Why can’t B2B application be like B2C?
“Team this is a B2B application, so the design approach should be like that of a B2B,”
“It is a B2B application, it’s got to fit in a lot of features,”
“It is just B2B users, don’t worry about it. They will get used to it,”
“B2B applications should look complex and be filled with more features. Only then customers will feel happy”
“The previous application had all these features, hence we need it in our new one,”
As a designer, you might have faced this scenario multiple times? Received design brief in a similar tone? Are these statements correct? Are these demands true? How do I react to these requirements? Should I create the design as requested?
Designers are not given their due, and most of the time often ignored during the process. They don’t pitch their point. Designers express little. Sometimes they do what is requested. They become a tool to deliver what is asked, rather than play their part in the big picture during the product design.
But, we all are aware, if not the first time, then at least by the 3rd try we can be successful, just as in the pen drive example for poor design. We know, but we are used to it. We complain about it for a moment, but we get used to it. That is the B2B design executioner mindset.
Many of us would have seen this USB keychain? USB as a pendant? Brilliant design idea, right?
During the rain, can we drive the bike with this key chain?
In a few organisations, many times this is heard, “We always delivered enterprise and B2B applications and hence we have little B2C case studies” Why B2B is not in a presentable format? Why are we not proud of our design/application? Why is it a concern? — The reason is in the way we perceive things.
“Today or tomorrow, the user will get used to it.”
There is always a biased view from the beginning of any B2B project. “For B2B, no need to spend further effort into design/experience”. Bring on newer features of their product, use some out-of-the-box solution from any of the frameworks.
How many of you have seen this comic strip?
Did you get a smile on your face? All enjoyed and related to your personal life? Am I right?
Why did we like this comic strip? Is it not an acute perception of our product/design? But still, we do this and smile at the comic strip. And say,
“Today or Tomorrow, the user will get used to it,”
Can’t we capture the exact customer requirement? Don’t we empathize with the customer? Everybody in the room becomes a designer and starts visualizing with their own/biased perception. But no one validates the assumptions.
What makes B2B different from B2C?
Should B2B treatment differ from B2C? The answer is yes.
When designing for B2C, is always designing for a single user who has to act (Buy/Sell, Commit, etc…) based on emotion?
In Amazon shopping, the target is to persuade and make the user buy a certain product. Using Reviews, Photos, Videos, Offers…
But B2B is a collective decision? Decision-making process is a mix of a different persona. Nature of decision making has many ambiguities. Tailoring a solution for a single user/customer differs from designing for a group of users. Need to provide direction, better C2A. more supporting documents and proofs. more approval process etc…
That doesn’t stop us as a designer to ask the question
“Why can’t B2B be like B2C?”
Over the past decade, companies understood the effect/impact of excellent design. Successful brands showed the result based on a design-led approach like Apple, Google, Airbnb. They have raised the bar on not just consumer goods but also products and services.
Design-led companies focus on creating integrated and delightful customer experiences across all touchpoints.
Boeing Market Place Modification:
Boeing being in B2B e-commerce for some time, and suffering like similar other B2B applications where a customer’s decision-making process was difficult and led to a drop in conversion rates, As a customer no choice was there but a need to order, compromising on the end product. Boeing customers used to rely on paper-based catalogues to look at the features, products, prices, and order times.
During 2018 Boeing started a Modification Market place. Modification Marketplace acts as the virtual source for retrofit and aeroplane modification orders. Not only this but also allowed Boeing to provide faster response times and easy-to-find information in delivery time, prerequisites, and pricing. It was successful and became an example of B2B successes story. Custom solution/design, Scenario-based designs, Task-based design, customers could order efficiently and effectively.
Coca-Cola with Amazon Echo
Coca-cola has always been in on the shelf service and improved their business by in-store merchandising and High-quality Print/video marketing. For the first time in the history of this company introduced “Direct-to-consumer order fulfilment” by delivering direct to the home, using Alexa.
Lenovo’s Content decision making with Vidyard
Lenovo a technological device manufacturing industry is constantly growing with its innovative products. Also, customers keep looking for new launches. Lenovo wanted to improve the decision making of their customer using video platform. But it was unsuccessful earlier. Reasons varied from customer focus on the video content, quality of the content, not able to track data for their marketing strategy. Also, even applying a few design principles like placing the prominent Play button also didn’t work. Another reason is not making an engaging video and not able to track the actual behaviour of the customer. Later it tied up with Vidyard, a video platform and introduced this.
