Building Joy into Brand Experiences

Tina Sharkey, angel investor and CEO of SherpaFoundry: Have you ever noticed that little lift you get when a product you use reaches out and makes you smile? I’m not talking about big guffaws or major life moments. I’m talking about little, quotidian things. Like when I stop at my favorite coffee shop and the barista knows me. He says, “Here you go, Tina, no foam. Tesora blend — and I included extra sugar, just the way you like it. Have a beautiful day.”

Or Lululemon. The athletic apparel brand leaves secret messages in the cuffs of its long-sleeved tops. When you pull the sleeves over your hands on a chilly morning, the message is revealed: Cold hands, warm heart.

These tiny joyful moments consumers have when they interact with a brand are extremely powerful. After all, the things that make us happy are the things we want to share. In today’s cluttered environment, marketing is not what a brand says about itself but what a friend tells a friend.

Even brands that are not about smiles and cute messages can unlock joy. For example, when you use the ridesharing service Uber to call for a car to the airport you can feel your anxiety slipping away as you receive the message, “Your Uber is on its way.”

Brands unlock joy by tapping into a precise moment of emotional need – cold on a morning walk, dreading a workday, stressed about transport – and transform the customer’s mood. The experiences I’ve described here were all designed to make the consumer feel a positive emotion exactly at the moment of engagement. And with a little forethought and insight, these loyalty-building moments can be incorporated into your brand or product experience by design. I call this “receptional design.”
Receptional design takes human-centered design one step further. It is real-time design focused on the very precise moment of reception.

 Receptional design maps the customer’s journey through receiving and interacting with a product or idea. It considers not just what we produce, but how it is received. Not just what we say, but how it is heard. Not just how we reach out, but how our touch is felt. Receptional design is about understanding where consumers are emotionally at the moment of engagement with your product.

Here are four “Joy Factors” to consider as you start thinking about receptional design:

The confidence factor. Take advantage of the social graph or the “wisdom of crowds” to make consumers feel confident and secure in their decision making. Sites like Amazon and Travelocity allow users to sort options based on other users’ reviews. This allows them to rely on those who came before, which gives them confidence and removes the feeling of risk. Providing reviews at the moment of purchase transforms the shopping experience from a state of uncertainty and doubt into state of confidence and mastery.

The surprise and delight factor. Brands can provide feelings of surprise and delight by reimagining basic functions using receptional design. Zappos will upgrade an order to one-day shipping, sending a congratulatory email to the buyer. For the customer, it feels great. For Zappos, it’s just part of optimizing their logistics and operations. The order happened to be placed in time to make the plane.

The transparency factor. Think like a chess player, always three moves ahead. What is your customer’s immediate need, what is her next need and what is her next need after that? A little transparency can go a long way, because it reassures us and addresses our fears. When you send a text message using iMessage, the experience is not just about sending the message – it’s about receiving confirmation that it’s been read. When you order an Uber, it’s not just about knowing your car is on its way — it’s about knowing who your driver will be, what his reputation is, how far away he is and precisely when he will arrive. Now you can relax!

The story factor. It’s no secret that great storytelling engages the emotions. But today, you don’t need a Madison Avenue agency or a billion-dollar budget to tell stories that connect with your consumers. Beepi, a new concept for used cars in the Bay Area (and a startup I invested in), is a good example. When you buy a Beepi, the car is delivered to your driveway wrapped in a giant bow. A friendly Beepi representative will explain the car’s control panels and special features. And before he leaves, he’ll snap a picture of you with your new Beepi, creating a lasting memory for you to keep for yourself or share with your friends on Instagram or Facebook.

When a consumer has an emotional connection with your brand, she makes the narrative of your brand her own. That’s when the magic happens and your story gets shared.

It’s not about the tweet, it’s about the retweet. It’s not about the pin, but the re-pin. It’s not about what a brand says about itself, but what a friend tells another friend.


Ms. Sharkey is the CEO of SherpaFoundry and a special partner at SherpaVentures, an early-stage venture-capital fund.