Mountain Pine Design Philosophy

The User Experience and Your Brand Identity

The days of simply having a website on the internet are over.

The internet is an ever evolving beast and in the past few years, we've seen remarkable change. There was a time when simply having a website on the internet was good enough, but things are changing and people are beginning to understand the bigger role that your website plays. Today websites play a large part in defining your image, or brand identity, and that in turn defines who you are to your users.

You only get one chance to make a first impression and that impression is of utmost importance for first-time visitors to your web site. While the visual aspects of brand are important, the concept of brand extends far beyond the visual. Brand identity - a set of conceptual associations or emotional reactions - is important because it's inescapable. In the minds of your users, an impression about you or your organization is inevitably created by their interaction with your site. You must choose whether that impression happens by accident or as a result of conscious choices that have been made in designing your site.

The best way to ensure a positive experience for your visitors is to simply understand your users. Who are your users? What are they looking for? What do they want to do? At the core of it, every approach to usability seeks to make products easier to use. The easier a product is to use, while still maintaining the powerful functionality, the better the user's impression and the healthier the brand identity. It's that simple - just a little bit of forethought can go a long way.