The Evolution of QR Codes
Quick Response Codes (QR codes) are two-dimensional barcodes that can deliver large amounts of information while taking up a small amount of print space. QR codes can be made up of many different types of data and can be downloaded at a high-speed by a QR reader. Originally these codes were used in the automotive industry for manufacturing, but due to their ability to store and deliver a message in a fast and concise manner, QR codes quickly found purchase in a variety of industries.

Much like its predecessors, Microsoft Tags and Jagtags, QR codes are easily read by mobile devices, which use the camera as the reader. The contents of the tag typically direct the viewer to a URL where they can find more information on a product, service, topic, or issue. Since QR code software is open source, multiple companies can create QR codes, and theoretically each company’s reader should be able to read any QR code. This is an advantage that alternative solutions lack.

Best Buy was one of the first companies to take advantage of the QR code, using it to amplify the awareness and promotion of their products. They added QR codes to the fact tags, which instantly catered to shoppers’ desire to use their mobile phone in their purchasing decisions. Shoppers use the QR Reader on their smartphone to get detailed information about the product they are considering; they can read consumer reviews, compare benefits and features of similar products, and quickly share information with a friend.

Uses
Best Buy employs just one of the many ways retailers and businesses can use QR codes to market their company, product, or service.

• Depth: QR codes allow you to share a larger amount of information about your product or service. By placing them on advertisements, packaging, or business cards you are able to provide details that you’d otherwise have to limit.
• Discovery: Let QR codes help people discover something. Cities, parks, and museums are placing QR codes throughout their streets, paths, and exhibits allowing people to take self-guided tours.
• Simplicity: It doesn’t have to be complicated. Adapting to the paperless trend, event organizers are now using QR codes to serve as paperless tickets.
• Surprise: Think in new and innovative ways to share your QR code and end message. One of the most innovative ad campaigns I have ever seen using QR codes is the press freedom campaign, The Voice, which was developed by Reporters without Borders.

Marketing your QR Codes
When creating a QR code strategy, be sure to consider each customer touch point. Identify where your target market exists and the best way to communicate with them. Placement is key, so understand your audience’s mindset when they scan your code and how you can tailor your message to meet them where they already are.

Lastly, before you launch any marketing campaign that includes the use of QR codes, make sure to check out this list of issues that could make your campaign fail. 1 out of 4 QR code campaigns fail, and you want to make sure the experience your deliver doesn’t result in an error message.

In a piece titled “Sense & Drivability”, in the October issue or Fast Company, Jason Feifer broke down some of the subtle ways that Audi intentionally designs “delight” into every facet of their automobiles. Below, pulled from the article, is a list of some of their tricks.

Sight Team
COLOR TEMPERATURE

Headlamps are set at 5,500 Kelvin–the measurement of color temperature–because that mimics natural daylight, and therefore causes less eye fatigue.

Touch Team
BUTTON ACTIVATION

Audi and psychologists studied the depth that buttons must be pushed in order to feel “premium.” The answer: 4 to 6 millimeters. Any more or less seems cheap.

Smell Team
ODOR SCALE

Assembled cars are sniffed and ranked from 1 (odorless) to 6 (stinky), and pass with 1 to 3–but odorless isn’t optimal. People prefer that cars have a smell.

Hearing Team
DECIBEL ADJUSTMENT

People crank music to overcome road or engine noise, so Audi’s Bang & Olufsen system monitors for new noise, then auto-adjusts by up to 20 decibels to compensate.

A version of this article by Jason Feifer appears in the October 2011 issue of Fast Company.
Illustrations by Peter Sucheski

Audi understands that they are in the business of designing experiences… not just cars. They understand that it’s the details and the often overlooked minutia of the automobile design, that creates a transcendent product experience. It’s the little things that make a difference – but the little things are often the difficult things. These are the aspects of the design process that get de-prioritized, shuffled to the bottom of the deck, out out-right ignored. But these are also the elements of design that create the perception of value, comfort, performance, and delight. They’re the reason that branded experiences are more than just the sum of their parts.

The lessons that Audi teaches us in the design and manufacture of their automobiles are broadly applicable to almost every industry. But the software and technology industry might have the most to learn from them. Often times software companies are so fixated on functionality, pricing, and distribution of their products that the details, the ones that comprise great user experiences, get de-prioritized or ignored entirely. By paying attention to elements of a product that are typically taken for granted, such as error messages, in-line support, and often the entire user interface, software companies have a huge opportunity to differentiate their products, delight their customers, and grow their bottom line.

I manage a lot of bank accounts. I have personal accounts, business accounts, checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, etc., and that doesn’t even include things like HSA accounts, brokerage accounts, credit lines, etc. The accounts are spread across several banking institutions in a handful of states. The one thing they all have in common is that they are all a source of ongoing frustration. On a good day, they are impersonal, faceless, corporate behemoths. On a bad day they are uncaring and even downright belligerent.

