Technology

Wearable Computers… Crazy Talk? July 30th, 2010

With a fresh topic in mind this morning, and a few free minutes, I did some research into a topic that’s intrigued me for quite some time: wearable computers.

Application Development, Technology, Web Content Management, Web Development, Browsers, software, Tools

Tools for Troubleshooting Web Sites and CMS Systems July 28th, 2010

Over the years I’ve learned that sometimes trouble comes where you least expect it.

Content Management Systems (CMS) have many different touch points: the physical servers, the server software, connections between servers, the Internet pipe to the user, and the end users’ computers are all involved. Any number of these could be a potential trouble area if there are issues. There are a number of fantastic tools to help isolate bottlenecks, and anyone involved in using, deploying, or maintaining a Web site should be aware of them because it will just make life easier.

Internet Strategy, Technology

A Whole of Government Information Sharing Space July 26th, 2010

I’m impressed by the Obama administration’s efforts to improve government information sharing as discussed in the Politico article Bringing Government Up to Data. However, I would like to see more focus placed on developing a platform-as-service model for the government rather than on data management or application development. Individual government agencies and offices have resources tied up in an IT infrastructure and information classification systems that are based on policies and legacy applications that are becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Application Development, Usability, mobile, Mobile App

Three Use Cases for Mobile Apps July 21st, 2010

New mobile apps are being developed at an exponential rate these days.  In November 2009, the number of iPhone apps in the iTunes App Store exceeded 100,000.  Android and Blackberry each carries a large number of apps as well, making the smartphone app expansion even more heated.  It is estimated by 2013, yearly worldwide app downloads will reach 21.6 billion. Amid the hype of apps, have you wondered whether your organization should also create one?

Application Development

iPhone Programming Class by The Pragmatic Studio July 19th, 2010

Class begins tomorrow in Reston, VA. I’m taking the iPhone/iPad Programming with Matt Drance and Daniel Steinberg by The Pragmatic Studio. I’m excited to the point of being giddy about going.

Information Architecture, Internet Strategy, User Experience Design, Visual Design

BBC Discusses Changes to Its New Look July 19th, 2010

The BBC’s news Web site got a new look this month. They started discussing the changes at the beginning of July before they started rolling them out. They continued in mid-July when the changes went live. And since then, they have blogged about the feedback and the questions they’ve been receiving about the new design here and here.

Social Networking, Technology, Web Content Management

Social Stream Aggregation Site – Cliqset July 16th, 2010

Like everyone else, I wanted to find a way to look at all of my friends’ online activities without having to surf between the myriad of different social sites. There are quite a few out there, but a recently updated Cliqset has caught my eye. It aggregates over 80 social services including Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz, and of course YouTube (among many more!).

Usability, User Experience Design, User Research

To Scroll or Not to Scroll July 14th, 2010

Scrolling content is an often debated topic and usability consideration when designing an online experience. Ultimately the answer to whether the content or page should scroll is not always clear and often needs to be validated with user testing.  In order to get to user testing the design needs to first balance the user’s needs and the content needs. You need to find the answers to these questions: “what is the content”, “who is the user ?”, “what are the user’s goals?”  and “what are the user’s task?”

Insight Article, Internet Strategy, Social Networking, User Research

Improving the Health of the Healthcare Web July 12th, 2010

Healthcare organizations today face many challenges on both the mission and margin side of the house.  While grappling with the implications of the new healthcare legislation, many healthcare providers are trying to understand “meaningful-use” directives regarding Electronic Health Records (EHR) while simultaneously seeking systems that will streamline hospital-physician interactions and promote physician alignment and loyalty. Of course, ever-present are the demands for increasing customer acquisition and revenue generation, along with driving reductions in operating expenses, while providing enhanced levels of service to patients, families, and all levels of caregivers.

While many of the early visions of a fully digital healthcare economy are still to be realized, some health organizations are finding success in pursuing a small set of focused, tactical objectives rather than attempting more comprehensive and ambitious strategies sometimes characterized as “boil the ocean” approaches. The best results seem to follow when new Web-based applications / functionality are deployed carefully and incrementally in phases that are closely tied to the individual organization’s ability to metabolize such change.  This approach will certainly leave some important aspirations pushed out till much later on the timeline. However, it does streamline the crucial process of internal socialization necessary for adequate funding and broad-based institutional acceptance.

There are three Web tactics we see driving significant ROI for healthcare organizations. The first is focusing on demand-generation, or using the Web platform as a customer acquisition tool. The second tactic is focusing on patient retention through access to quality information and self-service convenience tools. And the third tactic focuses on using the Web as a platform to promote physician alignment and loyalty. If the appetite and urgency is sufficiently high, some healthcare organizations will move forward simultaneously with aspects of all three tactics.

Information Architecture, Project Management, User Experience Design

Integrated Solutions: Part 3 – Project Engagements, Process, Best Practices and Implementation July 8th, 2010

NavigationArts has extensive experience in Web-enabled solutions.  Our engagements span from strategic consulting services to design, development and implementation.   Generally, for the purposes of best practice and process discussion, I group some of our offerings into four major categories:

1. Web Strategy
2. Strategy to Presentation Layer Design (Information Architecture and Visual Design)
3. Strategy to Technology  Implementation
4. End to End Integrated Web-Enabled Solutions

Regardless of the scope of engagement, User Experience should be at the foundation of every project.  User Experience Design (UXD) is based on Architecture, Interaction Design, Visual Design, Technology and Content Strategy.  Because this work inherently is conducted across several disciplines and often incorporates members from multiple teams (such as the NavigationArts’ team in conjunction with client teams), it is imperative to have repeatable, traceable, and auditable processes as well as best practices in place.  Incorporating best practices into these disciplines ensures that you can reconcile business goals, platform constraints and user needs in order to create a UXD that is valuable, credible, scalable and maintainable.

Internet Strategy, Usability, User Experience Design

A New Model for News From Yahoo July 7th, 2010

Yahoo is taking user-centric content to a whole new level.

Search is more often associated with “how to” topics than with news. Yahoo has always used its software to track search terms.  It will now begin to collect and provide that data to their staff in order to create news-related content.

