What you’re asking people to pay

Every extra thing the audience has to decode is a cost the brand is asking them to pay.

They may need to learn unfamiliar language, believe a claim without enough evidence, or work too hard to determine whether a service or product is for them.

I think about that effort through a hospitality lens:

• Where might someone hesitate?
• What do they need to understand immediately?
• What can the brand anticipate for them?

The answers can shape the narrative, tone, hierarchy, imagery, interaction, and the pace of the experience. And in some cases, even identify an untapped audience we could be catering to without developing a new product or service.

Reducing effort does not mean making the brand bland or removing everything unfamiliar. Distinctive ideas can still ask something of people.

The point is to remove friction that muddies clarity.

That is what hospitality in design is all about. It isn't decoration around the experience.

It is the care taken to help people enter it.