Solidifying Our Design Direction
a.k.a An Alarmy Designer's Branding Journey
Last summer, I joined the Alarmy team.
At the time, Alarmy was just launching a subscription model for monetization by delivering greater value to our hardcore user base (= heavy sleepers). I thought it was a time when we needed to think harder than ever about what image of Alarmy we wanted to instill in our users and how to deliver our value.
Also, since there were no established standards for how designers should work together, I felt we desperately needed a concrete design direction.
For a designer, it's crucial to know the direction the service you are building is heading and to weave that into the entire product. Because the scope and detail of the work change depending on what principles are established and applied in that process, clearly understanding the service's direction is more important than anything else.
Solidifying a design direction that aligns with the service direction ultimately helps internal contributors sync their thoughts and produce cohesive work, while providing users with a service that has a consistent image, helping the service become recognizable to them.
Clearly Syncing the Service
Before solidifying the design direction, the very first thing we must clearly recognize is the purpose for which the service exists and what things we consider important.
Alarmy's Mission, Vision, and Core Values
Alarmy's vision, or what our service ultimately wants to achieve, is to ensure everyone has a successful morning. Accordingly, Alarmy's mission is ultimately defined as waking people up for sure.
We operate the product to definitely wake people up based on the core values below.
Tenacious Stubborn : The persistence and tenacity to wake up the user's morning.
Fresh New : Enabling users to kick-start their mornings right away with novel, new features.
Energetic Vibrant : Delivering an energetic vibe that opens a successful morning.
Flawless Perfected : A flawless, worry-free alarm that rings unconditionally.
What Image Should Alarmy Imprint on Users?
While the mission, vision, and core values alone can align the service direction among contributors to some extent, we need more specific guides at the practical level.
I still felt there was a lack of consensus among designers on "how" to convey this. For example, when conveying the core value of being "vibrant," we might differ from each other in the more specific depiction of the image.
So, to bridge this gap and allow contributors to envision and build the service with a single image in mind, we decided to craft the service's personality.
The design group was able to solidify the design direction while defining what kind of personality image we wanted to imprint on users for Alarmy. We redefined the strengths of Alarmy that designers must clearly recognize, and crafted a personality for Alarmy that could effectively convey those strengths, allowing it to take root as Alarmy's image.
[ Reference framework: Branding for Builders ]
1. Defining Our Service's Core Features That Differentiate It From Others
What is Alarmy?
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Generally, the alarms we know just ring and are dismissed with a single easy tap, but with Alarmy, the user must complete a certain action to dismiss the alarm. Because of this, users can wake up more reliably and start a successful morning.
A typical alarm: Set the alarm → It ends by ringing. (Its role as a "Tool")
Alarmy: Rings powerfully and wakes you up by sharpening your mind or making you move your body.
(Must complete a certain action to dismiss the alarm)
2. Defining the Differentiated Benefits Users Can't Get From Other Services
What benefits does Alarmy give users?
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Unlike other apps, Alarmy wakes you up for sure across 3 stages.
Stage 1. When the alarm rings, we provide a more powerful sound than standard alarm apps with features like loud sounds / time pressure / backup sounds.
Stage 2. Alarm dismissal requires waking up the mind or moving the body to turn the alarm off.
Stage 3. After the alarm, we stubbornly check on the user through a feature that verifies until the end whether they truly woke up, and we join the start of the user's morning by providing handy information to know in the morning.
A powerful alarm (Stage 1)
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An alarm that cares for you with novel dismissal methods and post-dismissal follow-ups
(Stages 2 and 3 can be considered the true core of Alarmy.)
3. Creating an Image That Effectively Conveys the Service Definition and Differentiated Benefits
What is Alarmy's personality like?
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The points we considered most important when crafting Alarmy's personality were as follows. Based on the points below, we were able to extract key personality images as keywords.
Point 1. Effective delivery of core values
Alarmy proposes to wake users up for sure for a successful morning. Imbuing a sense of trust so that users can entrust the start of their successful mornings to Alarmy is more important than anything else.
Point 2. The user's usage environment
Users use Alarmy right before falling asleep and right after waking up, states where their cognitive abilities are lower than usual. It is important to communicate clearly while stubbornly waking them up, and we took into consideration this unconventional usage environment.
Point 3. The difficulty of stacking small wins
Waking up at a set time is a small action during the day, but the day changes depending on this small action. Empathizing with and cheering on the fact that they succeeded in the day's first plan is important.
Solidifying Personality Around Keywords
A persona that clearly delivers the message in all information transfer and communication.
An advisor who guides the user, sometimes strict without losing firmness, and sometimes cheering them on with warm words.
Basically having a vibrant personality like a friend getting ready for a refreshing morning together, but avoiding a frivolous tone so as not to lose trust.
Having an expert yet not too heavy personality, like a guide teaching you how to definitely wake up the next day.
Expressing care and affection for the user's successful morning to the point of seeming stubborn.
Let's Weave the Direction Into the Product
We were able to flesh out the details we've solidified so far into something easy to apply within the product, centering especially on the personality keywords and product features.
Point 1. The need to provide something clearer and easier than standard UX/UI, according to the usage environment of right before falling asleep and right after waking up.
Point 2. The fact that there are many features users have to configure, based on the app identity as an alarm.
Documenting the Design Direction for Everyone to See
We organized the solidified product-related information detailed above even further, ultimately creating design work principles and style guides that serve as the standard for the product.
We documented this so that not only designers but all contributors within the team can reference it.
This isn't a one-off task; we plan to continuously reinforce it with good examples and develop it into something even more robust over time.
So far, you've walked through Alarmy's journey of solidifying its design.
Can you picture a firm yet affectionate Alarmy?
The opportunity to build Alarmy together is always open.