Lucidpress

Lucidpress

Implementation of a web-based design and brand templating platform.

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The Client

  • Reinhart

Role

  • Art Director
  • Researcher
  • Designer

Goals

  • Find a new system of supplying marketing templates to the Reinhart company that is more accessible, user-friendly, and can be updated with ease.
  • Update marketing templates for new system.
  • Implement new system.
  • Create system tutorials and administer training workshops.

Timeline

  • September 2016 – February 2017
  • Management of System: February
  • 2017-Present

Website

Overview

As Art Director at Reinhart, I spearheaded the initiative to acquire an improved method of delivering brand templates to Reinhart’s real estate agents.

Discovering Lucipdress has improved brand regulation and compliance, overall marketing design, efficiency and factors in as a recruitment tool.

Background

Controlling brand image was a huge problem at Reinhart. Inaccurate colors and logos were commonplace and marketing pieces without brand identity was an issue. Along with that, Reinhart had outdated Publisher templates housed on their hard-to-navigate intranet. These templates were not accessible to everyone, and would also go without updates for long periods of time. This was an outdated system that needed an upgrade.

After implementation of the Lucidpress platform company-wide, Reinhart saw an increase in office marketing specialists’ efficiency by 30%* and agent marketing efficiency by 50%* (based upon user polls).

Example of original marketing template system.

The Project

Research and implement a new marketing template system that is user friendly, accessible to anyone and can be updated on a regular basis. Create and update marketing templates for the new system. Develop tutorials and administer training workshops for system users.

The Process

1. Understanding the Problem

  • Meet with current template users, determining usage, an ideal system and pain points.
  • Evaluate current marketing template system.

2. Discovery

  • Determine target audience.
  • Establish goals.
  • Research platforms and determine the best fit for Reinhart.

3. Template Categorization & Creation

  • Conduct interviews with office marketing specialists regarding types of templates needed.
  • Company-wide user polls determining templates usage and templates of interest.
  • Gather information from interviews and polls to establish types and categorization of templates.
  • Update and create marketing templates for individual users and data automation templates for mega users.

4. Lucidpress Roll-Out

  • White label Lucidpress, Google Single Sign-On through Reinhart’s intranet.
  • Build Brand Asset Library.
  • Create tutorials for beginners – video and interactive
  • Training for office marketing specialists and agent assistants.
  • Roll-out Lucidpress company-wide. Training Workshops offered. User polls collected.

5. Results & Takeaway

  • Brief analysis of project outcome and key takeaways.

6. Follow-Up QA

  • Bi-annual polls used to determine any improvements that could be made.
  • Lucidpress maintenance is ongoing.

1

Understanding the Problem

Section Summary

  • Meet with realtors (individual users) and office marketing specialists (mega users) who use Reinhart Publisher templates on a regular basis. Discuss their current method of template use, what their ideal system would be and determine their pain points.
  • Evaluate current marketing template system.
Next: Step 2
Back to: The Process

Current Template System & Ideal Template System

Meeting with individual and mega users to discuss how they use the current template system and what their ideal system would look like. Below are my findings:

  • Individual users have downloaded a handful of Publisher templates and continue to use the same templates again and again. These users do not regularly look for different templates.
  • Mega users will look for a variety of templates, often settling on certain ones and adjusting them as they are used again and again. These users will occasionally return to look for new or different templates.
  • An ideal system for both user groups would be:
    • Easy to navigate.
    • The ability to see all templates without moving from page to page.
    • Thumbnail views of templates at least.
    • Templates that are updated more regularly.
    • Templates for mediums other than print.

Pain Points

Meeting with individual and mega users to discuss their points of frustration with the current system. Below are my findings:

  • Some users cannot access the Publisher templates because they either don’t have the Publisher software, or are on a MAC and cannot get the software.
  • Users expressed difficulty in navigating the company’s intranet where the templates are housed.
  • Previewing a template before downloading is difficult.
  • Often the user does not know where files are downloaded onto their computer. Or if they save the file they often forget where it was saved.
  • All templates cannot be viewed at once. Different categories of templates are found on different pages in the company’s intranet.
  • The Publisher templates are outdated.