- An increase in click-through rates 4x the normal benchmarks; and
- A lift in engagement rates by 55% per page visit.
- The partnership resulted in better-educated decisions when creating marketing campaigns
Significance of Design-led approach
Design is no longer a nice to have — it is a proven value driver for business growth.
Design centric companies outperform their peers
Over 40% of the companies surveyed still aren’t talking to their end users during development. — The business value of design
Design-led companies had 32% more revenue and 56% higher total returns.
Despite this proven impact, companies often struggle to implement the strong design. Rapid marketing and product iterations, instant access to information, growing global competition, and reviews and comparisons are key factors and considerations.
How to achieve this?
We first should get out of the biased design approach. Try to Unlearn. Designing for B2B is like solving a Wicked problem. Is it? Yes. Unlike B2C, we have very limited data to analyse or gather data from another B2B application and insights. With B2B sure thing is, we are dealing with complex data.
While having a design thinking workshop, empathize on the user, that doesn’t mean we make all the participant/user the ultimate solution designer. They are here to simplify our job by providing insights.
Design is not just aesthetic. It’s an emotion.
Are designers a group of technicians and artists who produce products and artefacts for short contracts? How can they fulfill more essential roles of big picture projects? Designers are often set into roles of minor problem solving and yet their training and expertise allows for a wider set of potential influence. Strategic Design thinking suggests that if designers could communicate and use their skills better effectively, they can position themselves to influence a bigger picture.
How can strategic design thinking produce innovative projects that affect big picture issues?
There are no guides or 10 steps to be an excellent designer or a strategic design thinker. Because Strategic design is not a tool or hardware to learn by reading user manuals, it requires a certain vocabulary to communicate the values of the design practice. Designers should get proficient with the vocabularies:
1. Stewardship
2. Vehicles of Change
3. Glue
- Stewardship: The idea is hardly the beginning.
Often conceptualization of the brilliant idea is always the easiest part of the project. Majority of the effort goes into an understanding of the product, how to execute and implement. The strategic designer must see the difference between the design of the product and bringing it to market. Designers are not just stopped as a craftsman. As a designer who is considering this as an opportunity, he/she should shoulder the responsibility to make it a reality in a step-by-step phase. Steward accepts reality and leads customers comfortably. Things may go in better or worse but strive towards the better and prepared for a change. In a traditional design approach, the designer focuses on just the aesthetic part but is unprepared for the changes. But the strategic designer is prepared for even volatile conditions of the project and drives towards a fresh opportunity.. - Vehicles of changes
Strategic designers need to be prepared and be ready for facing different stakeholders and scenarios. Be confident in taking up the stand on the vision. Being a catalyst and drive with passion and ready to change any legacy practices as it may require changing policy, infrastructure, etc. Carry your past success stories learning if required. You cannot apply the same success process with another project/organization in every scenario. The basic rule is Unlearn. - Glue — If a composer writes a piece, and the violinist plays it, what is the ‘music’ of the conductor?
In every project, innovation when introducing a strategic designer involves cost and as always management expects just to have “Traditional designer” who can accept the “Today or Tomorrow, the user will get used to it” mindset. In most of the situation, management looks into the money part alone. There will always be a collective skilled work happening on the ground. A small work might have brought up a big change but that some time will not be visible for the management. As a researcher, one might have recorded tons of videos and audios to analyse the patterns and at the end brought them down to a small presentable format which is just enough to articulate the problem statement. Which can be utilized at any place to present? The outcome might look simple, but the effort involved is huge. Like the conductor who has to stitch both composer and technician, a designer need not be a technician to be like a curator and understand both and act as a glue.
In summary, if you ask again, “Why can’t B2B be like B2C?” it is the designer’s responsibility to break the mindset of
“Today or Tomorrow, the user will get used to it,”
In current scenarios, users don’t have the patience to wait until tomorrow. People will trash your application in a minute and spread the message across the borders through social media platforms, unboxing videos, etc.
Likewise, it is not just the designer’s problem, but leadership has to believe in designers. Should empower the designers. Our legacy companies have to motivate and empower the traditional designers to become a strategic designer.
“You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction. Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself — without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat.”
― Anonymous, The Bhagavad Gita
