1. Welcome to
The Groop
p le
S
This Workbook Belongs to:
am

2. Table of Contents
‣ Welcome
‣ Our Process
‣ Brand Driven Design
‣Defining Your Brand
‣Defining Your Users
‣Next Steps
2 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

3. Welcome
Welcome to the Groop family. The goal of this document is
to share with you some of the key steps in our process that
will help us define and agree on the direction that we will
take together in the next few months.
Our goal is to make the process of working and learning with
us one that is simple, actionable, visual and interactive. That
is why this document is in the form of a workbook that you
can do on your own or during a Groop workshop that we will
do together soon.
Hi!
Throughout the workbook this little guy:
will appear with rules, tips and guidance.
We hope you find this workbook valuable at foreshadowing
what your experience with us will be like and how we will
help your company achieve success!
Jose Caballer
Chief Visionary, Chief Creative Officer
3 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

4. Our Process
Step Description Deliverables
A deep understanding of your business and your ‣ Review your site analytics
1. Immersion users will help us better deliver a successful web ‣ Identify usability issues
experience. During this part of our process we ‣ Interview stakeholders
‣ Audit the competition
listen intently and work to understand your needs.
‣ User Immersion
Most importantly how we can delight your
‣ Develop User Personas
customers.
If time and money where unlimited we would skip ‣ Develop success metrics
2. Plan this step and get to the fun. Being that they are ‣ Brand & Product Workshop
not, we take this step seriously to ensure that ‣ Develop creative brief
‣ Create content plan
your investment has the maximum impact
‣ Create product roadmap
possible. The plan is adjusted throughout the
‣ Identify risks and mitigation
process as we measure results and iterate.
Designing a successful website is both about art ‣ Create user scenarios
3. Design and science. We consider the design of your ‣ Information architecture
technology solution as important as the design of ‣ Develop functional specifications
‣ Annotated site wireframes
your buttons.
‣ Create visual “site scape”
Beauty meets utility. You can call it beautility if
‣ Design visuals & interactivity
you would like. Your goals, your users and your
‣ Visual style guide
brand drive the design of both experience and
technology.
Our technologists have been know to be artful. Or ‣ Release planning
4. Build at least known to speak in plain language about ‣ Server set up
technology no matter how experienced or new to ‣ Front-end development
‣ Back-end development
technology you might be. Though we help you
‣ 3rd party integration
with your CMS, can develop in PHP .NET and
,
AS3 we’ll talk in english to you and your internal
IT teams.
Three, two, one, launch is easier said than done. ‣ Analytics integration
5. Launch Before we are even close to “three” we ensure ‣ Release management
that analytics are in place, your site is tested and ‣ Quality Assurance
that the process of launching is painless to you
and your IT team.
After a brief (very brief) break to celebrate we get ‣ Review Analytics
6. Assess & back to work and check the numbers. Assessing ‣ Review success metrics
Iterate how effectively we met your goals and adjusting ‣ Future iteration planning
to do even better. We believe in ongoing
incremental improvements. Unfortunately the “big
bang” theory seldom works. Release, measure,
release. Do it again.
4 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

