Blog

June 7th, 2011

Information Architecture, Marketing, User Experience Design

During a recent solution strategy session for one of our large enterprise clients, a need developed for creating visual prototypes and simulations illustrating the end-state of the enterprise system to be built. The system, or really “solution” (since the ROI would be derived not only from IT, but also from organizational change, process re-engineering, and physical and digital asset value realization), included many audiences and stakeholder roles plus many distinct (though integrated) business services. “Services” is the key term here, not “applications” or “websites”.  These business services are used by customers, governed by the company through managed agreements, and supported by information technology.

(more…)

Ted McLaughlan

April 4th, 2011

Internet Strategy, Marketing, Social Networking

Like most young people living in a city, I opt to receive emails from GroupOn and LivingSocial. In a world in which receiving and checking emails is a borderline hassle, it means a lot when someone willingly participates in these offerings, particularly if they arrive daily.  Over the past 6 months of my membership, I’ve been pretty unexcited by the deals.  50% off Botox injections.  2 for 1 movie tickets. $20 for $40 at Thai Place.  65% off Kertain treatments.  And the list goes on.   

(more…)

Hayley Wilson

March 17th, 2011

Insight Article, Project Management, Technology

The use of website analytics and reporting software isn’t new to most website owners. Tracking and analyzing the usage of your website by people and search engine ‘bots are obviously essential activities for validating your investment. Typical metrics tracked include number of visits by various user types, number of downloads or access to particular content, and navigation routes most commonly taken by visitors to, through, and out of your site.  These metrics, perhaps aggregated into meaningful reports (i.e. overall unique visits per month), tell you how your site is performing. But are these reports evaluated for the impact or opportunities they reveal with respect to your entire IT budget? In other words, do your web analytic reports support “Key Performance Indicators” (KPIs) for your entire IT Investment portfolio, not just the website maintenance budget?

If your answer to this is “no”, your overall organizational IT investment may not be properly balanced to deliver the maximum ROI from your website, resulting in a lot of money left on the table and accumulation of very real business risk.

(more…)

Ted McLaughlan

January 18th, 2011

Information Architecture, Internet Strategy, Technology, User Experience Design, Web Development

As developers, we strive to provide the best user experience on the web, priding ourselves on seamlessly enhancing or degrading the user’s experience depending on the capabilities of the user’s browser. But at what point do we stop catering to the few, so we can deliver a much richer experience to the many?

Many freelancers are openly refusing to develop for IE6, not because they can’t, but because of the fact that it hinders the innovation they would like to see throughout the web, in web applications, and on intranet portals and websites. With so many companies beginning to open up their sites to HTML5 and CSS3, it isn’t enough anymore to be cross-browser compliant. Web Applications and websites need to be highly interactive for users to truly obtain an experience that will stand out in their mind. Developers and organizations need to think about the web in a new way.  No longer is it a place where everyone is entitled to the same experience, but it is a place where those with the right capabilities can have a truly amazing experience. (more…)

Matt Heiner

January 11th, 2010

Insight Article, Web Development

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. (more…)

Corey Burnett

January 5th, 2010

User Research

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.

Cathy Lu

November 9th, 2009

Information Architecture, Internet Strategy, User Experience Design

Choosing whether to redesign your Web site can be a difficult decision to make, especially when many organizations are cutting costs in the midst of the current economic downtown. A Web site redesign project usually requires a cross-functional team with members from multiple departments and strong internal leadership. The resources required for a redesign can be considerable, particularly for organizations which already have a lot of Web content or have multiple third-party systems integrated with their Web sites. (more…)

Cathy Lu