Post Launch

Not so random thoughts from the folks at Launch. Mostly we cover web design, user experience, mobile app design and other events around the web.

[postlaunch]

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in the shallows and in miseries... And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.

William Shakespeare

[postlaunch]

Don't Animate Ad Media

One of the consistent things I've learned when putting together display ad media is that perfectly static one frame billboards have the best click thru.

In the past, my colleagues and I have simply shrugged it off and moved on. After all, according to Account Managers, the client expects some razzle dazzle. The agency is judged in part, by the creativity, interactivity and flashiness of their ad media.

But there it is. Every time we test single frame banners, they win. And I think I finally figured out why. It is because people ignore advertisements and they are pretty darned good at it. And this article has the data to back it up: Banner Blindness

My simple theory is that non-animated banners look and feel less like the traditional animated banners that users have trained themselves to ignore.

[now--please]

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Hang out at the pool, party or park in style. Check out these wicked stereo boomboxes made from vintage suitcases. Many of the speakers are vintage too - and the sound is exceptional. And, check out this demo of one of the cases in stereophonic action!

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You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Wayne Gretsky

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Web Booth managed to gather 5 indispensable chrome browser extension tools for Web Designers into one blog post. Kudos guys, much appreciated.

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The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

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Discovery & Design Process Map (Free PDF)

Recently, we ran across a client that needed a full scale redesign who didn't understand the web design process at all. "So what am I getting for all this money?". Translation: 'why does it cost this much?'. The true answer is that he is getting a well executed website.

Since I couldn't just say "an awesome new website", I dove headlong into the shallow end of the pool: "Well, first we conduct a heuristic analysis, then a design brief and functional requirements...". I went on and on and on as I noticed his eyes glazing over. 

What a dreadful response. I really, should have simply said: "We create deliverables that lead to a web site. We conduct research and analysis during the Discovery phase, and create blueprints and visuals during the Design phase. Developers and clients use this documentation to build the final web site. Executing these steps effectively leads to an optimal result."

The above still seems like a lot - but it's 10 times shorter than what I've attempted in the past.

And then I would hand them this takeaway: (PDF) Discovery & Design Process

Clear enough right? Ha! Well, even though it is a bit dizzying at first glance, at least laymen and geek alike have the opportunity to examine a top down view of site design deliverables and how they all relate to one another. I've found that even the wonkiest UX professionals - while they understand the process - have never really had a comprehensive diagram that explains it all.

More About The Map

First, let me give a huge thank you to Eightshapes Unify for creating the superb inDesign documentation system that we use to create our documentation. The D&D diagram does indeed use their brilliant isometric library to give life to my visualization of how designers do their job.

Second, some disclaimers about this document:

Our approach can be mapped to show key progressive, collaborative paths of deliverables & authors. 

No one in the industry has identical process approaches, but there is a good bit in common. The process we illustrate here is not etched in stone. Rather, we fit a client’s specific need. For example, some clients will not need an Evaluation because there is no current state to evaluate. 

I hope that the UX design and development community will find this process map contribution useful. I look forward to hearing feedback that might improve it!

[postlaunch]

Personalization & Efficiency for Users

As the expansion of our physical universe accelerates, our digital universe seems hell bent on matching it. Each new hardware innovation pushes software forward in lock step. And through the continued growth of social networks and software as a service (SaaS) "cloud" integrations, the competition for user attention has kicked into hyperdrive.

The consequences are plentiful. I could easily fill up an 800 page book on this topic alone. Unfortunately, if it took longer than 6 months to write, it would be outdated by the time it was published. Instead, I will attempt to say something meaningful about the subject while attempting a paragon of brevity - this lengthy introduction not withstanding.

First, a simple postulation: users are, and always will be, solipsistic. Do not allow yourself to believe that the explosion of sharing, posting, liking or tweeting between persons means that the Internet is fully characterized by a "group" mentality. Certainly, group things happen in abundance on social networks (flash mobs at the local mall, Egyptian revolutions), but users are still individuals, and that is how they use the web. When a user tweets, even if they are sharing someone else's link, they are really saying "Hey, look at ME, I found this".

When it comes down to it, users each have their own individual center and everything else in the digital landscape orbits them - and designers must address them on a personal level to optimize business success. The so called "market of one" has not been dismantled by digital expansion. On the contrary, it is continually enhanced at a rapid pace.

Second postulation: proliferation of devices and cloud based software has led to small businesses and digital savvy households being able to run more efficiently than their enterprise laden or antenna ear television brethren. I can explain this more later but let's just say, for example, that I want to create a brand new blog from scratch and post this entire article on it within the next five minutes. Would you care to bet that I can't do it in time? I didn't think so.

Role of Social Networks and Other Tools.

Social networks are a bit of a problem child for marketers - as so few of them seem to be leveraging them appropriately. For example, brands that have poor customer service launch Facebook pages and are then suprised by how much of their dirty laundry spills into public view. If the customer "can't get no satisfaction" on your 800 number, they will certainly take their revenge socially. 

When planning social media, marketers should consider what is personal about users on an individual level. Also, site designs should be considerate of how social media make things more efficient for individuals. Here are some small examples of this larger mentality in action - all of which posit the claim of a trend toward personalization.

