This simple data visualisation for various popular coffees shows what parts make a proper coffee.

• An illustrated coffee guide

It just goes to show why Starbucks coffee is so darn awful and why Caffè Nero make a great cup.

Interaction designers: the new rock stars of brands?
The emerging rock stars of brands may well be interaction designers. As brands move to digital platforms to help create customers, interaction designers will play a key role in determining which brands thrive, and which fall by the wayside

• Brands Create Customers » Interaction design: the new key to brands

It’s a nice thought, being a rockstar. Brian Phipps talks about placing interaction designer at the centre of crafting the experiences customers will have will organisations as the migration online continues.

On a number of recent projects I’ve worked on the brand values have emerged from the proposed interactions with the customer and have often been at odds with values agreed at an earlier stage. Increasingly the drive for simplicity has been at the forefront of the interaction and this has been reflected in the marketing activity around that – terms such as “Easy to set up, easy to run” “Taking the effort out of XXXX” rather than more marketing based straplines like “Working hard for you”.

These values give the customer the feeling of control, “We’ve made things easy for you to do what you want” is the underlying message rather than the traditional “Trust in us to do that for you”. The feeling of control can be over emphasised (especially amongst us cynical Brits) where the internet offers organisations from all over the world a global reach as a customer I want to feel in control mostly as I don’t know who you are. How can I trust you if I don’t know you? Pleasurable interactions make happy customers, happy customers begin to trust in the brand, increased trust i helps build the brand which of course leads to more business.

Expect more on this from me – mostly as I’m knee deep in it everyday.