Tag: User experience

India – Digital agency ADK India has redesigned the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) website, introducing a new platform aimed at improving audience engagement and supporting the festival’s evolving digital needs.

ADK India’s redesign of the Jaipur Literature Festival website enhances user experience with improved accessibility and a visually rich interface. Inspired by the peacock’s cultural significance, the platform reflects the festival’s vibrancy and heritage.

The redesigned website features a bold colour palette of deep pinks, purples, and golds, along with a dynamic layout and fluid animations. It incorporates a mobile-first approach, interactive elements, and streamlined access to event schedules, speaker profiles, and ticketing.

Preeta Singh, president of Teamwork Arts, said, “The redesigned JLF website truly embodies the essence of our festival, showcasing our heritage and energy in a visually stunning way. ADK India’s creative approach and attention to detail have exceeded our expectations.”

ADK India’s design highlights JLF’s cultural heritage and storytelling tradition, enhancing its digital presence as a leading literary festival that brings communities together.

Vivek Shetty, AVP for business at ADK India, commented, “Our team has crafted a platform that celebrates the beauty and diversity of JLF, offering a seamless and captivating digital experience for all attendees. We are thrilled to unveil the new JLF website, designed to enhance user experience and reflect the festival’s grandeur.”

Singapore – Bonzai, the creative automation platform, has launched its latest service, Fillboard, a premium digital ad format designed to improve viewability and user experience (UX) for advertising served on desktop, tablet, and mobile platforms.

With the introduction of Fillboard, a customised ad format by Bonzai, marketers can draw in and retain users without interfering with their enjoyment of the website’s content. Advertisers looking to create distinctive and impactful campaigns are empowered by this technology. 

The possibility that the target audience will see the advertisement, its longevity during an advertising impression, and whether or not it will appear on a user’s screen when a page or app loads are all indicated by the Ad Viewability Score. The desire for the ad inventory rises when an ad’s viewability score rises and campaign performance reports get better. Using ad styles that will grab viewers’ attention is one of the industry norms for optimising viewability, which is important for publishers and advertisers alike.

Speaking about the launch, Rahul Pandey, founder and CEO at Bonzai, said, “With a keen understanding of how the slightest boost in user attention can bring significant gains in ad awareness, Bonzai Fillboard was designed with care. We are offering a solution that helps avoid outdated intrusive methods, prioritising contextual advertising that aligns with user intent. Moving away from formats that interrupt, cover site content or don’t work across devices, advertisers can now utilise Fillboard, a fresh way to connect with all their audiences and stand out in the crowded digital landscape.”

Meanwhile, Ash Tanwar, head of ad Operations at The Guardian, commented, “Our long-standing partnership with Bonzai has played a pivotal role in shaping our vision for a product geared towards enhancing ad effectiveness. Close collaboration with the team has culminated in an ad format that ensures heightened viewability for our readers, thanks to its ingenious cross-screen experience. With initial testing already proving to have promising results, this new product in market will undoubtedly excite our advertisers.” 

Singapore – zujuGP, a digital football platform managed by businessman Kiat Lim and fronted by global football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, has officially launched ‘Kickoff by Zuju’, a first-of-its kind, real-time second-screen fan experience that enables fans to play along during a live football match. 

‘Kickoff by Zuju’ operates within a freemium model and is free-to-play. The users will have the option of purchasing premium features such as virtual goods, gameplay-related benefits, and power-ups, as well as subscriptions to unlock special social interaction and community privileges. 

According to zujuGP, ‘Kickoff by Zuju’ is the first to crack the code for an immersive second-screen football fan experience by providing fans an opportunity to play along with their favourite teams and players in real-time during a live match. 

During a live match, fans using ‘Kickoff by Zuju’ can play along in real-time with their favourite players and teams, on their mobile devices. They can anticipate  micro-events like goals, shot attempts, touches in the penalty box, crosses, and free kicks, all as the match is happening live, which is an upgrade from the traditional fantasy games where “gameplay” occurs prior to the match.

“We are using technology intuitively to elevate the match experience in real-time and create a new football sub-culture. Kickoff by Zuju was inspired by fans all over the world who have long demanded a more engaging and immersive second-screen experience, and we are proud to be able to lead the way,” said Kiat Lim, co-founder of zujuGP.

