You know the classic saying, “a picture’s worth a thousand words.” Photos often convey an idea or emotion that just can’t be communicated with words alone. This recent story gives a great example of the concept and shows the power of an image. Southern Illinois University-Carbondale recently held a contest in search of a photo to use as the background on all official campus ID cards. Students submitted nearly 250 photo entries via Instagram or email.
The winning entry was this photo; a stunning image of a fountain on campus during sunset. The student who snapped the shot received a $100 University Bookstore gift card for submitting the winning picture and will have the honor of her photograph being featured. The contest was a fun way for the campus to get students involved and the resulting ID will be a beautiful representation of the university.
Have you ever considered getting your cardholders involved in the design process? Creating a call for entries is a great way to get your community engaged. Whether you’re a company that provides prox cards for its employees, a recreation center with membership cards, or a police department that issues ID badges for its officers, you have an opportunity to gain user feedback. Even if your card doesn’t feature an image, you can ask users for insight about how the card should be formatted, or see if they have any suggested enhancements that could improve functionality.
Often times, products or procedures are designed without the end user in mind. By getting cardholders involved in the design process, you will make them feel valued and produce a card that they enjoy using. Plus, you’ll likely create a wonderful representation of your company or organization in the process. If you’ve involved users in the design process before, what were the pros and cons? Were you happy with the end results? We’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below.
Photo Credit: CR80News