Challenge Yourself by Anthony Moore

Challenge Yourself Master of Arts in Interactive Design Program Campaign - October 2015

Prepared by Anthony Moore

CONTENTS Introduction Concept Flow Competitive Analysis Personas Traction Channels Assets Narrative Low-Fidelity Wireframes User Feedback High-Fidelity Wireframes Implementation Assessment Conclusion

3 5 6 8 11 13 14 15 22 23 28 33 35

INTRODUCTION The Challenge Yourself campaign is designed to generate leads and enroll students in the Interactive Design M.A. program at Lindsey Wilson College. This campaign is part of a joint effort with a similar campaign for the User Experience Design B.A. program. As such, a conscious effort will be made to ensure that both campaigns produce a consistent marketing strategy and use similar, if not the same, assets. The campaign will incorporate student profiles, portfolios and stories designed to capture the attention of those interested in developing their user experience design skills. Different channels of media will be researched to gain traction for this campaign to drive prospective students to a landing page to learn about the program and to request more information. Upon submitting the form they will receive an automated email response containing a brochure about the program.

Project Director David Meyers Director Interactive Design MA Lindsey Wilson College Columbia, Ky

The Challenge Throughout the campaign, prospective students will be presented with the phrase “Challenge Yourself.” As the prospective student submits the form for more information they will be presented with a challenge and the phrase “Challenge Yourself” is reiterated. The challenge is a series of five trivia questions; a game. The goal is to answer all five questions correctly in order receive a special bonus. When a prospective student completes the challenge they are rewarded for their efforts and will receive: • A $35.00 voucher to waive application fee so that they can apply risk free • A link to share with other UX professionals • Chance to win a $500.00 scholarship The intent of this campaign is to separate Lindsey Wilson from other institutions by offering prospective students a fun and engaging alternative to the traditional “Request Information” form. The experience should engage prospective students and leave them with the feeling that they want to be a part of this program.

UXpect more, challenge yourself

CONCEPT FLOW

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS As discussed with the Project Director, some of the ways to promote the program is to establish the program’s uniqueness and affordability. Even though online education is not bound geographically to prospective students in the same way as traditional classrooms, our research established that Lindsey Wilson College is the only institution in Kentucky that offers a Master’s Program in Interactive Design completely online. As we moved our research out geographically we further discovered the uniqueness of the Master of Arts in Interactive Design.

Regional Online Programs Similar to Lindsey Wilson’s

Indiana University M.S. Human-Computer Interaction (Design Emphais) Cost: $35,000 This program offers courses in • Interaction Design Methods • Experience Design • Prototyping • Design Theory and Strategies

Purdue University M.F.A. - Interaction Design Cost: $29,000 Unlike the program offered by Lindsey Wilson, the program offered by Purdue is an MFA and is therefore a terminal degree and requires two to three years to complete.

Kent State University M.S. - UX Design Cost: $25,000 The research indicated that the greatest competitor of Lindsey Wilson College is Kent State University (OH.) Kent State offers a M.S. Degree in UX Design. The curriculum is similar to Lindsey Wilsons’ and prepares students for: • Prototyping • Usability Testing • Design • Wireframes • Research

The research was decisive and indicates that Lindsey Wilson’s M.A. in Interactive Design is unique in the state of Kentucky and also the least expensive of similar programs at $16,000. However, the decision was made not to promote the affordability of the program because of the negative connotations that could be associated with it.

M.A. Interactive Design

The only program of its kind offered in Kentucky by an accredited institution.

PERSONAS A persona is a way to model, summarize and communicate research about people who have been observed or researched in some way. A persona is depicted as a specific person but is not a real individual; rather, it is synthesized from observations of many people. Each persona represents a significant portion of people in the real world and enables the designer to focus on a manageable and memorable cast of characters, instead of focusing on thousands of individuals. For the Interactive Design landing page, the purpose of personas is to create reliable and realistic representations of the target audiences to reference as we evaluate the narrative for the various communication channels and the landing page. These representations are based on the typical prospective student that is targeted by the program and captures user: • • • •

Demographics Background Lifestyle Attitudes

Matthew UX Designer

“Part of the user experience is to create emotion. When I interact with applications I like to be engaged and suprised.” Age: 24 Education: BA User Experience Design Location: Austin, TX

Background Matthew chose his career because he enjoys being creative. As a UX Designer he seeks to capture the attention of his users through emotion. Matthew is a gamer and It is important to him how the user feels when they use products he designs. As such, Matthew pays attention to detail. As a UX Designer graduate, Matthew wants to further his professional development by pursuing a graduate degree. He loves his job so he wants to work and go to school at the same time. He is searching for a program that will challenge him and provide him insights into HCI.