The football maestro Cristiano Ronaldo will also be featured prominently in a global campaign comprising a series of videos, posts, and activations that will be released on his social channels. 

As part of the campaign, Cristiano Ronaldo will also be releasing a limited-edition collectible card collection exclusively on Kickoff by Zuju. Users will be able to unlock and win copies of these cards, which will be physically delivered to them. In addition, the football star will also be attending real-life engagements such as meet-and-greets exclusive to the platform.

“We are especially excited that Cristiano has been an important part of the development of Kickoff by Zuju, giving us the opportunity to bring fans even closer to players,” continued Kiat Lim.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo shared, “Kickoff by Zuju provides fans with an extraordinary opportunity to connect further with the game, their favourite teams, and players. As someone who is deeply passionate about football and giving back to the supporters who have been with me throughout my career, I take immense pride in being part of this platform that elevates the way fans can enjoy the game.”

Singapore – Global communication platform Slack reveals that it will roll out a completely redesigned interface and new user experience aimed at helping users stay organized, focused, and productive. 

The redesign is expected to roll out in the coming months and will feature a more intuitive layout and better organization to finish work faster. To go into specifics, the new design helps users navigate through channels and conversations easily, focus on what’s important and knock out distractions, and find essential tools faster and easier for a more simplified experience. 

The redesigned Slack features easier navigation of channels and messages across multiple workspaces. The sidebar will become a default ‘Home’ view, with those in the Enterprise grid having the ability to view channels from every workspace, all in Home.

Another prominent feature introduced with the new design is the dedicated pages for a more focused view. With this, notifications will be housed deeper within this view, so users will have more control over when they want to work and when they’re ready to collaborate with the team.

Slack’s new design also emphasizes the importance of having useful tools one click away. With the revamped design, a new ‘create’ button will allow users to start new messages, channels, canvases, and huddles. And a new “more” button is introduced for simpler access to workflows and apps without friction.

Noah Weiss, chief product officer of Slack, said that, “We know millions of people start and end their workday in Slack, so we took great care to ensure these improvements make it a more productive and pleasant home. The new experience helps teams stay better organized, focus on what’s important, and quickly access a growing set of tools in Slack.”

Other than the highlighted features, Slack will also introduce hover functionality to monitor activity quickly, device-specific updates, and new themes.

Singapore – Food delivery company Deliveroo and super app platform Gojek have announced that they have entered into a long term partnership, aimed at enhancing the user experience of their customer base in Singapore.

As part of the broad partnership, the two companies will introduce extensive new benefits and drive impactful cross-platform savings for both Deliveroo and Gojek users. 

Both companies will also work together on joint initiatives that build customer loyalty and create increased earnings opportunities for driver-partners and delivery-riders across both platforms. In addition, Deliveroo and Gojek will look to explore other possible areas for deeper alignment and collaboration, including community engagement and sustainability.

Moreover, co-branded Deliveroo and Gojek voucher packs can also be purchased via the Gojek app offering significant discounts to users. Available in ‘Lite’ and ‘Standard’ bundles, users can avail of combined savings on their food delivery and ride-hailing needs. Combined voucher bundles will also be available for purchase on ShopBack, providing even greater value for customers. 

Lien Choong Luen, general manager at Gojek Singapore, said, “As two of the leading providers in on-demand services, joining forces with Deliveroo makes a lot of sense for us. By collaborating across ride-hailing and food delivery services, not only are we able to bring additional value and exciting new benefits to customers, but this partnership will also help to provide increased earnings opportunities for our driver-partners.” 

He added, “Ensuring that they can build a sustainable livelihood on our platform will always be a priority for us, and collaborating with like-minded partners, such as Deliveroo, has an important role to play in helping us to achieve that goal. This long-term partnership is just the start and we look forward to working closely with Deliveroo to drive greater convenience and meet the changing needs of all our users across Singapore.” 

Meanwhile, Jason Parke, general manager at Deliveroo Singapore, commented, “Through this partnership with Gojek, Deliveroo reaffirms its commitment to enhancing offerings to consumers. Beyond that, we will also be able to create greater visibility for Deliveroo merchants to a wider pool of consumers. We have identified these synergies with Gojek as we work towards our mutual goal of providing convenience, value and the best service to our partners who keep us fed and get us where we need to go.”

He added, “With National Day around the corner, we further celebrate the nation’s milestone by bringing greater value to consumers through convenience and savings, along with wider contributions towards the daily lives of Singaporeans and the economy.” 

