Direct marketing companies partner with local businesses to deliver print, mobile and online marketing solutions. A study found that direct marketing accounted for roughly 54% of ad expenditures, which translated to about $1.798 trillion in incremental sales in the United States1.
How Axis Group Helped
The goal here was to measure sales against the budget. The app needed to be able to highlight areas for improvement or emerging trends.
Axis Group developed an application that focused on efficiently showing actionable data. Color is used where necessary, to grab the user’s attention negative variance or to highlight different trendlines. Combo charts are used to provide a snapshot of sales versus budget. Red denotes where sales fell short of the budget. Whitespace is used to divide information while limiting non-essential ink. Mini bar charts give the Channel Breakdown straight table immediate visibility to performance, again using color to highlight areas that need immediate attention.
In the trend lines, yellow highlights months where sales met budget but were short of last year. Instances like this may confirm expected industry trends year-over-year. A gradual reveal gives the user the ability view data down to individual franchises, highlighting areas that need to be investigated further. These simple yet powerful tools come together to create a dashboard that highlights important information immediately to a user.
Summarized Points:
- Color draws the user to important data
- Non-data ink is limited to avoid visual overload
- Gradual reveal of data from broad to more granular, to guide the user through the story
The Contributors:
Jessie Lian is a UX designer at Axis Group, she has a background in information management and business. She has a passion for understanding people, a fascination with info viz, and an obsession with color palettes. You can often find her celebrating & contemplating in the great outdoors.
Kareem Goddard is a Solutions Consultant from Georgia Tech. He began his career with Axis Group after graduating. He enjoys helping clients to become more efficient while identifying ways to improve their business. In his spare time, Kareem enjoys playing basketball and catching up on his favorite TV shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
1The Power of Direct Marketing: ROI, Sales, Expenditures, and Employment in the US, 2009-2010 Edition https://www.worldcat.org/title/power-of-direct-marketing-roi-sales-expenditures-and-employment-in-the-us/oclc/464663589. Accessed 12 February 2018.