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.