ExactTarget 3sixty : User Experience Design

ExactTarget provides an on-demand, one-to-one digital communication platform that is designed to ensure the delivery of critical communications through a variety of digital channels. Their clients can be found all over the world, and range from non-profits to Fortune 500 companies across many industries.

With its increasingly sophisticated suite of products and services, and a user base that was rapidly expanding, ExactTarget needed fresh and effective ways to engage customers in conversations ranging from product support and education, to best practices and emerging industry trends. ExactTarget asked KA+A to help identify and develop the tools and processes that would facilitate these conversations, and effectively create a platform for community for both customers and the organization.

KA+A began the process by conducting interviews with ExactTarget customers, and by taking internal stakeholder teams through multiple workshops designed to identify and prioritize the challenges and opportunities that were being faced. In parallel, the team performed a competitive audit by exploring complementary models in other industries. This process revealed an opportunity for ExactTarget to leverage social networking tools in ways that would create open conversation and collaboration not only between employees and customers, but also between the customers themselves. In addition to the communal aspects, the solution would provide: extensive product documentation, web-based instruction and training, whitepaper and case study downloads, and a place to share product ideas.

With these insights in hand, KA+A moved forward with the development of the online community that would come to be known as ExactTarget 3sixty. After completing the naming and identity design, KA+A, along with ExactTarget's internal development team, moved quickly into the interface and experience design portion of the project. The output of this phase included: requirements documentation, information architecture, process flows, wireframes, and a comprehensive set of hi-fidelity prototypes.

3sixty was launched at Connections, the ExactTarget user conference, in September of 2008. By the summer of 2009, the online community boasted almost 14,000 members, and it continues to grow rapidly. In addition to catalyzing meaningful conversations, new product innovations, and exciting new connections, the online community has helped ExactTarget's customers derive ever-increasing value from their investment in ExactTarget.