Interactive Design & Development

Remarkable web design, digital marketing, and interactive technologies.

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IDD, Inc. Launches Interactive Kiosk Software To Capture Your Story

Museums and universities across the country have their eye on Blacksburg, VA.

Users can quickly manage and productively organize stories within a simple, form-field approach, powered in the cloud and presented in a touch screen kiosk interface.

We all have a story to tell. History, art, science, successes, start-ups, sports; it doesn’t matter. A story sees no boundaries for its subject. Appetites for stories are a reflection of the basic human need to understand symbols in life – an emotional journey to creating a connection. Blacksburg-based Interactive Design & Development (IDD) has launched an interactive software platform solution to help do just that – tell a story.

IDD has been developing interactive software applications for over 24 years, but after the Defense Intelligence Agency commissioned IDD to develop an app that celebrated 50 years of history, they knew they were onto something special. Employees and visitors scrolled through decades of stories of service since the 1960s – from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the Hijacking of the Achille Lauro. The project enjoyed great success, so IDD continued to perfect the solution.

This month, IDD launched ThinkTouch Interactive Kiosks, a scalable kiosk software platform that specializes in translating complex stories into intuitive user experiences.

Anyone Can Use It ThinkTouch kiosk software is built on a powerful content management system (CMS) which allows anyone with an Internet connection to enter, edit, manage, and publish all story content from the “cloud.” The CMS editors are designed to be easy to use – no technical knowledge required. The system supports video, audio, images and written content. Once the story is captured through a simple web-based form, it’s published to an intuitive kiosk player that’s easy to navigate and fun to engage with.

Multiple Kiosks, One Database The scalable software platform is designed to grow as the stories grow and change. The user can create and manage multiple kiosks from one centralized story database. For example: if a county office decides to put an interactive kiosk in a local museum, they can create and add a second kiosk – with completely different content – in the county Visitors Center, and manage them both from the same web portal. The platform can also be downloaded to a portable tablet that can be taken into the field, should the user need to travel with a story.

Museums and Universities Across The Country Are Catching On The success of ThinkTouch has led to contracts with a roster of clients that includes the Oregon Music Hall of Fame, the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago, the Science Museum of Virginia, Virginia Tech, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Vernon Meacham, the Director of Development for the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was asked for his thoughts on ThinkTouch Kiosks and said, “This was a new concept for the college…and IDD was great in helping set up the hardware and implement the software package to deliver stories and current information about the college to our donors, stakeholders and visitors.”

Pieces of history are created every day. That history can preserved to help make sense of the past and shape the future. ThinkTouch Interactive Kiosk Software is a welcoming place to start.

Want to step inside to see for yourself?

Play the online ThinkTouch Demonstration Kiosk

Interactive Design and Development (IDD) is located in Blacksburg, VA and was founded in 1991. IDD has a rich history in adapting technology trends to software development with a simple approach – up-front solutions and reliable support.

Contact IDD, Inc. Today!

By Rachel Doyle Marketing Director at IDD, Inc. www.iddnet.com Connect with Rachel On LinkedIn or Twitter

What’s your story and how do you tell it?

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How to Choose A Web Design Company

In an age of digital disruption, the fear of getting lost in translation is palpable. With over 7 trillion users on the Internet, a once sweet hotbed for expansion is now the arena for competition. 

Having a successful web presence can be tough for some businesses, as they do not have the expertise to create an optimized website that will attract customers or feel they need to invest in one that will. For those that do decide to enter the digital space, an even more daunting task is presented: choosing someone to do it. A web design company, sometimes known as a web design firm, is a team of artists, technicians and marketers who all collaborate to ensure that your business makes a successful and powerful transition onto a digital format.

Many web design companies advertise similar service offerings, however once you begin to learn more about them, you’ll find that the areas of expertise can fluctuate like the tides. One company may be able to create an artistically pleasing website, but have no knowledge on how to position it for your target audience. On the contrary, another company may present a compelling digital strategy, but has little to no programming skills. Choosing technologies at any point can be a business hurdle, so understanding how to find the right one for yours is essential. 

This blog shows you step by step how to choose a web design company that is right for your business and your business goals.

Experience

This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many web design companies tout design-heavy websites and make extravagant claims, yet have little actual experience. When selecting a company, one of the first things you should check is their portfolio. The portfolio will give you a look into not only how many clients they have worked with, but also their “style” and level of web expertise. Browse some of the websites they have created and see if they match what your business is looking for.

Also be sure to actually read the company’s website to get an overall feel of their reputation. A new web design and development company may understand web design well, but not so much about working with clients. It’s best to check for years of experience, as well as examining the clients they have worked with in the past. Make sure that they are a legitimate business - serious about their work and used to working with a high-caliber of clients.

Skill

Depending on what you’re looking for, a web design company can offer many different products and services. Some websites offer strictly web design, while others offer a full range of services. 