Technology, Usability, Web Content Management, Web Development, Webcast

Why Could Your Content Management System Implementation Fail? June 30th, 2010

Are you about to invest in a new CMS? Or are you struggling to salvage your current system? So many CMS implementations fail, don’t let it happen to you.  In this live Webinar, I explored the reasons why so many fail, and focused on how to make your CMS work for you.

If you missed it, check out the slides on Slide Share, below, or listen to the recording.

Internet Strategy, Social Networking, User Experience Design

How to Get Familiar with the Principles of Web Design June 29th, 2010

Tune into Federal Tech Talk on 1500 AM radio at 11:00 AM EST, for an interview of Leo Mullen, CEO of NavigationArts, by host, John Gilroy. The topic is “How to Get Familiar with the Principles of Web Design.” Leo speaks to how the Web can be leveraged to engage citizens. The conversation also addresses the primary steps in building a Web site, the importance of user experience, social media, the power of mobile, search, and more.

Some highlights from the segment:

Technology, Web Development, Browsers, CSS, HTML5, JavaScript

Learning All About HTML5 June 25th, 2010

So one of the latest and greatest buzzwords in Web Development Land is “HTML5″ and some folks may be wondering exactly what the deal is. Long story short, it’s a work in progress, it’s being created in the open, and it’s features are being tested by browser vendors already. Mozilla, Apple, Google, Opera, and Microsoft all have their efforts going at the same time, some of them with overlap, some of them without. Finally, there are features which can be reliably used today. There’s plenty of information out there if you’re looking.

Social Networking

NavigationArts to Sponsor Web Managers Roundtable June 22nd, 2010

NavigationArts is sponsoring the Web Managers Roundtable event, Social Studies 301: Revealing the Myths & Management Strategies of Social Media.  The Event takes place on July 14th from 8:30 am to 11:15 am and features 4 distinguished speakers, guaranteed to be an interesting talk!  To request an invitation contact julie@justshowup.com and mention NavigationArts.

Application Development, Web Content Management, Web Development

Transcript of SharePoint 2010 Chat with Product Team Members (public) June 18th, 2010

On May 17th three members of the SharePoint product team participated in a Live Q&A session about SharePoint 2010.  I didn’t see the content posted anywhere yet, so below is the transcript.  SharePoint 2010 Web Content Management topics are covered multiple times!  Enjoy!

User Experience Design, Visual Design

Kayak Travel Planning June 16th, 2010

Kayak is a newcomer to the travel industry, but they have created such an engaging experience that it’ll be tough to ignore them the next time I start thinking about a vacation.

The Kayak Explore feature is something that I have not seen before – presented visually.

Internet Strategy, Social Networking

Own Your Social Presence June 15th, 2010

NavigationArts is sponsoring the HealthCare New Media conference in Chicago this week.  One of the major concerns faced by Healthcare marketers is getting their organizations to embrace (or even allow) a social media presence.  I am a huge proponent of asking the question “Why?” when thinking about social media.  Defining an appropriate strategy with measurable goals that meet business objectives is the key to success.  However, if you are a large organization such as a hospital, you already have a social media presence whether or not you know it or control it.

Information Architecture, User Experience Design

Web App Masters Tour: Your Homepage Should Not Reveal Your Corporate Underpants! June 11th, 2010

I also attended the Web Apps Masters Tour, and heard something in the opening address that made me smile! At almost every business stakeholder meeting I have had as a consultant, the most common thing I hear is  “ but where does my stuff go on the homepage, it is very important!”

So let’s take a step back and realize the reality on the Web in the present time:

Application Development, User Experience Design, mobile

Web App Masters Tour: Form Field Design June 10th, 2010

Along with several other members of the NavigationArts User Experience Design team, I attended the Web App Masters Tour.  Considering design in the Mobile space added an interesting new layer to a common design question:

Social Networking, Technology

Peer Persuasion: Driving Your Business Without Driving You Crazy June 8th, 2010

For all the aspects of modern life that have been irrevocably changed by the digital tsunami, happily some of the crucial drivers of human behavior have remained stubbornly the same. We’re seeing lots of clients wrestling to understand dynamics that can incent certain audience segments to persuade peer groups to support ideas, activities, and commercial transactions. According to our friends at McKinsey & Company, “word-of-mouth is the primary factor behind 20%-50% of all purchasing decisions and is the only factor that ranks among the top three at every stage of the buying process.” They argue that the influence of word-of-mouth is most pronounced when consumers are buying for the first time or when the product /service is perceived to be a premium tier, expensive product.

Peer persuasion is another way of thinking about an activity that is frequently (mis)labeled word-of-mouth marketing. This term typically refers to consumer-to-consumer communications that have occurred with no exchange of economic incentives. More and more, the mouth has less and less to do with how such behavior is promoted. Web technologies have amplified and accelerated the power of such peer persuasion by shifting the model first from a one-to-one to a one-to-many, and more recently to a many-to-many model.  In this environment, the real or perceived strengths (or failings) of a product are posted on countless Web sites and blogs or disseminated through social networks with almost instantaneous impact, burnishing or bruising brands in the process.

Insight Article, User Experience Design, Visual Design

1 Web site + 1 Email = 1 User Experience. June 8th, 2010

Like most digital marketing consultants, I’m concerned with improving the online user experience for users of my clients’ Web sites – arguably the quickest way to provide a positive return on any Web marketing investment.  With few exceptions, upgrading the online experience to meet a marketing objective involves making enhancements to the email marketing program in parallel.  What I’ve noticed, lamentably, is the number of often systemic hurdles that prevent marketers from treating Web sites and emails as one user experience.

Emails, particularly opt-in consumer marketing HTML format emails, basically look and feel like a web page, and invite interaction exactly the way a browser-based Web page would.  And they should – since the goal of non-transactional emails is to “get the click” and deliver a visit to the emailer’s Web site.   So why on earth would marketers allocate budget separately, deploy creative and technical resources inconsistently, and otherwise architect these systems in silos, and thus permit discordant and inferior user experiences to occur?

