How instincts helped turn around a Boston-based college's website redesign, and 4 reasons why you should follow suit.
A few years back, our agency received the exciting opportunity to redesign a website for a prestigious Boston-based college. We started our due diligence, with a discovery process consisting of student and staff interviews, surveys, research and a comprehensive assessment of business and brand goals. This led to a strategy, creative brief, and subsequently a detailed set of wireframes that meticulously aligned with the client’s objectives.
Following this groundwork, we tasked three art and copy teams with the challenge of translating our vision into a compelling user experience, adhering to the brief, brand standards and wireframes.
Fast forward to the internal review, where two of the designs emerged as shining stars. With innovative navigation schemes, beautifully designed hero areas, and pages with bold messaging that touted the school’s reputation, achievements and status. Gorgeous. Both designs were on-brief and would absolutely make the client very happy.
Enter the third design – a major departure from the expected. While it did reflect the brief, it didn’t adhere completely to the wireframes. (Wireframes that were, you’ll recall, based on all of our extensive research and findings.) The designer and copywriter had interpreted the wireframes through their unique lens, and crafted a design that felt right to them, based on the brief.
In an effort to more directly appeal to our target audience of 16 to 17-year-old prospective students, the third design took its cues from social media. The creative team felt their design would feel instantly familiar and be more intuitive for the younger demographic than our carefully researched wireframes.
As we prepared for the client presentation, we knew options A & B were going to be home-runs, so we strategically showcased option C as the edgier, more unconventional design – a tactic we often employ with our approach.
Cut to the client presentation. After reviewing all three options, we asked our audience of 20-30 campus-based stakeholders to vote. And wouldn’t you know it? It was a dead-even split. They LOVED options A and B. From the practical to the emotional, these designs delivered.
“It feels familiar and really seems like us.”
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“It covers off on everything we asked for.”
“It feels easy to update and we can cover off on all our messaging.”
Because the creative team not only listened to, but trusted their intuition, they produced a winner
Within the campus community, option C was dead in the water. The client had absolutely no desire to pursue it further. However, as part of our process, we were set to do quantitative and qualitative surveys with our target audiences – prospective high school students.
Given the title of this article, you can probably guess what happened next. Overwhelmingly, 99% of the prospective students chose option C. Why? Because they could relate to it. It spoke to them the way they were accustomed to. It felt fresh and didn’t look like anything else in the higher education category, which positioned the school as an innovative place that thinks differently. They felt like the school was communicating with them, not at them. They didn’t tune it out.
And fortunately, the client was brave enough to listen to the target audience’s feedback and moved forward with option C. The site went on to win multiple prestigious national and regional awards, as well as make a big impact on campus visits and admissions.
The moral of the story? Because the creative team not only listened to, but trusted their intuition, they produced a winner. While difficult to quantify, it’s crucial that we allow gut instincts to play a role in creative. It’s where we can tap into our emotions and personal experiences. While data must be the yin to intuition’s yang, here are four reasons why trusting your gut is so critical.
Why you should trust your gut
01. There's room to innovate
Intuition encourages you to think beyond established patterns derived from data, and it’s usually the reason behind true innovation, creativity, and original thought. So often, the most avant-garde solutions arise from a hunch. The creative team in the story above made room for their own instincts amid the research.
02. You can work with emotions
Instincts are usually derived from something that is tied to a human experience. This can be highly emotional and can drive decisions that are made with the heart rather than the head. This can be very effective in creating memorable and relatable connections. Option C from the story above was so successful with the prospective student target audience because it played off of familiar, relatable cues that quickly established trust and value.
03. Reduce uncertainty
If a clear direction can’t be laid with data alone, relying on an instinct can help people navigate ambiguity. A good instinct can draw from past experience or subconscious knowledge and help influence decision-making. In the college website example above, the data didn’t add up for one creative team. So, they allowed their own experiences and instinctive knowledge to inform their design.
04. You can move fast
“Fail fast.” You’ve heard people say it before. With deadlines and timelines and tight budgets, it’s hard to fail fast when you’re waiting around for data. Trusting your gut can produce quick, adaptive responses, allowing you to pivot creatively or take calculated risks. In the story above, the creative team didn’t have time to test their hunch before presenting their concept. Trusting their instincts allowed them to fail, or in this case succeed, fast.
By defying expectations and embracing an unconventional design approach, we not only captured the attention of prospective students but also garnered national and regional awards for the college website. This example serves as a testament to the dance between data and intuition in the creative realm and underscores the crucial role of listening to your gut when it matters.
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Kieran McCabe is an internationally recognized creative leader directing multi-talented creative and studios teams at Primacy, a nationally recognised top agency that accelerates growth by building exceptional brand experiences. He brings 25 years of experience in creative direction, interactive design, and marketing campaign experience, and is responsible for directing creative strategies, concepts, and design executions. He is most noted for crafting memorable, distinguishable, and award-winning work for Primacy clients like Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Cornell University, MIT, University College of London, UChicago Medicine, Yale New Haven Health, Rice University, Gonzaga University, Boston College, Yale Law School, Smith College, and Emmanuel College.
