Blog

July 12th, 2011

Mobile

The mobile world is a constantly growing and evolving space. Mobile as we traditionally perceive it has crossed over into the world of tablets, augemented reality, and wearable technology.  If you are like many of our clients, tackling the mobile space seems daunting, and futuristic devices might have little bearing on your immediate business concerns.  To ease the vexation you might feel as you consider your mobile future, I’ve put together a brief overview of what the mobile space really means.

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Douglas Brashear

June 20th, 2011

Mobile, UX Design

What’s the Context?

Tablets aren’t huge smartphones (and they aren’t quite “flat PCs”, no matter what Steve Ballmer says). One of the biggest set of differences between designing for tablets and designing for phones is the context: the how, when and why. Unlike the tablet, the phone is much more likely to be used on the go. Sure, you keep your phone by your bed, check Facebook or your email, maybe hit a website or two before you hit the sack, but users are much more likely to use their tablets for longer periods of time. This prolonged interaction on tablets is more involved, with users sitting down and focusing on what they are doing. A tablet is actually more like a portable gaming device than a mobile phone.

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Kevin Doyle

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 11th, 2011

Interaction Design, Visual Design

Q: 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?

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

April 28th, 2011

Internet Strategy, Marketing, Social Networking

The way I see it, there are primarily three types of people using online dating sites today: the curious, the aggressive, and the desperate. 

The curious are consumed with appearing aloof.  Slightly embarrassed to have created a profile in the first place, even more ashamed to have devoted hours to picture selection and perfectly constructed sentence fragments, they marvel at the esoteric starkness of their profiles and artful allusions to Kafka and Descartes.  They don’t NEED online dating, but why scoff at such a wonderfully facile generational gift?  All of this is of course intended to mask their fervent desire to meet new people.  With this demographic, that’s just the thing: they are not concerned with the one, but with the many, and as such prefer sites like OKCupid and PlentyofFish, the distant, noncommittal cousins of eHarmony.

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Hayley Wilson

April 22nd, 2011

Internet Strategy, Visual Design

Editorial design on the web is nothing new. Trends in print design have always, in some form or another, found their way to the web through inspired visual designers. After all, a book with an index is a navigable piece, so any print layout can inspire a grid and the overall look, feel, and navigation of a website. Newspaper sites are especially brilliant at accurately translating real editorial design from print publications to the web. The UK Times, Guardian UK, and NY Times stand out as examples of newspapers that understand how to display content in a clean and engaging way. Recently, though, magazines have been catching up to this movement. Inspired by the possibilities that the iPad and smart phones bring to the table, magazines are taking a cue from their news counterparts and developing some truly innovative sites.

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Cindy Vazquez

March 9th, 2011

Internet Strategy, Webinar

How does mobile fit into your digital ecosystem?

NavigationArts’ Doug Brashear discusses mobile user experience trends and future innovation for mobile in this live webinar. Doug is the Mobile Practice Director at NavigationArts and has extensive experience creating mobile strategies for a variety of organizations and industries.  Doug is a Senior Information Architect with 15 years of experience, and has been with NavigationArts since 2005.

During this webinar you will learn about:

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Douglas Brashear

July 21st, 2010

Application Development, Usability

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? (more…)

Cathy Lu