Since the House of Rothschild established European banking and finance houses in the late eighteenth century, the banking industry has been historically resistant to change. To be fair, there have been some successful attempts to drag the banking industry into the 21st century, by banks such as ING, Commerce Bank, and First Internet Bank, but a new player is really attempting to shake things up.

There has been a lot of buzz lately about a new banking startup called BankSimple. BankSimple is based in Brooklyn, NY and they claim to be creating a better interface for banking through the web and mobile apps. Their plan is to partner with financial institutions, which will hold the actual deposits. BankSimple is focusing on creating a better customer experience and simplifying the banking process by unifying all accounts into a single bank card accessible summary account.

Rather than making money from different fees, BankSimple plans to split the net interest margin (the difference between the rate they lend at and the rate they pay to depositors) with its partner banks, thus eliminating the incentive to push more confusing products at consumers.

BankSimple is attracting a lot of attention from the investment community as well. Current investors include a veritable who’s who of early-stage investors, including: SV Angel (Ron Conway), First Round Capital, IA Ventures, Village Ventures, & Dave McClure’s 500 Startups.

After spending some time on the BankSimple website, I decided to sign up for their beta launch. Signing up for the beta was a delightfully easy experience. I just filled out a simple, well-designed form, and was notified via email that I was on the list.

But what really blew me a way was the follow-up email I received later in the day.

Wow! They talked a lot about service on the website, but the fact that a real person (with a real name) sent me a note asking to hear my story and my opinions, before they had ever made dime off of me, really made an impression. Now let’s be clear, it was a form email… but who cares? It conveyed empathy and sincere interest in my opinions. It was the first touchpoint, after signing up, and it beautifully reinforced the brand’s promise of service and relationships. It’s a brilliant strategy for BankSimple. It costs virtually nothing and keeps prospects engaged during the waiting period before the beta opens up.

It’s the little things, the touches that don’t cost much, that make brands human and lovable. This same principle can be applied to virtually any business, but it’s especially important for web-based businesses. Web-based businesses need to exert more effort to be human, because customers rarely interact with actual humans.

The BankSimple website promises “No Surprise Fees,” and I hope that’s true. But I also hope that they don’t stop surprising customers with thoughtful and human touches like the ones I experienced.

@KristianIndy

“When Everybody Zigs, Zag”.

As the book describes, the concept of zagging is often a bit harder than you may expect. Yet, over the weekend I found a great example of a company that has managed to zag with excellence. While in the checkout line at the grocery store I overheard the cashier and bag boy commenting on one of my purchases:

Cashier: “Check out this drunken bar code!”
Bag Boy: “Cool I’ve never seen anything like it!”
Cashier: “Yeah they have designed something you would have never thought could be designed.”

They were talking about how different the Skinny Cow bar code looked compared to the countless other bar codes they’ve scanned.

I have to admit, I have never given much thought to the design of a bar code until their conversation. I’ve always assumed they had to appear a certain way in order to be accurately read by scanners. We’ve all been there…frustrated at a self-checkout station with a bar code that won’t scan. I would have thought a designed version would cause the same problem, but after a bit of research I found otherwise.

Since 2005 Design Bar Code has been reinventing the traditional bar code design for many Japanese brands. Today they have partnered with PACARC, LLC to make Design Bar code available to many American brands.

Design Barcode’s technology allows them manipulate traditional bar codes into works of art, while still complying with bar code standards so all products are easily read by scanners. Through their innovative thinking, Design Bar Code has started a revolution in what to consider in a package design.

Skinny Cow had taken notice to the details and their barcode is just another way for them to express their cheeky brand. After all, design is in the details.

The Bar Code Revolution
Here are a few examples of quirky barcodes that have been created by Design Barcode.

1. Great Again: Revitalizing America’s Entrepreneurial Leadership
Great Again, by Henry Nothhaft and David Kline, walks readers through America’s history and future as an entrepreneurial leader while demanding change to the regulatory red tape many startups face today.

“Serial entrepreneur Nothhaft takes readers inside the heart of the communities most responsible for innovation and shows how a few practical reforms can get America’s economy moving again.”

2. Today We Are Rich
Today We Are Rich, by Tim Sanders, is the prequel to global best seller Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends. This is much more than just another book on becoming financially successful. Sanders leads readers through the up’s and down’s of his life, connecting with readers that have been knocked down and are willing to get back up again.

“In Today We Are Rich, Sanders updates Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale to tackle a new world, where social media and transparency present unique challenges to our sense of confidence, sanity, and faith.”

3. Leadership is Dead
Leadership is Dead, by Jermie Kubicek, is taking a fresh look on not only how to lead but to pay attention to who is following.