Usability, User Experience Design, User Research

User Research and Usability Testing, the Key to User-Centered Design June 3rd, 2010

The most successful Web sites are those that put the user’s needs, rather than the organization’s, at the center of its design.   But without User Research and Usability Testing, how can you have a user-centered design?

In this presentation to the Potomac Forum, Director of User Research, Toral Contractor, and Information Architect, Kirsten Miller, outline the following major methods of user research and usability testing, providing case studies for each method with tips and important discoveries.  And help you understand how each method fits in to the project lifecycle.

Check out the whole presentation or download it from slideshare:

Application Development, Internet Strategy, Technology, Web Content Management, Dynamic URLs, SEO, Sitecore

SEO-friendly URLs in Sitecore June 1st, 2010

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical feature of any Web site. One aspect of SEO is the URL itself – there are certain best practices to follow when it comes to URLs so that they can be best interpreted by search engines, and are built in the best way possible to increase their rankings. When your site is being run by a CMS, you have to make sure that it’s creating SEO-friendly URLs for you.

Application Development, Social Networking, Usability

Creating a Successful Mobile Experience May 27th, 2010

NavigationArts sponsored the Web Content Maven’s Web to Mobile event last night, which will be the first in a series of talks on the topic.  With the proliferation of smart phones and the invention and success of the ipad, mobile is on the top of everyone’s minds right now.  But are we thinking about it in the right way?

Social Networking

Corporate Web Site Social Integration: Harnessing the Power of Consumer Conversation May 26th, 2010

Jeremiah Owyang, the highly reputable Web strategist with Altimeter Group was a keynote speaker at the Gilbane Conference in San Francisco last week. The focus of his presentation was how companies can make their corporate Web sites relevant by leveraging and integrating social networks.

Technology, Usability, User Experience Design, User Research, Visual Design

Integrated Solutions: Part 2 – Why User Experience Design is Important May 25th, 2010

User Experience Design (UXD) considers interaction flows, user research, usability, efficiency, visual design, navigation and technology.  It incorporates aspects of human performance factors and usability and focuses on the interaction between people and computer systems and the design that makes this interaction effective, optimal and valuable.

At NavigationArts,

UXD = IA + Visual Design + Technology

Internet Strategy, User Experience Design

Sell the Experience May 20th, 2010

This morning I came across an excellent summary of the value proposition for effective positioning of products to customers. Selling experiences instead of products is a way to provided added value, and in turn achieve increased margins.

User Experience Design

Integrated Solutions: Part 1 – Architects of the User Experience May 18th, 2010

As Leo Mullen has been known to say, “In the online world today, user experience is truly the only sustainable competitive advantage.”    I often think about this statement when my team is working on providing Web solutions for our clients.  So much business is conducted on the Web and many consumers of information, products and services rely on the “e-home” of most corporations.

What is an “e-home,” you ask?  It’s a term I use to think about Web sites.  Basically, I see it as the electronic home of the business (or individual) that is providing information, products, services or any combination of these.  If I were in the market for a home, previously constructed, newly developed or even architecting and designing a custom build, I would spend time to consider the following (to name but a few):

Information Architecture, Interaction Design, User Experience Design, Visual Design

Translation on the Web: Commonplace, Participatory, and Expected? May 14th, 2010

Above : “A Sampling of Chinglish” courtesy of The New York Times

On The Media is a favorite radio program of mine. Its hosts frequently present interesting takes on “new media” and recently, they had a fascinating segment on translation issues on the Internet. With only 27% of Internet users using English, it’s becoming unreasonable to expect English to be the default Internet language. To avoid the siloing that could occur along linguistic lines, innovative Web sites with an international or multilingual audience are experimenting with machine and human translation. (The importance of getting translation right should not be underestimated, as the images in a recent New York Times slideshow demonstrate.) Ethan Zuckerman, cofounder of the multilingual blog network, Global Voices, tells On The Media, “Translation is going to go from esoteric, rare, and expensive to becoming fairly commonplace, participatory, and expected.”

Social Networking, Technology, Web Content Management

Web Engagement Management: Crowdsourcing for Businesses May 12th, 2010

I recently blogged about “Web Experience Management” tools being offered by Fatwire’s new CMS feature sets and wanted to extend the concept to the Web as a whole. It seems that Fatwire is keeping up with the industries latest trend, Web Engagement Management (WEM).

Social Networking, Technology, User Research

Design Research Conference 2010: Day 1 May 11th, 2010

Two years ago I attended the IIT Institute of Design’s Design Research Conference and I had such a great experience learning from and meeting fellow researchers that I had to come back and see what new research methods are in the mix now.

I just finished up a workshop this afternoon with Martha Cotton of gravitytank called Self-documentation 2.0.  Technology is now becoming more portable, smaller and an even bigger part of our everyday lives (especially with social networking sites).  So how do we utilize these tools to gather data from participants in conducting our research?

Application Development, Social Networking, Technology, Web Content Management

Web Experience Management May 5th, 2010

Having worked heavily with the Open Market’s Content Server at another organization (prior and during its transition to FatWire), I was a bit dismayed to hear FatWire rushing to be at the head of the Social stampede.  Often this type of feature set is designed to be able to check off a box on an evaluators checklist, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in this instance.  I’ve yet to play with it first hand, but the offering seems to be a one-stop-shop should your site need an integrated social solution.

Information Architecture, Insight Article, Internet Strategy, Social Networking, Technology, Usability, Web Content Management

Digital Consolidation : Growing Urgency to Rationalize the Business Web May 3rd, 2010

When I pose the question “What’s keeping you up at night?” anywhere in the C-Suite these days, the conversation inevitably turns to issues of measuring and managing their extended Web enterprise.  In all sectors of business, not-for-profit organizations, and government agencies, the Web has rapidly and thoroughly become the undisputed platform for communications, commerce, and community building.  But while many execs celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit that has blossomed in their respective organizations around the Web, the proliferation of sites, applications, microsites, tools, widgets, and social media connections has confounded many user segments and placed growing strain on the ability of organizations to manage this distended organism.  Of course, it has also greatly complicated the challenge of extracting meaningful performance metrics from this platform which could indicate how cost effectively (or not) the organization’s business needs are being supported online.

