As an Account Manager, we are often the ones providing the most feedback to our teams since we are the gatekeepers for everything that comes out of the agency, into our clients’ hands, and out into the world. Navigating feedback is not always easy, it takes practice and patience.

It’s important to know that the way you communicate is everything when it comes to feedback. Even though something may sound understandable and reasonable in your head, it may not always come across that way to the other party.

Here at Zion & Zion, we are a flat organization… Read More

Relying solely on wireframes and design elements to create a great user experience (UX) simply won’t cut it—but why not? Because an easy to use and visually appealing website falls short if the content isn’t there to back it up.

To create the best experience possible, you need to give users what they want: information.

Users arrived on your site because they’re in need of information; whether it’s to find customer reviews, product pricing, contact information, or store details—it’s all information, and it’s all content. The aesthetics may have caught their attention initially, but if the information your users… Read More

This past November, I attended the Adobe Max conference in Los Angeles, California. Every year Adobe hosts the Adobe Max conference where creatives can meet up to enhance their skills, learn from design superstars and explore the new multimedia and creativity products that Adobe has to offer.

Adobe Max was a three-day conference jam-packed with information and events. I also was able to attend a pre-conference all-day workshop that focused on shooting and editing social media videos completely on a mobile device. During the three days, I attended… Read More

This year, two of Zion & Zion’s web developers, Omar Hernandez and Wes Couch, were sent to the Smashing Conference that took place in New York City. We attended their two-day conference along with the optional day-long workshop. Here are some of the things we learned during the conference.

Developer vs Designer: The Hot Potato Process

In this presentation, we got an interesting idea of how a team can work together while developing a website in a quick way, even before wireframes are developed. The process is simple: the developer and the designer have a quick talk about what the… Read More

If demographics are the “who” of content marketing, then intent is the “why.” While it’s important to know who your users are, it’s also important to know why they came to your website in the first place. Are they looking to buy, or are they just virtual window shopping? Are they researching out of personal interest, or out of professional obligation? Intent-based content marketing is a powerful framework for identifying (and acting on) the triggers that bring users to your website.

Neil Patel defines user intent as “the… Read More

A plethora of studies have been conducted done on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), which focuses on the interfaces between users and computers. By studying this topic, we identify several best practices to apply when designing a website. Being able to identify limitations of your users before you begin working on your layout is essential to the success of your site, creating a friendlier interface for your target audience. Read More

Two Brands That Got It Right

You hear the word “strategy” thrown around a lot these days. As if it is a new concept in marketing. The fact is, strategic thinking has always been the primary reason whether a piece of marketing fails or succeeds. Think about all the different strategies that go into a successful campaign; target strategy, media strategy, creative strategy to name a few. It seems like every agency is claiming they do it so well. But we know that’s not true. We see so much work that is all strategy but doesn’t have the creativity to… Read More

User research tools aren’t just cool and impressive ways to show off your knowledge to clients (although they can be). User research tools are critical. They’re imperative to the success of your future website or mobile application. Start with these seven basic user research tools and you’ll be on your way to developing a well-rounded user experience, curated directly from your users themselves. Read More