5. Our Process
Step Description Deliverables
A deep understanding of your business and your ‣ Review your site analytics
This workbook
1. Immersion users will help us better deliver a successful web ‣ Identify usability issues
will focus on
experience. During this part of our process we ‣ Interview stakeholders
‣ Audit the competition
this part of our
listen intently and work to understand your needs.
‣ User Immersion process.
Most importantly how we can delight your
‣ Develop User Personas
customers.
If time and money where unlimited we would skip ‣ Develop success metrics
2. Plan this step and get to the fun. Being that they are ‣ Brand & Product Workshop
not, we take this step seriously to ensure that ‣ Develop creative brief
‣ Create content plan
your investment has the maximum impact
‣ Create product roadmap
possible. The plan is adjusted throughout the
‣ Identify risks and mitigation
process as we measure results and iterate.
Designing a successful website is both about art ‣ Create user scenarios
3. Design and science. We consider the design of your ‣ Information architecture
technology solution as important as the design of ‣ Develop functional specifications
‣ Annotated site wireframes
your buttons.
‣ Create visual “site scape”
Beauty meets utility. You can call it beautility if
‣ Design visuals & interactivity
you would like. Your goals, your users and your
‣ Visual style guide
brand drive the design of both experience and
technology.
Our technologists have been know to be artful. Or ‣ Release planning
4. Build at least known to speak in plain language about ‣ Server set up
technology no matter how experienced or new to ‣ Front-end development
‣ Back-end development
technology you might be. Though we help you
‣ 3rd party integration
with your CMS, can develop in PHP .NET and
,
AS3 we’ll talk in english to you and your internal
IT teams.
Three, two, one, launch is easier said than done. ‣ Analytics integration
5. Launch Before we are even close to “three” we ensure ‣ Release management
that analytics are in place, your site is tested and ‣ Quality Assurance
that the process of launching is painless to you
and your IT team.
After a brief (very brief) break to celebrate we get ‣ Review Analytics
6. Assess & back to work and check the numbers. Assessing ‣ Review success metrics
Iterate how effectively we met your goals and adjusting ‣ Future iteration planning
to do even better. We believe in ongoing
incremental improvements. Unfortunately the “big
bang” theory seldom works. Release, measure,
release. Do it again.
5 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

6. Process Overview Here’s a visual
overview of our
process…
super fast!
Strategy Workshops User Interviews
User Profiles: CauseCast Competitive Audit
Design Immersion: Motorola Project Planning
6 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

7. Process Overview
Identity Design: ThisNext Content Planning
Information Architecture Visual Designs
Tech Development Analytics Tracking
7 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

8. Brand Driven Design
Three factors determine the direction your website should take. The first factor is
your brand: Who are you? What do people’s guts say about you? Everything from
what type of content to color to interaction style depends who you are to your users.
The second factor is your goals: What goals are you trying to achieve with your
initiative? Do you want to increase online sales? Do you want to make your customer
service better? Do you want to increase enrollment? Finally there is the third and
most important factor, which is your user. Who are they? What do they need?
Meeting their needs is the key imperative. If we meet their needs, we have
succeeded.
Your
Brand
Your Users’
Goals Needs
8 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

9. Defining
Your Brand
Your
Brand
Your Users’
Goals Needs

10. Branding vs. Identity
What is Branding?
A set of qualities, ideas, and attributes promised and delivered in every experience
and every interaction a person may have with a company
Branding is not objective; instead it is a set of feelings and philosophies.
It’s the gut feeling a customer gets when they think of you.
The qualities that make up any company’s brand will inform the way that company
presents itself and conducts business. From the highest levels of management to the
smallest components of everyday interactions, a brand should be legible, clear, and
well-articulated.
How is Identity different?
A Company’s Identity system is the visual expression of the brand through an
identity (symbol and logotype), typography, color palette and layout.
But how do I define a brand?
A Company’s Identity system is the visual expression of the brand through an
identity (symbol and logotype), typography, color palette and layout.
Nike’s Logo
vs
Customers
Feeling
10 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

11. Brand Attribute Definition
How do I define my brand?
Reality starts with language. What we say becomes what we manifest. Therefore
you can start by describing your brand in words. To help you come up with those
words we use a process called Brand Attribute Definition. Or B.A.D. as in make
my business “BAD Ass Awesome”. : )
Brand Attributes
How would you describe what you do, for whom you do it and how that
emotionally benefits and tangibly provides value to them?
The cost/time/money/satisfaction General qualities your
your customer gets brand should convey
General
Value
Attributes
The advantages that your
customers perceives that get Describe your customer
Your
Benefits Brand User
If your brand was a friend of Describe yourself and
yours how would you describe your culture
their personality?
Personality Culture
11 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

12. Define Your Brand Attributes Rules:
Try to say it in
one word.
In each of the categories below write 5 adjectives Do not edit
yourself.
that describe your business. Anything goes
here.
Go for quantity
not quality. You
can say
anything.
Example:
“Poop”
General: Personality: Culture: Customers/ Benefits: Value:
Audience:
Fun Genuine Creative Entrepreneurial Peace-of-mind Financial gain
13 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

