Just Instincts Corporate Profile
Project Overview
“If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me.” (Bible)
The Importance of Domain Knowledge
I was contracted to design a Corporate Profile for “Just Instincts” an events consultancy. All they had was the text in the image shown on the right:
This item in my portfolio points to the importance of domain knowledge in the UX, Design and even Data Sciences fields. That’s why I included the quote above. When you work for a client or an employer, you need to understand their industry, what makes it tick, what is in their DNA, what is their language? I recall a consulting project where I was a Product Manager, and the Product Owner said the Developer was a “Medicine Man” (Sangoma or Babalawo in my native tongue). Obviously, this was in reference to the mysterious air he exuded around the Client, and definitely how the client understood “not a word” of what he said. So he basically had an interpreter (Project Manager) to explain what in the world the Developer was trying to pass across.
This is not a good thing though. Two things I feel are key to success, by experience: speaking the client’s (the one who hired you) language and secondly speaking the users’ (for products or services) language. Of course, that’s empathy, but it comes with a lot of research and acculturation.
I started this project by studying the events management industry, researching their competition, and trying to get into the flow of their business. Then I designed the brochure with pages in the pictures below:
I did this in 2008, so pardon me for the blazing colours and typography. I did the brochure in a printable format (handled pre-press and production), did an interactive slideshow, and also a PDF and Powerpoint version.
I presently speak a spattering of Zulu, Venda, Tswana, Shona, Afrikaans, and Sotho, because I have lived in South Africa for about 4 years. Nelson Mandela said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” I am not sure if I acculturate well, and it makes me realize the importance of speaking the client’s/hosts language, or if my experience at work makes me acculturate well.
Conclusions
After dropping off the sample for the project, I was on my way home when the Client called back after getting the design from her assistant. She told me: “You have just told me what my company should be.” She offered me a job, asking me to name my price, and I worked in the company for almost a year as the “Administrative and Media Manager.”