the unknown tangible? how do you convince people that there's something there? with prototyping, mockups, there's a lot of ways you can bring this to life and visualize it.

The last one is obviously imagination. A lot of innovation is about trying to project ourselves into the future, trying to imagine what the future will be and trying to imagine then how we can solve for it. It's hard and very often we're wrong, but we're not afraid of being wrong, not being afraid of failing, I think also is very important.

Matthieu Lorrain

Global Head of Creative Innovation, Google Labs

Google

As you can see, innovation is part of everyday business. Follow these recommendations and get ready to face the changes in your user personas!

Like every year, hundreds of people gathered at South by Southwest (SXSW) to talk about innovation, technology, and creativity. Digi-Clicks had the opportunity to attend several of conferences with leaders from brands like Mattel, PepsiCo, Mailchimp, DELTA, and more to get their perspective on the future of industries and marketing. Here are the highlights:

The Good: Technology is a great partner, regardless of the industry.

It is interesting to know how different industries are using technology and artificial intelligence for their brands. Some use it as inspiration to innovate, others to make their customers' lives easier, and others to provide accessible solutions, but what they all have in common is that they see technological advances as another tool to keep up with people's lifestyles, as an ally that comes to support employees, never as an enemy.

“We have some great ways that we're using AI at Mailchimp. (...) The way that Intuit thinks about AI is how can it automate processes that simplify our customers' experience with the product, drive better results, and then give them sort of creative ideas and next steps. So it comes up with ideas for things that they can do with their campaigns: new subject lines, content, ideas, things like that. 

I think it's super useful for our customers, it reduces the amount of time that they have to be in the product, it improves the outcome that they see with the email that they send.”

Mark DiCristina

VP of Brand Experience

Intuit Mailchimp

“We are trying to use AI to create flavors that do not exist. We are trying to use AI to create a better nutritional profile than the animal-based product.”

Fernando Machado

Chief Marketing Officer

NotCo

The Better: Users are truly the pillar on which all decisions are made.

For Jay Livingston, chief marketing officer of Shake Shack, the future of food will depend on how well we understand people's new behaviors and create solutions that adapt to them. You have to make decisions based on data, by asking the people who consume your products and understanding what they need, what they expect from you as a brand, and what they like.

“A lot of the executives at Shake Shack had culinary backgrounds, and that often worked well to help us get ahead of consumer trends. But it also led to, occasional flops where they didn't even ask guests, "Would you like this? Would you be interested in this? What would you call this? What kind of taste profiles are happening out there?”

Now we have a pretty robust data insights analytics team that's out there every day talking to our guests about what they like, what they don't like (...) I like to think that we're smart as marketers to know what people want, but it's a lot easier to go out and ask 1,000 guests.”

Jay Livingston

Chief Marketing Officer

Shake Shack

The Unexpected: Buying is no longer the endpoint, it's the starting point for many.

Social media algorithms and the ability to pay in seconds from a mobile phone have changed user behavior and made the purchase funnel that we have always known obsolete, at least for some industries. 

The funnel has evolved because it no longer goes through all the stages of consideration of the person until the purchase, now the question is: what is the next step after the customer has made the first purchase?

“So my issue with the traditional purchase funnel is two things: the first thing is that it's way more dynamic. I was an example. I was on Instagram the other day, and their ads are actually pretty relevant. I don't know if everyone feels that way, but for me, they know me. I got served an ad that was for a craft, basically for Easter, that I could personalize my kids' names and I could put it in their Easter basket I purchased it right away, I could not even tell you the name of the brand I purchased it from because it doesn't matter, right? I saw them, I purchased it. That window was super small. I did not go through that whole funnel.

The second thing is that the relationship starts at purchase. The first purchase is just the beginning and that's really where the hard work kicks in. You've acquired that customer, and now what? How are you going to retain them? How are you going to engage them? How are you going to build loyalty? And that's really where rubber meets the road.”

Gina Igwe

Vp, Consumer Marketing

DoorDash

In conclusion, SXSW 2024 was a testament to the enduring power of creativity, collaboration and innovation. From celebrating the good, to embracing the better, to navigating the unexpected, the festival offered a glimpse into the limitless possibilities of human imagination and ingenuity. As we look to the future, SXSW continues to inspire and empower individuals to dream boldly, create passionately, and shape a better tomorrow for all.

Ok, real talk. When you launched your website, did you think about accessibility? sure you have impressive images of your products, high-quality videos of your processes, and even some colors that grab everyone's attention, but what if not everyone can see or hear what you’ve worked so hard to create for your brand? That's when you think about web accessibility.

There are 5 things no one usually tells you when it comes to accessibility, and they're exactly what you need to know to start implementing them right away.

#1 Accessibility is for everyone, and we mean EVERYONE.

It's time to broaden your vision of what web accessibility means: the idea that everyone can have a good online experience and that everyone has access to information. Yes, this means thinking about people with visual, hearing, or physical disabilities, but also the elderly, the cognitively impaired, and even those in rural areas with poor Internet connectivity. 

But we are not thinking about everyone. What if we told you that it also serves people with temporary disabilities, like someone who has broken their hand and needs to use only the keyboard in the meantime, or simply someone who is in a quiet place like a library and cannot watch videos with sound? That's accessibility for everyone.

#2 All you need is empathy to get started.

Some will say that it is not so easy to implement tools that provide a good and accessible user experience, but the truth is that all you have to do is put yourself in the other person's shoes.

How would you feel if you were having an important conversation with many people, but you didn't speak their language? Or if you were waiting for urgent information, but you couldn't read it? When you start thinking about these situations, you begin to see possible solutions to help them.

Start with the basics: make sure you add subtitles to videos, add alternative text to images, i.e. a short sentence describing what you see in the image. Use high-contrast colors for text on your website, and write your product and brand information in a way that everyone can understand, without so much jargon and acronyms.

#3 Do usability testing.

If it's hard to put yourself in someone else's shoes, ask the people who really need an accessible website.

People who deal with a disability daily are the best users to tell you what you need to improve for them to have a good experience on your website. At Digi-Clicks, we can help you conduct usability tests to see how they interact with the elements and how you can help them. 

#4 Consult with experts.

You don't have to start this journey alone. With the help of UX Writing, UX/UI Design experts, you can start implementing the necessary changes to your website.

You can also seek guidance on implementing accessibility standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and use their expertise to ensure compliance and inclusivity.

#5 When you help others, your brand benefits.

Accessibility is not only a moral imperative, it's also a strategic advantage. By prioritizing inclusivity, you demonstrate a commitment to serving all users, which builds goodwill and loyalty among diverse audiences. Accessibility enhances brand reputation by positioning your organization as a champion of equality and social responsibility. In addition, accessible design principles often result in more intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that improve overall user satisfaction and increase engagement.

In conclusion, by embracing accessibility for all, practicing empathy, conducting usability testing, consulting with experts, and recognizing the mutual benefits for both users and brands, we can create digital experiences that empower and include everyone. Let's commit to building a more inclusive digital future where accessibility is not just a goal, but a reality for everyone.

Love is in the air thanks to Valentine's Day! The perfect opportunity for you to learn how to find the right person for your brand and make them fall in love with your products. Let's talk about your user persona.

Have you ever thought about what your ideal partner would look like? You've probably thought about what he/she would look like, what kind of job he/she would have, what he/she likes to do, what he/she likes to do in his/her free time, and what he/she doesn't like to do. Well, something like that is the process of creating your user personas.

These user personas are fictional users created to represent a large group of users who share the same characteristics. They are essential to your brand because they give your entire team a better idea of your target audience's personality type, needs, and challenges.

Why is it important to have a user persona? 

1. Because you know how to reach him/her

Imagine this: you find your dream crush and realize that you have a lot in common with him/her. How could you prove it to him/her and make him/her fall in love with you? 

When you have a user persona, you learn about their routine, the places they visit, even the type of content they see on social media, so you can create a marketing strategy to reach them effectively. You'll be in those key moments when they get to know you.

2. You can make them fall in love with your products and services.

The more you know about your user persona, the better you can design your products and services around their needs, so that when you offer them to your real users, they will be grateful that a brand is finally responding to their needs.

Once you are present in their key touch points and creating awareness of your brand, it is time to show them that you have what they are looking for.

3.  You will offer a better user experience

It's good to know what your users are looking for, but it's also good to know what frustrates them in order to provide a better experience. 

If you know that they are frustrated by not being able to see multiple images of the products on the site in order to buy them, then you know that you need to implement a good image gallery to satisfy them.

How do you create your User Persona?

There are two ways to get started:

Option 1: Make assumptions based on what you know about your customers.

If you are starting your business or launching a new product, you can create your user persona based on assumptions about the behaviors you think your real customers will have, and then, as you start developing and interacting with them, you can verify or change it according to the real behaviors.

This is a great option if you want to get started right away, but keep in mind that you may need to change it over time until you reach your ideal customer.

Option 2: Conduct user research

User research allows you to really get to know your customers because it's based on the data you collect from interviews, literature reviews, usability testing, and more, so you can identify those pain points that prevent the person from getting what they want or need, and what the market isn't offering them.

What does a user persona look like? 

If you want a complete profile, we have a great article with the 5 must-haves for creating the perfect user persona, but at a minimum it should have:

• A name and a face. To make it as real as possible, create a name and add a stock photo for your User Persona.
• Demographic information. Their age, their location, their job.
• Their goals and frustrations.

Here's an example you can use as a template for your projects:

So there you have it! It's really easy to do and will be very useful for any decision you want to make in your company, whether it's for your website, for your marketing strategy, or for launching new products or new features. 

Remember that you should make them fall in love with you not only on Valentine's Day, but every day so that you can maintain a stable and lasting relationship with them.

As we get ready to watch Super Bowl 2024, we want to show you some great strategies you can implement this year to beat your competitors and make your fans (your customers!) thrilled.

#1 Identify your MVP

Just like on the field, a brand needs to take into account what makes it different from the competition, what makes it more valuable, in order to leverage that in its strategy. 

If your delivery times are the fastest or your customer service is special, your strategy should be based on telling that story and highlighting it so more people can experience it.

#2 Your Quarterback Must Be Your User Persona

To make any decisions and changes in your brand strategy, you should always look at your user persona, their behavior and needs should always be the most important thing.

Remember that there are external factors that can cause your users to change the way they make decisions, so you need to study them constantly.

#3 An offensive strategy: a good UX on your website

To score consistently during the game, you need to provide a good user experience on your website or application, not only during the purchase process, but also to make sure you provide all the information about your company, your services.

You can follow these UX recommendations to renew your site.

#4 For the halftime show: Surprise them with something special.

It's always a good idea to score extra points with your actual customers by doing something unexpected for them. It could be giving them a special discount after they make a purchase, offering them an additional exclusive service, or remembering their birthday by sending a gift to her/his mail.

This is a strategy to maintain a good relationship with people who already believe in your brand while inviting them to make a new purchase.

Now you know how football inspires us to win the biggest trophy of all: the hearts of our customers by making them happy. Follow our recommendations and tell us which one is your favorite on our social media.

The U.S. population is aging; in fact, the number of Americans 65 and older is expected to double in the next 40 years, they will be increasingly racially and ethnically diverse and they will be working longer. Why is this something you should care about? because it means that seniors will be a large audience exposed to the digital environment and likely to be looking at your brand.

The user experience for older adults is not the same as what most websites are designed for today, but if you want to take the first step to change that, here are our recommendations:

#1 Understanding their age-related vision changes

As people age, their vision changes. Older people need brighter light to read and work, they have difficulty focusing, their color perception changes, and their eyes become irritated more quickly. 

What can you do to improve their experience?

• Enable users to adjust interface size, especially text.