“It’s not that leadership itself is dead, it’s the way in which many choose to lead that is. It’s all about influence. The more you understand it, the better you’ll be able to utilize it and maximize it for success. That’s what this book is about. Teaching you how to expand your influence, be significant and make a greater impact.
But be warned… Leadership is Dead isn’t just about you. It’s also about them (those who you lead) and how you can equip, inspire and lead them in a way that can very well change the world.”

4. Unfair Advantage
Unfair Advantage, by Robert Kiyosaki, urges readers to action by empowering themselves to change and act in new ways to be successful.

“Readers are advised to stop blindly accepting that they are “disadvantaged” people with limited options and challenge the preconception that they will struggle financially all of their lives.”

5. Engage
Engage, written by Brian Solis and Ashton Kutcher, focuses on the ever evolving world of social media and how to keep up. With digital content being so important in communicating with your audience this book will give you the social media checklist you have been looking for.

“2010 is widely regarded as the year businesses shift from experimenting with social media to strategically designing and measuring campaigns that contribute to brand resonance, positive sentiment, advocacy, and most importantly, the bottom line. While many books, talk about social media as something that businesses need to embrace, most leave marketers wondering what they need to do and how this information applies to them”

After being in session for only a few short months, ADI reached out to KA+A for help to develop a brand for each academy that could identify with and garner support from their surrounding communities.

Identity

We began building a foundation for ADI, by developing a parent brand (logo, tagline, and identity system) for their organization. The brands for Andrew and Padua, would then nestle under this system, featuring related design elements (colors and shapes), that would allow the parts to be unified when together, but stand strong when apart.

Mascots

It was important to note the unique personality and community of each Andrew and Padua Academy. Inspired by these attributes, we designed mascots (the Andrew Knights and the Padua Eagles) for the schools that the faulty, staff, and students could really rally behind. Using strong iconic images, we were able to create simple and clean designs that resonated with the elementary students and adults alike.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to build a brand for this Indianapolis academic family. Watching these establishments embrace their identity and become a part of a whole has been a wonderful experience for everyone involved.

JabuAfrica is a non-profit organization that is focused on financially and emotionally supporting grassroots organizations in Africa, that are dedicated to working with orphanages. The Castors have personally participated in a variety of these organizations as they have grown their family of five through adoption from Ethiopia, South Africa, and Kinshasa.

Branding
We began our process by solidifying the organization’s name, JabuAfrica, a seemingly perfect fit, as Jabu is an African term meaning to celebrate. We developed a visual identity that resonated with brand’s personality, placing the emphasis on Jabu the layout allowed us to subtly reference Africa by incorporating an image of the content in the negative space.

Website
The website was developed as the core external expression for all of JabuAfrica’s outreach. The homepage invites visitors to take time exploring the JabuAfrica story.

About Us
The about page allows visitors an inside look into the Castor’s personal experience and motivation to establish the non-profit organization. The clean and simple design gives JabuAfrica the platform to inform and educate visitors about their mission, and delivers and experience encouraging them to dive deeper into the site and get involved.

Gallery
We designed a photo gallery to house all the photography JabuAfrica has to share. Each photo snapped by one of the founders passes along first hand experience to visitors.

Blog
The blog allows JabuAfrica to share their history in a conversational way, and keep supporters abreast of the needs that exists in Africa and the opportunities to participate. You can follow JabuAfrica through their blog or on Facebook.

It was such a joy to work with JabuAfrica and further assist them on their journey; we look forward to watching the organization flourish in the years to come.

The business plan, as a tool to lure potential investors, secure early customers, and guide the direction of your business, is a dying construct. Smart entrepreneurs realize that a prototype is worth a thousand business plans.

KA+A set the stage for the Prototype and Business Plan to duke it out during our recent panel at SXSW Interactive 2011, and rallied up key industry movers & shakers to take sides.

In this Corner : The Prototype
Prototypes are a tool to accelerate the success of your business, particularly its role in business modeling, fund raising, product development, and sales. Prototyping can allow you to more efficiently allocate resources (both talent, time and money), discover customers’ unmet needs, outsmart the competition, and move potential investors from interested to infatuated.

And in this Corner : The Business Plan
The business plan has long been a tool to convey value to potential investors, secure early customers, and guide the direction of your business. A business plan is a useful tool to get everyone on the same page, plan out what you’re going to do, where you’re going to go, and what success looks like.