PROBLEM: That pesky login. There are now millions of web sites that ask users to log in. Personally, I am a regular user of Pinterest, Fab, Etsy, Amazon, Wells Fargo, Gmail, Basecamp, Mint, Tumblr, Dribbble and on and on. Remembering all of my various passwords is horrible pain. Filling out my profile info every time I add another digital planet to my solar system is a pain. OpenID may eventually be adopted pervasively, but until then...

SOLUTION: Login through Facebook or Twitter. For heaven's sake, at least give me the option to do so! And now, smart "new" startups like Pinterest have been able to use that trick to access to re-position your Facebook friends into your new Pinterest ecosytem - seamlessly - and with the user barely lifting a finger. I would suggest this tactic of importing Facebook and Twitter relationships has had a large effect on Pinterest's growth, being the fastest site to hit 10 million visitors a month.

Pinterest Login

Now let's approach the trend toward efficiency and personalization outside of the social media realm:

PROBLEM: Remind me - where did I see that cool purse again? As users shop, they skip around the web like a rock on a pond. Do not believe that they just go to Amazon and stop there. Rather, they skip from site to site - go have dinner - get distracted by their Twitter feed - answer a high pri email, and then, resume shopping for that purse. Marketers should realize: folks may have left your ecommerce site before seeing all your purses, and might never come back - because - they are self centered users. And they are busy.

SOLUTION: Retargeting. There are a large number of ways customers can organize their distractions, but my focus here is on how marketers deal with this problem. One way is to reap the benefits of the incredibly high ROI delivered by retargeting. The best way to describe retargeting is that it is the Hotel California. You can check out of my site, but you may never leave. In plain english, via adroll:

Retargeting works by keeping track of people who visit your site and displaying your retargeting ads to them as they visit other sites online.

This is why, even after I buy those Sketchers shoes that I liked on Zappos, I'm continually bombarded with ads for Sketchers everywhere else I go. I find it mildly annoying, but there is no doubt that it is effective, and quickly emerged as a common marketing practice. And of course, this adheres to the maxim that the web is getting more - not less - personal as digital attention hounding technologies proliferate.

Efficiency of Web Based Service Software

As mentioned earlier, the effects of this trend are forked into two categories - small business and consumer. Let's address these areas from my perspective:

Small Business: I am an entrepreneur who is bootstrapping his business. Let's call this "NOW". I've spent a lot of my career working for large corporations like The Home Depot and Turner. Let's call that "BEFORE". For my operation to run smoothly, I need several things.

Accounting:

BEFORE: SAP and dozens of accountants. It is nowhere but in my office. It took millions of dollars to build. 

NOW: Quickbooks Online and a bookkeeper. It handles my invoices, balance sheet, paychecks, etc. It also pulls in data from my Wells Fargo account. It is everywhere I go as long as I have an iPad or iPhone. This costs less than $75 a month.

Project Management.

BEFORE: Microsoft Project. Excel. It is only at the office. 

NOW: Basecamp ($20/mo). Communication and planning are unified into one tool.

Ideation.

BEFORE: 6 hour meetings. They were only at the office. 

NOW:  Workflowy (Free). It is everywhere we go. It is shareable. It is magnificently simple.

Digital Savvy Consumer: You know who you are...

Accounting.

BEFORE: I had no idea what was going on with my finances. A UBS account here, Bank of America there, 4 credit cards, a home loan etc.

NOW: Mint organizes all of it. It is free. I can keep track of my net worth every day. And I do so, because, well let's just say that the site has connected to me on a personal level.

Project Management

BEFORE: My wife left little scraps of notepaper laying around for me to find on weekends. This is commonly called the "Honey Do" list.

NOW: Workflowy. Did I mention that it is great at making shareable lists? This has NOT made my life more efficient, but it has made hers more efficient. And her list is now accessible anywhere. Yay.

Ideation.

BEFORE: We did a renovation in 2004. The designer made collages of things torn out of magazines. There was glue. It was messy. We had to do it, *gasp*, in each other's presence.

NOW: We are redecorating our living room and dining room. Hence, we have hired an interior designer. This time, she has dispensed with the magazines. Did I mention how Pinterest is not only another distracting force in social media, but also very useful? Now, my wife and I bounce all over the Internet "pinning" things to our Pinterest wall. Not only can I do this everywhere - it lives in a place where both my designer and Facebook friends can comment on it. Plus, the pictures actually link to the place we can buy it from. This is much better than catalogs and magazines, but I am sure you already know this.

Side note: many of the major e-commerce sites (as of this writing) do not have the Pinterest bookmarklet on this site. They should do this immediately.

So, in the interest in brevity (relative to the aforementioned 800 page book), I conclude that users benefit from and enjoy personalization (centered on 'self') and efficiency in their web tools. After all, users are people, and people are mammals.  Our needs are generally selfish. Even in the act of sharing with others, communication is often done for selfish reasons on some level. And it has been this way for around 100,000 years.

Also, of course, users crave efficiency because their time is (selfishly) valuable to them. And they really need efficiency in the face of rapid growth in numbers of things competing for attention. Our guiding principle as designers should be to create personal, ubiquitous, SIMPLE features that save time while addressing everyday business and consumer needs.

[postlaunch]

The future ain't what it used to be.

Yogi Berra

[postlaunch]

Launch Interactive of Atlanta is the proud owner of this new blog. More exciting things to come of course!