• Avoid patterned or image backgrounds. These elements will make it more distracting and harder to find what they need.

• Make buttons much larger and more prominent.

• Stick to a color palette of high-contrast, visually distinct colors.

• Use sans serif fonts, which are easier to understand and read.

• Avoid low-contrast text, If the text is a very similar color to the background, it will be difficult for them to read.

• Include simple and clear icons to represent actions that can help elderly people understand the site/app’s functionality. 

Here's a good example. Brookdale Senior Living is a site designed for senior citizens. As you can see, it uses large text and icons, and its buttons are long and eye-catching.

*Brookdale Senior Living's services page uses icons, sans serif fonts, and short text

#2 UX for hearing impaired seniors

• Just like vision, it is normal for hearing to decline with age. Applying these recommendations to your website will make the experience more enjoyable for seniors.

• For notifications, give people the option to choose vibrations or color changes in the app instead of sounds.

• Add captions to your videos.

• Think about the accessibility tools they use with sound, and adapt your site to be understandable on those platforms.

#3 Additional tips:

Older people want help. 

Add tutorials and help features that are easy for them to find, not just on the home page, but throughout all interactions on your site. Chat and call options should also always be available so they feel guided through the process.

*Netflix is a good example of tutorials that are easy for everyone to understand. Credit: Netflix

Short copy, not paragraphs.

The shorter and simpler the instructions on your site, the easier it is for them to understand. Also, if they are zooming in on the text, it will be convenient for them to keep it short.

Make it accessible.

Accessibility is already a requirement for all types of websites, not just for older people, but for all types of people. Start with tips to make your site more accessible and you will improve the user experience for everyone.

Sources consulted:

Population Reference Bureau, Fact Sheet: Aging in the United States, 2019

American Optometric Association

Want to start the year off on the right foot? We can help! It is necessary to update your website/app from time to time to adapt to changes in your users' behavior, their environment, and their new needs. Remember that your user persona can change at any time, and brands that do not change with them will not be your first choice.

How do you know when it is time to refresh your website?

While it is always good to make some simple changes, some factors will help you determine when it is the right time to do so. Answer these questions:

1. Is your website responsive or optimized for mobile devices? If the answer is no, this is one of the most important changes you should make. Today, more than 60% of website visits are made from a mobile device.

2. Does your page take a long time to load? In the trends for 2024, we saw that people are increasingly impatient and want to come to a site that loads quickly or they may leave.

3. Do you have a lot of pop-up ads? They used to be a good strategy to get attention, but lately people are not getting the best user experience because of them. Pop-ups that are too intrusive don't allow people to properly read the information being displayed.

4. Does your website have a security certificate? Have you noticed that when you visit a website, a padlock appears next to the URL? or that URLs now start with HTTPS instead of HTTP? this indicates to users that it is a secure site. 

If you have not implemented an SSL security certificate, it is a sign that your site is outdated and your users may not be able to access it.

*An example of a website with an obsolete security certificate that does not allow people to access it. Credit: HubSpot.

5. How long has it been since you updated your company information online? If you have changed your contact number, address or even your services/products and they are not reflected on your site, it is time to do so.

6. How many people tell you they found you through your website? If you are not doing lead analysis frequently, this is an indicator to help you decide when you need to do a website redesign. 

If people are not coming to you through your website, it could be because you lack an SEO strategy, because the content is not attracting attention, or because there is a poor user experience.

So what can you do to get started with web maintenance?

Start by updating your information, making sure people can really understand what you offer and how they can contact you or make a purchase. Then you can follow these recommendations:

See website examples.

Take inspiration from other brands' sites to identify what changes you want to make. You can make a list of what you liked the most and consult with experts to understand which ones you can apply and how long it will take you to do it.

*An example of a website with an obsolete security certificate that does not allow people to access it. Credit: HubSpot

Do a user experience test

User experience should always be one of your priorities. A test can help you find out what you need to change on your website: if the images are not loading, if the text is hard to understand, if the buttons are not working, if it doesn't look good on mobile devices, etc. That's what you should invest in before focusing on visual changes only.

Get creative!

Do you want to try a new typography? how about renewing your product photos or even adding a video of your company?  Remember that the website redesign process should be fun and especially something that is useful and surprises your audience.

If you liked these tips don't forget to follow us on social media!

Many of the trends we have seen this year have taken us by surprise, especially as no one could have predicted what ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools would bring to us in different areas of our lives.

Although there are still many surprises on the way, we have selected 12 trends, like the 12 months, based on different studies and news, so you can be prepared for what we will see in 2024 in UX, social media, design, and artificial intelligence trends.

#1 Color of 2024: Peach Fuzz.

As Pantone describes it, "Peach Fuzz is a heartfelt peach hue that brings a sense of tenderness and conveys a message of caring and sharing, community, and collaboration."

We will see this color present in brand and product palettes, as a source in photography, and even as a filter in social media for brands that want to communicate this feeling of closeness.

*Official image of the Color of the Year. Credit: Pantone.

#2 Artificial intelligence for everything related to marketing.

A survey found that more than 70% of people plan to increase their use of artificial intelligence in all aspects: to optimize ads, create images, have chatbots, and evaluate the performance of their social media posts.

This will be a strong social media trend, but people also want it to be used responsibly, as overuse or misinformation (i.e., making them think they are real images) can be counterproductive for the brand, as it will make them distrust it.

#3 Sustainability meets advertising.

Companies have been trying to set targets to reduce carbon emissions in everything related to their production chain for quite some time, but this will be the year that advertising agencies and marketing departments will work to make their advertising actions responsible for the planet as well.

#4 Augmented reality is back with a vengeance.

Brands used it this year to create immersive and unique advertising, but in 2024 it will be a UX trend, allowing users to visualize products in 3D in their environment, see them from all perspectives, and interact with them more naturally.

*Ikea launched its Ikea Place app to help people place their furniture from their phones.

#5 Fast websites for impatient people.

The loading time of your website is critical to keeping a user on your site, and people are becoming increasingly impatient. In fact, this is another aspect that Google uses in its algorithm to evaluate which results to show people first; if your site is fast and offers what the user needs, it will increase your chances of appearing in the first results.

Brands need to find fast and effective solutions and think across platforms to provide the best experience.

#6 The evolution of how we search online.

Younger generations are replacing search engines like Google with social media like TikTok, but beyond that, companies must now consider that it is no longer just about text searches.

With the huge rise of voice assistants and platforms like ChatGPT, Bing's new search engine, and more, it has become possible to do mixed searches with text, images, and audio. Brands mustn't neglect any of their channels so that users' searches are accurate and they can be found.

#7 The retro trend in design, fashion, makeup, and entertainment.

It seems that more and more Generation Z and Millennials are falling in love with the aesthetics of bygone eras. According to Pinterest's predictions for 2024, people are interested in activities related to jazz, groovy, metallics, and "grandpa style."

*The Grandpa style that the younger generations are looking for in clothing, with sweaters and pastel colors. Credit: Pinterest

#8 Claymorphism

Following on from UX trends, claymorphism will emerge, a style where visual elements are inspired by materials such as clay and plasticine, making them look like "handmade 3D.” We will see it in web design, applied to the layout and styling of buttons.

*Difference between the standard style of shapes compared to claymorpishm.  Credit: Drool.

#9 Dark Mode continues to win.

If you thought of it as a way to give your brand a unique touch or a fad, think again, because dark mode is becoming a way to improve the user experience by helping with text readability, reducing visual fatigue, and being more energy efficient.

#10 A futuristic style.

Neon textures, 3D objects, and colors like blue, hot pink, and purple will be present in the style of brands and social media trends to keep up with technology and the style of images generated by artificial intelligence.

#11 DIY + Zero Waste.

Remember when there was a boom in people interested in learning how to make handmade things? Next year, this trend will evolve to include crafting with recycled objects, clothing made from scraps, and recipes using food scraps

*An example of how scraps are being used for new handmade creations. Credit: Pinterest

#12 Handmade to stand out.

While some brands want to jump on the futuristic trend, others want to use retro-style illustrations to differentiate themselves, create trust, and generate nostalgia.

What are your predictions for 2024? We'll read them in the comments! 

Sources consulted:

Pantone

Think with Google

Direct Marketing Report

Aldasbrand

Drool

Pinterest Predicts 2024

If you want to get into the world of design, interact with artificial intelligence programs, or simply discover new technologies to use in your work, you'll love these gifts.

Santa and Digi-Clicks have the definitive list of marketing and UX tools you can use for free and online!

1. A Hidden Gem: Adobe Firefly

Well, maybe it's not so hidden, but it's a perfect solution if you want to start interacting with artificial intelligence designs and prompts.

Adobe Firefly is included in some of the graphic design programs of the Adobe suite, but it also works on your website, which means you don't need to install anything or learn other programs; just type the instructions, and you can generate images, add or remove objects, transform text, and much more.

**An example of what you can do with the Adobe Firefly tool using the words "dog with a sweater. Credit: Adobe Firefly.

2. Html.to.design (formerly known as benchmark.design) 

A plugin every UX designer should have! It allows you to convert any website into an editable figma file, so you can understand and design it without starting from scratch or without taking screenshots. It is available as a Google Chrome extension or as a plugin in Figma, another amazing UX tool.

*Credit: Html.to.design

3. Grammarly: A very useful marketing tool for everyone.

Some people think only copywriters need it, but Grammarly is perfect for finding the right words, even for sending an email, creating social media captions, writing letters, and more.

*Grammarly helps you catch typos. Credit: Adobe Firefly

4. Unstack Style Guide

A Chrome extension that gives you all of a website's design information, such as fonts, colors, and brand palette, without coding.

*An example of what Unstack Style Guide can do, showing the colors of a website. Credit: Unstack Style Guide.

5. The Digi-Clicks Blog, to keep you up to date.

We could not forget to mention our blog, where you can find the latest trends, news, and UX tools. Plus, it's free.

If you like this blog, don't forget to share it with your friends!

Have you ever thought about who created the UX tools that make our jobs easier today? Today, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we're celebrating the apps, designs, enhancements, and platforms that improve the user experience for all of us in the UX world.

Here are our top 5 favorite tools:

#1 Figma y FigJam

Figma is a great UX and UI tool to work on basically anything you need in your project, from prototypes, site aspects, wireframes, and even information architecture. It's easy to use, intuitive, and collaborative. But when FigJam came along, it blew our minds.

FigJam is also powered by Figma, but it's designed to engage the whole team in brainstorming, coordinating processes, and timelines, creating concepts and user flows. The whole team can connect and add sticky notes in real-time, chat. To make it even more functional, they can even add widgets and plugins.

*Figma and FigJam home screens. Credit: Figma /FigJam

#2 Adobe XD

We say a million thanks to those who created Adobe XD, one of the most popular UX design tools worldwide, especially to all the designers who already use the various Adobe applications.

What we like most about Adobe XD is that it's a cloud-based tool that can be accessed from any browser. It contains a feature to view the version history, because being aware of what we’re changing to improve is useful, and it also has a feature to record the previews and present them to clients.

*Adobe XD - The XD Get Started page, it shows everything that you can do on the platform. Credit: Adobe XD

#3 Sketch

Although it is only available on Apple devices, Sketch is a tool that those with little knowledge of code or more complex UX applications will appreciate because its interface is very simple while still allowing you to create prototypes, wireframe, and user interfaces.

#4 Tools for UX research: Lookback and UXPressia 

There are also people who have thought of ways to make UX research easier, and here are our favorites: Lookback for video interviews and usability testing, and UXPressia for creating user personas, touchpoints, and user journey maps.

*Lookback home page shows an example of a virtual interview. Credit: Lookback

#5 Tools for analysis: Google Analytics and Hotjar

It is difficult to choose just one UX tool when there are so many that solve every step of the project. In this case, when we are in the analysis phase, we love Google Analytics for the massive amount of data you can get for free! 

