One of the most inspiring sites/companies for me since 3 years has been the Sofa, who got acquired by Facebook in 2011. I wanted to re-read witty profiles of their team, so I visited the site again yesterday. The site essence has remained unaltered, but there’s super-wit in action – proving their understanding of superior user experience and its importance.
The site after acquisition talks in past tense, and still connects with you nevertheless by its smart messaging. Have a look…
The previous site (now only available in archives) displayed an array of sofas, called themselves “We Are Sofa” in the title and home page, and said “Sofa is a software and interaction design company. We make friendly, useful products.”
The current site, post-acquisition changes the display in a unique way…the sofas get replaced by a single silhouette of a sofa (with start and exit years)…the title becomes “We Were Sofa”…and the message: “A software and interaction design company that built great products.”
I’m not sure how this would appeal consciously to most people; I’m very certain that subconscious appreciation and strong brand-recall hence, will remain as a proof to smart contextual messaging leading to enhanced user experience. It is allowed to be playful too (check out the cat’s profile at the bottom of the page). Wit or humor or otherwise, strong brands usually pay great attention to the context of their messaging. Lesson to grab is for us to stay consistent in attending to our communication as much as we attend to our service offerings.
Vishal Mehta is a usability professional who loves to play chess and has a strong eye for details. He’s also the CEO of IDYeah Creations, a UX practice in Pune, India. Vishal is also a guest blogger on UXBooth, Technorati, BlogCritics, and SAP Community Network.
Related posts:
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