As we dive into the depths of some of these large enterprises, we see symptoms of unplanned and unconstrained organic growth.  The benefits of time-to-market advantage are obvious, but the risks less so. I’m reminded of a comment made to me by Dr. Max Coppes, Head of Oncology at Children’s National Medical Center; he said, “Growth for the sake of growth is the philosophy of a cancer cell.”  That’s hardly the analog we’d hope for when inventorying a business Web enterprise.  But in many offices the idea still prevails that “If I can build it, I should build it.”  So as we watch organizations innovate, add new product lines, and expand their global markets, we see their technologies and business processes proliferate, and any vestiges of coherent discipline seem to vanish in that euphoria of growth.

Technology, Web Content Management, Web Development

Sitecore Dreamcore 2010 Conference: Part Three – Unified Page Editor April 30th, 2010

The second session I attended at Sitecore’s North America Dreamcore 2010 was for the Unified Page Editor on the Developer Track, presented by Kerry Bellerose, VP of Product Management.

To recap some highlights:

Application Development, Technology, Web Content Management, Web Development

Sitecore Dreamcore 2010 Conference: Part Two – Sitecore Intranet Portal April 29th, 2010

At the North America Sitecore Dreamcore 2010 Developer and Partner conference last week, the first session I participated in was for the Sitecore Intranet Portal, part of the Developer Track.  I’d like to share some interesting points from that session:

Application Development, Social Networking, Web Content Management, Web Development, ASP.NET, Microsoft, Social Networking, twitter

Sitecore Dreamcore 2010 Conference: Part One April 28th, 2010

Last week two colleagues and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend the North America Sitecore Dreamcore 2010 Conference in Boston. The volume of information and quality of speakers was astounding, so it’s going to take a little while to digest and distill it into something that can be managed and talked about easily.

The Sitecore management team literally braved the elements and an angry planet (referring to volcanoes and such) to get to Boston, so kudos to the whole team are in order.

Out of the shoot considering the “live” nature of a lot of conferences these days I thought it would be interesting to share some links and tips that surfaced during the conference from around the Web.

Social Networking

Honolulu Civil Beat: A New Approach to Journalism April 27th, 2010

I heard an interview on NPR last week with Pierre Omidyar regarding a news site, the Honolulu Civil Beat. What caught my ear was that it is a news site that was charging for content, yet no one had heard of this site before. It didn’t have an established audience… how was it going to generate one when the content needs to be paid for? Omidyar said on the radio that the site has no new technology, nothing that is going to change the Web. Again what do they have to offer then?

“Any time you join between now and May 4, you would pay $4.99,” Temple said. Thereafter, membership and renewal will cost $19.99 a month. Nonmembers will have limited access and will be unable to post content, he said.

Application Development, Technology, Web Development

Mobile and App Testing Tools April 23rd, 2010

As the count of mobile devices multiplies, so does the difficulty in checking your web apps and mobile apps against them.  Here’s an excellent collection of testing tools to help you wade through the mountain of devices as needed.  The example applications range from the iPhone to the Blackberry to the Android and all the way back again to the Palm OS.

One of note to many will be the iPad Peek that lets you see how a web page will render on the iPad.

Hat Tip: SpeckyBoy

Application Development, Technology, Usability

How to Gather Better Requirements for Custom Software Development April 21st, 2010

I’ve been building software applications for about 15 years and I have come to one inescapable conclusion: the best apps are the ones that I think of myself and build myself!

Sounds quite pompous doesn’t it? I guess what I meant by “best” apps is that the custom apps that worked the best, fulfilled requirements the best and solved the intended problems the best were the ones that I thought of myself and built myself. Why is this?

I think this is because the most difficult part of custom software development is not writing the code or building the architecture or picking the tools – it’s describing what you want. It’s figuring out the requirements. The hardest part is translating the needs and desires of the customer to the developer. When I write software for myself I am both the customer and the developer so there is no translation needed! But when I write software for someone else there is a transfer of knowledge, needs, desires and requirements that is required.

Why is this so difficult and what can we do to make it easier?

Social Networking

Tweet or Be Taught April 19th, 2010

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently published a fascinating article on tweeting in the college classroom, and it’s not what you might expect.  Professor Sugato Chakravarty of Purdue University actually encourages his roughly 250 lecture course students to tweet something to the rest of the class during his lecture.  And about 75 per cent of his students regularly do.

Information Architecture, Interaction Design, User Experience Design, Visual Design

Drawing is Not Just for Designers April 16th, 2010

Dan Roam gave the opening keynote at the IA Summit 2010 in Phoenix.  His premise was this:  “Whoever best describes the problem is the one most likely to solve it.”  In other words:  Whoever draws the best picture gets the funding.

That may sound disheartening, but he’s not talking about works of art here.  Dan believes that basic shapes and stick figures can illustrate what the problem is and what the solution can be.  He showed a series of examples where powerful ideas were drawn out in simple shapes on the back of napkins – like the sketch that started Southwest Airlines or a graph that ended up being the idea behind Reaganomics.

Dan summarized the ways in which our brains process visual information and then outlined the types of sketches that can be used to answer relevant questions as we try to solve a problem. Here’s how he broke it down:

Web Development, Browsers, HTML5, IE9, Microsoft, MSIE, Video

Promising but Controversial IE9 Platform Preview Released at MIX10 April 15th, 2010

By now news has spread around the Web that Microsoft announced the Platform Preview of IE9 at MIX10. Our own John Sutton was there and touched on it in our blog here. Reactions around the Web have generally been positive, but there’s been some criticism about the marketing machine, their test results, the features they’re touting, the platform restrictions, and even the fake browser UI that’s been slapped on the thing.

It’s important to realize if you evaluate it that it’s just an early preview and the user interface is, generally speaking, not even there!

Insight Article, Web Development

The Emerging Online World: Brave Perhaps, But Not So New April 14th, 2010

At the Shakespeare Association of America’s annual conference two weeks ago, I participated in a workshop called “Shakespeare 2.0″ that attempted to describe the essential methods that Shakespearean scholars use, and how those methods will change because of emerging online technologies. Two questions arose that might be of interest outside this field: first, what is unique about scholars and what they do? Second, what is so special about Shakespearean scholars?

