HP Naming tool: An enterprise-wide tool to systematize a global naming process
Naming tool landing page. The first screen new users see when coming to the tool from HP's internal experience center.
With thousands of marketers and hundreds of thousands of products, HP realized they needed help to systematize their global naming process.
The challenge:
Up until this point, individuals throughout the company had often ignored the brand’s naming requirements, creating confusion for potential buyers, not to mention unintended marketing and legal expenses. Based on interviews with a cross section of HP stakeholders, we concluded that whatever we came up with needed to be interactive, be accessible to all, keep names in line with the overarching brand strategy – and above all, be simple. “I am not looking for a robust application that will also make me coffee, I just need something that is easy to use,” said one interviewee.
Understanding the naming process: After interviews with key stakeholders, I began to map the various interactions users would have with the tool throughout the naming process.
With these key points in mind, we developed a naming tool. Living on HP’s intranet, it’s easily accessible to all employees. Part database (it allows employees to cross reference against existing names), part decision-making tool (simple questions help employees reach the right name, which process is supplemented with tips and resources) and part communication tool (it provides workflow transparency and alerts stakeholders and approvers as needed), the naming tool empowers HP employees by simplifying the naming process and helping them get to the right name time and time again.
Annotated wireframe:. In addition to creating and annotating wireframes, I wrote the copy, making sure to adhere to the HP voice.
My role:
- Leading the discovery and interview process, including collaborating with stakeholders to identify and determine requirements and establish scope of work.
- Analyzing existing materials (nomenclature guidelines, legal and trademark request forms, creative brief forms, etc.).
- Developing personas and use cases.
- Creating wireframes and an interactive prototype to demonstrate future opportunities.
- Planning and developing content for the interface as well as all system-generated emails.
- Working closely with Agile team including stakeholders, designers and developer.
System-generated emails: I also wrote the system-generated emails which are triggered at key points throughout the process.
The results:
The tool just rolled out to the entire HP enterprise. But the naming team, which has been using the tool for months, is raving about it.
"Yes, Siegel+Gale has done naming. Good naming. But more importantly, they understand the business around those names, the systems those names fit into, the operational implications of the names. They give us more than just names that work, they give us strategies and tools for managing our own naming.” Manager, Naming and Nomenclature Brand Strategy
Four simple steps to start naming: The workflow behind the tool makes naming easier and standardizes the process across the enterprise. The design of the final screens reflects conventions across HP's internal resource center.
Submitting a trademark request used to be a lengthy, offline process. Now, data captured in the tool autocompletes much of it.
Finished! The checklist on the left side of the screen provides navigation within the tool and an indication of where the user is in the process. (Okay, they didn't really name anything Two, it's a screen shot from the development server.)