It’s imperative that you decide on a team that is knowledgeable in the technological backbones of web design. Some design companies work with one programming language, and maybe only excel in a few areas. A web design and development company firm equipped to deliver more complex solutions is made up of computer scientists and software engineers who work with multiple programming languages, ensuring that the development and delivery of your web presence is flawless. Many companies possess only programmers, who understand usually one web design code and are taught to edit and execute that code. A team of computer scientists and software engineers, while understanding programming, are also problem solvers- they create the language and thus have an all-encompassing understanding of the technology used for your website. 

While technical aspects of your website are very crucial, also be sure that the company has the ability to understand your business goals and position your website to reach your target audience. A good web development company should possess a high-level of skill in graphic design, user experience, marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, and more.

Customer Service

When working with a web design and development company, you want to be sure that they will be accountable and easy to work with. While these companies are often working with multiple clients at once, it’s important that when you need time with them, they can give it to you. Web design companies also vary in the size and level of dedication to customer service. A company that’s committed to superior customer service will want you to know it.

Testimonials

Lastly, your best gauge of how effective a professional web design company can be is by testimonials from their previous clients. Since these businesses have already gone through the process with the web design company, they can give you a pretty good idea of what to expect. Revisit the web design company’s portfolio, and contact some of their clients that you think are most similar to your own business.

Things to ask:

Was the price worthy of the solution they delivered?

Were they easy to work with?

How has the new website changed your business?

Is the solution easy to manage?

Does the company still have a presence with your business?

By talking to previous clients, you will get actionable answers that go beyond what the surface.

So, which company is right for your business?

There are so many professional web design companies out there today, all offering similar web design services in differing ways. While you may be drawn in by a decorative website, remember that experience, skill, customer service and reputation are all parts of the whole in choosing a web design company.

Interactive Design & Development (IDD, Inc.)

IDD, Inc. is a web design and development company based in Blacksburg, Virginia. IDD's team consists of computer scientists and software engineers - four of which are graduates from Virginia Tech's Engineering program, ranked 16th in the Nation by U.S. News and World Report - to ensure a website is run and executed well, there are also designers and marketers focused on business objectives and driving a message that speaks to your customers. This essential team makeup ensures that your web presence will be top-notch.

IDD is recognized as one of the Top 100 Multimedia Developers in the U.S. and has 22 years of experience delivering digital solutions to satisfied customers. From clean web design to complex systems integration and everything in between, our focus continues to be delivering solutions of the highest quality that make a meaningful difference in the way people work and learn.

Contact IDD, Inc. Today!

By Rachel Doyle Marketing Director at IDD, Inc. www.iddnet.com Connect with Rachel On LinkedIn or Twitter

What do you look for in a great web design company?

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The Essential Elements of A Blog Post

I am a cook. I usually stick with savory, due it's abstract approach to manipulating a recipe and making it my own. A pinch here; a dash there. Baking is much more precise. The chemistry of pastry is as important an ingredient as your choice of flour. 

Blogging is a mixture of both. There are specific elements that are necessary to a successful blog, enhanced with a pinch and a dash of your style, character, and goals. 

Check out the infographic by copyblogger for the full story.

Need assistance crafting the perfect blog? Contact IDD today to get started. 

By Rachel Doyle Marketing Director at IDD, Inc. www.iddnet.com Connect with Rachel On LinkedIn or Twitter

What other elements do you use to craft a successful blog?

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Great User Experience Is By Design: A III Part Series

Part III: Lost in Translation

By Amy Harvey Principal Software Engineer IDD, Inc.  www.iddnet.com

Content Presentation

Have you written and edited your website content so that it’s short, simple, and easy to scan?  Are you using fonts with good readability?  

Research shows that web users actually scan content rather than reading it word for word, so breaking up long passages of text with headings, bulleted lists, and data tables will serve you well.  In addition, people generally process website content from top left to bottom right, (see heat map representation below) and they tend to lose interest the farther down the page they scan – so do yourself a favor and locate your “most important” content (whatever that happens to be) closer to the top of the page.

Print-to-Web Translations

If you are translating print content (such as a product catalog) into web format, your goal should be to edit your content down to roughly 50% of the print version. I know you LOVE your content and want to share as much detail as you possibly can, but people aren’t on your website to read a dissertation – they just want to scan the page and make a quick decision on whether they want to explore further or move on.  And they will usually make this decision in a frighteningly small window of time – literally within seconds of landing on a page.  So do your best to boil every page down to a “web friendly” summary, located at the top of the page. If the “detailed version” is important to your target customer, you can always list the details below the summary, or link out to them on a separate page or PDF.

Standard Treatments for Text Elements

Getting back to web standards, here are a few additional guidelines to consider:

  Links – should be set off in a different color / treatment (often underlined) with a contrasting “hover state” to clue users of the fact that they are actually clickable. You do want your users to click on your links, right? Then make it easy for them to identify them!