In working to build Web sites, I’ve worked with several different kinds of professionals, and I’ve observed that the three groups that I’ve gotten to know the best – journalists, diplomats, and scholars – work in very similar ways, at least when it comes to publishing things. Their traditional editorial processes usually include these elements:

Information Architecture, Usability, User Experience Design, User Research

IA Summit ’10 Part Four April 13th, 2010

The IA Summit ’10 has had a great mix of the tactical and the inspirational.  I’d like to share some highlights from a few of the sessions I attended.

Beyond Card Sorting:  Michael Hawley of Mad*Pow gave an overview of techniques other than basic card sorting to get content rich sites under control.  I’m eager to try out several on upcoming projects.

Information Architecture, User Experience Design

IA Summit ’10 Part Three: Prototyping April 12th, 2010

Building on my previous post, my second topic-of-interest at this year’s IA Summit is prototyping. I’m very interested in this topic because I’ve experienced, first hand, the mental leap needed when reviewing static images that attempt to convey dynamic, on-page behavior…it often involves a significant number of static pages, with text explaining the motion and interaction rules, and a lot of client review time. It is situations like these for which I’m most interested in presenting dynamic prototypes in the future.

While at the conference several sessions and conversations focused in the idea of prototyping in-general:

Information Architecture, User Experience Design

IA Summit ’10 Part Two: Pervasive IA April 12th, 2010

We finished the second day of IA Summit ’10 presentations and in general the sessions I’ve attended so far fall into two major categories:

-          Pervasive IA/cross channel marketing

-          Prototyping

In this post I’ll cover some of the revelations around pervasive IA. My interest in this topic has grown steadily in the past 5 years as the importance of mobile has grown…and also because, now more than ever, customers can interact with brands and related information in so many different ways, both in the cyber and physical worlds.

Information Architecture, Social Networking, Usability, User Experience Design

IA Summit ’10 Part One April 9th, 2010

With a few minutes to spare before boarding my flight to Phoenix I thought I’d kick-off my blog coverage of IA Summit 10. A small contingent of NavigationArts Information Architects / User Experience Designers will once again have the opportunity to chat with our peers, as well as share impressions of the current state of the discipline and where it’s going.

Sitting at the airport, heading to this conference, made me think: just to get this far I’ve already interacted with several interfaces designed by my peers…and in doing so I have seen the successes and pitfalls of how they’ve crafted their online processes:

Internet Strategy, Social Networking, Video

It’s Time. You Can’t Ignore the Power of Online Video Any Longer. April 8th, 2010

Owl Image: An example of a successful online campaign, requesting users to create and upload a music video for the artist, Moby. Please watch and vote for a fellow NavigationArts' contractor!

The Power of Online Video

I’ve been repeating this mantra for the past 2 years with ever increasing strength: “Video. Video. Video.” If your organization is looking for a better way to communicate a message, reach a broader audience, increase relevancy to a brand, or simply update your Web site with modern content, video can help.

Not yet convinced? Let me share some stats.

Interaction Design, Technology, Visual Design, Web Development, Flash, Full-screen mode

Flash Full-Screen Mode April 7th, 2010

The release of Flash Player 9 has given Flash Developers the ability to view the Flash in full-screen mode, whether it be a movie or the Flash Animation itself. Here are two great examples of Web sites utilizing the full-screen mode to display something other than a movie: Nicola Walbeck and Waterlife. On a large monitor, the experience of a full-screen mode is something very engaging and eye-catching, at a quick glance, people can easily mistake it as a screen saver.
There are pros and cons when considering full-screen mode:

Technology, Usability

The Apple iPad: Just Hype? Or a Glimpse into the Future? April 6th, 2010

Ok, I admit it I bought into the hype and I preordered an iPad on March the 12th, with a guarantee it would arrive on Saturday the 3^rd of April.  I patiently waited Saturday morning for the UPS truck to arrive.  It arrived and my first impression, I was surprised by its small size.  Upon closer inspection I promptly noticed it is another in a long line of beautifully designed Apple products, thanks Dieter Rams.

Web Content Management, Web Development, JavaScript, jQuery, Sitecore

Avoiding jQuery’s noConflict() Mode with Prototype and Sitecore April 5th, 2010

The brevity of the Prototype JavaScript library’s $() (i.e. the “dollar” function) is without a doubt a handy tool and easy to type over, and over, and over again. It caught on quickly as JavaScript frameworks took off and John Resig’s jQuery library used a version of it from the start as well. Of course, this had issues where from time to time both Prototype and jQuery might show up on the same Web page.

The pros and cons of loading more than one JavaScript library over HTTP is of course a whole other article in and of itself. Please always consider the implications of such a move. It’s all about page weight and performance.

jQuery has been the JavaScript framework of choice at NavigationArts for quite some time. It has, for as long as I can remember, featured a method called noConflict() which returns control of the $() function to whatever it was previously defined as. What does that mean? Well, in jQuery, $() is just an alias to the jQuery object, so it removes that alias. It’s done this way:

User Experience Design

8th Annual DC United Kick-Off Luncheon April 2nd, 2010

NavigationArts was a table sponsor at the 8th Annual DC United Kick-Off Luncheon this Thursday.  Our partnership with DC United began in 2008 with the design of Behind the Badge, United’s official blog and then in 2009 expanded to include the design of the dcunited.com.   The website and our design won the “Outstanding Web Site” 2009 WebAward from the Web Marketing Association.  The architecture of the site was so well received that it is going to be adopted by all MLS teams.

NavigationArts looks forward to the DC United v New England Home Opener game tomorrow evening, Go DC United!

Above NavigationArt’s Caroline Mullen (left) and Meredith Casey (right) with DC United’s center defender, Dejan Jakovic, at the 8th Annual DC United Kick-Off Luncheon.

Check out our DC United case study.

Application Development, Technology, Web Content Management, Drupal, open source, SEO

Web Content Mavens on Open Source CMS April 1st, 2010

Meredith Casey and I of the NavigationArts Marketing team along with Pete Rose from the Business Development team attended the Web Content Mavens meeting at Il Mulino this past Tuesday night to discuss “Open Source CMS – Is it right for your Organization?”

