Industry
Professional Development
Talks and Conferences
Design Category
Product Design
Service Design
Scope
Brand Development
Business Strategy
Identity and Visual Design Strategy
Marketing Strategy
Live Panel Development
Tools
Empathy research interview
Empathy map
Mood board
User persona
Method Map
Creative matrix
Customer journey mapping
The Problem:
This university’s professional development service needed to create a program to connect high-caliber people with high-caliber jobs.
What you want to know:
76% of the recently relocated university faculty and staff spouses polled they were willing to work within their new community. However, employers mistakenly believed that there was no top talent, while top talent stated there were no top employers, all within the same community.
Who's the Client
A professional development program run by a top-five public university. Our client provides the resources for the spouses of university faculty to integrate into their new communities.
The Design Challenge
How Might We Create a Program that Connects High-Caliber Job Seekers with Top Employers?
Our Design Process Provided...
Brand and Identity Development
Targeted Marketing Strategy
Brand and Identity Development
Brands and identity drive behavior. Brand is the gut feeling one gets about a product, service, company, or person when interacting with it. Organizations, departments, and cultures all have brands that fuel their relationships with those they serve. We partnered with our client to create that "gut feeling" that inspired employers and job seekers to engage with the program.
Understand
Empathize and
Define The Problem
For the Brand and Identity portion of the project, we conduct user research, create empathy maps, craft method maps, and create user personas in order to step into the shoes of our client! From our initial research, we...
Empathize with Organizational Challenges
Understand the Data Around the Community and User Needs
Draft a Competitive Audit to Deep Dive into Competitors' Needs
Create Personas for Audience Discovery
Prioritize Program Goals
Explore
Generate and
Prototype Ideas
After understanding the user needs in new ways, we collaborate with the client to explore wild and innovative solution!
Through Vision and Design Workshops surrounding program presence and the desired impact, we are able to…
Create a Mood Board detailing Visual Direction for the Program and Service
Uncover Program and Service Brand Attributes
Materialize
Test and
Implement Ideas
Built on our Understanding and Exploring phases, we finally designed a comprehensive Brand Style Guide for the client.
However, as the project was coming to a close, the client realized there was already a program with the name that they had chosen. It's okay! Pivots and building are what we do! Leaning back on the Understand phase, we workshop with the client to uncover a more precise, more impactful brand name, providing us with a clear...
Program and Service Identity
Visual Assets
Messaging and Voice Guide
Brand Statement
The Outcome?
From our work, we create a comprehensive Brand Style Guide that communicated to THE VERY DNA of what the program is and how it should build going forward. Now, with a dynamic identity and personality, the program is ready to host new strategies that engage high-caliber job seekers and employers in the community.
Marketing Strategy
The marketing strategy is the plan to build a RELATIONSHIP with future clients. It's how we communicate who the client is and how they can reach those who need their services! We partnered with our client to create the clear path for their audience to receive and accept that metaphorical "invitation to the party."
Understand
Empathize and
Define The Problem
Using the foundation of the new program's brand identity, we conducted surveys, extracted data from research questionnaires, used empathy maps, and journey maps. This provided insight into the program's goals for communicating to their audiences that speak directly to...
Business Model Fundamentals
Products and Services Offered
Stakeholder Needs
Explore
Generate and
Prototype Ideas
Utilizing a creative matrix to craft a strategic model and "way of doing," we develop campaign focuses that would increase social media, email and road show engagement. Because of this, we were able to...
Brainstorm a plan for awareness and efficiency structure for brand roll-out.
Identify Communication Gaps
Develop Strategies for audience Engagement
Materialize
Test and
Implement Ideas
Built on our Understanding and Exploring phases, we design a comprehensive Marketing Plan for the client, covering program messaging, medium of use, and content. We were able to provide...
Target Engagement Areas for Social Media, Email, and Stakeholder Presentations
A Strategy and Structure for Efficient Brand Roll-out.
The Outcome?
We created a comprehensive Marketing Strategy that blueprinted the pathways for future audiences to ENGAGE with the new program! Through creating a social media framework for sharing company culture and an email framework that easily communicates the program value to stakeholders. This program is now better equipped to speak to the people involved, foster connection, and truly impact the economic development of the community they live in!
Real-Life Impacts
We created an entire program for a service from a singular idea. Taking a service that already existed for a university department, we created the brand, the identity, and the marketing strategy to bring the department's vision into reality!
Employers and employees are now connecting directly with decision makers, driving faster results, and are able to more clearly identify and meet each other's needs. The new value of the program actively contributes to the community's economic development initiatives.
The Impacts
Civic Innovation
The success of the program created waves, leading to an invitation to facilitate a panel for the 2019 Tom Tom Innovation Festival on Civic Innovation.
How Do Small Cities Attract and Retain Talent was our panel topic. This engaged citizens, entrepreneurs, civic leaders, and artists to learn more about how Human-Centered Design was used to identify, explore, build and inspire the solutions.
“The Spill Teem is on another level - they provided so much more than strategy and a visual presence. They understood that getting the FEELING of the brand exactly right was the key to the success of our project. We are incredibly excited to stand behind it!”