Current System Evaluation

I evaluated Reinhart’s current marketing template system and my findings matched the opinions of the users I interviewed.

  • The Reinhart intranet where the current Publisher templates are housed is hard to navigate.
  • Once on a template category page, the user must scroll through an excessive amount of unnecessary information before finding the templates.
  • Previewing a template is cumbersome. The user must click a link to preview, opening a new tab, then return to the original page to either view another template or download one. You often don’t remember which templates have been previewed.
  • The Publisher templates are not updated on a regular basis because it is not easy and because it is limited to employees with Publisher software.
  • The amount of time it takes to find a suitable template and begin customizing it is enough to discourage the user from looking for different templates in the future. Using the same template with a few tweaks is faster and easier.
  • There wasn’t a way of ensuring the Reinhart brand and appropriate information were not removed from a template, or that the brand colors remained accurate.

2

Discovery

Section Summary

  • Determine target audience.
  • Establish Goals.
  • Research and test web-based brand templating platforms and determine the best fit for Reinhart.
Next: Step 3
Back to: The Process

Target Audience

I established a target audience to better understand the user and identify their needs and expectations, ensuring I find a product that offers the best solution.

Reinhart Individual User

This user group is comprised of agents who have very little computer skills to agents who are computer savvy and use a wide range of online platforms. This user will want:

  • A platform that is easy enough for a novice to navigate but has the ability to perform more complicated tasks for the advanced user.
  • Fresh templates that are updated regularly and easily customizable.
  • The ability to preview templates quickly will have this user seeing what else there is to offer.
  • To promote their individual brand as well as Reinhart’s.
  • A variety of templates for different mediums.

Reinhart Mega User

This user group is comprised of office marketing specialists and agent assistants who create marketing materials for multiple agents. This user will want:

  • Want a program with good design capabilities, as this user has more computer skills and can navigate most platforms with ease. This user may use or be familiar with Adobe Creative Suite.
  • A wide variety of templates to appease a larger group of agents and their individual tastes.
  • Anything that could speed up their process would be appreciated, such as the ability to preview templates quickly. Efficiency is key to this user.
  • Want templates that are easily customizable.

Reinhart Administrator

This user group is comprised of Reinhart employees who would be in charge of maintaining the new system. This user will want:

  • A platform where good design can be maintained. Using Adobe Creative Suite.
  • Routinely any similarities in the new platform would be appreciated.
  • Easy to update templates.
  • A better way for the user to communicate an issue they’re having with a template.
  • The ability to create templates for multiple uses: print, social media, etc.
  • A platform that is not too difficult to learn or maintain.

What I Learned From My Audience

  • Customization of templates is necessary.
  • Reinhart needed a variety of templates.
  • The chosen platform must be easy for people with a range of computer skills from novice to experienced.
  • The new platform should increase efficiency for mega users.
  • The new platform cannot be hard to maintain.
  • Regulating the Reinhart brand would be needed in the new platform.

Goals

Based on information acquired from my user interviews, their pain points, and what I learned from my target audience, I established goals for the new marketing template platform.

  • Find a new platform that provides marketing templates for Reinhart individual users and mega users that is more accessible, user-friendly and can be easily updated. This platform must have features that surpass what Publisher has to offer in order for the company to transition.
  • Update existing templates and create new templates based on user feedback.
  • Implement new platform.
  • Train users on new platform. This will involve creation of tutorials and training workshops.

Research

I knew Reinhart needed a web-based platform so that it was accessible to all of Reinhart’s users. Canva had recently grown in popularity, so that is where I began. Research developed from there, uncovering platforms similar to Canva but with much more capability, and platforms that housed templates but offered little in the way of customizing a marketing piece. All of the platforms researched were tested. Below are my findings.