Headlines – should also be set off in a different color from the body text.  But PLEASE don’t make your headlines the same color as your links and buttons – do you really want to confuse people by making them constantly wonder which “blue text” is clickable?

  Fonts – should be of the “web friendly” variety to ensure that visitors don’t need a special font installed on their device in order to see the website as you originally intended.  But that doesn’t mean your font selection has to be boring! Thankfully, web fonts have come a long way since the days when Times, Arial, and Helvetica were the only “safe” choices.  

Fun Facts about Fonts:  “Serif” versus “Sans Serif” 

Photo courtesy of: http://3ricl3.deviantart.com/

Research has shown that “sans serif” fonts are generally more legible, which helps you recognize and process individual characters, words, and phrases; while “serif” fonts are more readable, which helps you read longer passages of text more easily.  (If you’re googling the difference between “legibility” and “readability” right now, you’re not alone!)  As it turns out, those funny little strokes on serif fonts have a purpose – they help guide the eyes along the page horizontally so that you can read large bodies of text more fluently. Newspapers, magazines, and printed books have favored serif fonts (think: Times New Roman) for a long time. But the trend in websites has historically been to use sans serif fonts (think: Arial) for most text – in the past, sans serifs generally rendered more clearly on computer screens, which have always displayed text in a much lower resolution (dots per inch) than print.  As technology has improved, today’s high-definition devices are rendering that argument useless.  However, the “sans serif” trend on the web also makes sense if you think about the UX guideline that says most people will be scanning rather than reading your web content word for word like they would a newspaper article or book.  

  Truth be told, usability experts are continuing to debate whether one font style has any significant advantage over the other – in print, on screen, or otherwise.  So realistically speaking, you can probably just skip all the research (just this once!) and just use your own common sense to answer these questions about every font you are considering for your website:

1)     Tone / Branding – Does the font convey the right tone or feeling for your site? Is it in-line with your website or corporate branding?

2)     Readability – Is the font both clear and large enough to be legible/ readable across all platforms and devices?  (Translation:  It’s probably best to save the fancy script and Old English calligraphy fonts for your wedding invitations!)

3)     Consistency – Are you applying your fonts consistently throughout the site?  Haphazard fonts look unprofessional and reduce the credibility of your site.  In other words, if top-level headlines are supposed to be rendered in Helvetica 14 point bold using orange #f8791f, define that treatment in a style sheet, and then make sure it is applied consistently!

Usability Analysis & Testing

Can your users easily find and access all of the information on your site?  Is the text large enough for people to read?  (Don’t forget about the 40-plus crowd!) Can it be made larger using the browser settings if needed?  Is it easy to quickly distinguish between clickable and non-clickable items?  Is the user experience consistent across browsers and platforms?    

The best usability testing is done with what we call “authentic users” – you need to find and enlist a group of people who are in the same demographic as your target audience, or as close as you can get. Offer them some kind of hourly compensation, a pizza dinner, whatever you need to do to make it worth their while. This type of “focus group” testing can be done at every stage in the process – with wireframes or early graphical prototypes, during website development, and even after your site goes live.  (And after the site does go live, your Web Analytics reporting can be especially helpful in this regard – but that’s another topic altogether.) 

When conducting this kind of testing, don’t just ask your testers or focus group participants “what they think” – give them specific assignments and be clear in what you are asking them to evaluate.  (What do you think this website is about?  How easy was it to find product XYZ?  Did you get confused at any step in the process?)  Better yet, turn them loose on the website (or prototype version) and watch them as they interact with it. Video tape them, or sit with them and ask them to “talk out loud” as they are navigating through the site and processing the web content.  The more you learn about how your target users will interact with your site, the better you’ll be able to tailor and tweak the site to meet their needs. 

An Ongoing Cycle 

Every step in the UX design process must be carefully thought out, organized, planned, executed, tested, re-evaluated, and constantly refined in order to achieve the best user experience for your website visitors.  It begins with thinking about your target audience but ultimately requires an ongoing cycle of talking to your target users, finding out what they most want and need, designing a system that attempts to address their needs, testing to see if you got it right, and refining the design until you know you’ve hit the mark.   And even then, the work is never really “done.”  Websites – the good ones, anyway – are living, breathing organisms that must constantly grow and evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of their creators and ultimately (you guessed it!) the end users.

  Have questions about designing a successful user experience?

  How does your website measure up to these UX standards?

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Ok, this is an amazing commercial by GoldieBlox, a toy company out to inspire the next generation of female engineers. First clue: Make THE BEASTIE BOYS your soundtrack...

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IDD Joins Virginia Tech Athletics For Interactive Recruiting Tool

We are pleased to announce our new project with Virginia Tech Athletics called "Hokie Hoops," a new interactive touch screen kiosk recruiting tool for the Hahn Hurst Basketball Practice Center.

WSLS joined in and aired an excellent video feature story about the project.