13. Select Final Attributes Rules:
Ok, now you
can edit
Choose 5 final attributes from each
category and write them in below.
General: Personality: Culture:
Customers/Audience: Benefits: Value:
14 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

14. Your Brand Statement Hint:
Try different
ones and see
Select 1 word in each category and place them in their how they
sound. Keep
corresponding place below. doing that until
you can “feel it”.
You can use
your general
attributes and
______________ provide(s) ______________ you can change
the order if you
Name (Your Business) Website / Product / Service want.
to ______________ in a(n) _______________
Users Culture
and ______________ way to help them
Personality
________________ and _______________.
Benefits Value
Example:
how do we make them feel.
Lets try it out:
y online shoppers submitted by both expert and
Savings.com provides coupons and deals to savv t
manner helping shoppers save money and feel grea
sometimes just savvy DealPro’s in a trustworthy
doing it.
ld try it.
ple of how you could use the attributes. You shou
This is not our mission statement, simply an exam
15 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

15. Defining
Your Users
Your
Brand
Your Users’
Goals Needs

16. The Basics
Why do I need to do this?
You know that customers are the most important thing in your business and
therefore they are the most important driver of what you do online.
Creating a tangible picture of who your customer is requires you to “really see
them” and to understand their needs. The first step is creating a customer profile.
Whether you have done many of these or this is your first time our goal is to help
you make these customers real, both in their profile form here but also in sales.
How do I come up with my customers?
If you are an existing business, you know them because you deal with them all the
time. More importantly you likely have some data of who they are. If you are a new
business and have already defined them you have them written down somewhere
or in your head. If you are the founder of a start-up there is a high likelihood that
you yourself are the main customer profile or know someone close to you is.
Who are your customers?
17 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

17. The Basics
What do I need to define about my customer?
To start a name, any name. One that reflects their background. Giving them a
name begins to make them real. You don’t have “customer 1” as a customer, you
have Linda Johnson as a customer. Second demographic information such as
age, gender, income & marital status. Third, their story. Describe the situation
they are in that has created potential interest in your product or service. Finally,
what do they need from your product or service? This can be a feature or it can
be an attribute of how the feature work such as “easy to use”.
Betty Peterson - “The “Accidental Entrepreneur”
Female, Brooklyn New York
Name Age: 32, Ex - Advertising Creative Director
In a relationship
Betty just got laid off from an Ad agency where she was a
creative director.
Story Betty loves all things “Home”. From hand knit pillows, to
cooking to decorating. She is already a big seller on Etsy.
Understands the internet, but not the first thing
about business. Wants info in “her language”.
Wants to start her own online store and brand.
Needs She needs to know about ecommerce. She also
needs to know the basics of how to start a
business. It needs to be super easy to user and
understand.
18 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

18. User Definition: Part 1
Create 3 users profiles for your online business. Start
with the name, then the story then their needs. Finish by
finding a picture in a magazine or online that you feel
best represents what the user looks like.
Picture Picture Picture
Name
Story
Needs
19 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

19. Next Steps
So what next?
First we hope you had a chance to think about and fill out some of this workbook.
Based on our conversation we recommend I look forward to
the following steps in our process next: helping guide
you to online
success.
1. Immersion ‣ Review your site analytics
‣ Identify usability issues
‣ Interview stakeholders
‣ Audit the competition
‣ User Immersion
‣ Develop User Personas
2. Plan ‣ Develop success metrics
‣ Brand & Product Workshop
‣ Develop creative brief
‣ Create content plan
‣ Create product roadmap
‣ Identify risks and mitigation
What is our goal?
Our goal is to provide you with clarity and direction. To work together to
develop an actionable roadmap for success. Once in hand, that roadmap will
help drive your efforts and get you, your team, your strategic partners and
investors all on the same page and excited about the possibilites.
In person session
Our immediate next step is to schedule 2 hours to conduct the Brand
Definition Workshop and User Definition Workshop.
21 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010

20. Next Steps
Thank You
22 © GroopLab LLC, 2009 - 2010