We heard from Jeff Walpole of Phase II comparing and contrasting different Open Source CMS’s and on why he uses Drupal for so many of his projects, including WhiteHouse.gov.   We heard from Mike Vertal of RivetLogic on Alfresco and why it works so well for some of his clients (enterprises mostly) but that it is not for everyone.  And lastly we heard from Martin Ringlein of nclud on how the popularity of WordPress has positively influenced its SEO capabilities and simlified things such as application development.

Usability, User Research, Visual Design

YouTube’s User Experience Updates March 31st, 2010

Not that YouTube’s user experience interest is a new phenomena, but it looks like they are about to implement the changes that were introduced earlier this year.  As they are already seeing impressive results, improving usage by 6% in the small set already being tested, this looks like its a great success story for the proper use of improving the usability of a Web site.

Hat tip Gizmodo.

Application Development, Technology, Web Development, AS3, Flash, iPhone

Flash on the iPhone March 31st, 2010

Ever since the first release of the iPhone, people have been eagerly wondering when Apple would provide a Flash plug-in. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thought the iPhone would be the perfect platform for the interactive nature of Flash.

From this article a while back, it seemed it would never happen because of Apple’s licensing issues about third-party applications, which dismayed many Flash Developers.  It appeared the only way to develop iPhone Apps was to download the software development kit and learn Objective- C.

Much has changed since then….

Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Technology, User Experience Design, Web Development, HTML5, IE9, Microsoft

Microsoft MIX10: Day Two March 18th, 2010

Day two at MIX10 and the information overload continues:

Keynote Highlights:

IE9 and HTML 5

IE9 has true support for HTML 5 including HTML 5 video. Reduced processing capacity required for JavaScript and HTML 5 video. The demo provided was truly amazing. The demo ran on Windows 7. This made me wonder what the performance would be like on older versions of Windows as well as other OS platforms.

Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Technology, User Experience Design, Visual Design, Web Development, Microsoft, SharePoint2010, Silverlight

Microsoft MIX10: Day One March 17th, 2010

There’s a lot going on at MIX10, here are my thoughts on day one:

Keynote introduced the design and development community to the new Windows phone. The interface is interesting. As with most new concepts, there are some good things and some bad. Also introduced the Pivot Control for Silverlight 4, which uses content type attributes and values to help winnow down a large set of similar content types down to a narrow set.

Application Development, Insight Article, Interaction Design, Technology, Web Development, ASP.NET, ViewState

Dynamic Web Controls in ASP.NET March 16th, 2010

ASP.NET’s ability to populate controls into pages at runtime is a very powerful feature. Instead of knowing exactly what the structure and content of a page is at compile time, webpages can be made to be more programmatic, adjusting to situations on the fly. There are certain amazing things that can be done with CSS, such as controlling the styling and positioning of webpage content, but an ASP.NET programmer can literally add and remove controls on the fly as they see fit.

Video, Visual Design

My Stop-Motion Experience March 8th, 2010

It’s been almost three months since we completed our stop-motion holiday card, and I’m just now coming around to M&M’s again. It’s amazing to think that for just 50 seconds of video, we had to manipulate thousands of those little chocolate-coated candies and take over 700 photos, and since this was the first time any of us had ever made a stop-motion video, we had to hit the ground running and learn as we went. So here’s what I learned:

1. Stop-motion video take a lot of planning
2. Stop-motion video take a lot of planning and patience
3. M&M’s don’t melt in your hand (but it’s best not to leave your lighting source on for too long because it will melt them)

Uncategorized, Tools

An Alternative to FTP February 18th, 2010

Recently, I used YouSendIt to transfer 400+MB of database backups from one of our client’s hosted servers to our in-house quality assurance servers at NavigationArts. I found it an easy-to-use alternative to FTP.

Because the originating host was one of our client’s production servers, I could not install the optional YouSendIt client app. The transfer was done via the browser only. Even so, I was pleased with the throughput. I was also pleased with the e-mail I received immediately after the file was ready.

Yes, I had to upload from the client’s server to YouSendIt, then download from YouSendIt to my server in-house (rather than FTP it directly to an internal server, then just copy the file). Still, it was relatively quick and painless. No FTP client or other program to install on the production server. I know, I could have used IE as an FTP client, but since the file was enormous and I wanted it to work the first time, I hoped for a more specific solution.

Interaction Design, Technology, Web Development, Flash

Flash Beyond the Web February 17th, 2010

Adobe Flash was developed to be an interactive platform. For the longest time, we’ve seen it mostly on the web, whether for aesthetic animation purposes or to provide rich interactivity. This YouTube video provides a glimpse into the future use of Flash as a way to create a “Living Surface” that steps out of the web and into the real world.

Although the video provides little background information, a little Googling reveals that it was developed in an ActionScript framework known as FIVe3D that was developed by Mathieu Badimon. You can see other exmaples on the FIVe3D website

Just imagine the possibilities: interactive walkways at the mall where shoppers can interact with storefront displays just by walking in front of them, or play areas that interact with children as they hop and run around.

Application Development, C#.NET, VB.NET

Short-circuiting in .NET February 16th, 2010

In the Microsoft .NET Framework, regardless of the particular language in which you write your code, the compiler breaks it down into a lower-level language called CLR (Common Language Runtime). The most popular .NET languages are Visual Basic.NET and C#.NET, but because both are broken down in the same way, they’re identical by the time a program is run. Because of this, the particular language that you use is exclusively a matter of preference.

I’ve put in a good amount of time with both Visual Basic.NET and C#.NET, and my personal preference is C#.NET. Usually, developers gravitate toward the language that they’re most familiar with (which is often C#.NET for those who come from a C++ or Java background, and Visual Basic.NET for those who have a Visual Basic background). In my own case, it all comes down to a single gripe about Visual Basic.NET: it doesn’t handle “short-circuiting.”