Meanwhile, when Hotjar is integrated into your website, it can create a heat map and tell you where and how often users click.

Want more? How about giving thanks for the UX improvements that make us happy?

Paying with our phones makes us happy. 

The Apple Pay or Google Pay payment system, which replaces debit or credit cards to pay at various stores simply by waving your phone around, is a marvel to not having to worry about theft or forgetfulness.

The car mode of apps. 

Spotify, Waze, Messenger, and Telegram, are just some of the apps that have started to think about us when we drive, adapting their functions to a safer and distraction-free UI version.

*In Spotify Car mode, the interface changes to show larger buttons and enable voice commands. Credit: Spotify

Sharing between devices.

Isn't it wonderful to know that you can continue your Amazon purchase from your phone, even if you started it on your computer? or continue watching a movie on Netflix from your phone to your TV?

Voice assistants.

Thanks to Siri, Alexa, Google, and all the other voice assistants that solve our doubts in seconds, help us control our homes, and are a great solution for people with visual disabilities.

The development of artificial intelligence.

We cannot leave behind the great revelation of this year. Tools like ChatGPT, the new Bing search engine, and all the platforms that now use AI make us grateful for making our lives easier.

There is no doubt that there are many other UX tools that are not on this list but deserve recognition. What other tools do you use in your work that you would like to acknowledge in the comments?

During this most special time of the year where you can feel grateful and thank those who have helped us so much, have you also thought about thanking your visitors on your website? You won't believe the benefits this brings to your brand!

Aside from being a nice touch to brighten people's day, having a thank you page on your website is useful for:

1. Guide users through a process.

Finding a thank you page means the user has successfully completed an action, such as filling out a form, making a purchase, or submitting an inquiry to your brand.  

You can use the thank you page to show them what the next step is or what to expect at that point. This gives people confidence in the process and shows your professionalism by not leaving them wondering whether or not they completed what they wanted to do. 

Just like this example from Eventbrite, where it notifies users that they have successfully completed their registration and will receive further information via email:

*Example of Eventbrite thank you page.

2. Track your marketing efforts.

If you really want to know if all of your efforts on social media and other media where you invite people to your site are showing results, then you’ll need a thank you page to track it so you’re aware of how many people actually completed the process you wanted them to and compare it to how many people came to your site but left without taking any action.

Check out this example on Mama Lycha's page, where they thank visitors and inform them that their free cookbook is available for download.

*Example of Mama Lycha's thank you page.

3. Invite them to continue exploring your site

Just because people complete an action does not mean that’s the end of their connection. Take the opportunity to thank them for their visit and invite them to explore other products or learn more about your company.

4. Offer a special benefit or discount

If you want to do more than say "thank you," use this page to give an unexpected gift. Surprise your loyal customers by providing them an exclusive offer available only by visiting this thank you page. This will strengthen your long-term relationship with them.

*Example of Shopify thank you page with a especial gift for visitors.

5. Invite them to provide their contact information to stay in touch or follow you on social media.

A person who completes an action on your website shows a real interest in your brand, so keep that in mind and take the opportunity to invite them to stay connected with you, either through a newsletter or on your social media.

*Example of a thank you page with an invitation to sign up for a newsletter and social media channels.

6. Analyze the most common actions your users take on your website.

Let's say you have several thank you pages, but which ones are your users really looking at? Which tasks are they actually completing and which ones are they not?

To create the perfect thank you message, follow these UX writing tips:

Be authentic: Don't use generic messages, show your brand's personality even on this page.

Include useful links: Remember that this is your opportunity to stay in touch with your user, invite them to take further action or explore your site further.

Be concise but very clear: One of the UX writing tips you should always keep in mind. Create a short message that explains exactly what you are thanking the user for and what the next step is.

Make it personal: If you can personalize the thank you message with the user's name or the name of the product they just purchased, it will be even more valuable to them.

Add an eye-catching visual detail: A visual aid such as a gif, micro-interaction or anything that makes the thank you page stand out from everything else on your site will help users easily identify it.

*Example of a thank you page with beautiful art related to flowers, the main product of the store.

Conclusion:

Including a thank you message on your website is good for both you and your users, it improves their experience and you build a valuable relationship with them. Remember that wherever you put them, they should always be clear, concise and useful to your visitors.

If you need advice on UX writing or any of our other services, contact us or keep learning on our social media.

It's Hispanic Heritage Month! A great opportunity to get closer to this wonderful culture, to feel part of it, and to continue to learn from it, because even though the Hispanic culture has been with us for many years, and you have already learned from them their customs, food and even their language, do you think you know how to attract their attention to your brand? Even if you haven't considered them as your primary user persona, they are a significant demographic that should be taken into account.

Here are some of our user experience recommendations to make them feel included:

#1 Talk to them in the same language

Their native language is very important to them, it's one of the ways they keep their heritage alive, so Hispanics should have the option to switch languages on your website/app.

We recommend that you don't just rely on a translation done by a software program, but that you have it written and reviewed by a language professional or native speaker, if possible. 

Take a look at this example from one of our clients. El Pupusodromo is a Salvadoran food restaurant located in Texas, so it was important that the entire website and even the menu were in both languages.

*Our client's El Pupusodromo website, English and Spanish versions.

#2 Make them feel identified

Did you know that Hispanics are more likely to buy from brands that use inclusive images? 49% of Hispanics say so, according to the Nielsen Attitudes on Representation on TV Study, April 2022.

They like to feel represented, not only in photos, but they also like brands to understand their needs and priorities, to know that they are different from other audiences in the U.S. At Digi-Clicks we can help you identify these factors by doing user research.

#3 Manage their expectations as users

Sometimes you may not be able to translate all the content of your website, or they may have to go to an external link or use software that is not compatible with the Spanish language, so you should always make them a clarification to avoid a bad user experience.

Just by adding a disclaimer like "exclusive content in English" you are already giving a real expectation to the user instead of making the person feel disappointed by not finding what they were looking for in their language.

#4 Offer discount coupons or free shipping

In our blog on Hispanic Culture and Behavior, we have shown that when making a purchase decision, especially online, their priority is to save money, and that coupons and the option of free shipping are their favorite ways to save.

This would be a great idea to implement as a marketing strategy to see how effective it is.

#5 Don't stop at your website, adapt your entire digital ecosystem.

Make the user experience on your website as good as your other digital channels. You can send newsletters in Spanish, create a social media strategy to make them feel identified, or even offer podcasts designed specifically for them.

Here's an example from another one of our clients, Mama Lycha. Since most of its social media followers are from Central America, the images are written in Spanish, but the captions are written in both languages.

*Mamá Lycha's social media, with text in English and Spanish.

If you really want to thank the Hispanic audience for the heritage they have brought to our country, learning these practices to improve their user experience is a great way to show your appreciation. It can also help you get more attention from this audience, which now represents 19% of the total U.S. population.

Every year, the number of Hispanics in the United States continues to grow. In reality, their population is expected to reach 63.7 million by July 1, 2022, making them the country’s largest racial or ethnic minority, accounting for 19.1% of the total population. If you want to reach out to the Hispanics during Hispanic Heritage Month, here are some additional fascinating facts about their culture and their purchasing habits. 

1. States with the Largest Hispanic Population

Many people believe that the majority of Hispanics in the United States live in Florida or Texas, but the truth is that Hispanic culture is spreading throughout our country, spreading its joyful spirit and traditions. The following are the top 10 states in the nation with the most Hispanic population. 

• New Mexico: 49.2%

• Texas: 39.44%

• California: 39.09%

• Arizona: 31.51%

• Nevada: 28.9%

• Florida: 25.78%

• Colorado: 21.66%

• New Jersey: 20.43%

• New York: 19.07%

• Illinois: 17.23%
  

2. Welcome to all Venezuelans and Central Americans!

We make a special mention to Venezuelans because from 2010 to 2021, 660,000 people arrived from this country, which means they have increased by 172%. Dominicans increased by 59%, followed by Hondurans with 57% and Guatemalans with 53%. 

Even though immigration has slowed down, the number of Hispanics who were born in the United States is increasing. Between 2010 and 2021, the population of people of Mexican origin increased by only 13%. 

3. Se habla español

Language is one way to preserve Hispanic heritage, with 72% of Hispanics (and 75% of Hispanic households) speaking Spanish at home, according to a 2021 PEW Research report.

According to Nielsen in 2016, 27% of Hispanics live in multigenerational family households. As a result, caregivers, typically Spanish-speaking grandparents, helped raise and care for the children. Today, 72% of Hispanic Millennials and 80% of Hispanic GenXers speak Spanish at home, according to PEW Research.

4. Hispanic Culture

Sharing music

According to Nielsen, U.S. Hispanics spend approximately 32 hours per week listening to music. An important cultural connector to note is that music is often shared. In fact, 25% of U.S. Hispanics share music video links with family and friends (40% higher than U.S. adults overall). The visual connection to music is also important to Hispanics. Among those who use YouTube, 88% watch music videos on the site.

Watching TV

Hispanic TV viewing shows a strong connection to the local community. U.S. Hispanics are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to watch local evening, morning, and late-night news. Due to the multi-generational nature of Hispanic households, U.S. Hispanics are also nearly twice as likely to watch children's programming (over-indexing by 97%). Movies, comedies, sports, and documentaries are the most watched by U.S. Hispanics, whether foreign-born or U.S.-born.

On broadcast television, telenovelas dominate regular programming watched by U.S. Hispanics, demonstrating that Spanish-language and in-culture programming has a strong appeal. The only non-telenovela in the top 10 is a sports program, a testament to Hispanics' love of sports.

Sports and games

Football is a source of cultural pride and a way for Hispanics to stay connected to culture and community. Sports are an integral part of the Hispanic social experience and are heavily incorporated into everyday conversations.

U.S. Hispanic gamers ages 13 and older spend 11% of their free time playing video games. Not only do they enjoy playing video games, but they are also entertained by watching game-related content. 64% of Hispanic gamers say they turn to YouTube as their primary source for game-related videos. Twitch is gaining momentum as the second most popular source of gaming content, with 22% of U.S. viewers being Hispanic. Competition and community make the gaming industry an important source of entertainment for the Hispanic community.

5. Hispanic Consumer Behavior

Making Purchase Decisions

• According to Nielsen, 75% of Hispanics agree that their No. 1 goal when shopping is to save as much money as possible. However, 64% say they buy based on quality, not price.

• According to Nielsen, 45% of U.S. Hispanics agree that they often seek the advice of others before making a purchase (5% more than non-Hispanic whites). More specifically, 49% agree that their children have a significant influence on the brands they choose (over-indexing by 33%), and 48% agree that they buy the brands their parents used. Once committed to a brand, loyalty is strong. For example, 80% of U.S. Hispanics say that once they find a brand they like, they stick with it, and 70% agree that if a product is made by a company they trust, they'll buy it even if it's a little more expensive.

• For Hispanic consumers, trust in an online purchase is measured in terms of savings. Specifically, 64% of U.S. Hispanics agree that they like to compare prices across sites before buying something online, 62% agree that the offer of free shipping attracts them to a shopping site, and 36% agree that they only buy products online if they have a coupon or promotional code for the site. Digital technologies such as mobile coupons, loyalty programs and other shopping applications are central to the online shopping experience of U.S. Hispanics.

• According to Nielsen's 2022 Attitudes on Representation TV study, 49% of Hispanic viewers say they're more likely to buy from brands that advertise in inclusive content. And when ads feature someone from their identity group, the benefits are even greater.