The Fight

• Kendra Shimmell – Moderator @KShimmell
• Ade Olonoh: Entrepreneur & Developer @adeolonoh
• Jeffrey Kalmikoff – Designer @Jeffrey
• Kristian Andersen – Angel Investor & Designer @kristianindy

“Innovation rules and you have to move fast, but planning often gets overlooked; ideas are easy, but figuring out how to make money from those ideas is hard.” - @Jeffrey

“Figuring out how to monetize, once you have users, is more straightforward than getting millions of users to use your product.” - @adeolonoh

“The business plan was essentially a proposal, but now with the ability to easily build minimally viable products and prototypes, the prototype serves as that proposal.” - @kristianindy

“If you can’t write down your ideas, you’re going to have a hard time talking about your ideas and getting support.” - @Jeffrey

“It’s best for an entrepreneur to get traction before talking to investors.” - @adeolonoh

“I’m not against pushing things out to users, but against pushing things out when it gives the wrong impression to users.” - @Jeffrey

The Winner : Prototype
Although, it’s still very important to have your plan and vision documented, it’s imperative to have the prototype in the hands of your supporters, customers, and future investors as early as possible, so they can not only understand your product, but also experience it.

Listen to the full panel here, and let us know what you think!

Admittedly, I went to this SXSW panel on March 12th, SUPER-Talented: A Conversation with James Gunn, Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson, because of the star power. But I did walk away with a relevant lesson or two in my back pocket.

The script for the movie SUPER, released in April 2011, had been finished since 2007, but in the thick of the recession it was difficult to find funding. With some patience and diligence, writer and director James Gunn was able to partner up with and cast Rainn Wilson, and soon after secure marquee stars Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon. These actors were essentially working for pocket change, motivated by a love for the movie; it was important, then, to shoot the film quickly so as not to exasperate the project. Gunn was working with a small budget and a fast timeline – two constraints we often see while working with our startup clients.

Gunn’s key to successful film making was mapping out the storyboard and sticking to it. Every shot was planned, and every shot, but one was used. Shooting the movie in just 24 days, with over 50 setups a day (double the usual), he minimized waste, ensuring that the time and money invested were in things that mattered. At the same time, Gunn was able to balance this structure by leaving breathing room for the actors to do what they do best – act. It’s a common pitfall for a director to get so caught up in the film making and the special effects, that they sacrifice the story conveyed by the actors.

Too often when working with a client on a tight budget, we see them wanting to bypass the discovery phase as a measure to cut costs. Often feeling like we’re doubling over their research tracks, they are hesitant to engage in a phase that admittedly yields the least amount of eye candy, despite its important role in project success. Without the discovery, the project begins on weak legs, with the risk of a mis-directed focus and an unrealistic project plan. As a result, back-tracking and rework rear up, only to exacerbate the other constraint- time. We can’t stress enough the importance of taking time to discover and plan on the front end to ensure that we’re solving the right problem, and not just treating a symptom. Additionally, this frontloaded rigor allows us to maximize our creative resources, and provide breathing room to do what we do best – design and deliver solutions.

If you think Email is dead, let Doug Karr persuade you otherwise:

“There’s no better medium to carry a message like this than email. It’s exclusive, it’s private, and it’s classy. A blog is a great medium, but broadcasting to everyone puts the content in a different perspective, and wouldn’t be consumed or reacted to the same way.”

After launching in April, we were able to prove that there was an interest in our content. We gained several hundred subscribers and blew past industry average read rates. However, our design, although functional, wasn’t delivering the same exceptional experience that our content was. We turned to KA+A to remake our look and position our brand for success.

KA+A developed a brand mark that was sophisticated and city-chic, with a handwritten flair that creates a sense of intimacy and personality as well. A palette of colors were chosen to create a dynamic mark, which ultimately manifested in email templates of various hues that could be coordinated with the occasion and content being featured in IndySpectator.

Boldly shot panoramic photos of the city (taken by Joetography) set the stage for the website, which currently serves as a marketing & subscription platform. The site was designed to support the submission of tips from the readers, which have begun to fill the margins of the daily issues. The website is built on a flexible content management platform, optimized for mobile viewing.

We launched the new look and new venture on November 11, 2010 at the Ball & Biscuit to a packed house of subscribers, followers, and social media stars. New subscription rates more than tripled that month, and IndySpectator is taking its place in the Indianapolis media community.

Following the success of the reinvigorated IndySpectator, Jenni and I announced the launch of a new sister publication – Startup Spectator – a blog and newsletter that promotes the influx of startup activity in Indianapolis and the rest of Central Indiana, and features the culture and community that sustains it.

An idea that has been long forming in the minds of Indy’s hackers, founders, and investors, Startup Spectator was spurred on by Chris Baggott who was drawn to the IndySpectator format as a better approach to convey the culture, humanity, and brilliance of Indy startups that are boosting quality of life of our city. The platform for Startup Spectator includes a more intensive blog approach in addition to the signature email, and an aggressive social media effort to sate the tech appetites in our city. KA+A developed a brandmark that meshed nicely with the Spectator family of brands, and designed a complementary website and blog.

As the new year approaches, IndySpectator is looking forward to providing even more ways to discover Indy through new authors and approaches, rolling out Startup Spectator, and building an advertising platform across the two brands.