Taking the Next Step w/ Shirin Oreizy
Today we were very lucky to get a chance to pick the brain of one of our spectacular and most creative residents of the ECO-SYSTM community, Shirin Oreizy, founder and President of Next Step. Shirin has been a member of ECO-SYSTM for almost 2 full years, but as she puts it,
Time flies when your coworking!
Shirin’s company, Next Step, is a web design firm dedicated to looking beyond the obvious, so that their clients can get the most out of their products and unlock hidden potentials that may not be visible on the surface. By combining lessons from both traditional design and behavioral science, Next Step seeks to implement genuine insight into how customers actually make core decisions and goes beyond the familiarity of on-target messaging, distinctive branding and user friendly interfaces to accomplish this. All of this impressive insight comes from over 10-years of implemented research based methodologies of design that have been discovered to positively influence human behavior.
Since starting the company in 2004, they’ve been able to assist 300+ clients by honing in on the most appropriate messaging for their customer base, and promoting true expansion in a thoughtful way. And even (and perhaps especially) when customers seem fickle, she knows that there are, in fact, very complex patterns at play, determining how difficult choices are made.
With all this research at our disposal, people are sometimes surprised that I won’t recommend a strategy until we’ve thoroughly examined both your company’s passion and your target audience’s hesitations. It’s a step we won’t ever skip. Deeply understanding your market helps us determine which behavioral science interventions would best remove friction.
Shinin, however, didn’t build such a successful model overnight. It is the result of a lifetime spent in fascination of culture and human behavior in all facets. She attributes this cultural perceptiveness to a rather worldly upbringing, having attended schools both in the U.S. and in Iran, while eventually graduating with an engineering degree from UC Berkeley. These culturally unique experiences have helped Shirin form a business strategy in which science is used to help influence behavior, creating products that can feel intuitive to a diverse and widespread audience.
We’ve been lucky to house the Next Step team for the better part of two years, and it has been absolute pleasure. They are truly model members, able to work hard and play hard at a moments notice. They were even the winners of our Halloween team costume contest this year! When asked what she likes most about the space, Shirin responded with,
The cool people all around us. The co-working pups that come to play. The sunny rooftop deck. The badass swings. The thumping night club downstairs. The happy hours upstairs.
We like the swings too :) Keep up the great work, Shirin and Next Step!