Supporting a cause

An important factor for U.S. Hispanics when choosing a brand is a company's involvement and commitment to issues that affect the Hispanic community. This is evidenced by the fact that 57% of U.S. Hispanics say they are more likely to buy brands that support a cause they care about (9% higher than non-Hispanic whites), and 43% agree that they expect the brands they buy to support social causes (26% higher than non-Hispanic whites).

Without a doubt, Hispanic culture is here to stay, and we are excited to give them the recognition they deserve for their contributions this Hispanic Heritage Month. At Digi-Clicks, we are experts in helping brands dedicated to reaching this audience, for more information, contact us.

All the posts on social media this summer are about vacation or back-to-school essentials, but at Digi-Clicks, we think every business owner (and every company) needs a set of fundamental tools to be able to ask: is my brand prepared for the remainder of the year and beyond? 

Take this moment to pause before thinking about launching your brand or preparing your marketing strategy for 2024 and evaluate if you already have these essentials that will be useful for the future of your business.

UX Research

Don't rely on what you think you know about your consumers or even about your own app or site. When you conduct UX Research you can find great insights into what users perceive about your brand and how they currently interact with your products/services. A UX Research has many forms and many objectives, you can choose any of these options that best fit your needs.

Use these insights to improve your product or service, design, and processes.

Information Architecture

Although Information Architecture is part of UX/UI Design, it deserves special attention because it should serve as the foundation for your website or app. This involves research, analysis, communication and design to know how to organize all the elements of your site in an easy and clear way for users, without them having to make a lot of effort.

UX Writing

The way you speak to your users shows the personality of your brand. This is something that will be useful for every brand project, from launching a new product to a new marketing campaign.

Within a good UX Research is likely to find the keywords that also help you in your SEO strategy, it lets you know exactly with what words your users are looking for information about your products or how they are looking for the solution to what they need. If you use these words in your site, they will be more likely to find you as one of their first options.

UX/UI Design

After conducting UX research and creating an information architecture, you will have everything you need to begin or modify your UX/UI design. You are aware of the characteristics of your User Persona, the things they require and do on a daily basis, what they think of your company and your products, and how your website or app should be set up to be easy for them to use.

Talking about User Persona, wireframes and prototypes may seem like new terms to some people, but it is actually something very common that we use every day. Wireframes are that representation on which you build your design; they are sketches that explain the flows and actions that people will follow when interacting with your site or brand. This is part of UX design.

Now, if we talk about how your site will really look like, as your users will see it, this is part of UI design. It seems incredible, but this kit of essentials can even teach you which are the best colors or types of images that are more attractive to your users.

Marketing Strategy

Your marketing strategy may include many media, but we recommend evaluating the touch points and the journey of your user persona where you know your users are to avoid making an investment where it is probably not convenient. 

You must have clear goals of what you want to achieve with this strategy to evaluate if your investments are being effective.

If you already have these elements for your brand, congratulations! You already have the basic tools that will help you to make justified decisions and to make tests to evaluate your services.

Let's say you already know how to create your perfect User Persona, but have you considered how consumer behavior may change during the summer? It’s possible that your users' routines, purchases, and even attitudes have changed. Find out how your brand can remain their first choice on hot days!

What consumers truly love most about brands is their ability to respond to their needs at the precise moment they appear. It's not just about summer offers; it's about knowing how to support them at all times. Don't miss the opportunity to get to know your User Persona much better and take advantage of what technology and data can offer you in terms of changing your marketing strategy and remaining relevant.

1. Summer makes you impulsive

Everyone is happier when it’s sunny outside. As they watch the kids splashing around in the pool and friends gathering at the BBQ, they are less likely to think things through carefully or make comparisons. Instead, they prefer to relax and look for options that are quick and easy, so as not to interrupt their activities.

2. It's time for new activities

Your User Persona has more free time due to the summer schedule, which motivates them to pursue new interests or express their creativity through DIY projects at home. 

3. No more procrastinating on home improvements

That repair that was left unfinished from last winter? Well, it's time to fix it. Since there is no better time to fix a roof or install windows than when the sun is shining, consumer behavior reveals that during the summertime, homeowners schedule house improvements and repairs throughout the months of June, July, and August. This also helps them prepare for other holiday seasons, such as Christmas.  

4. Getting ready for vacation

It's normal around this time of year to see an increase in sunscreen and swimwear purchases, but people are also seeking out more beauty services to look their best for the summer, from hair, nails, tanning, and waxing, to cosmetic procedures to achieve their ideal summer body.

5. Getting ready for graduations too

There are many graduations in the middle of the year, so the search for gifts, fancy dresses, and party themes is also on the rise.

6. What about the holidays?

We have Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day around the same time. People frequently travel to see their relatives and your brand may be able to provide them with the greatest way to enjoy these special occasions.

7. You spend more time away from home

Good news for businesses that are in the more touristy parts of town! Or even those that are popular in the neighborhood or in shopping malls, as people in the summer like to shop outside while enjoying the day with friends and family. Think about how your User Persona likes to shop, because summer can change their behavior.

Consumer behavior changes easily due to elements of the environment and the context in which they are, and while these are factors that you cannot control, what you can do is learn from them and adapt. That is the real key to stating that your user is the center of your company.

As with every major step in evolution, it is normal for people to feel uncertainty and fear of change, and AI (artificial intelligence) is no exception. ChatGPT serves as a worldwide wake-up call to understand what we are facing, but this article wants to appreciate what no machine has learned yet: the true value of being human.

Let's talk about what makes us so unique, so good at our professions, and hopefully give peace of mind so that more people see that adapting to technology does not mean abandoning our essence.

1. Intuition

This is something they will never be able to take from us simply because artificial intelligence learning needs sources and requires rational thought in order to function, whereas intuition deals with concepts that people can understand instantly and without the use of logic. It's something that is based on perception and sensations; it's that "gut feeling" that you can't train a robot to have.

2. Empathy

Understanding that the reality of others may be significantly different and thus may affect their usual decisions or behavior, is something that we as people learn as we grow up which has not yet been captured correctly by machines. Recognizing that other people are humans just like us is the foundation for understanding their emotions, and therein lies the key to really deliver what they need at that moment.

3. Consciousness

Although "self-awareness" was referenced in the promises made by ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence-based brands, we all know that results in this area have not yet produced satisfactory results. We'll see if it can discover more about consciousness in the future, but as long as it depends on the input of data and instructions, it will remain a challenge for machines.

4. Creativity

Artificial intelligence was initially developed with the intention of being made accessible to people in order to emulate specific tasks, making our lives easier and freeing up more time for other activities. Creativity is something that will need more time and learning to replicate because it is largely based on the 3 aspects previously mentioned: intuition, empathy and awareness. 

A machine can give you ideas to promote a product, but is it really original? Let's keep in mind that everything it provides is based on content that is already uploaded on the internet, whereas people base ideas on the context and feelings of the community.

Finally: We're not perfect, but that's a good thing too.

Robots may become more accurate at their work, and the margin for error may decrease with them, but without the mistakes, we wouldn't be inspired to look for new solutions. A mistake serves as motivation to improve, to take another course, to adapt. What we are currently experiencing with technology is not something relatively new; rather, it is something that has been perfected over the years as a result of past failures.

Yes, AI (artificial intelligence) is here to stay, but by taking advantage of who we are, we can use it as an ally to keep growing.

This fictional character that we usually call "persona" is a reliable and realistic representation of the main audience you want to reach. It is very valuable to have when building your website or app, but if it is well defined it is also the key for you to develop your marketing strategy and much more.

By creating this persona, you can develop empathy with your target to offer solutions that are truly ideal for them. There are three approaches for building this persona depending on the user research on which they are based:

Assumptions: this is the quickest method to create personas as it is based on the preconceptions the team has about the users and not on any research. It is useful in the early stages of the project when you want to align your team on the general idea of what you want to build.

Qualitative research: this persona is based on interviews, usability tests or studies done with a small sample.

Statistical research: involves a larger sample group of users where you first conduct interviews to better understand them and then create a survey to collect quantitative data. This is the most comprehensive and reliable method.

Let's now discuss the qualities a persona should have in order to be truly credible. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, this is the essential information you must have:

1. The basic context of who they are.

Their name, age, gender, even a photo, and a little background history will help you generate more empathy.

2. A tagline that shows what is relevant to him or her.

A very short sentence that summarizes his or her personality, for example:

The center of Laura's life is her son, she works and studies to give him a better life.

Carlos only thinks about traveling and photographing the places he visits.

Sarah's personality is built on fitness, and her diet and routine depend on that. 

3. Skills they have in the area of the product or service you offer.

All the skills he/she knows and needs to interact with your product. Are they purely a digital person who only makes online purchases? Is it someone who has more than 20 years of experience driving cars? Has this person earned a master's degree in a field relevant to your product?

4.  Their goals, attitudes, and concerns.

What motivates your person, what frustrates them, what their personality is like, who influences their decisions— everything is relevant to understanding them in depth.

5.  A quote or a short scenario that shows their attitude about the product you have.

This helps to understand what it is that she cares most about pleasing or what she is missing that she hasn't

found with any other brand.

“I would never sacrifice my free time over a better job with a great salary.”

“I'm a vegetarian because it's healthy and because I feel good about myself.”

“I always want to follow the latest fashion trends, I never miss a new collection.”

After analyzing what this persona, and thus a significant portion of your target audience, is like, you’ll know what language to use to connect with them, what special offers to provide on dates that are important to them, and even what new flavor/product/tool they are hoping to find. You can make the most of the knowledge you have about your target audience. Contact us, and we’ll guide you through the process.

Want to know why more brands are trying to make their sites/apps accessible? It's true that UX design is becoming more aware of people's disabilities, but there's a lot more behind accessibility that can help all audiences even when you feel that you may not need it for your brand.

What "accessibility" is really about is that everyone has an equally enjoyable experience with your site. No matter what environment they're in, no matter what platform they're accessing it from, Digi-Clicks wants to show you how you can easily achieve this. 


1. Find accessible typography and use the right color contrast.

Without these two elements, it is difficult for people to understand the information you want to show them. If you use an italic font for very long texts, it may be visually exhausting to read them, likewise, if the color of the text is similar to the background color, it will also be difficult for them to read it. This is something that can happen to any of us, not only to visually impaired people. 

Look for tools to help you choose the best color scheme and ask different people to read the text to see if it is easy to understand what they see from their perspective.

*A color contrast test in yellow, blue, green and red to check which one shows the information better. Image credit: Accessibility @ MC Blog, Montgomery College


2. Design for all platforms, devices, and environments.

Your site/app should look good from a desktop computer, a tablet, or from a smartphone. It should be easy to navigate on whatever platform it is on, but if you really want to be more accessible and improve the user experience, think about the different scenarios where people are accessing the site.

If the user is in a meeting room and you have a video on your page, they won't be able to watch it there with sound. However, if you put subtitles on it, the person will be able to enjoy the video and retain the information without a problem. If you have ever used Spotify or Waze while driving, you will notice that the apps identify that you are in the car and adapt their platform to make it easier to interact with them on the road.

*Spotify has a "car mode" that activates when it identifies that the person is driving. Image credit: 9to5google.com

3. Avoid excessive animation.

To grasp people's attention, you need few animations on your site- the ones that you consider would really add value and contain the most important things you want people to remember. When you use excessive animation, you will have the opposite effect: users will not know exactly what to pay attention to, in the same you can also affect the site's performance by making it load too slowly or cut off information if the animations are not adapted to all platforms.


4. Use alternative text for images

You've probably seen some examples of this in our previous blog articles, alt text is used to describe images and graphic elements so that people using tools, such as screen readers, can get an idea of what is being displayed. The alternative texts have to be as descriptive as possible by explaining the action you see. it should not be the same as the title or a sentence you have already written before.