Insight Article, Interaction Design, Technology, User Experience Design, Visual Design

The Web Typographers Essential Toolkit – 22 Tutorials, Tools, and Resources February 12th, 2010

This collection is for those of you who have already gulped down the typesetters Kool-Aid. You know who you are; the crowd who grimaces at badly kerned movie credits, who get misty-eyed about old motel signs, and who think comic-sans was created by fascists hell-bent on making your Chinese food menu look festive. It goes without saying, in any discipline you have to know the rules before you can break them, yet among young designers there is a perpetual debate revolving around the use of grids and scales. The bottom line is if you’re serious about your craft, these are fundamental tools. As a designer they are as crucial as internalizing the gestalt principles of perception or the basic tenants of color psychology.

Social Networking

Changing Online Shopping Habits February 11th, 2010

In the last couple of months, I’ve noticed that my online shopping habits have changed. Oh, I still shop online as much as ever, and look for benchmark prices or availability of certain items before I head to an actual store. No…that’s not what’s changed. I’ve noticed that I’m doing more research before I actually select the item I want to purchase. And by research, I mean read user reviews about products and services before I commit to purchasing something. 

Application Development, Web Development, CSS, JavaScript, performance

Shinkansen for ASP.NET-based CSS and JavaScript GZIP Compression February 10th, 2010

I recently saw an innocent enough tweet about something that just happened to be exactly like something I’d been looking for for quite some time: a server-side ASP.NET CSS and JavaScript file concatenator and GZIP utility called Shinkansen. It’s from Milan Negovan and it’s hosted over at CodePlex. Looking over the documentation, it looks easy enough to set up and configure. He’s blogged about it here.

Information Architecture, User Experience Design, prototype, Sketch, wireframe

Start Sketching: Sometimes Perfect Lines Can Get in the Way of Creative Thinking February 5th, 2010

Anyone involved with building a web site can benefit from sketching from time to time. It’s a natural activity. We’ve all sketched as kids, whether it was a detailed masterpiece or a stick figure. Sketching removes the intimidating wall not only between Information Architects and the team, but also between IAs and the task-at-hand.

Usability, User Experience Design, User Research

The Virtual Fence: Unmet User Requirements Can Cost Billions February 2nd, 2010

When designing a Web site or application a basic rule is to design with the user in mind.  Or, to quote an old HFI button, “Know thy users for they are not you.”

Easy concept, right?

Sometimes, the people who write the requirements preceding a Web project assume they know what those requirements should be. They rarely  involve the user upfront in the requirements process or solicit any feedback.

Social Networking, mobile, Social Networking

Fundraising through Social Networking and Mobile Texts February 1st, 2010

With the latest crisis in Haiti, social networking sites and mobile texts have been key in raising funds quickly. In one day, the Red Cross received over 3 million dollars (out of $10M total) through texts and social media alone.  Fundraising through mobile texts has simplified the user experience because now users don’t have to worry about getting out their credit cards, or entering personal information.  They simply press a few numbers and letters.  Then they pass that information onto their friends through all their social networking sites and the next thing you know, millions of dollars have just been raised.

To read more, see the latest article on CNN.

Information Architecture, User Experience Design, User Research, Webcast

Leveraging the Web to Extend Global Reach: SHRM India Case Study January 28th, 2010

If you missed the live session of “Leveraging the Web to Extend Global Reach: SHRM India Case Study,” you can check out the presentation on SlideShare.

User Experience Design, Web Development, Browsers, CSS, JavaScript

JavaScript-CSS Compatibility Layers to Save You Some Money? January 25th, 2010

Andy Clarke recently wrote about a new CSS JavaScript compatibility layer called IE-CSS3.js. The library allows users to write CSS using pseudo-element selectors, and have it work natively in IE8 via JavaScript. The JavaScript parses the linked CSS, and dynamically adds rules to the document. This means that the shortcomings of the browser’s CSS display methods can be automatically overcome by creating custom CSS with JavaScript. All users will thus see the same thing. Great.

Social Networking, twitter

The Power of Twitter January 22nd, 2010

Yes, I tweet.  And along with other social media I use, most of the benefits I have gained have been on the social/personal side. I have some followers, but there are more people that I follow (that sounds wrong, doesn’t it?).   I follow a mix of business and personal contacts.  I learn from some but mostly am amused by the tweets I receive and read. And until recently, Twitter has been more of a toy that I felt obligated to play with in order to keep up with everyone else.  I didn’t really get the power of twitter until two recent events – one involved a free meal, the other a tragic world event.

Information Architecture, Usability, User Research

Going Green in Usability Testing January 21st, 2010

A few months ago, the theme of World Usability Day was “Designing for a Sustainable World.”  Well, think about going green with your usability testing for your Web sites by offering more remote testing options than in-person usability test sessions.

A common question clients ask me is whether remote testing will be comparable to in-person sessions.  You will definitely get the same results while offering more flexibility to your users, since they can conduct the tests while they are at home, work, or anywhere.   There’s no need for them to take a couple of hours out of their day to drive to your testing facility or office. Here are a few moderated and unmoderated remote testing options that you can try:

• UserVue
• UserTesting.com
• Silverback
• Userfly

Usability, User Experience Design, User Research

Applying for Improved User Experience January 20th, 2010

I recently helped my 17-year-old son apply to college. Not surprisingly, the process is a bit different than when I went through it years ago. Rather than painstakingly lining up a paper application in a typewriter, with lots of Liquid Paper on hand, applications are now most often submitted online. Sounds easy enough, right? Not so much. What a frustrating user experience!

Internet Strategy, User Experience Design, Video, Visual Design, Web Development

Learn More About the NavigationArts’ Team January 19th, 2010

Leo Mullen:

“Our strategy practices is designed to help our customers look around the corner a little bit and understand what’s coming and help them to prepare for that.”

Technology, User Experience Design, mobile

Windows Mobile 7 January 19th, 2010

At CES 2010 Microsoft announced that Windows Mobile 7 would be much more of a “revolution” in terms of user experience, compared with past versions of the mobile OS (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/windows-mobile-7-coming-to-mwc-in-february-not-just-evolutiona/). To mobile enthusiasts like myself this initially sounds like a good thing. For years Microsoft’s Windows CE, Pocket PC and Windows Mobile OS’s frustrated users and spawned a legion of dedicated hackers and developers bent on making it better (if only for themselves). I was one of those Windows Mobile die-hards until succumbing to iPhone hegemony 2 years ago.

