Blog

May 24th, 2011

Technology, Uncategorized, Web Content Management, Web Development

There are few things more alluring to a system administrator than the promise of easy configuration and worry-free maintenance.  It is the promise of many cloud-based service providers – providers with big names, like Amazon with its EC2 service, and Microsoft with Azure.  The positives may seem downright impossible to ignore when it comes time to write the next hardware refresh budget: managed upkeep; paying for only the hardware and bandwidth you use; the ability to scale your infrastructure with a few moments notice.  Best of all, those frighteningly complex architectural diagrams with redundant failovers, duplicate NICs piped through separate channels and backup domain controllers all get replaced by a big fluffy icon with a label of “Not My Problem Anymore”. 

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Alan Gallauresi

May 23rd, 2011

Internet Strategy, Technology

Our Mobile Practice Director Doug Brashear sat down with Federal Tech Talk the other week to discuss the evolving federal mobile landscape.  Given that the Obama administration wants every agency to connect with citizens, there’s mounting pressure to push mobile apps and optimized sites live. But to what end?  Doug addresses how federal IT professionals can design sites that consider those accessing information from their smartphones and what content is best suited for this medium.

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Hayley Wilson

May 19th, 2011

Marketing, Technology, Web Content Management

An interesting and pointed post over at The Real Story Group commented on Sitecore’s OMS tool the other day. While I certainly agree with the premise of the article, “Watch What WCM Customers Do, Not What Vendors Say,” as a customer and implementation partner of Sitecore, I thought I’d share my opinion based on the the real-world implementations and uses that we’re currently seeing in the market.  

While no tool may be perfect, especially in its first iteration, the OMS (Online Marketing Suite) is usable and worth the effort out of the box.  As one of the first implementation shops to undergo the OMS certification process offered by Sitecore, having a full understanding of both its strengths and weaknesses was helpful when explaining its virtues and faults to current and prospective clients.  In the end, it seemed to be a logical and obvious extension to most implementation efforts and many clients are in full agreement.

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Dustin Collis

May 18th, 2011

Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Internet Strategy, Marketing, Social Networking, Usability, User Experience Design, User Research

Last week, our Director of Information Architecture Kelley McDonald delivered the keynote address at the American Press Institute’s “Designing the Digital User Experience” seminar.  I had the privilege to attend, hearing not only from our own Kelley, but from editorial playmakers from around the globe, including the Chairman of Folio Holdings Group, the Nigerian conglomerate attempting to build the largest media channel in Africa.  The overall sentiment in the room was clear from the outset:  publishers are in the fight of their lives, wrestling with an online space they don’t fully understand, while grappling with slashed budgets, staff, and uncertain guidelines for monetization. The two questions on everyone’s mind were the same: How do we attract visitors and keep their attention? And then how do we make money?

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Caroline Mullen

May 16th, 2011

Application Development, Interaction Design, Technology, Web Content Management, Web Development

For the last few months, I have been working with a spectacularly easy to use tool called Adobe CQ5, formerly Day CQ5. The beauty of CQ5 is how simple it is for a developer to create components that are easily used and reused by content editors, business analysts or other semi-technical staff members to create rich, consistent, professional looking web pages and web applications. My clients were spending 12-16 weeks to build out custom Spring based portals, but we built their first portal in less than 12 weeks using CQ5.  Depending on the level of customization from one portal to the next, CQ5’s built in functionality allows for site replication in one to three weeks, and a new site with different colors and images takes just a couple of days to replicate, QA, and deliver to production.

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Ross Raphael

May 13th, 2011

Usability, User Research

If you haven’t heard yet, President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act of 2010 this past October. This law will require all publicly distributed documents (forms, publications, etc) by the federal government to have “writing that is clear, concise and well-organized”. You heard that right. That means anything we read from the government, on the web or in paper, will have to make sense.  Sounds too good to be true? Probably. However, on April 13th, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued the “Final Guidance for the Plain Writing Act of 2010“. This memo is for all government agencies and states the requirements of the Act. There are two big deadlines for government agencies this year. By July 13th, each agency needs to establish internal processes for approving plain language and train employees on the use of it. By October 13th, all government agencies must write all new or revised documents in plain language. Do you think they’ll be able to get this done by October?

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Toral Contractor

May 11th, 2011

Interaction Design, Visual Design

Question

Have you found that writers and editors are increasingly interested in the visual representation of their pieces? What images and video work best for translating words to images?

Answer

Writers and editors always want to make sure that the end product reflects the brand aesthetic and vision of their publication.  Publishing to all sources of media from one platform resolves the problem of brand discontinuity. Right now, there are different options that can achieve this kind of collaborative effort, such as Adobe’s CQ5 , WoodWing, and vjoonK4. In terms of visuals, a static publication can be turned into an immersive interactive experience. New webfont tools that allow for experimental use of navigation and layout design can turn full page spreads into immersive videos, animation or interactive games.

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Cindy Vazquez

May 10th, 2011

Technology, Visual Design, Web Development

As developers, we generally understand the benefits of using a CSS framework alongside a modular site design. Since we are not the ones who actually design the site, though, it is important that we collaborate with designers (and other developers) when creating and implementing complex, modern sites. There are many benefits to using a CSS framework – cross-browser consistency (XBC) being one of the huge ones, off the cuff - and once you begin using one (whether as a designer or developer), you will likely never go back. Need more convincing?  Here’s what else CSS frameworks allow for: (more…)

Matt Heiner