Lifestyle • • • • • •

Creative at work Enjoys gaming with his friends Goes to local sporting events Spends time weekly in the gym Stays in touch with family Uses social media to connect with friends

Attitudes

• Demands alot of himslf • Gets frustrated when products do not meet expectations • Self-motivated • Outgoing and friendly

Annette Graphic Artist

“Creativity opens our minds to possibilities we have never considered before. Our imagination is everything.” Age: 27 Education: BA Graphic Design Location: Newark, NJ

Background Annette is an artist and taps into her creative side on a daily basis. She is fascinated with advertisement and how it engages the human psyche. She understands the power of artwork, how it captures one’s attention and generates passion. She is looking to further her career to see how she can leverage her artwork to further engage individuals. She is considering the field of Interactive Design because of the discipline’s ability to help designers interact with their consumers.

Lifestyle

• Joins friends each morning for coffee • Supports the local Arts • Personal time is spent reading and cycling • Utilizes technology to organize her schedule

Attitudes

• Open-minded and accepting • Artistic and imaginative • A bit intorverted but enjoys time with friends • Never satisfied with the status quo in her job

TRACTION CHANNELS The Bullseye Framework, as laid out by authors Justin Mares and Gabriel Weinberg, was used to determine what traction channels would be utilized to help the campaign gain momentum. Traction channels are the outlets in which campaigns, ideas and companies gain traction that lead toward customer conversion. • Brainstorming sessions were conducted to see which traction channels could be leveraged to provide traction for the campaign. • The traction channels were then ranked by their perceived order of success. • We then looked at the top six channels that provided the greatest opportunity for success. They are as follows: 1. Community Building Existing UX communities such as UXSphere, IXDA, and UXMatters. These communities offer a concentration of UX professionals that may be looking further into degree opportunities. 2. Email Marketing Target previous Lindsey Wilson graduates that fit the profile for a career in UX. Since UX professionals come from a diverse background, the following undergraduate programs from LWC offer the opportunity to take advantage of an established relationship. • Art – Digital Arts, Media Arts, Media Studies • Communications • Business - Computer Information Systems minor 3. Engineering as Marketing Use the UX quiz to promote the Interactive Design program and offer an example of the a user experience that the program prepares their students to become. This channel can be used to provide incentives such as the application fee voucher and scholarships. 4. Existing Platforms Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pintrest. These existing platforms provide a solid channel to promote the program. 5. Offline Events UX meetups such as the one in Louisville, Ky (LOUX). This group meets on a regular basis and it offers a great opportunity to promote the program to UX professionals. The group also has representation on Meetup.com that can be utilized to promote the program as well.

6. Targeting Blogs Opportunities are available to use blogs and promote the program. The following sites offer an opportunity for a blogger to mention Lindsey Wilson College and the Interactive Design M.A. program. • • • • •

UXBooth.com aListApart.com/blog UXMatters.com UXMovement.com smashingMagazine.com/category/UXDesign

From these six channels it was perceived that the following three channels would be tested for this campain: 1. Engineering as Marketing : The quiz is designed to be engaging and fun while presenting prospective students with an experience that they will not get at other institutional websites. Successfully completing the quiz, or the challenge, allows the prospective student to apply to the program for free and have their name entered into a drawing for a scholarship. The key idea here is to generate enough excitement that those participating in the challenge will share the landing page with others. 2. Existing Platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Pintrest and LinkedIn will be the primary existing platforms used. Narratives will be posted on these platforms that will drive potential students to the landing page. 3. Email Marketing: An email list will be created containing students who have earned a BA degree in the last 6 years at Lindsey Wilson College. The degrees earned that were considered to be a good fit for the Interactive Design program are: • Business Administration with minor in CIS • Communication • Art with an emphasis in Digital Arts, Media Arts, Media Studies

CAMPAIGN ASSETS Logos

Social Media Avatar

Color Palette

NARRATIVES Challenge yourself.

Challenge yourself.

Challenging yourself is a reliable way to develop as an individual and professionally.

Challenges are nothing more than opportunities for us to rise to the next level.

At Lindsey Wilson College our Master of Arts in Interactive Design program is constructed to equip working professionals with the skills that are necessary to compete in today’s market of user experience (UX.)

We at Lindsey Wilson College challenge you to elevate your career and enhance your skillsets in our Master of Arts Interactive Design Program and compete in the emerging market of user experience. The program is offered exclusively online and is the perfect fit for those who possess abilities in:

Learn to design and create products or enchanted objects that reach far beyond their functional value and truly enhance lives. The Master of Arts in Interactive Design at Lindsey Wilson College is a holistic approach to humaninitiated interactive design and prepares its students for opportunities in today’s emerging market and in the Internet of Things. Challenge yourself and take the next step in your career like Atif. Find out how he did it and learn more at http://lindseyOnline.lindsey.edu/ UXChallenge.

