The immediate lockdown from COVID-19 came as a shock to many of us. Like someone flipped a switch, one day we were all going to work and then the next we were forced to all say home and figure out a workaround while stores ran out of toilet paper and nonperishable goods.
What a long couple of months many of us faced! Adaptation is hard enough with advanced notice, so this sudden change was not an easy feat for many of us. However, in times like these, we have to rethink how we interact with the world around us. We have to reimagine the user experience and establish a new “normal”.
Developing New Habits and Norms
Through COVID, we’ve developed new habits and appetites. What used to the norm is likely to be a thing of the past.
Many people believe in what is known as the “rubber band” effect. Essentially, under this premise, “no matter how far you stretch the rubber band, it will return to its normal shape.” This principle is being applied by some that believe the world will return back to normal after many COVID-19 crises have died down.
Many others, however, have expressed different opinions. They believe that we’ve outstretched the ability to simply return to how life was before. It all begins with perspective. To determine the new norm, we must first take a closer look at how far we’ve come and where we’ve yet to go. COVID-19 has forced us to change how we think and it’s only natural to believe that companies are going to similarly have to change how they market to better align with their customers.
A Shift In Marketing Practices
Marketing has shifted to focus more on emotions as many of us are all going through some of the same things. As a result, we’ve seen a shift to online purchases as many people get used to not having to go into stores. These shifts have had adverse effects on business with many stores quickly experiencing financial loss and closing.
To no surprise, we’ve begun to truly appreciate the flexibility surrounding COVID-19 and have even let it reshape our habits. In around May and June of 2020, nearly 40% of online global sales surfaced from new users. We’ve also learned and experienced the value of working from home and shopping online. Now, companies will need to find ways to redesign their experiences to convince us to return back to the traditional way of things.
In their design, they will need to focus particularly on safety, but also on many of the social injustices that have surfaced throughout COVID-19. Creativity will be key in this process. It will further serve as the foundation of design thinking, and design thinking will provide us with the process required to innovate. But companies must first try to grasp what exactly is creativity.
The Debate — Subjectivity behind Creativity
The term creative is very subjective. What is interesting to me is likely something that you may have no interest in at all. With a term that doesn’t suit a “one size fits all” process, it’s motivating to see how the subjectivity of creativity will transpire as new companies develop new methods of marketing.
Despite this subjectivity, I think we can all agree that good creativity is intended to drive action.
Cleaning Up The Mess Around Creativity
Being creative is messy. Why? Because It’s intended so that we can find our own unique approach to solving problems. As we often say, “simplicity lives on the far side of complexity,” and most creative thinkers would agree. There is beauty in simplicity and in design thinking, we use the “five whys” technique to find the “why” behind the “what” and uncover the user-centered need.
Final Thoughts
Many of us have already been getting shots in a way to transition back to normal after COVID. But what will the new normal look like? Are you ready to accept the new world we’ve created?
“A puzzle can’t go back together in the same way it came apart.”
Can this be true of the world and its surrounding environments post-COVID?
Looks like we’ll just have to see what lies ahead.