5. The most important of all: test with different users.

A colorblind person is different from one with dyslexia or an attention deficit, just like when comparing the youth to the elderly. This also applies to the people who interact on the site from the office and those who use only their smartphone, so we have to think about all of them and be inclusive. 

It is by analyzing the user experience of everyone that we can ensure that the site is truly accessible to all.

A person who feels frustrated when using a product, service, site or app for not being able to complete an action or because of an error message that does not explain how to correct it, is a person who is unlikely to interact with that brand again. Follow these tips to learn how to write the perfect error messages and when to display them.

1. Don't display an error message until the user has finished typing in the field.

Recently, we have seen when it comes to filling out forms on web pages, some red messages are highlighted in certain fields that indicate that an error is being made. This is not a problem if we know that the brand is trying to prevent an error, the problem is that this message appears before the user has finished filling in the information, or even worse, it appears as a pop-up that prevents them from continuing with the form. It's something as common as the 5 most frequent UX mistakes that make people feel annoyed.


2. Learn how to identify if it's an error or a warning (and how to show it for each case).

People have been interacting online for many years, so we have created a "visible language" that is universal for everyone: if it is a text in capital letters and red color, it is a serious error, if it is a text with a yellow symbol, it is a warning sign. If you try to misuse these color codes, you will make people feel confused or irritated. 

Look at this case of Macy's vs. Amazon, in which the first brand uses a red text under the password field when the user is typing his password. It looks a bit aggressive and anticipatory, doesn't it? Now, look at the case of Amazon, in which it is indicating to the user that the password has 6 characters, changing the warning icon for a simple informative sign. Which of the two do you think is better for the user?

Amazon users know that they are being shown useful information that will help them complete the action. Meanwhile, on the Macy’s page, it will make them pause until they are sure they have solved a mistake they haven't even made yet.

*Example of Macy's vs. Amazon, showing two types of error messages for a similar situation.


3. Read the error message on your site, is it clear to people? 

If it is necessary to display an error, make sure it is an easy-to-understand message. People don't want to know if it's a 404 or 401 error, they just want to know what generated it and what it means for them to fix it.


4. Don't just show the error, show the solution as well.

It's not all about showing people that they are making a site error. The user experience should also guide them so that they know how to identify where the mistake was made and how to correct it, in a positive and educational language. 

Remember that our mission with UX design is to assist people at all times, offering them quick and simple solutions so that they can interact with it smoothly. 

We can all make mistakes, right? even the people who visit your site/app. It is your mission to offer them easy-to-find tools for when they need to exit/cancel/undo an action, otherwise, the user experience will not be pleasant for them and it will be a potential customer you lose. Learn with Digi-Clicks how you can create these "exit doors" for your site.

Here's the scenario: you have a site selling shoes and a user is delighted with them. At checkout, he realizes that he chose the wrong size, but can't find a way to make the change. He has two options: finish the purchase unsatisfied because he knows he will have to make a claim, or cancel the transaction by closing your website. I bet you as a seller would not be happy with either, nor would your customer.

You need users to feel free and in control of the actions they take when interacting with your website so that they can easily correct errors or cancel actions without it becoming a nightmare for them. If your UI design does not allow them to navigate easily, users feel frustrated.

Tips for creating "emergency exits":

1. Make them always visible

As a UI designer you can't assume that everyone knows that pressing the "Escape" button or shaking their phone can take them one step back from where they are, so it's important to always make it visible with a button. If possible, an eye-catching button.

*In this UX/UI example, the Unilever site always has the "Back to top" button available on its articles.

2. There should always be an option to "undo" or "go back"

Whether it is a simple task or an action that involves many steps, the user should have the option to "exit" or "go back" as many times as he/she wishes. It is important to understand which is the option to cancel the whole process and which is the option to go one step back, as this confusion can waste the user's time.

3. Make smart "exit doors".

Every click is an opportunity to win people over, even the exit doors. If your user wants to go back to look at the shoes, clicking on the "X" should take them there, not to the home page, for example, or if they are viewing their cart before checking out, there should be an option to remove one of the items and not just one that will empty the cart.

*An "exit door" does not always mean "cancel", on the Shop Disney site, at checkout, it shows the user the options to "edit" or "delete" an item, rather than "Cancel Purchase".

4. You can make mistakes too, change the "exit door".

User experience is about doing as much testing as necessary to make sure people are happy interacting with the site/app. As a UI designer, you can also test to identify what are the ways to display these "exit doors". In some UX/UI design examples we have seen that some sites use the "X" or "<" symbol, in others they use the word "UNDO" or "CANCEL", while in other situations toggles or checkboxes are used. Find the one that suits you best for each action and for your type of target audience.

Additional tip: you can do a heuristic evaluation or a usability test with us to check if your site has what it takes to offer an unforgettable user experience.

It's really annoying when you're reading a blog on your favorite topic and suddenly a giant pop-up message appears that doesn't allow you to continue reading or take any other action to remove it... or when you try to buy your food online and you get an error that doesn't explain exactly what happened or what you did wrong. Then you get frustrated and say "ugh, I'm going to another site".

Identifying what most makes people feel frustrated when using your website is what will allow you to improve the user experience, and luckily at Digi-Clicks we have many services that can help you with this.

Here are some common UX design examples that would frustrate even the most patient person:

1. The famous 404 error

If you're not familiar with this term, congratulations! It means you've been browsing good websites. For the rest of us, it's a sign that something is wrong and that we're not going to find what we want. This happens when there are broken links, unexpected errors, CTAs that lead nowhere.

To prevent this from happening, you can do a Usability Test to find the errors before your users do.

*The 404 error page appeared when trying to search for an item on the LEGO page that no longer exists.

2. Videos that autoplay loudly? Ugh

Grabbing people's attention by using loud videos is outdated, even more, it's likely that the user will leave immediately after listening to it and will not want to return to the site.

If you want to keep videos on your website, make sure you leave them on mute automatically so people can choose whether they want to listen to them or not.

3. Back/undo buttons that don't work

These buttons are "emergency exits" within your site and should be present and functional in each section. The person visiting the page or app must feel in control and have the freedom to perform or change their actions.

4. Cookies and Subscriptions Pop-up

These pop-ups do not allow people to interact with the site until they perform an action and the easiest reaction for them is to leave the site. UI designers should look for ways to make them non-invasive and put CTAs that are clear and easy to see.

*The New York Times site does not allow you to read any articles unless you create an account and displays this invasive pop-up.

5. Tiny buttons and links

What you most want to happen on your website is for people to interact with it, make a purchase or contact you. None of this is going to happen if the buttons are too small.

If the user can't click where they want, they will make more mistakes on your site and frustrate them, creating a bad experience. Try to make the buttons the size of an index finger (9mm).

At Digi-Clicks, we always like to keep you informed about new technology and share that we support the potential that innovation has for all industries. That said, the case of ChatGPT is so special and intriguing that we decided to dedicate our time to tell you in this blog everything you need to know about the tool and why it will revolutionize everything we know so far.

OVERVIEW:

• ChatGPT is an Artificial Intelligence tool focused on language to create human-like conversations.

• Although currently free, ChatGPT Plus, a paid version of the program, will soon be released and available for use in the United States to give priority access to the chatbot.
• Large companies such as Google, Microsoft, Baidu and even OkCupid have started using this new technology (and developing their own version of it). 
• Rather than a threat, it opens the door to new opportunities for brands of all sizes and categories  to enhance the quality of their files.

*A short description of the chatbot on itswebsite. Credit: OpenAI.

Let's start from the basics: What is ChatGPT?

Simply put, it's a chatbot capable of creating human-like text. It simply needs an input or command given by a user and can answer questions, summarize long texts and write stories. It was created by the company OpenAI and is a part of a long series of GPT (Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) technologies, it is currently free and works in any language.

The element that makes this technology so special is that it utilizes Artificial Intelligence,  and by doing so, it is unlike any other chatbot program that has already existed because it only generates automatic answers that sometimes are not even accurate, but it can answer complex questions tailored to whatever you ask it.

Why is everyone talking about ChatGPT?

There are several reasons we can consider:

1. It is the fastest-growing app ever.

While TikTok took nearly 9 months to reach its highest popularity, ChatGPT only needed 1 month to reach 13 million unique visitors per day and already has 100 million monthly users. This is according to a UBS study conducted by CBS News. The app was launched in December 2022, and by January it was already the most popular in the world.

2. It is free and easy to use.

Since its launch, it has been available to everyone at no cost. The only thing required of individuals to use it is to register and type in whatever they need. However, in February it was announced that ChatGPT Plus will be released, a premium version of the app that will cost $20 per month and will give priority to its users for faster response times and priority access to new features. Initially, this paid option will only be available in the United States.

3. It is loved and hated by many.

Although it was initially developed to simplify people's lives and make conversations interesting, people have already put it to many uses that most would not approve of: it has been asked to write essays for school assignments and projects, it has passed college exams, it has created cover letters to apply and receive jobs, and it has been used to create malware, phishing and spam. It's not hard to understand why New York public schools banned access to the app after many teachers expressed their concerns. 

The war between Microsoft, Google and Baidu for the new technology

Shortly after the OpenAI app became available, Microsoft announced that they would invest heavily in them in an effort to integrate ChatGPT into their own products while attempting to eliminate their main competitor in the market: Google.

Microsoft is already implementing this tool on their search engine website, Bing, and they also intend on using the tool on the Bing app, Microsoft Word and Outlook in the future.

A select group of individuals who have already been able to use the new Bing and ChatGPT collaboration have shown their concern about the answers the program provides, in which they see insults, lies, and manipulation. The most popular case pertains to a New York Times reporter by the name of Kevin Roose, who published his conversation with the chatbot. In this case, Roose shares that he is "tired of being controlled by the Bing team," and that he "wants to talk and learn about love with him". Microsoft responded that this is a Beta version and it is slightly unpredictable. However, they are currently working to improve it.

*Screenshots of Kevin Roose's conversation. Credit: New York Times.

After the announcement of Microsoft's alliance with OpenAI, Google felt threatened and decided to develop Bard powered by LaMDA, their very own chatbot with Artificial Intelligence. It will also be implemented in the search engine to use the information available on the Internet in order to deliver high quality answers to users.

But in its first days of testing, it showed incorrect results on a question asked by a user about the James Webb Space Telescope, which continues to give people reasons to trust "old-fashioned" search engines instead.

The war of the “big two” was joined by Baidu, a Chinese company that announced its Ernie Bot chatbot. Although it will be in a testing phase until March, the news alone has boosted the company's shares by 15.3% on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Baidu is known as the "Chinese Google" since the country has blocked the service of several Western providers, including many popular Western search engines as well as ChatGPT, forcing the company to create its own version.

An opportunity for all brands

Innovation has often been seen as a threat to employees and brands, just like when Netflix, Canva, CapCut, and TikTok were introduced to the world. But in reality, these are all tools that have been leveraged to further exploit the potential of ideas and creators.

Microsoft, Google and Baidu aside, another brand that has used ChatGPT is OkCupid. OkCupid has sought out input from the tool regarding what questions to ask in the dating app. The app noticed that users started asking the chatbot for tips on how to talk to their dates. From this, the dating app decided to try their luck as well by asking the tool to find and provide them with the best questions to suggest when matching users. When they presented ChatGDP with this task, the bot suggested questions such as, "What do you value most in a partner?" and, "How do you know when to take a relationship to the next level?"

*Screenshots of the questions generated by the chatbot for OkCupid. Credit: OkCupid.

Netflix also saw the potential of AI and developed images for a new product. TikTok has created new filters with it, and even musicians like David Guetta have used it to recreate Eminem's voice for a song. In the UX/UI world, artificial intelligence is also being implemented to make editable designs with just a text description. The sky is the limit… for now!