  • Canva.com –Offered ease of use. Customization was available, but simplified and geared toward the novice user. Canva did not have a template based system and therefore was not going to work for Reinhart.
  • Desygner.com –This platform caught my eye because of the advanced design settings. However, in the end, the price point was too high and the template settings offered were not as advanced as other platforms.
  • RealGreen.com –This platform created templates for companies from design files. After testing, it was too complicated and frustrating to upload listing and agent information into a template and no customization was allowed.
  • Amarki.com –This platform was built for real estate. There were a lot of great offerings, however the platform was based off of an automated system that was triggered when an agent’s listing went live. Many of our agents prepare marketing materials for listings prior to going live so that they are ready in advance. Amarki would not work for Reinhart.
  • Lucidpress.com –This platform was easy to use, but possessed design features that would be familiar to anyone familiar to the Adobe Creative Suite. The template capabilities were unsurpassed as well as the ability to enforce company branding on all templates. Customization would not be stifled on this platform. Those features combined with many more told me Lucidpress was perfect for Reinhart.

My findings and recommendation were presented to the Vice President of Operations, who was impressed but not convinced that this is what Reinhart needed. Lucidpress was a pay to play platform and going from free to a monthly licensing fee was a difficult hurdle to overcome. After two months of testing with other admins and showing that Lucidpress was a special platform, I was given the go ahead to present the idea to Reinhart’s office managers. The platform did not fail to impress at the meeting; the managers gave their approval.

3

Template Categorization & Creation

Section Summary

  • Interview individual and mega users to determine the types of templates they currently use and templates they would like to see created.
  • Send out user polls company-wide to determine templates that are currently used and new templates of interest.
  • Gather information from interviews and polls to begin determining types and categorization of templates needed in Lucidpress.
  • Begin creating new marketing templates and updating current templates for individual users.
  • Create data automation templates for mega users.
Next: Step 4
Back to: The Process

User Polls & Interviews

Before Lucidpress could be rolled out company-wide, templates categories needed to be determined and templates needed to be created. Some of the existing Reinhart templates could be updated and transitioned into Lucidpress, however we wanted to make a brand new marketing experience for agents, with new content to work with. User polls and interviews were conducted to determine the type of material necessary to get agents excited about using a new marketing platform.

USER POLL & SAMPLING OF DATA RECEIVED

Categorization

The information learned from user polls and interviews helped to determine the template categories. To assist users, templates would also be tagged with searchable keywords.

TEMPLATE CATEGORIES & KEYWORDS

Template Creation

Informed by user feedback regarding existing templates, and following the newly determined category structure, template creation began.

Some of Reinhart’s Publisher templates were updated and many new templates were produced. These templates were created with “smart fields” that would insert data into a template from Individual Users accounts such as Name, Contact Info, Profile Picture, Logo and more, speeding up the time it took an Individual User to create a new marketing piece.

For Mega Users, templates were created with “global smart fields” which were linked to data tables such as an agent directory, company stats and property information. When using a “global smart field” template, the Mega User simply selects the row of information needed and applies it to the template, instantly auto-filling the entire marketing piece with information, increasing the Mega User’s efficiency dramatically.

EXAMPLE OF LUCIDPRESS TEMPLATES

4

Lucidpress Roll-Out & Training

Section Summary

  • White label Lucidpress, Google single sign-on through Reinhart’s intranet.
  • Gather Reinhart brand Images, logos, fonts and colors and upload/establish in Lucidpress Brand Asset Library.
  • Create tutorials for beginners – video and interactive.
  • Training for office marketing specialists and agent assistants.
  • Roll-out Lucidpress company-wide. Training Workshops offered, user polls collected.
Next: Step 5
Back to: The Process

White-Labeling & Google Single Sign-On

To ensure a smooth transition to Lucidpress, Google Single Sign-On was set up on Reinhart’s intranet and a Reinhart branded environment was created within the Lucidpress platform. For the user, this maintained the familiarity of accessing templates through Reinhart’s intranet, and eased the burden of remembering an additional password to access the new platform.

