Edward StullAccurate: UX and Branding
The challenge
How might physical packaging improve safety and efficiency?
About the Project
User experience encompasses a wide range of potential outcomes. It also has several implications for the use of physical products and services. Consider the use of chemicals in a fast-paced environment of a hotel or restaurant’s backstage operations, such as a dish room. Rapid identification of chemical agents is key for efficiency as well as safety.
"With humans sharing so much in common, you might wonder why designing for them can be such a challenge. After all, you are one of them, too. Knowing what users want and how they behave would seem to be implicitly understood. If that were the case, we would not even need to concern ourselves with user experience. We would know everything already. However, despite our similar physiology and neurology, human beings do have differences."
– UX Fundamentals for Non-UX Professionals
Products
Languages
Better readability
Improved safety
How do you quickly communicate vital product information to ESL (English as a Second Language) and vision-impaired users?
- Text translations are helpful but are easily missed during hectic times (e.g. dinner rush in a hotel’s steamy dish room).
- While color identification is speedy, it fails to connote proper information to viewers with color vision deficiency (CVD or color-blindness) or in low-light environments (e.g. under the platform of a commercial dishwasher).
- Large print improves legibility but limits the amount of information that can appear within a fixed label dimension.
A Numbering System
A numbering system (e.g. 1, 2, 3...) provides a durable means to differentiate products to both ESL and CVD viewers. We extended the company’s branding into package labels that not only differentiated the brand but also its products.
English and Spanish product names were included in the colored and numbered labels. A worker could easily pair a numbered label with an intended use, avoiding potential efficacy or safety issues. And like any effective user experience, the solution addressed the user’s specific context.
Accurate labels showing translation, color, and numerical differences
"...like any effective user experience, the solution addressed the user’s specific context."
Accurate packaging with example label
Packaging placed under the platform of a commercial dishwasher
About the Accurate branding
I designed the Accurate identity system in 2004, including extensions to several sub-brands and fleet vehicle graphics. My consulting practice now focuses on UX and research. (However, I do still take on the occasional branding project.)
Design of Accurate identity
Design of fleet vehicle graphics
Other Notable Projects
- UX and branding for a multiple-language video game series
- Branding and merchandising for a national retail chain of copying, printing, and office services.
- Branding for a telecommunications firm in Boston
- UX and branding of campaigns for several global CPG companies
- UX and branding of several casual games and applications for use in live exhibits