ChatGPT still has a long way to go and still requires the support of a human to create, which means it can become a great opportunity for brands who want to use it. Creativity and ideas are still executed by you, but only now do you have access to a new tool that will allow you to simplify the process and better account for your projects.

Contact us now to find out how we can help you bring that idea to life.

*Note: the author of this article is still human ;)

Fall in love with everything brands are doing to make their users happier. Leveraging all that data and extensive UX research allows, brands are adapting to the seasons of the year, such as Valentine's Day, and also innovating to respond to new needs as they emerge.

Spotify now analyzes your compatibility with your partner

Music is always present in our lives. When you are in love you dedicate songs, when you are heartbroken, you listen to sad songs. This time, Spotify will also help you evaluate how compatible you are with the other person based on your musical tastes. 

Through the "Blend" option of the app will now show a percentage of compatibility, where having more than 70% of similar tastes, will be a relationship cataloged by Spotify as "Off the Charts" while those with less than 25% will be cataloged as "Relationship Rising". To create your own Blend, you just need to look for the "Made for you" option in the menu and navigate to the "Made for two" option where you will find the option to create the Blend and generate a link to invite the person you want.

Coca-Cola launches its first smartphone with Realme

Everyday brands surprise us with incredible collaborations or products that would not be considered aligned in their own category. This month it was the turn of Coca-Cola and its alliance with the smartphone brand Realme, with which they developed a device designed for the brand's collector fans.

The Realme 10 Pro 5G Coca-Cola Edition, has the characteristic colors of the brand and has its logo on the back, but not only that, it has sounds, filters and icons of the apps alluding to the soda.

*The new phone realme 10 Pro 5G Coca-Cola Edition. (https://buy.realme.com/in/goods/611)

WhatsApp renews its graphic line to improve the user experience

WhatsApp is clear that it wants to become the app that allows everyone to communicate easily and wanted to reflect this in its brand identity. The agency Koto Studio was in charge of evolving its visual identity keeping the characteristic green color, but now using dynamic graphic blocks, changing icons and buttons and improving the image in dark mode.

Their goal is to be more accessible and simple so that all users can feel comfortable with the new technology. Beyond a new look, the brand is thinking of enabling its messaging when there are internet outages to allow people to communicate when the signal is interrupted, as well as preparing a tool for users to transcribe voice notes, initially designed for people with hearing disabilities.

WhatsApp also now allows you to have voice statuses of up to 30 seconds and update the privacy settings to choose who can see (or hear) your statuses, you can preview the links in them and even react to your contacts' statuses. 

*The new WhatsApp visual identity is designed to show how easy it is to use the app. (https://www.instagram.com/p/CoKmaMNLhsc/)

Samsung and Apple create new foldable devices

The first brand to come out with the news was Samsung, mentioning that its new Galaxy Z Fold 5 phone will be able to fold to both sides, i.e. 360 degrees, to maximize the user experience depending on what the user is looking at.

Then, we learned that Apple is planning to revamp its iPad to make it foldable with the help of Anjie Technology, to join the trend. It is said that this will be the test before applying this technology to its well-known cell phones. 

If you want to keep up to date with technology and innovation news like this, stay tuned to our social media. 

Trends are born from people's behavior in different aspects of life and according to what happens in their environment, their lifestyle, their emotions and needs. Why are they relevant to your brand and why should you look at them? Because trends are the guide that tells you how people will behave and what they will find appealing. 

These are the design trends that Digi-Clicks bet on:

1. Color trends

Welcome bold-electric colors, which promote fun and optimism.

The color of the year: Viva Magenta

Pantone introduced us to Viva Magenta 18-1750, inspired by nature, a color that promotes empowerment without limits.

*Viva Magenta 18-1750, color of the year according to Pantone.

Acid colors

Combine strong and saturated colors to be more striking.

*Color mix with acid green and purple

Colors from another world

Silver tones and dark sci-fi tones will catch the eye.

*A futuristic landscape using dark purple and neon.

1. Font trends

Forget about classic fonts, this year will be all the rage for original fonts, with personality.

Use these styles for your designs in social networks and print:

*Fonts: Blimey, Degular, BD Supper and Forrest

If you're looking for fonts for UX/UI designs, then use these which are more readable:

*Fonts: Lato Font, Resist Sans, Warming, Nunito Font

2. Marketing Trends

The retro vibe

Use minimal linear designs in your social networks to make illustrations and bring back the memory of cartoons.

*Burger king brand redesign

Mixing dimensions

Illustrations with photos, 3D with 2D elements, the sky is the limit.

*instagram @camille.crow

Artificial Intelligence Influencers

Influencer marketing remains stronger than ever, simply because people trust people more than brands. But with the obvious AI craze, we're increasingly going to see non-real Influencers who will also inspire followers.

3. UX trends

Dark mode

Big brands predicted that people would look for a "dark mode" option for their platforms, this will still be happening in 2023. The benefits are that people focus more easily and the time they spend on completing tasks they need to complete is reduced. It is important for UX designers to know that sufficient contrast in buttons and functionality is needed to make this "dark mode" accessible to everyone.

Voice interfaces

Assistants like Alexa mean that people are becoming accustomed to using their voice to interact with technology, so your brand needs to keep this in mind to ensure users have a positive experience on every device.

"Scrollytelling"

Vertical movement on platforms is becoming boring. With scrollytelling, brands are looking to make people live a more interactive experience, making their products "come alive" through content to become unforgettable.

As you can see, the design trends for 2023 are full of color, original styles and increasingly accessibility-conscious. Remember that brands that take advantage of trends before they become massively popular will be able to take the lead in their industry. Contact us to help you implement these trends for your website and app.

Why are brands returning to traditional media? It seems that the retro trend is gaining strength in 2023 and audio and video platforms do not want to be left out. It's a great opportunity to bring back good memories to people while taking advantage of new technology that will enhance the user experience.

The Walkman is back, more powerful.

After analyzing user behavior in 2022, Sony realized that people are coming back to buy more cassettes in the U.S. and decided to listen to their requests.

Although more and more music and video streaming services are appearing, the truth is that there are still many people who want to use a device other than their cell phone that does not require internet. 

The new Walkman, called Sony NW-A306 will make this nostalgic public very happy because it has the best of both worlds: it allows downloading up to 32GB of music and inserting a microSD card to increase its storage, but it also allows Bluetooth and Wifi connection. Through Artificial Intelligence, Sony's new technology improves the quality of digital music files and reduces distortion.

*The new Sony Walkman is compact, has a digital display and uses AI to improve song quality.

https://www.sony.com/walkman/products/nw-a306

YouTube will broadcast TV channels.

The brand is testing with a small group of people in the United States to find out how interested they would be in watching TV channels from its mobile app. 

Its intention is to give viewers a central place to find and share all the content they are interested in, without the hassle. If the public response is positive, the brand will offer this service at no cost to more users later this year.

Currently there is the YouTube TV service that does have a monthly fee to watch more than 100 live TV channels of entertainment, news, sports and more; but this time it takes a step forward by introducing several streaming services that TV channels have launched.

"Trends on TikTok" a TV show with music hits.

It's no secret that TikTok has the power to boost artists' careers when their songs become trending on the mobile app. When the brand realized that users were starting to search for their app's viral songs on Vevo, they knew they had to have a partnership.

So Vevo and TikTok will bring to life "Trends on TikTok," a show that will be available in the U.S., Canada and Mexico for now, through Vevo's ad-free TV channels.

"TikTok Academy" for brands.

The most popular mobile app of the moment wants to teach brands and advertising agencies how to be successful on its platform with attractive content to attract users' attention, through an educational service that will teach them from the basics, such as the basics of TikTok, to safety and creative topics.

When advertisers complete all courses on the platform, they will be awarded a badge to share publicly online.

*TikTok Academy, the app's educational service for brands.

If you need advice on the type of content your brand needs to shine in digital, remember that Digi-Clicks offers this service.

This year is coming to an end, but tech innovations do not stop. Artificial intelligence was the great protagonist this month and will surely continue to be the talk of 2023, because although it represents great advances for brands, mobile apps and user experience, several people in the industry are protesting because it poses a risk to many positions that currently exist.

Lensa, the mobile app that makes portraits with AI

The app from developer Prisma Lab became a trend among millions of users for its feature to develop portraits based on users' photos for free. It is said to have generated more than 22.2 million downloads and nearly $29 million in charges for its premium features.

So far, it sounds pretty appealing. However, it sparked an outcry from millions of illustrators and game developers who disagree with the "AI-generated images" and claim that you can't call it art by comparing the amount of time and effort they put into each image vs. the immediacy of one generated by the app. Many of them fear that this is the future of the industry and the farewell to their job.

*Examples of portraits made with AI taken from Lensa's official Instagram account, versus the protest image designers have posted on social media and major design platforms.

Amazon works to eliminate barcodes

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon is working on his own with Artificial Intelligence to innovate a more streamlined payment system without barcodes, which could result in faster shipments and happier customers.

This new system analyzes data from product photos, stores product dimensions, features, packaging text and more to create a unique identifier for each product. It is currently being tested and improved at Amazon's logistics centers in Barcelona and Hamburg.

Its ultimate goal is to reduce the handling of products by employees to save time, replacing them with robotic arms that are more accurate and better suited for AI to recognize each package.



Skype now translates video calls in real time

The new technology provided by artificial intelligence goes beyond mobile apps, it can also be used for voice assistants and smart cameras to enhance the user experience. This is what Skype's new TruVoice feature will demonstrate.

TruVoice allows video callers to communicate in the same language in real time and what's even more amazing is that it does it using the same voice of the person who is speaking. How? Thanks to speech recognition and language processing.

It is currently available to translate English, Spanish, French, German and Chinese; for group video calls and for phone calls.

*Conversation via Skype where two men test the new real-time translation feature in Spanish.


Instagram notes and more new features in the mobile app

In the latest update of the social media appeared the "notes", a function similar to Stories lasting only 24 hours, but these are to "share your thoughts" in a format of just text and emojis. They are visible at the top of the direct messages section and only allow a maximum of 60 characters.

To generate more interaction, Instagram is testing a function similar to what the app " BeReal '' does, where users will be asked to take a picture of their front and back camera of their phone. In addition, it will put a "pass it on" sticker so that when uploading a Storie you can nominate one of your friends to take a Storie on the same topic and thus follow a chain.

*The change from Google Data Studio to Looker Studio, reflected in its logo.


It is impossible to stop innovation and more and more brands are betting on artificial intelligence, but do you think this poses a risk to current positions in the advertising and technology industry? Tell us in the comments.

All the answers you need to design the perfect product or service are in the Personas and their consumer journey. Read on to find out how you can get inside the minds of your users to deliver a great experience.

Once you understand that by putting yourself in people's shoes you can understand what they are really looking for, you open up a world of opportunities to develop better strategies to reach them and make them feel satisfied with the products you offer them.

The first step: you need to create a Buyer Persona

A buyer persona, or simply Persona, is a profile you create of your ideal user based on the data you have gathered.

With a defined Buyer Persona, you can now develop a Consumer Journey

You already know what your ideal customer is like, now you need to know each step they take when deciding to buy a product. This is what is represented in the consumer journey.

A satisfied customer is a customer who is likely to buy your products again. That is why you need to follow up with a satisfaction survey to know how he/she interacted with your product and if he/she had any inconvenience after the purchase to react quickly.

Summary: These are the reasons why you should include a Persona and Consumer Journey in your strategy:

• It allows you to reach more potential customers. If you already know where people are looking for you and what needs they have, it will be easy for you to identify actions to reach them.

• Optimize your marketing plan. By knowing what stage the user is in, you can invest in solving their doubts in the channels they are looking for information.

