Category Design for Mortals
Category Design for Mortals. If your brand feels fuzzy to you, it’s fog to your audience. Let’s make it obvious and repeatable.
Positioning is the place you occupy in the buyer’s mind relative to alternatives.
Steps
- Document decisions in one page — People use what they can read in two minutes.
- Define the audience and their stakes — Name who loses what if nothing changes; real stakes sharpen choices.
- Design constraints before concepts — Constraints produce coherence; they are not creative jail.
- State the promise in plain words — Avoid poetry; say the outcome a buyer can point to later.
- List three proof points — Social, data, demos. Proof turns belief into trust.
Why this matters: People use what they can read in two minutes. In branding, consistency is a function of decisions captured and reused.
Why this matters: Name who loses what if nothing changes; real stakes sharpen choices. In branding, consistency is a function of decisions captured and reused.
Why this matters: Constraints produce coherence; they are not creative jail. In branding, consistency is a function of decisions captured and reused.
Why this matters: Avoid poetry; say the outcome a buyer can point to later. In branding, consistency is a function of decisions captured and reused.
Why this matters: Social, data, demos. Proof turns belief into trust. In branding, consistency is a function of decisions captured and reused.
Toolkit
- Positioning line — For [audience] who struggle with [problem], we deliver [outcome], proven by [proof].
- Messaging blocks — Headline • subhead • bullets • CTA mapped to page sections.
- Palette tokens — CSS variables / design tokens for color and spacing across apps.
How to use it: For [audience] who struggle with [problem], we deliver [outcome], proven by [proof]. Save the final in a shared doc; link from tickets so execution matches intent.
How to use it: Headline • subhead • bullets • CTA mapped to page sections. Save the final in a shared doc; link from tickets so execution matches intent.
How to use it: CSS variables / design tokens for color and spacing across apps. Save the final in a shared doc; link from tickets so execution matches intent.
Example
A fintech tightened palette tokens and shipping velocity rose because designers stopped re‑deciding shades.
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- Taglines: Short, Sharp, True — Case Files #2
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