User testing campaigns have been running for a long time; from Dove Soap ads in the 1950’s to Danny Baker’s ‘Daz Doorstep Challenge’ in the 1990’s. These ads presented the product as ‘hero’, a must-have item that will solve your problems. Recently though, a number campaigns have shifted this focus and presented the product or service ‘in development’, or; service design marketing.
Service design as a marketing strategy, some examples:
Windows 7 / User Insights
Universally disliked but still an interesting approach. The “Windows 7 was my idea” pulls out user-insights from different users who, we assume have been involved in the design process. Maybe it’s just me but i simply don’t trust this campaign is real. The focus on what was wrong with previous versions does strike a chord though It does demonstrate a certain amount of product honesty, like you would expect during the user-insights stage.
Image: thinkpublic
The Oxo Factor / Co-design
Launched last year this campaign invited families to come together and design a new version of the famous Oxo ads. The website contained co-design tools that supported families through the deisgn and filmmaking process. An engaging and hig-profile campaign (finalists were broadcast during the X-Factor final) that reflects the brand’s key value, ‘family’.
Confused.com / Prototype & Test
A comparison website that uses it’s UX as it’s unique selling point. Videos of what we are led to believe are user experience tests are shown being conducted by a diverse range of customers. The advertisments build trust, highlight it’s ease of use and finish with the desired outcome (i.e cheaper car insurance). This campaign’s strength is in how convincing the tests are.
Image: Fluent Studios
In service design we capture the process, visualise the insights and map out the stakeholders. We then use these to explain the journey, to evidence the depth of research and to form the basis of our service designs.
But what if we aren’t just designing a service but creating content for a marketing campaign too? Recent campaigns from Confused.com, Oxo and Windows 7 do just this, basing their campaigns around the user-insights and user-testing phases in the design process.
I’d like to see a high-profile campaign that was built around the whole service design process. A compelling design story that sold a new service as well as demonstrated the organisation’s work process. Which service or organisation would you want to see a campaign from?
As a young man with an eye for a nice font, the Italian Ultras flag designs were of particular interest, I loved the handmade element and detail in some of the larger banners and some smart copy. My particular favourite was one by 