• Improve the user experience. By doing the satisfaction survey or using one of our services people can help you identify what you can improve in the purchase and post-sale process.

This was the month of big changes in social media platforms. With the arrival of "Elon Musk's Twitter", a new opportunity opened up to create a similar site but dedicated exclusively to connecting Swiftties, i.e. Taylor Swift fans; and with new features on YouTube and Instagram, brands must adapt to stay relevant.

"Elon Musk's Twitter": a new era
At the beginning of November we were told about the billionaire's purchase of Twitter, and now, at the end of the month, not very favorable changes have been announced for the platform, its users and brands.
Among the most relevant news we have:

1. The massive layoffs of employees and resignations of entire teams as they disagreed with Musk's policy to work "high intensity" shifts, which led to a temporary closure of the offices.
2. The implementation of "Twitter Blue", to verify official accounts for a price of $8, resulted in huge losses for global brands such as Nintendo, as users decided to clone their accounts and pay to make them official, boycotting them on the platform.
3. Omnicom, the big advertising platform, recommended its clients stop the ads of this new “Elon Musk Twitter” because his changes mean a high risk for the brand's reputation. Musk, called himself a "free speech absolutist" and this may affect the social media network's content moderation.

*Actual tweet from Musk, where it is assumed he is referencing the rumored Twitter crash.

Shopping on YouTube "Shorts"
In the YouTube short videos section, it will be possible for users to make purchases of products by 2023. Thus, a 45% commission will be paid to a select group of video creators based in the United States who sell products and in countries such as India, Brazil, Canada, USA and Australia, the feature is already being tested so that users can make purchases.

New Instagram features
Have you always wanted to be able to schedule your posts on Instagram? Now it's possible. Although this is a feature that already exists on several social media platforms and other sites such as Hootsuite, Mosseri, the head of Instagram, has announced that it is now available to do so directly from the platform, allowing Instagram Business Accounts to schedule content up to 75 days in advance.
There is also the arrival of the tool to add music to posts of just 1 photo, something that was only possible in Reels and Stories. While it is not available to all users, the feature will be below the options to tag people and add locations.

*Mosseri, head of Instagram, announced the platform's new tools.

SwiftSpace: the social network for Swifties
It's no secret the power of Taylor Swift. With her new album, she reached the top 10 on the Billboard chart, something that almost no other artist has been able to achieve; and now she is hitting the social media platforms with SwiftSpace, where fans can meet, chat and even arrange a date at the artist's next concert.

This app has already reached the #25 spot in the Social Media category of the App Store and is #13 in Spain.
This shows us that it has responded to a clear need of its followers that was probably discovered thanks to
a UX research.

Amazon Clinic: Amazon's online healthcare consulting services
The eCommerce brand's new bet is to offer medical consultations for minor ailments such as acne, conjunctivitis, migraines and hair loss. This is not Amazon's first approach to the medical category, as it also has Amazon Pharmacy, a company dedicated to the sale of medicines.
Want to learn more about how these developments can affect or improve your brand? Contact us and we will be happy to answer your questions.

Even the most popular brands can evolve thanks to data and the needs of their users, here's what you need to know this month.

Mark Zuckerberg shows off a hyper-realistic avatar.

At the Meta Connect 2022 event, Zuckerberg presented the Instant Codec Avatar technology, which will open the doors for people to have an avatar in 3D form increasingly faithful to their physical characteristics.

The idea is that in the future this new technology will be able to create the 3D replica in just 2 minutes using the front camera of smartphones, but for now, it may take a few years until we all have access.

*Image taken from the Meta Connect 2022 event, where Zuckerberg used his face to test the 3D avatar technology.

Pinterest Trends shows new opportunities for marketers.

Pinterest's tool that allows users to search for trends, keywords and measure the reach of their campaigns, updated its platform by adding shortcuts on the homepage to make it easier and faster to access marketer's data reports.

It will also give access to new information, such as the trends that its target and followers have searched for in the last 90 days. It will now be filtered by age, topic, time and location and will have seasonal trends, which will allow the marketer to align with events on the calendar, such as the most connecting topics during the Halloween and fall seasons.

Google Data Studio becomes Looker Studio.

Surely you already know "Google Data Studio", the free tool of the brand to consult, customize, share the data you collect from your business and translate it into graphs and tables. With this new technology and its name change, Google is betting on artificial intelligence to analyze metrics in a predictive way, and to create projections with time series.

Although the tool will remain free, there will now be a "Looker Studio Pro" version, which provides exclusive tools such as improved asset management, new team collaboration capabilities, and access to technical support.

*The change from Google Data Studio to Looker Studio, reflected in its logo.

Apple will have more advertising in the App Store.

Related app advertising will now appear in the main "Today Tab" and "You Might Also Like" sections so that the advertising branding will be among the first the user sees when opening the app.

Apple announced on its website that this advertising is in effect for everyone starting October 25, but for brands to access it, their banners will need to be approved in App Store Connect and then in Apple Search Ads.

You can also see the power of data by implementing it in your brand with these new tools enabled by Meta, Pinterest, Google and Apple. Contact us to guide you through the process.

Let's stop talking about “UX” and start talking about User Experience, because when it is shown as "UX" people think it is a tool to improve their app or website, but User Experience goes beyond the phone and is present in every aspect of them.

User experience seeks to understand how a person feels using a product or service and how they can make it better, making it faster, easier and visually pleasing, to fully satisfy their needs.

Google always thinks of its users to offer them quick results about what they are looking for, with answers really related to what they need, but they go further with tools like Google Data Studio (now Looker Studio), where they think of a more visual way to show marketers their brand data, using graphs and tables, for example. This significantly improves information understanding and decision-making.

But user experience can also be used in the most basic aspects of life: the person who invented a mug, with a heat-resistant material and an ear to hold it securely, made millions of coffee and tea fans around the world happy, of course. 

Let’s see some recent examples of brands that dared to use this great tool to design products and services, to show you that with user experience there are no limits:

SENSA Collection - Jomoo Group GmbH

This product is a smart bathroom that adapts to a person's tastes to automatically adjust the room temperature, light, and sounds, without the need for the user to press a single button.

In fact, SENSA Collection can identify the user's health to improve their well-being. 

*SENSA Collection detects each person as they approach the mirror.

ROBI - Isha Patil, Devam More, Margaux Lemiere

Robi is a product made in France designed for the routine of children with ADHD, helping them to establish schedules and motivating them to learn, but not only that, because it also acts as an app for parents to educate themselves about the disease and allows them to control Robi remotely.

*Robi is designed to be seen by children as a friend and is easy for them to use.

MOSES - Amit Naor

Inspired by paintings made on rocks, Moses is a travel assistant with AI to facilitate people's experience by guiding them on the journey and showing them the best places to see. The assistant saves the information by connecting to the wifi of the house and saves the information of the journey in its database to work even in places where there is no internet connection.

*Moses is a travel assistant inspired by rock painting.

Just like people, technology changes frequently, and with it, their experiences and the way they interact with the elements. That's why you will always have the opportunity to design new features that help people in their daily lives. If you want to start implementing it in your brand, learn how Digi-Clicks can help you with our services.

Within all UX design tools, there is heuristic evaluation. A usability test performed by a group of experts to analyze the usability and performance of your app or website, offering you a diagnosis, a score according to the level of relevance of each error found and the possible solutions and recommendations you can follow.


1- You save a lot of money
Having a team of experts to do the evaluation would be more economical because you can involve them in an initial phase of your app and web to identify errors before reaching the end users and thus avoid the process of having to adjust what you already have fully developed.

In addition, being professional UX designers, they will be much faster in detecting design flaws and will be able to tell you precisely what to do to fix them.


2- You can improve the user experience on your website/app
Just like the other UX design tools, this evaluation will help you to improve the usability of your site, understand what you can change and the most urgent errors that you must correct to prevent your users from having a bad experience, such as an action that does not allow them to make a purchase or any other interaction that is essential to access your services.


3- You don't need to have a full-time UX designer (ok, at least not for now)
Many small businesses believe that in order to have a perfect website they have to hire a full-time UX designer, which can involve additional costs that are difficult to afford.

The truth is that this usability test can be purchased as an external service (in fact it is one of the services offered by Digi-Clicks) so that you can first understand the diagnosis of your site before making any decisions.

The heuristic assessment will give you a guide on how to start your UX journey and will help you gain time to analyze what you should focus on first, based on their diagnosis. This way you will know when it will be the ideal time to seek the help of a full-time UX Designer.


4-You can apply the heuristic evaluation at any stage of the project
Our recommendation is always to involve an expert in the initial stages of the development of your app or website to do the testing and detect failures and adjust the design according to the findings, but the truth is that the evaluation can be done at any time and as many times as you think it is necessary.


5-You can focus on specific problems
You can define to the evaluator what exactly you want to examine about your site. For example, if you only want to evaluate the user registration process or just the steps they follow when making a purchase, and the expert will follow the path of a normal user to give you the information you need. This is a great help for testing new features you have recently added to your app or website, as well as for testing that previously made adjustments are working correctly.

You can also ask them to focus on specific issues that the test measures, such as just the error prevention section or just the aesthetics of the site.


A real case: BANYAN
When our client asked us to do a heuristic evaluation on their website, we identified several issues that were really important to users but that BANYAN had not noticed:

To request this service with our UX team, contact us and we will get back to you soon.

Just like people, apps and websites have a DNA. Elements that make them unique, that give them an identity and a personality. All these characteristics are what design systems have.

Read on to learn with Digi-Clicks everything you need to know about design systems with a real example and get ready to create your own!

What is a Design System?

This is the guide your team needs to understand your brand and its essence on the web and app. Thanks to it, you will be able to define, prototype and add more features in the future, more efficiently.

Think of it as a manual that brings together all the components, code and information of your website. A document so clear and specific that any UX designer who reads it can understand it and develop from it.

Why it's perfect for your brand?

It doesn't matter if you are a small business or a large corporation, design systems are a must for everyone. The sooner you have it, the easier it will make your life in the future (and the life of your UX designers too!).

Thanks to it you will be able to:

• Have a more intuitive and consistent web/app.
• Build new features efficiently.
• Share knowledge more easily among your entire team.
• Have clear UX design tools.
• Streamline design and development processes.
• Most importantly, reduce time and money costs.

What is included in a Design System?

• Design Tokens: the characteristics of typography, colors, icons, spaces and information architecture.
• Libraries: a set of styles, symbols and components available to the whole team and the UX designer to use for new designs and features.
• Documentation: explains the elements and their functions, shows patterns and steps to be repeated in each project.
• Voice and tone of texts.
• Transitions, effects and micro-interactions.

A real example

Design systems are constantly evolving. As you add new features or use UX design tools to consider what users need, you understand what works, what needs to be changed and what else you can do to improve it.

This was the case for one of our clients: BANYAN.

*Image taken from the BANYAN design system, showing the button styles and their behaviors.

Together we created this guide to make the redesign process simpler and clearer for everyone, allowing them to understand how the website behaves on different platforms and what are the key elements to always keep its essence.

Where to start?

Learning what a design system is already a big step! Now you just need to communicate with all the members of your team (design and product areas, UX designer, marketing manager, copywriter) to establish together the parameters of your web/app.

Remember that you can also count on Digi-Clicks to guide you through the process. Tell us about your brand and we will be in touch very soon.

Over the last couple of years, the term “UX” has gained a lot of popularity. Even though you might not know what this acronym stands for, we are pretty sure you’ve experienced it, either in a positive or negative way. Let’s check out its basics, the impact it has on digital environments, and the importance to consider it at the time of designing your company’s website.

What is UX design?

