Torq mode | UXNOW

Torq mode - bridging the gap between brand and product experience

My Role: Product design director - Managed the whole process from strategy to execution

Foreword

If you are familar a bit with Cyber security market your probably know that Torq has the boldest, most disruptive, and unique brand in the industry.

“You walk at a conference with a Torq hat on, and people stop you to start a conversation.” In addition, Torq's Brand enhances the company’s image of success and credibility – “makes us seem like a $10B company,” and it works, it brings prospects into the sales process, but... the product itself doesn't have the same impact.

The Goal

Bridge the gap between the Brand and the product experience and make the product feel unmistakably Torq.

One of my first goals while entering the Product Design director position at Torq was connecting our super bold, disruptive, and well-recognisable brand with the product experience

Why? Because we want our users to feel using Torq and not just a generic product, so we can create an emotional connection and continuity from first introduction with the brand, through the sales process, POC and actually using the product

The Why

Our product functionality is already in a really good place, and we can now give more focus to the experience and delight.

Embedding the product with a brand experience can create an emotional connection

❤️ Emotional engagement is a difference-maker. We think that we make logical decisions, but it's not the case. Behind every "logical" decision, what actually drives us is emotion, the feeling, how we feel about the product, how our first impression and interaction were. I truly believe in this sentence: there is no second chance to make a first impression. In UX is the same.

Some notable examples of how brands and products can connect

And what we saw in the cybersecurity market:

Some companies tried to show energy and power, some felt relief and simplicity, and some felt unclear. What we also see is that many companies look almost the same

The problem:
Today's product experience looks very generic and disconnected from the brand

This is what the Torq platform looks like.

This is how the brand and the marketing looks like

Desired outcomes

Positive feedback from the Torq community
Positive feedback from the POC prospects
Sales are excited to showcase the “torq” experience
We are proud of how our platform feels
We can share/use screenshots from the platform directly in marketing
Improving emotional engagement (Through feedback)

The process

I partnered with Tal Schweiger, a freelance brand strategist, and we initiated the Brand ❤️ Product project. Together, we defined Torq Brand guidelines that will help us create a unified and unique product experience that will feel unmistakably Torq. Our goal was to create that product and Brant connection in a way that will create an emotional engagement and connection that we want our users to have

We defined how we want users to feel ❤️

❤️ From feelings to 🎨Design guidelines

And now for the centerpiece 🔥

🔥 We chose to take a bold approach. Along with updating the design system and enhancing the empty states that will take some more time to explore and design, we decided to create a distinctive blend of and Product experience that stands out, while still respecting users who may prefer a more traditional style, such as: - Europe (particularly Germany, France, and Benelux) may have stricter preferences. - Certain Asian regions (like Japan, Singapore, and South Korea) value tradition as a form of trust. To start, we're introducing a unique feature - Torq mode.

Torq mode ☠️

This additional mode will create a wow factor and, more importantly, spark conversations about the brand.

And here is the first sketch I did