Interactive kiosk technologies are revolutionizing the way people work and learn.

IDD's work began with the Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball Team to create an interactive touch screen kiosk for the Hahn Hurst Practice Center. The kiosk joins the vast array of basketball memorabilia already in the space, but adds an extra layer of visitor engagement by showcasing the players, coaches, and facility history in an interactive, media-rich, large-screen format.

In addition to bringing that digital edge to the Hahn Hurst experience, another goal of the software application is to be a portable recruiting tool. The 55” monitor projects the application and is operated by a wall-mounted tablet by ArmorActive. The basketball coaches can take the tablet with them on recruiting trips and present to families a VT club that honors their players and the institution. The kiosk currently shows the men’s basketball team, but the women’s basketball team will join them in the coming months. 

The touch screen kiosk software is built on a content management system, giving users the power to grow, edit, and manage their content as their message changes from anywhere, anytime. The built-in “timeline scroll” feature allows visitors to browse multiple pieces of organized information from an attractive and friendly touch screen interface. The application supports video, audio, full branding control, powerful visuals, easy-to-use editors, and usage analytics and reporting. 

This is not IDD’s first interactive touch screen kiosk, but it is our first Virginia Tech Athletics adventure. The software and its ability to present attractive and organized information through multimedia is a platform with endless applications and benefits. Celebrate decades of service, elevate a learning experience, improve doctor patient communication, or showcase a wall of donors. Regardless of your goals, placing the most relevant and compelling message at the fingertips of your audience will set you apart from the state of information saturation we all experience.

The excitement from the basketball team and local community around the release of this project has been tremendous.  We can’t wait to see the many different directions this interactive touch screen application will take us! 

Find out more about IDD’s interactive touch screen software and how it can enhance your communication.

By Rachel Doyle Marketing Director at IDD, Inc. www.iddnet.com Connect with Rachel On LinkedIn or Twitter

How would this touch screen software apply to your organization?

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Wanted: Email. Dead or Alive.

Advertising, social media, telemarketing and more. There are endless ways to attempt to reach our target audience, but one medium remains constant throughout the digital disruption: email.

Costumers continue to engage in their inboxes, so businesses should continue to refine and master the Email Art. The infographic by Marketo below will ensure you are using this communication to its fullest potential. 

IDD can help you design an email strategy to reach your audience in the right place and the right time. Contact IDD today to get started!

  Do you have tips or tricks that have worked in your email strategy?

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Women In Technology Bridge The Talent Gap

IDD is excited to announce the launch of ITPathways.org, as part of an outreach project designed to engage communities to support women in information technology (IT) careers.  The website was developed for the Appalachian Information Technology Extension Services (AITES) project at Virginia Tech. The website targets communities in rural areas of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee where research has shown girls tend to disregard IT fields as a potential career path as a result of preconceived notions, stereotypes, and lack of support from those around them.  

The cornerstone of the website is an interactive game highlighting careers in IT. The game presents a virtual “bike ride” during which the rider is presented with a series of "challenges" designed to informally assess potential skills, interests, and preferences that are important across many IT careers. The game is designed to encourage self-reflection and discovery of skills and preferences girls may not even be aware they have. At the end of the journey, the results include a sampling of potential IT careers as well as links to local employers, educational programs, and video interviews with "real women" role models who hold these careers. 

The AITES project is led by Dr. Peggy Meszaros, Director of the Center for Information Technology Impacts on Children, Youth, and Families at Virginia Tech. It is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation (GSE/EXT 0832913).  

The AITES team works with teachers, school counselors, Family and Consumer Science and 4H agents in a "train-the-trainer" model to educate communities about the wide range of IT jobs in their local area, overcoming gender stereotypes, and different ways to support girls' interests toward successful futures in the IT world. "There's nothing wrong with the girls." said Meszaros. "They have as much interest, ability, and access as boys their age. What is lacking is encouragement from those around them and knowledge of local opportunities." Packed with Best Practices and resources for educators and employers to develop similar programs in other areas, the project is an excellent example of our region's efforts to fill the gap in the IT talent crisis. 

For more information on the AITES project at Virginia Tech, click here and to check out their website visit itpathways.org.

  Want to find out more about interactive design projects?

How can we continue to build a community of women in technology?

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Great User Experience Is By Design: A III Part Series

Part II: Website Blueprint

By Amy Harvey Principal Software Engineer IDD, Inc.  www.iddnet.com

Previously, we began to discuss the process of designing a great user experience for your websites visitors, which you can read here. This blog will cover the most important steps in the process and key questions you should be asking yourself during each step. Step 1 covered the audience analysis and the importance of identifying your target audience. Step 2 discussed information architecture and the methods to which you should organize your content on your website. In this blog we will be discussing Steps 3-5.

  Navigation and Functional Design

Have you designed your menus, searches, and other navigational elements so that users can get to the information they need, quickly and efficiently?