Internet Strategy, Video

Founding NavigationArts January 18th, 2010

“We founded NavigationArts in 2001 and we did that after conducting a great deal of research in the market. And it was research that was done at the C level. We went out and spoke with senior executives at businesses, in healthcare organizations, in associations.”

“NavigationArts was conceived as an organization that would be an advocate for the user. We try to understand the major issues that businesses and organizations were having around the Web.”

Internet Strategy, Social Networking, Online Content

To Pay or Not to Pay for Content Online January 15th, 2010

There seems to be a constant struggle for any one producing intellectual property — whether the content should be available for free or users should have to pay for it. In fact I am currently working on a project where we are recommending that our client give away some of their content for free. In the midst of studying how others are handling this issue, I came across  “Should You Pay to Read This?”

Information Architecture, Interaction Design, User Experience Design

A Little User Experience Around the Holidays January 14th, 2010

As we end the year and our minds are preoccupied by the holidays I am once again reminded of how important web usability is and how it affects the bottom line everyday. The latest example came from an unlikely source: ballet. Not just any ballet production, though, but The Nutcracker. Let me explain:

Application Development, Interaction Design, Internet Strategy, Usability

Jared Spool’s Favorite Articles From 2009 January 13th, 2010

The usability guru picks his favorite articles published by his organization, User Interface Engineering, for the year. I quite enjoyed “A Recession Strategy for Web Apps” article.

Social Networking, Facebook

User Choices – The Default January 12th, 2010

Facebook recently received some press related to how their members control their privacy settings. They recently added additional account settings that allow members to more selectively share personal information. Some view this as overdue functionality in light of the concerns about online privacy. These changes need to both satisfy the member’s needs and the business goals of Facebook. Facebook has a very strong financial incentive for the users to share as much personal information as possible. One way their business goals are not sacrificed is that even though they are giving more privacy controls, the default settings allow the user’s information to be shared the most. Some advocacy organizations are claiming that because of the initial privacy setting defaults and because of the apparent complexity of changing the user’s privacy settings, the users are not really in control of their privacy. On the surface this concern might seem frivolous, but there is a strong case to be made for how defaults and the number of choices can influence people’s behavior.

Usability, User Research, Video

User Research and Usability Testing January 12th, 2010

“We always tell clients you don’t have to go overboard with either user research or usability testing, but not to do any is a big mistake.”

“The thing about usability testing and the iterative approach to solution development is actually, ultimately, if you take the long view, is actually much more cost effective.”

Insight Article, Web Development, Business Decisions, CMS, content management, integration

Integrating External Applications: The Hidden Costs January 11th, 2010

So you are at the beginning stages of your new content management system (CMS) implementation project.  You are finally going to get rid of the very painful, homegrown content management system you are currently using.  Your head is filled with dreams of eliminating all of your manual processes and replacing them with fully automated integration points between your shiny new CMS and your entire hodgepodge of legacy systems.

Internet Strategy, Video

Era of the Website Redesign is Over January 11th, 2010

“I tell customers today that the era of the website redesign, for all intents and purposes, is over. And what I mean is that in 2010 if you’re thinking about redesigning your website, chances are you have not put in place the kind of platform necessary to allow your site to just chronically evolve forward.”

User Experience Design, Video

User Experience Design in the Google Era January 8th, 2010

“The people in my group, the user experience group, are really by nature Jacks-of-all-Trades. And so they are really involved in the full life cycle of a project. In the early stages we’re really focused on researching to find out more about actual user needs and actual user goals. And we’re also involved in the formulation of business strategies and business requirements.”

Information Architecture, Internet Strategy, Social Networking, twitter

Twitter in 2010 January 8th, 2010

I must admit I was amongst the skeptics who wondered about the usefulness of the 140 word microblog post. As one of my colleagues often says – “Why do I care to know if someone is headed to the bathroom?”

And then I read this recent article in the New York Times Why Twitter Will Endure that made me reconsider my thinking.

Video, Web Development

CMS Evaluation January 7th, 2010

“When NavigationArts starts doing a CMS evaluation what we really have to focus on is why we’re there. What is the evaluation is really meant to uncover, and what the toolset is to answer that question. Is it a distributed publishing model? Are there a lot of users that have to get in, do you have a Web team? We have to get to the actual need.”

Information Architecture, Webcast, prototype, Web Application

AxureWorld 2009 January 7th, 2010

Recently, Ezra Schwartz gathered together a group of Axure power-users to put on a one day (12 hour) webinar. The webinar is chock-full of helpful tips for all users of the Axure product. For those not in the know, Axure is a powerful design tool that makes creating click-through prototypes of complex interactive Web applications easy. The event covered documentation, event-driven widget creation, collaboration and more. AxureWorld posted all the video from the webinar.

User Experience Design, Video

Smart, Informed Web Design January 6th, 2010

“A design made up of much larger things needs to reconcile three key areas. And they are often competing, so that’s the challenge that we face.”

User Research, Business Decisions, User Research

Boomers and Technology January 5th, 2010

You probably never thought your 60-year-old mother would help shape technological trends in the next decade.  You would be surprised.  Microsoft and AARP recently did research on how the baby boom generation is influencing the future of technology and how technology companies should focus more on designing for this generation to expand their reach. Hint: baby boomers adopt new technologies more than a lot of people realize, just in a more selective way compared to younger groups.

Video, Web Development

Web Standards Based Development January 5th, 2010

“When we’re talking about Web standards we’re not just using the technologies such as JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. We’re also talking about using those technologies correctly.”

“We’re talking about maintaining that separation between the presentation, and the content, and the behavior. And then also we’re talking about where those sorts of technologies interact with content management and application development on the back-end on any sort of website or Web application.”

Internet Strategy, Video

Business Transformation Through the Web January 4th, 2010

“Business transformation through the Web is much more difficult than it appears and it has almost nothing to do with the technology and it has everything to do with the issues of culture, issues of ownership, issues of policy, issues of governance within organizations.”