I was powering through my to-do list two days ago and was about to happily check off an item in Asana, when it happened …

All of a sudden, Asana, my go-to project management tool (love seeing that unicorn soar), transformed into something completely unfamiliar.

My scheduled to-dos suddenly required extra scrolling, and the overall calendar transformed into a kaleidoscope of colors …

Refreshing my browser not only brought up the same, newer iteration, but it also brought up a notification — a new calendar style had been introduced by Asana.

Pulling A Fast One

According to the company, the switch to the new calendar would bring about a faster loading time, and a calendar that’s easier to navigate …

But the public clearly thought differently.

The Asana blog was overflooded by a sea of unhappy users, who believed that the new calendar had slowed their productivity and shattered their world … in more or less terms, as indicated by very passionate users’ blog comments.

What did Asana do to cause the uproar?

In the words of one commenter, “August 28th was the day that ‘New Asana’ became ‘New Coke.’”

The calendar was an unfortunate misstep for the brand.

Brand Story Benefits

This is where your brand story becomes the foundation for all that you do. It sets the expectations before, during, and after customers and clients work with you.

Asana’s brand story apparently consists of being trustworthy and efficient in facilitating users’ project management.

If this is indeed the Asana brand story, its team didn’t appear to reference it. If so, the following could have been performed:

💥Messages could have been sent to Asana users prior to the new iteration. The messaging would have been in line with Asana’s brand personality and tone. It would also showcase the company’s ability to always think through its customers’ project management needs … planning ahead.

💥Market research would have been conducted to inform not only the brand story, but also the plans to create and execute the new calendar. A heads up notification on the redesign would have been provided.

💥A beta test would have been conducted, keeping once again in line with the company’s brand story of being a trustworthy and efficient project management tool (provided that this is its brand story). This is similar to the steps you would take when redesigning a website.

As of today, the Asana team has been on top of responding to the more than 150 blog comments it has received, the majority of which have been negative. It also made the right move in immediately rolling back its design.

Lessons For Entrepreneurs

It’s always unpredictable how customers and clients will respond to the new things that you do.

However, there is one thing you can do to ensure that you’re not completely off the mark — have a solid brand story.

Don’t be “New Coke” or “New You” …

Just be YOU.