This step in the process is often done using “wireframes” – non-graphical or “stick figure” representations of your vision for the site. (I personally happen to love this step, because it requires no real graphic skills; if you can draw a box, you can make a wireframe!)  Wireframes can be hand drawn or created electronically using simple drawing tools within Word, Photoshop, or other software. The tool you use (or, frankly, how “fancy” it looks at this stage in the game) is not a game-changer; what’s important is that you are taking the time to draw out your functional concepts before you start worrying about how it’s really going to look.  

Chicken or Egg? (Home Page or Sub Page?)

It can be hard to figure out where to start with your wireframes.  Some people start out with a clear idea of how the site’s home page is going to be organized, while others prefer to focus first on one or more of the sub-pages where the “meat and potatoes” of the content will live.  If you've done your homework with the information architecture (see step 2), you should at the very least be able to sketch out a basic “framework” with some top-level menu items to start – then you can assess, refine, and move on to the next level of detail. 

  QUICK TIP:  When roughing out the design at this level, a good initial target might be 3-5 well-thought-out sketches or wireframes showing how users will access the most important pages of your site.

  Consistent Navigation

When designing your site’s navigation, it’s important to make sure that all navigational elements are consistently located on every single page of the site.  Why is that so important?  Because many of your visitors will come to your website through search engines – they may “land” on the site through a deeply nested content page. Many of your visitors might never even visit the home page! So it’s important that they be able to quickly orient themselves on the site and identify all available options and routes, no matter which “door” they happen to have come in through. 

Web Standards

It’s also generally a good idea to stick with some of the “tried-and-true” conventions for positioning elements that will be common to every page of the site. Some of the most widely used navigational conventions include:

Company logo and tagline – in the top left, with hyperlink back to the site’s home page.

  Search box – typically found in the top right with “search” button located directly to the right of the text input field.

  Main Menu navigation – usually positioned horizontally along the top of the website, with pull-down submenus and/or secondary navigation located along the left side of the screen.

  Footer Menu – text links at the very bottom of the website that serve as a “mini site map”; this area also often includes a copyright statement and links to legal information or policies.

  While it might seem a bit boring to just copy what everyone else is doing, there really is a reason why so many websites use these conventions: because they work! Web users are comfortable with them, and most people have come to expect websites to follow these basic standards.  Yes, trends and conventions do change over time, but those changes tend to happen gradually and are usually driven by the “big players” in the industry (think: Apple, Google, and Microsoft). So unless you have a really good reason to deviate from the norm, just make it easy on yourself (and your users!) by putting these elements where people are naturally going to expect to find them.

So what if you’re one of those “creative” types who’s feeling bummed right about now because I've forbidden you from getting too creative with your labels and navigation? Don’t worry! When you get to the graphical design and content development, you’ll have lots of opportunities to make the site “uniquely yours” in other ways. And you’ll come to realize that when the function is seamless for your end users, they can focus on your content – which, after all, is what you really want!

7 is the “Magic Number” for Menus

When designing menus, a good rule of thumb is to limit all menus to no longer than seven items long.  Why seven?  Because research has shown that the average person can only keep about seven items in working memory at any given time. Making your menus longer than this will reduce users’ ability to distinguish and decide between items.  Whether you’re trying to convert your visitors into buyers or believers, the last thing you want to do is overwhelm them with too many choices.  If you must create longer menus, find a way to sub-divide or “chunk” them into related groupings (limiting each group to no more than 7 items, of course!) – then create a visual separation between the groups so that visitors can process the larger categories of options first, then make an appropriate selection from the list that looks like the best match for their needs.

  Graphical Design

Is the design of your website visually pleasing to your target audience? Does it convey the right tone? Is it consistent with your overall branding goals?

The graphical design is the part that most of us love to think and dream about when planning a website, because it’s the step at which we can really begin to visualize and get excited about how the site will look and feel. But remember that the graphical design must first and foremost support the information architecture and functional / navigational design – which, if you've done your homework correctly, has been drafted earlier in the process (see steps 2 and 3).  A website can be stunningly beautiful but totally unusable if it doesn't support the needed functions or speak to the target audience. And jumping right into the graphical design before you've done sufficient planning in the informational and functional areas can cause a lot of wasted time in development.

The graphical design process should include appropriate selection and creation of logos and taglines, fonts, colors, backgrounds, images, and (of course) layout. Keep in mind that colors, fonts, and images can be strategically selected to help convey different messages or even evoke certain feelings from your users. An experienced web graphic designer will know all of these “tricks” and can help you come up with a web design that speaks to your brand and attracts the user you want.

    Message Design

Are the key text elements on your website conveying your most important messages and goals? Are you speaking directly to your target audience in a language they are comfortable with and understand?

Write at the appropriate level for your audience.  Research has shown that writing in simple, easy-to-understand language – builds trust among your users, even those who are highly educated. Keeping the language short, clear, and simple will help visitors understand your message more quickly and easily.

