Transformation Design is a concept that is the theme of Leeland Maschemeyer’s blog. It smashes the old concept of traditional advertising which is associated with the constant inundation of message pollution to consumers. This approach does not engage the consumer, it is quite passive. In fact, traditional advertising has gotten such a poor reputation, that Sao Paolo has banned outdoor advertising. Has advertising gotten to that point where certain practices need to be banned?
Transformation design examines how to improve the consumer experience. From the design of the products/services to the promotion of them, this process ensures a user-centered design. What can be done to further improve the life of the consumer? Here is a take on Green advertising using transformation design. John Grant integrates social responsibility with transformation design to influence and change the consumer’s behavior for sustained change.
An example of both social responsibility and transformation design would be if a business that caters to the outdoors lifestyle could explore having an interactive experience that involves consumer creativity, participation and sharing to better the environment by discouraging littering and encouraging treading lightly on backcountry trails.
Another example of transformation design would be the Dove Beauty Campaign. As young girls and women are being inundated by unrealistic ideals for beauty, self-esteem and beauty issues were becoming increasingly apparent. What can be done to alleviate this? Are only thin young women beautiful? How about women of different sizes and ages? Viral videos, online forums, and thought-provoking ads depicting non-traditional models were shown. When the online forums were formed, an online community emerged as various women and girls supported each other and it engaged participation and sharing. This was designed for discussion and support
Nike has been one of the global leaders for advertising. There will be a 10 km run that will happen globally and is hosted by Nike. By reaching out to people to notify them of the impact that can be made by participating by everyone in the world, it makes this event relevant. By coming up with an idea of getting the community of runners globally together and executing this, Nike has leadership in getting together a global community for a common cause and to donate to charity. Also, this event and more importantly the website positively engages the consumer by facilitating interaction and sharing. The consumer can record their running times, which motivates them to ameliorate their past and current records. This would result in having the consumer visit the site repeatedly. Another example would be Nike releasing a viral video campaign to always engage in good sportsmanship. Here is a site.
What examples of transformation design can you come up with? Please share.
Ideas make the world go round 