Brand Asset Library

The power of a Brand Asset Library is a large part of the Lucidpress appeal. Before Lucipdress the ability to house all assets together and have them readily available for use did not exist, nor did Reinhart have any level of control over the assets use.

BRAND ASSET LIBRARY

I built the Brand Asset Library with Reinhart’s logos, colors, fonts, images and text style settings. I also configured Brand Restrictions, controlling the use of color, font, templates, image upload/download, and more. Users could now access assets within a document; no more guessing on brand colors or using outdated logos, and Reinhart fonts were pre-installed.

CREATING TUTORIALS

What good is a product if the knowledge to use it is not provided?

We wanted our users to gain the most they could from Lucidpress. I created an interactive tutorial, intended as a jumping off point for beginners, with the expectation that interacting with the tutorial would help solidify concepts. Throughout our Lucidpress journey, text-based and video tutorials of varying lengths have been created, ranging from video snippets reviewing concepts such as image cropping to lengthier instruction on customizing specific templates. A good portion of the video tutorials are user feedback inspired.

SAMPLING OF INTERACTIVE & VIDEO TUTORIALS

TRAINING STAFF

Training was provided to office marketing specialists and agent assistants before Lucidpress was rolled out company-wide. It was important to train staff who would be creating marketing materials for multiple users before training the bulk of users. This would ensure a smoother transition to Lucidpress.

LUCIDPRESS STAFF TRAINING

Lucidpress Roll-Out & Training Workshops

With our staff sufficiently trained, Lucidpress was rolled-out company-wide and training workshops were offered.

The interactive tutorial was used in training, giving users enough working knowledge to begin using the platform. User polls were taken after each training workshop, gaining valuable feedback that influenced future training sessions. Today, training has evolved through user feedback, offering smaller and shorter training sessions, and sessions focused on the most popular templates as well as topics like social media or sharing.

5

Results & Takeaways

Section Summary

  • Brief analysis of project outcome.
  • Key takeaways.
Next: Step 6
Back to: The Process

Results

After implementation and initial training of Lucidpress, we have seen great improvement in Individual User and Mega User’s efficiency, 50% and 30% respectively. These numbers were determined based on user polls taken one year and two years after Lucidpress roll-out. Other results:

  • Reinharts marketing template variety has grown dramatically with the implementation of Lucidpress. Utilizing user polling to influence the types of templates ensures our users are getting the most out of the product.
  • We are finding more and more ways to use Lucidpress, transitioning documents from programs such as PowerPoint and Word into Lucidpress, using smart fields and data automation to boost efficiency and ease frustration for the user.
  • Brand regulation and compliance has improved greatly, which in large part is due to the Brand Asset Library. Also overall marketing design has improved.
  • Lucidpress is now in Reinhart’s arsenal as a recruitment tool. New agents see it as an easy way to begin their personal marketing campaigns and appreciate the up-to-date templates among other features.

Key Takeaways

Developing and maintaining this project over the last three years has taught me a great deal about working with a high volume of users and making certain to hear their voice and let their opinions and reactions (responses) influence the outcome.

  • My skills for creating tutorials, instructions and conducting user polls have grown.
  • Coming to a realization that any project involving users is ever evolving. There will always be room for improvement and a chance to make a better experience for the user.

6

Follow-Up QA

Section Summary

  • Bi-annual polls used to determine any improvements that could be made.
  • Lucidpress maintenance is ongoing.
Back to: The Process

Follow-Up QA

Using feedback from our users to determine certain aspects of the Lucidpress platform and training made us realize that we should be asking our users their opinions on a regular basis.

  • Bi-annual polls are sent out asking what our users think about the Lucidpress platform, how they think it could be improved, their favorite part of Lucidpress and any ideas for additions to the platform. The results of these polls are used to make Lucidpress better for the user.
  • Lucidpress maintenance is ongoing. Templates are updated on a regular basis, new templates added, brand images updated, and new tutorials are made. Training is also ongoing, with sessions offered on a quarterly basis.
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