A Call to Action

Are you including the right “calls to action” on every page to help users know what the next logical step in the process is? 

QUICK TIP: The “call to action” (also known as the CTA) isn’t always “buy now” – even if you are ultimately trying to sell something to your visitors. Instead, think about how you can lead your users along the “path to conversion” in baby steps. 

Asking them to make the commitment to “buy” (or even give contact information) too early in that process can be a turnoff. So maybe once you've captured their interest or attention, you’ll need to offer them opportunity to “learn more” and “see options” before asking them to make the commitment to “buy.”

Have questions about designing a successful user experience?

  What are your most successful CTA blurbs?

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Great User Experience Is By Design: A III Part Series

PART ONE: Finding your Niche

By: Amy Harvey Principle Software Engineer IDD, Inc.

  Designing a great user experience for your website visitors requires you to pay attention to a great many details at many different levels. It is a multi-step process that requires plenty of planning, designing, testing, and often re-designing before the development process even begins.  Some of the most important steps in this process, along with key questions you should be asking yourself at each step, are listed below.  The steps will be presented over a 3-part series, beginning today with steps 1 and 2.

STEP ONE: Audience Analysis

Who is your target audience?  How do they think?  What do they value?  What are their goals?  Why will they be on your website?

If you don't know the answers to these questions up front, make it a priority to find out, using market research, focus groups, or whatever else you need to do to become one with your target customer. This is truly STEP 1 in the process.

  QUICK TIP:  If you have multiple audiences, start with the largest one (or the one you care most about) and make sure you’re addressing their needs first.

 STEP TWO: Does Your Content Organization Make Sense?

Most websites organize content in one of three ways: by category, by audience, or by task.

The method (or combination of methods) you choose really depends on your content, your audience, and what organizational scheme you think will make the most sense to your users. So: how do you choose?

It's Not You, It's Them

First and foremost, you've got to understand and embrace the fact that most of your website visitors don’t think like you do. You may think they do. You might really want them to. But, apologies: they just don’t. Your visitors don’t know (or care) about how the content is organized inside your head, and it shouldn't be the mission of your website to teach them. Your users don’t have the same background knowledge about your content, either. Some of them might have a good knowledge base, but most of them are learning from you, so you’ve got to play to the lowest common denominator. Avoid the use of company-specific terms, industry jargon, and clever or “cutesy” labels. 

QUICK TIP: if you’re racking your brain trying to think of a clever name for your “Frequently Asked Questions” page, STOP NOW.  It may seem boring to you, but calling it what it really is – in layman’s terms or in language your audience will understand and identify with – will serve you so much better than trying to get overly creative with your content. 

Wondering where to start with your information architecture? Go back to STEP 1 (see above). Just pretend you’re a member of your target audience – the demographic of the website visitors you want most – then imagine how they would be thinking about or searching for your content. What search terms, categories, and labels would they use when looking for you? 

Want to find out more?

Contact IDD to discuss a UX Strategy for your business.

  Do you have suggestions on how to slice up your content in a way that will make sense and be most helpful to your target audience?

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How To Embed A Facebook Post

By Rachel Doyle Marketing Director at IDD, Inc. www.iddnet.com Connect with Rachel On LinkedIn or Twitter

After waiting for Facebook to roll out Embedded Posts to the rest of the world, we can finally report on the three easy steps to begin using them. 

You might be asking yourself: Why would I want to do that? (Excellent question: you.)

As marketers strive to pin down as many customer interactions as possible, added elements that allow us to control the message are always a plus. For example: you might find and share something on Facebook that's incredibly useful for your target audience. You can prove it's useful because your engagement percentage with that post was through the roof! With this new and wonderful piece of intel, you might also feel that snippet of information would fit perfectly tucked away on your website at the bottom of the sales funnel, just before the purchase button.

Now each of us can grab a public post on Facebook and embed it into our website or blog. Here's how:

Step 1: Hover over the top right corner of the post you can't live without, and click the drop down menu to choose Embed Post.

Step 2: A pop-up box will appear where you can grab the snippet of code. It will already be selected, so just key or click copy to do so. 

Step 3: Head over to the area of your blog or website that you would like for this post to appear and past the code into the html editor. For instance: I want to create a news story accompanied with the post, so I can easily do that from our content management system editor.

Once your page is live, visitors can engage with your post just as they would on Facebook. They can click like, share, and embed directly from your website which will appear on the desired post. 

It takes very little time to do if you have control of your website, and gives you access to an incredible amount of content to bring to your turf for interaction. 

Want to find out more?

Contact IDD for a full list of social media services.

What are some ways in which you will use this new feature?

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Take The Initiative

in·i·ti·a·tive the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do.