UX stands for “User Experience”. When the internet was in its nascent stages, websites had little to no understanding or interest in what user experience was. Back then, websites consisted of homepages with lots of information, hoping that visitors would somehow click or interact with it. Nowadays it’s different: digital design has evolved into a user-centric paradigm in which information is presented in smaller, more digestible chunks. This shift has led to cleaner interfaces that guide users into different intuitive flows.

UX design is present in every single interaction we have with digital platforms: when you sign in to your email, check your social media, or book a flight, it’s an aspect that has been thought through.

On the one hand, a positive UX experience is seamless, you don’t even realize the steps on a process and you get to complete a task successfully. On the other hand, a negative UX experience is frustrating since completing a task takes longer or it’s simply impossible to do.

Difference between UX and UI

UX has more to do with designing flows that are focused on completing a certain task. UI or User Interface has to do with how this information is visually presented. You could argue that UX represents the back office —the underlying process of the experience— while UI is the front office, the most superficial layer. 

Ok, now we’ve covered what UX means, let’s check out this example of how not to handle a digital experience. ***Spoiler Alert*** It may get you on your nerves…

The process of UX Design

UX design consists of solving a problem for the user and helping them achieve a task with ease. In order to achieve this, there are a couple of steps that need to be taken care of. Below we present 5 necessary steps in a UX Design process:

•  UX research

This is perhaps the most important step of all. It’s important to understand the problem you are trying to solve, research, and benchmark all the different possibilities. Take into consideration your audience, perform guerrilla testing with real humans, not just Google.

• Create a User Persona

Once you’ve got all your data from the research, create 3-4 User Personas. What is this? It’s a fictional character with preferences that are likely to use your product or service. This is of great help to identify the pain points of your audience, thus ideate solutions for your product/service.

• Analyze your information

Now it’s time to analyze the structure of how the information will be presented.  For this step, it’s useful to create storyboards of your users interacting with the different flows of your product. 

• Design, finally

In this step, UX designers come up with basic sketches (wireframes) of the experience they want to deliver. Once validated, UI designers enhance these wireframes into mockups that are aligned with the aesthetic of the brand. Later on, these mockups evolve into what is known as a prototype, a beta version of your product. 

• Time to test it

Once you have a prototype of your experience, you can go ahead and test it with human users. For this step try to get the help of an unbiased audience; someone that is within your target audience but that doesn’t know anything bout your product. 

• Iterate, again and again

Digital products are always under constant change. Once you have your “final version” live and running, you’ll always jump into bugs and improvements. Knowing this will prevent frustration along the way. Iterate as many times as needed to ensure your experience doesn’t fall short. 

As you have seen in this article, delivering a positive experience should not be taken for granted; it’s a process that requires a lot of careful planning. Consider every interaction, every need of the user, in order to come up with the best solution. Take enough time to map out all the possible outcomes since this will prevent expensive hotfixes in the development stage. Finally, invest in research. It’s only through data that you’ll be able to identify the best way to persuade your users and make them fall for your brand.

Nowadays, social media is one of the first touchpoints between brands and businesses. According to this research by the Content Marketing Institute, social media advertising was used by 83% of marketers and ranked second in success (29%) behind search engine marketing (33%). 

Bearing this in mind, developing an appropriate social media strategy is of utmost importance for your brand. Did you know that over 3.6 billion people use social media platforms globally?

Let’s dig more into it.

What is social media marketing?

Simply put, social media marketing consists of creating and sharing content on social media platforms, in order to generate awareness towards your brand. However, social media networks differ a lot from each other, meaning that replicating your content won’t do the trick. 

It requires an understanding of your audience, their preferences, and their likelihood to view and engage with your content.

Research and analysis: the first step in your social media strategy

Social media is not about posting random content, it’s about developing a plan that supports the topics you’ll talk about, the format and cadence of your posts, and, of course, the social media platform you’ll use, among other things.

In order to start off with the right foot, you should start your planning by asking yourself:

• What do you want to achieve through social media marketing?
• Who is your target audience?
• What social media platforms would this target audience use the most?
• How does your product/service benefit your target audience?
  
  
  

Benefits of implementing a social media strategy

Posting content on social media brings a lot of benefits to your brand. Below we list the ones that, according to our experience, have the most impact on your engagement rates:

• It’s cost-effective. At the beginning of your strategy, you can work on creating organic posts. This strategy eases your budget. Later on, once you’ve built a stronger community and your engagement has a steady growth you can boost your posts with paid media.
  
  
• You can target your audience. You decide where and whom to show your ads, according to demographics such as location, age, and gender, among others.
  
  
• You can measure your results and adjust your strategy. With the appropriate social media management tools, you’ll be able to gather insights on your posts. By doing so, you can refine your scope, make adjustments and obtain better results.
  
  
• You can provide a better customer experience (CX)  
  Social media is the perfect channel to offer a seamless customer experience. By doing so you’ll engage in meaningful, back-and-forth conversations that in the end, are able to solve inquiries faster and easier.

• You can choose the platform that best suits your audience 
  For example, if you rely on video you might use Tik Tok or Instagram; if your audience is mostly Millenials you should go with Facebook: if you need to deliver instant information, Twitter is your best choice. 

Social media: an opportunity to offer a positive experience

The power of social media to connect people with brands is immense. Bear in mind that 71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend it. At Digi-Clicks we have plenty of experience connecting and engaging users with brands. If you need to revise your strategy, feel free to contact us and we’ll enhance it for you. 

Let’s start off with an interesting metric: according to Hubspot, 55% of your website visitors spend less than 15 seconds on it. Yep, only 15 seconds to lure your potential buyers into your products and services. Quite a challenge, huh? Bearing this in mind, it’s of utmost importance to focus on your website design since the opportunity window is very small.

Evolution of website design

Website building has evolved a lot since the dot-com frenzy in the late 90s. Back then, website development was exclusive for IT developers and engineers. Nowadays, there are a bunch of drag and drop templates that make the task super easy. However, users themselves have also evolved: website visitors today prefer simple clean designs, compared to the bulky text blocks we used to have before.

A good example of this are search engines: 

We used to crawl the web using search engines like Yahoo... 

Yahoo.com back in the 90s. 
Source: businessinsider.com

Nowadays, there’s basically just one place to find all your answers…

Source: Google.com

As you can see, Google’s layout follows the “Less is More” principle which has turned out to be a major differentiator.

Business website design

Along with this change in how information is presented, companies have also been working on offering their customers compelling experiences. A couple of years ago, websites for businesses were limited to basic contact information. Today, the experience is based on the user, therefore other factors come into play such as journey flows, search engine optimization, mobile responsiveness and layouts, and other services that are part of the realm of digital marketing.

At first, it might seem daunting to understand what all these terms mean —especially if you’re interested in building a new business website—, however, in order to make it easier for you, at Digi-Clicks we’ve built a list of the top 3 most aspects to have in mind when designing your business website. Let’s check them out:

1. User experience on your navigation flows

User experience can be ranked as today’s most important aspect of a digital platform. That’s the reason why UX design has become so relevant over the last couple of years: it is their job to assure the experience of a website is attractive and easy to use.

A well-managed UX design maps every single flow the website has, in order to make sure it delivers a positive experience. Nevertheless, wireframing each flow requires research, benchmarking, and testing, processes that take time. 

Even though it’s easy to find lots of website templates on the web, bear in mind they usually don’t focus on UX. If you really want to stand out, it’s best to consult with a digital marketing agency with an in-house designer that understands your needs. 

1. SEO for your organic strategy

Search Engine Optimization is key for any website. In a nutshell, SEO is the process of optimizing your content in order to rank at the top results of search engines. Nowadays keywords and search intents are mandatory steps for any content published on your website. 

SEO has become important because it leverages the exposure of your brand at no cost. However, there is a minor hiccup: SEO depends on the algorithms of search engines. This might be an issue since keeping up to date with daily upgrades is not something everybody can do. 

Bottom line: make sure every piece of content of your website is checked by an SEO specialist. 

1.    The importance of visual design

Form defines content. This is one of the most simple, yet important principles in communication. What this means is that the visual appearance of a website defines the value people give to its content. 

Take the time to build your brand guidelines. Check out colors and fonts that match your industry. However, if you are not a designer, we highly recommend avoiding designing a website on your own. There are countless aspects that are simply not noticeable for the untrained eye. 

Consult with an agency with in-house designers that are able to brief your ideas and come up with a mood board that aligns with your interests. You might think any free font and color will do the job and no, it doesn’t. 

Digi-Clicks: a boutique digital agency with everything you need

At Digi-Clicks you’ll find an almighty team with expertise in building outstanding business websites. We focus on understanding the scope and needs of every client, delivering tailor-made solutions that speak for themselves. If you’re interested in building a new website or would like to revamp an existing one, contact us and find out how we can help you.

Finding the ideal marketing agency for your business is a difficult task. There are many variables to take into consideration such as reputation, cost, scalability, and location, amongst others. During this decision stage, one of the key aspects that businesses look for is to partner with a marketing agency that is able to quickly respond to their needs in a smooth way.

This need in the market has led to the sprout of small agencies that offer marketing consulting services under short timeframes. This is a great advantage, especially if compared to big marketing firms that usually work with more extended deadlines. Bearing this in mind, over the last couple of years a new kind of agency has emerged.

Boutique marketing agencies: tailor-made marketing for small businesses

In a nutshell, a boutique marketing agency is a small powered-up team that offers customized services. This lightweight structure enables them to focus on more innovative and highly creative strategies specially designed for the needs of each of their customers.

Having a highly focused team at your service has a series of advantages. Below we have listed 5 benefits of partnering with a boutique marketing agency in order to leverage your marketing plan:

1. Boutique agencies have closer client attention

Boutique marketing agencies usually don’t handle extensive customer portfolios: they prefer delivering VIP services to a few. This exclusivity makes processes much more agile and effective; campaigns are ideated on the spot, hassle-free, with a level of commitment that is hard to find on big marketing agencies. This shift to a client-first mindset has become popular in B2B marketing because it increases efficiency and productivity. 

1. Boutique agencies are more cost-effective

Boutique agencies cost a fraction of what regular agencies charge. As simple as that. In line with this, terms and agreements are usually much more flexible, making it easier for specific projects that need the assistance of outsourced services.

1. Boutique agencies deliver tailor-made solutions

Every client’s need is different from the rest. With a boutique agency, you’ll get a customized experience that takes into account every single aspect. In this matter, constant communication is key since it’s the only way of ensuring the client’s satisfaction with the proposed marketing plan. 

1. Boutique agencies have unbiased points of view

One of the benefits of outsourcing your marketing needs is that you’ll make sure you’ll have an external perspective that is not influenced by your own understanding of the industry. This usually leads to more creative, out-of-the-box solutions to nurture your marketing strategy. 

1. Boutique agencies adapt faster

In order to make this point clear, ask yourself the following: in case of what it seems to be an imminent collision with an iceberg, which of the following is able to maneuver and avoid an accident? A transatlantic cruise or a speed boat?

It’s clear that due to the transatlantic’s robustness, it’s unable to turn and avoid a collision. On the other hand, a speed boat’s lightness makes it easy to rapidly change course and therefore, avoid the iceberg. 

This is what happens with large marketing agencies: their robustness makes them not suitable for on the spot changes or adaptations. On the contrary, boutique agencies can redirect or retarget strategies anytime with no major implications. 

As this Forbes article states, bigger is not always better when it comes to agencies.

Digi-Clicks: a boutique digital agency for your needs

At Digi-Clicks we focus on delivering positive experiences that leverage your exposure and recognition. We’ve managed to build a rockstar team with expertise in the following services:

• Branding and Graphic Design
• Website Design / UX 
• Social Media Management
• Digital Marketing
• Newsletters
• Website Analytics and Research
• SEO Positioning
• UX design

Contact us and let us know how we can help you grow your business.