Australia – Around 65% of consumers think ease of navigation is the most important factor in website user experience, but only 28% of businesses cite improving website design as a priority. This is according to the latest research conducted by content management system (CMS) company Storyblok.

According to the research, amidst a difference in percentage, consumers and businesses still both agree that fast loading speeds are critical. 42% of consumers said they decide whether to stay on or leave a website within 10 seconds – with 20% within half that time, or 5 seconds. In terms of loading time, 47% of businesses stated it a top priority within improving the website. 

On the business side, 43% said they would add more features to their site, whilst 52% said they would add more payment options, but this was less of an issue for consumers with only 37% citing limited payment options as a reason to abandon a purchase.

Dominik Angerer, CEO and Co-Founder of Storyblok, said, “There’s a lot of enthusiasm from businesses for more website features, but this is not shared by consumers – at least not yet. It’s important for businesses to continually ask themselves if the features they add to their websites really do enhance the customer experience. More is not always better, and what our research clearly shows is that businesses cannot lose sight of the fundamentals of good design, clear navigation, and fast loading speeds.” 

Previous research by Storyblok underlines the importance of businesses understanding the priorities of their customers. Said study revealed that 60% of consumers regularly abandon purchases due to poor website user experience, with businesses estimating it costs, on average, USD$72,000 in lost sales per year.

Looking ahead, 28% of business leaders said they believe AR/VR experiences are the most important trend in marketing, followed by AI-generated content (22%), personalisation (20%), and automation (11%). Consumers are slightly more sceptical about the impact of AR/VR with 42% stating it would encourage them to make a purchase and 21% saying they simply don’t know. 

Singapore – Fashion e-retailer ZALORA has tapped digital experience platform company Optimizely to improve the user experience of their platform for their consumers in Southeast Asia. The agreement between ZALORA and Optimizely, signed in December 2021, will cover most ASEAN countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Hong Kong and Taiwan. 

Through the partnership, ZALORA will be using Optimizely’s Experimentation Platform which facilitates targeted and personalised Web A/B testing that delivers results to enable businesses to make informed product decisions.

According to Liam Hutchinson, group director of product at ZALORA, they want to scale and democratise experimentation, enabling their entire team to explore and trial new ideas. He also added that with their mission to become a fashion and lifestyle super app for Southeast Asia, they need to deliver a more customer-centric experience, to which Optimizely’s platform will be a key enabler of.

“With Optimizely’s technology, we will be more impact-focused and empowered to make better product decisions on behalf of our customers thanks to experimentation and clearer impact measurement. Optimizely’s experimentation platform enables our teams to sharpen their decision-making skills, generate more quantitative insights at scale, and deliver a delightful customer experience,” Hutchinson said.

Meanwhile, Alex Atzberger, CEO at Optimizely, commented that with their dedicated teams throughout the region to offer a high level of expertise and support to all of their customers there, it is great to see notable brands such as ZALORA wanting to work with them.

“This is definitely a boost to our expansion efforts in the region and a recognition of Optimizely’s exceptional Experimentation Platform that can empower businesses in the region to make informed product decisions with accurate customer analysis. We will continue to establish our footprint in Southeast Asia and support businesses with our cutting-edge solution,” he said.

Hutchinson also added that with their partnership with Optimizely, they are further cementing their position as a regional fashion and lifestyle e-commerce leader to deliver more relevant, dynamic and personalised shopping experiences for their customers.

“We want to expand our ecosystem to provide other value-adding services with more content and engagement with new product portfolios and features. Personalisation and segmentation will continue to be our priorities with loyalty and customer retention as key focus areas. Optimizely will be a part of this exciting journey in measuring our success and helping us to drive an exceptional user journey in the region in the present and the near future,” Hutchinson concluded.

New York, USA – Fiverr, the global marketplace for freelancers has launched a new mobile experience for its mobile application focused on visual discovery and ideation. The new experience, called Inspire, is based on allowing customers to interact with the content on the platform by ‘liking’ it in their feed, and adding it to a mood board or list within the app for later reference.

Content within the Inspire feed is carefully curated based on customers’ recent searches and purchases on the platform, in order to create a highly personalized, one-of-a-kind experience where they are able to draw inspiration for current or future projects.