By: Mary Miller Owner and President IDD, Inc. Follow Mary:  @iddmmiller  |  On LinkedIn

I recently spent a few days in NYC and had a wonderful experience walking the “High Line” (http://www.thehighline.org/), which runs along the West Side of Manhattan from the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. It is a walking park built on an old rail line that rests above the city streets, watching over the bustle of the Big Apple. The rail opened in 1934 with the last train operating until 1980. As years of inactivity went by, the rail line became an eye sore for city residents and many wanted to have it removed.

While destruction seemed logical, the problem was a complicated and costly one. The line was owned by CSX, and the land under it was owned by the city. Removing the line would be expensive, but allowing it to remain in its degraded condition was unsightly and dangerous. It’s time as a rail line was finished, so plans to force NYC and CSX to remove it charged forward.   

But, isn’t there always a but…?

There were two men who lived along the line, and one night they held a neighborhood meeting to share and build on a vision of turning the old rail into a walking trail. They formed the ‘Friends of the High Line’ and over a number of years – with a lot of hard work and collaboration, brought their vision to life. 

During my visit to NYC, I was a delighted benefactor of their vision. It has a stunning landscape of plants and intriguing art, along thoughtfully designed areas to sit and take in the sites of the city. One area of seating sits just over the road, an urban theatre where viewers can watch the traffic emerge from under them. It is an oasis above the city; simply charming. Walking along the trail, my thoughts circled around the great insight NYC had in saving the rail bed, but I was mistaken. It wasn’t until I reached the end of the line, that I discovered the rest of the story.

  Around 1999, had it not been for two neighborhood residents, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, the High Line may have been destroyed, and the millions of people would have missed having access to a delightful urban park above the city.

Millions of people have, and will continue to benefit because two people took the initiative to share a vision.

No matter where you are in life or what you do for a living, we all have visions that we can share to make something better. You can make a difference in your family, your community or your job. As a community we have an obligation to foster others’ visions. We can empower our peers and encourage a culture of visionaries by keeping an open mind and keen ear. 

What are you waiting for? What’s holding you back? Let your good ideas out by taking the initiative, we will all be better off for your actions.

What are some of your favorite examples of initiative?

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High Line History, Narrated by Ethan Hawke

-and a great instance of initiative.

Visit The Highline.

Do you know of other urban parks?

[visualoop]

Via

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22 Years of Technology Advances and A Little Luck

Stopping To Celebrate the Journey and The Friends We've Made Along The Way

-By Mary Guy Miller, IDD, Inc. President and Founder

-Follow Dr. Miller @iddmmiller

During my first few months in business, I often had lunch with a mentor – he was wise, successful and I know I looked to him for all the answers.  One day, I was firing questions to him about ‘making it in business.’ He was answering as fast as he could and then he threw his hands up in the air – and said, “Stop! You can do lots of things right and not make it – and you can do lots of things wrong and still make it – so, I have a question for you. Are you Lucky?”

“Yes, I answered eagerly– I am lucky.”  “Then,” he said calmly, “you might have a chance.”

I have never forgotten that day and I am always so appreciative of the good luck that has come our way. We are proud to have worked on so many worthwhile endeavors for our clients – our work has touched many important areas in health care, education, manufacturing, and information management. Our clients have trusted us with their visions and we have helped bring them to life. It is a very special partnership and we thank them all.

Yes, we have had an exciting and meaningful journey.  Not only with project work but also with the technology.  I don’t think there has ever been a period in history where the technology has changed faster. This month, as part of the fun, we are putting some of our old technology and project memorabilia on display.  Included will be my first desktop computer, the Apple II, along with Bobby Banana and mementoes from a host of clients. The old Comptometer can’t manipulate data like our CMS, and the resolution on the Apple II simply can’t compete with our museum kiosk. It’s fun looking back- but today is also about looking forward. 

It looks at though we will sign two new contracts before the day closes. One with a new client and one with a client we have served for many years. To me, this represents the trust our lifetime clients have with us, and also a testament to our commitment to innovation, which continues to bring us new clients, friends, and journeys. There simply couldn’t be a better way to celebrate 22 years.

We’re in the business of empowering your vision. If you’re in the neighborhood – I hope you stop by.

www.iddnet.com

Follow Dr. Miller @iddmmiller

Follow IDD, Inc. @IDDinc

How can we help?

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The Benefits of A Touch Screen Kiosk

What Is A Kiosk?

A touch screen kiosk is a physical (hardware and software) addition to your business or organization that invites human interaction. Kiosks come in all shapes and sizes, from a simple countertop iPad to a 55 inch industrial LCD monitor housed in a custom surround and sealable against dust and water. They can assist in providing, goods, services, information, or self-service.

With the rise of customizable kiosk software, businesses large and small are reaping the benefits of adding a kiosk to their environment.

There When You Can’t Be

Whether you have something to sell, teach, or operate, an interactive touch screen kiosk placed outside your door can slice through your overhead costs by working for your business 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remove threats of inclement weather, reduce sick-day stress, or holiday closings, and be in front of your consumer when they need you.