• • • • • • •

Graphic Design Digital Media Computer Engineering Marketing Communications Web Design Information Systems

Venus is a working professional and mother of two. Find out how she challenged herself and learn more at http://lindseyOnline.lindsey.edu/ UXChallenge.

Twitter #ChallengeYourself and design your future with a MA degree in Interactive Design. http://bit.ly/1gx7aYo #UXDesign #UX #degree #UXD #IXD #ChallengeYourself and elevate your career with a MA Interactive Design degree. http://bit.ly/1gx7aYo #UXDesign #UX #degree #UXD #IXD

LOW-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES The landing page will be divided into three sections each of which will focus on a different aspect of the program. Sections: • Program overview and profile the three core elements that the program focuses on. • Student profiles will be generated to make a connection with a visitor. The idea is to promote that other working professionals, family-oriented individuals have succeded in the program. • Highlight the distinctions of the program such as, it’s uniqueness, affordability, instructors and etc. Also the form for more information will appear on this frame.

Program Overview Section

Student Profile Section

Program Distinctions Section

Learn More Response Screen

The Challenge (Quiz)

Challenge (Quiz)

USER FEEDBACK

The wireframes provided the neccessary visuals to create a prototype for review. After reviewing with the project director, a few suggestions were made. • The quiz should be themed with images from the User Experience field. • Questions should be framed around User Experience instead of general questions. • On the response screen when the user requests information, remove the “Send Me Info” button and go ahead and send the email to the user at that time. • When user finishes the quiz, provide a button that allows them to navigate to the Interactvie Design program page on lindseyOnline.lindsey.edu.

HIGH FIDELITY WIREFRAMES First Iteration

Second Iteration

Challenge - Final Design Introduction

Questions are timed

Users are given feedback to provde a learning experience.

IMPLEMENTATION The engineering as marketing channel (the quiz) and landing page were completed and staged for the launch of the existing platforms and email marketing channels. On September 25, 2015 the existing platforms (Twitter and FaceBook) part of the campaign began. Working in partnership with the campaign for the B.A. in User Experience Design campaign, the strategy used follows: • Create pages themed to match the two campaigns. • Post UX related articles daily to produce interest, obtain followers and educate the UX community. It is believed that this activity is necessary to establish meaningful relationships that can convert to prospective student leads. • Release periodic promotional ads for the B.A. and M.A. programs. The postings were to highlight instructors, students and student work.

Example Social Media Feeds

The email campaign was launched on September 30, 2015. This email targeted recent graduates of Lindsey Wilson College promoting the M.A. program.

Email:

ASSESSMENT Measures were put in place to review the success of the campaign and the traction channels. â&#x20AC;˘ Prospective student form submissions are logged into a database table. â&#x20AC;˘ Google Analytics is used to track the source where visitors come from to the landing page. â&#x20AC;˘ A separate database table is used to track how many visitors complete the challenge and how many refer others to the program.

Effectivness of the Traction Channels

17 Visitors to the Landing Page 0 Conversions

9 Visitors to the Landing Page 0 Conversions

3 Visitors to the Landing Page 0 Conversions

席 Data reflected as of October 8, 2015

CONCLUSION The traction channels did not yield the results that were anticipated. The social media aspect of the traction channels generated very little activity and zero conversions. What was even more surprising was that the email generated so little interest given that it was targeted at a much more focused audience. I feel that is premature to give up on the traction channels that have been selected to launch this campaign. We have been collecting data for less than two weeks and that is not nearly enough time to be decisive about abandoning them. However, based on what we have learned I would make the following recommendations for each of the traction channels.

Existing Platforms

Of all the channels selected, this offers the most potential; however, it does take time to cultivate and acquire followers. Activity should continue to be present in social media by sharing articles, educating and promoting the interactive design program. As relationships are developed and knowledge about the program is established we can expect to see more activity coming from this traction channel.

Email Marketing

This channel targeted Lindsey Wilson graduates and we can continue to do this in the future. On an ongoing basis, graduating seniors should be targeted with email at least twice during their final semester.

Engineering as Marketing

The hidden aspect of the quiz and the associated scholarship was designed to create enthusiasm among potential students as they discovered a scholarship opportunity and their application fee waived. To make this channel more effective, I believe we should abandon its hidden nature and make it more apparent to prospective students. We can adjust the social media by being upfront and candid with prospective students to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Take the UX Challenge to win a bonus prize and a potential scholarship.â&#x20AC;?

If after making these adjustments we still do not see any activity, then we should revisit the traction channels again. Having the experience of this effort will prove valuable as we look at other channels to make this campaign successful.