‘Inspire’ is designed to help customers discover the incredible talent that is available to them through Fiverr. In addition, it also serves as a means to discover the array of services and capabilities that can be beneficial to their business or project needs.

Speaking about the new mobile experience, Liron Markus, VP of product at Fiverr said, “Inspire is meant to be a place where this work can be celebrated, brought to life, and most of all, help visualize the endless possibilities and opportunities available on Fiverr. We are excited to see what kind of inspiration and ideas come from this new experience and to continue commemorating and recognizing the hard work of talented freelancers everywhere.”

‘Inspire’ is based on features of authentic output from freelancers, visual discovery on their feed, personalized feed, engagement and interaction, as well as app exploration.

To experience the new mobile experience, users would need to download the updated Fiverr app version on Google Play and iTunes.

Singapore – Singapore’s National Heritage Board (NHB) has unveiled a revitalized brand and digital experience for its platform Roots, and independent creative agency The Secret Little Agency or TSLA is the creative brains behind the fresh highly aesthetic visual identity.

NHB is Singapore’s dedicated organization for the preservation of its cultural heritage and in 2016, it launched Roots.gov.sg to provide added avenue and to digitize its heritage to make easier and closer the access for nationals on cultural assets.

The brand and user experience (UX) revamp was done in celebration of Roots’ 5th anniversary. TSLA pored over the site’s original web pages, conducting multiple focus groups across different user profiles to organize over 120,000 pieces of content into intuitive categories with the objective to improve delivery of content and facilitate a better user journey on the portal.

According to Norfaiz Noeryamin, manager for NHB’s Strategic Communications & Digital division, the revamped Roots.gov.sg is designed to be a one-stop digital concierge that brings together content from across its line of heritage programs – its ‘National Collection’, ‘Heritage Trails’ and ‘National Monuments’ and other intangible cultural heritage from its inventory. The portal will also be integrating resources from other platforms like the National Library Board’s Infopedia and the Esplanade’s Offstage websites to facilitate information gathering. 

“With these enhancements, it is now easier than ever for everyone to discover the depth and breadth of Singapore’s heritage,” said Noeryamin.

Roots’ old logo vs. new logo

Aside from the general UX and UI (user interface), TSLA also improved the platform’s ontology functions where the remit also extended to integrated marketing. 

“You’re going through every artifact, article, photograph, and piece of content thinking there is so much here, and yet, Singapore is still in its infancy compared to older civilizations. To be able to build our Roots right and redesign how all generations access this treasure trove of heritage was an incredible experience for us,” said a spokesperson from TSLA Design.

 

Singapore – The Singapore arm of digital experience agency Bray Leino Splash has announced four new hires for its country operations, including a new user experience (UX) director.

Jaffry Jalal takes the helm as Bray Leino Splash SG’s UX Director, who has previously worked with TBWA\Singapore and Havas as its UX design lead, and most recently a lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic. He has previously worked with brands such as Singapore Airlines, MasterCard, and Michelin to help them create digital products and immersive experiences.

“I’m excited BLS continues to invest in experience design capability and I’m thrilled to be at an agency who has the technical chops to bring good design to life,” Jalal stated.

Other hires include Kein Wai E, who joins as the agency’s technical project director and is from technology company Deltatre; Stephanie Holzhuber, who is the agency’s new senior account director and is from advertising agency Cheil Worldwide; and Jamie Phua as the new account director and is from ad agencies Y&R, TBWA, and Digitas.

Speaking about their appointments, Kien Wai stated, “Joining BLS Singapore is like a homecoming of sorts as the marrying of creativity with technology is definitely something close to my heart and that I’ve missed in recent years.”

Meanwhile, Holzhuber commented, “BLS is an agency who are able to deliver truly seamless customer experiences for their clients by bringing data, technology, and creativity together. I look forward to our exciting future ahead.”

Lastly, Phua stated, “In the last few years, It’s become apparent to me that the pillars of UX and technology are critical if agencies are to really help brands create relevant solutions for present-day consumers, so being able to leverage these capabilities at BLS is what excites me the most.”

These new hires are welcomed by BLS Singapore’s managing director Joshua Lee.

“Each of these hires has ‘runs on the board’ when it comes to connecting technology, creativity, and business results for their respective clients. I couldn’t be happier welcoming such wonderful talent to the team. Not only are they at the top of what they do, but they are passionate and hardworking to boot,” Lee stated.