Always Relevant, Always Adaptive

Consumers and employees are faced with thousands of messages every day. You can quickly and easily edit your dynamic kiosk software to provide your customers with the right message at the right time.

Increase internal efficiency by moving away from paper-based methods. Change a product, search through a directory, or update a contact form without sifting through old files.

Round-The Clock Education and Information

Do you have a museum exhibit, memorial, statue, or building on your property that has a rich history, lesson, or background you want to convey? An interactive touch screen kiosk can hold all the information you need to make your story come alive in a compelling way -- any time, day or night. Enhance your visitor experience with a museum kiosk that shares information interactively. The only thing better than a visual exhibit is a multi-sensor one. 

A Celebration or Anniversary’s Best Friend

Whether you’re a business celebrating 20 years of service or a town center celebrating a 100th anniversary, a touch screen kiosk can highlight and showcase all of the milestones from your journey on an interactive timeline. Sports, government, higher education, architecture, an enterprise company or small business: no matter what the field, a touch screen kiosk with your organization's history can sharpen the focus and be a sophisticated addition to your special event.

Completely Customizable Software and Display Monitors

Build your brand loyalty with software and display monitors designed with your logo and any other brand standards. Enhance your sales process by leading your consumer down a clear path to purchase, right from your touch screen monitor. Educate readers about your long and rich history from a touch screen display.

The possibilities are endless!

Now, How Do I Get One?

IDD, Inc. has built kiosk software for interactive touch screen kiosks for over 22 years. In fact, the first application we ever built was a touch screen kiosk for Virginia Tech, right here in Blacksburg. IDD, Inc. has put kiosks in public malls and libraries across Virginia and presented Virginia Cooperative Extension information including houseplants, landscape plants, entomology, personal finance, consumer law, and more. We created a museum kiosk for the Virginia Science Museum and the Virginia Museum of Transportation. 

Let us empower your vision by building a software application to serve your business needs. SEE OUR LATEST KIOSK APPLICATIONS!

Want to find out more?

Learn about our kiosk development process from start to finish. Implement an interactive element in a few weeks!

Do you have a kiosk? How has it improved your organization? 

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IDD President, Mary Miller, Honored as Distinguished Alumna for Virginia Tech

We sing her praises every day, but today we can be a little louder. Our President and Founder, Dr. Mary Miller, was invited to speak at Virginia Tech's Commencement as the College of Engineering Distinguished Alumna. Chosen from an incredibly talented pool of over 60,000 living alumni, we are simply over the moon about this honor and would like to congratulate her on her accomplishments thus far and her vision for the future. We love you, Mary!

See the College of Engineering article here.

Read her speech below to an impressive room of peers and thousands of eager and able graduates. 

  Dean Benson, Distinguished Faculty, Proud members of the Class of 2013, Parents and other Honored Guests

I stand before you slightly overwhelmed and very much humbled by this honor.  This college shares thousands of outstanding alumni with the world.  I am so very proud to be a graduate of the College of Engineering and so very honored to be with you today.

It seems that only yesterday I was in this very coliseum picking up my freshman ID.  It was only a month after my 18th birthday and coming to Virginia Tech was indeed a big step for me.  I was a member of the largest class of women to ever attend VPI.  We numbered 1000, which was quite an increase from 300 the previous year.  There were pay phones in the hallways, drop/add was a process of standing in line in the War Memorial, and I was in love with this wondrous place.  

Yes, much has changed at this great institution but a constant remains; the College of Engineering was and continues to be a rich environment for nurturing minds and spirits.  To the Class of 2013, I welcome you as Alumni.  We share a great proud distinction.  You and I were chosen and we succeeded; we will forever be bonded by our experiences and the strength  of our Virginia Tech family. 

There is no question that the world needs engineers. We are  problem solvers and there is no shortage of problems to solve.  On the journey ahead, you will need to use both your head and your heart to have the impact that I know you can have.  I often say that we have all drunk from wells we did not dig and we have been warmed by fires we did not build.  There comes a time when we are called to dig new wells and build great fires, so I ask that you use your heart to share your gifts with the world.

I am privileged to live and work in this university community.  I am continually inspired by our mother ship.  I often cut across campus and sit for a moment on the drill field to reflect my own drinking from this well.  Each time I drive down Prices Fork I smile to see the Signature building taking shape and I am thankful for the future students it will nurture.  If I ever feel I have lost my way, I know that returning to my campus home inspires me.

You are ready for your next assignment – I know you will go forth with your inspiration and do great things.   I look forward to celebrating you on this very stage.  However, if you ever struggle to find your inspiration I invite you to do what I do: come home.  Walk around campus, look at the very young students that have taken your place, visit in your department and feel the inspiration.  Remember your journey here and the path will become clear.

To my College, I pledge my work and inspiration to continue to remain in your favor.  I owe you my very best for you have given me yours. 

Thank you so very much for this honor.