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How Design Impacts Social Media Success
2008-04-30 08:01:00
Web design and social media marketing are two topics that I enjoy studying, and the two certainly impact one another for website owners and bloggers who are attempting to increase traffic to their site. While social media is intended to put a spotlight on the best and most popular content, the look and appearance of a page will often influence social media users and their decision of whether or not they should vote for a particular submission. The design of a site can be either a positive or a negative influence on the voting decision, and social media marketers need to consider appearance as much as they consider the content and headlines.8 Ways Design Influences Social Media Users:1. First ImpressionThe first impression of any visitor, regardless of how they arrive at your site, will be heavily influenced by the appearance of the site. Generally, opinions are formed in a matter of seconds, not minutes, so creating a positive impression is critical. While most of your website’s v...
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Why Search Engine Visibility Is Important
2008-04-18 12:30:00
Search engines and directories are the main way Internet users discover web sites. Various resources confirm this statement, and the percentages generally range from 42 percent of Internet users to 86 percent.A January 2001 study conducted by NPD Group, a research organization specializing in consumer purchasing and behavior, tested the impact of search engine listings and banner advertisements across a variety of web sites to determine which marketing medium was more effective. In each situation, search engine listings came out on top. They found consumers are five times more likely to purchase your products or services after finding a web site through a search engine rather than through a banner advertisement.Jupiter Media Metrix, another Internet research firm, determined that 28 percent of consumers go to a search engine and type the product name as a search query when they are looking for a product to purchase online.Search engines and directories average over 300 million searc...
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Information Foraging: The Web User Experience
2008-04-16 06:38:00
Information foraging is the most important concept to emerge from human-computer interaction research since 1993. Developed at the Palo Alto Research Center (previously Xerox PARC) by Stuart Card, Peter Pirolli, and colleagues, information foraging uses the analogy of wild animals gathering food to analyze how humans collect information online.Recommended ReadingIf our brief explanation of information foraging has whet your appetite, so to speak, consider reading Peter Pirolli's Information Foraging: A Theory of Adaptive Interaction with Information (Oxford University Press, 2006). Be warned that this book is highly theoretical and requires an aptitude for both math and cognitive psychology. But if you can stomach some hard-core science, you'll be amply rewarded with great insights into the underlying principles that drive user behavior on the Web and determine which sites succeed.Web users behaving like beasts in a jungle? There is ample data to support this claim. Animals make d...
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Technological Change: Its Impact on Usability
2008-04-15 07:33:00
The Web has changed drastically since it started as a collection of physics papers in 1991. The first two years, it was a small type-only hypertext system used by a bunch of researchers, but in 1993 the first major GUI to the Web was introduced with the Mosaic browser. Our research into users' interaction with Web sites and intranets has continued as the Web has evolved through generations of technologyfrom the gray pages in Mosaic through the colorful pages with table-based layout in Netscape to the multilayered, functionality-rich pages in Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), which uses JavaScript and ever-growing Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).When we began our research in 1994, home users accessed the Internet primarily by dial-up modems with 28.8 kilobits per second (Kbps) throughput, while today most home users in the United States and many other countries have so-called broadband connections running at a few megabits per second (Mbps). (We refer to current cable modems and Dig...
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Complying with Design Conventions and Usability Guidelines
2008-04-15 07:24:00
The entire concept of "Web design" is a misnomer. Individual project teams are not designing the Web any more than individual ants are designing an anthill. Site designers build components of a wholeespecially now that users are viewing the Web as a single, integrated resource. Unfortunately, much of the Web is like an anthill built by ants on LSD. Many sites don't fit into the big picture and are too difficult to use because they deviate from expected norms.Defining Standards and Conventions Standard: Eighty percent or more of Web sites use the same design approach. Users strongly expect standard elements to work a certain way when they visit a new site because that's how things almost always work.Convention: About 50 to 79 percent of Websites use the same design approach. Users expect conventional elements to work a certain way when they visit a new site because that's how things usually work.Confusion: With these elements, no single design approach dominates, and even the most ...
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The Web User Experience : Search Dominance
2008-04-15 07:04:00
When we let users loose to go anywhere they wanted on the Web, they went to a search engine 88 percent of the time. Only in 12 percent of cases did they go straight to a Web site that they hoped would help them with their problem. For example, when the task was to research vacation travel to Mexico, only a few users went to a travel site that they already knew and trusted, such as Expedia or Travelocity. The vast majority employed a search engine to help them find sites.The fact that search engines have become the dominant tool for users looking for solutions is clearly why search advertising has become such a profitable business. Search ads are the main way you get in front of prospective customers at the exact moment they are looking for new vendors.Increasingly, the Internet user experience is becoming one of dipping a toe into Web sites rather than truly "visiting" them. Using search engines as their Web interface, people often grab query-related nuggets from sites without engag...
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How Well Do People Use the Web?
2008-04-15 07:00:00
In the beginning, the question was whether people were even capable of using Web sites. Today the answer is "yes," at least most of the time. When we told people to go to a specific site in the user testing for this book, they completed their tasks successfully 66 percent of the time. Of course, they also failed 34 percent of the time, but on average people did succeed.There are more than a billion users on the Internet, so any site that has less than ten million customers (in other words, almost any site) has not tapped into 99 percent of the potential audience.Why do people use the Web if they fail a third of the time? Because in reality, they don't fail that often. The failures occur when people use new sites, but most people spend a lot of their time on sites that have proven useful in the past, so their success across a day of Web use is actually higher. Because users choose sites to spend time on based on their prior experience with them, those with high usability have a bett...
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Yahoo and Google Partner Again : Serving AdWords in Yahoo Results
2008-04-10 15:12:00
Is the end of Yahoo Search Marketing near? Yahoo has announced that they are running limited tests of AdWords sponsored search ads (or Google AdSense for Search, which are AdWords served in the search results of non-Google search properties) beside Yahoo Search results. Yahoo says that the test will apply only to traffic from the Yahoo.com site in the U.S. and will not include Yahoo!’s network of affiliate or premium publisher partners, like the Newspaper consortium or other Yahoo partners. Yahoo says that the test is expected to last up to two weeks and will be limited to no more than 3% of Yahoo! search queries.This test is a direct result to the Microsoft takeover attempt, even though Yahoo is not admitting it : Yahoo!’s board of directors is exploring strategic alternatives to maximize stockholder value, including exploration of potential commercial business arrangements. The Company noted that the testing does not necessarily mean that Yahoo! will join the AdSense for Searc...
More About: Partner , Results , Adwords

How Many Blogs Should You Build?
2008-04-10 15:09:00
Compared to building websites, blogs are easier, cheaper and faster to build, but does this mean that you should have more than one? My answer to this is "yes and no." A little bit of an ambiguous answer I know, but let me clear up the reasons for my answer …If you're an intermediate to advanced marketer who knows how to a) get traffic to your blog and b) monetize your blog by converting more of your visitors into paying customers, then I say you have a solid reason for diversifying into other niche markets and build more blogs - so long as you know how to manage all of them of course. The problem really comes when you don't know how to get traffic to your blog, you struggle with keeping it maintained, your blog posts are mediocre and even if people do land on your blog, they hit the back button in seconds … in other words, they escape your blog without even taking note of what you have to say. This is when I argue that you should think twice before building more blogs unles...
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How To Make Viral Videos
2008-04-10 15:05:00
Last year, the big thing online was about getting your videos on YouTube or Google Video but in my view, 2008 demands much more than creating a video or putting it up on video sharing sites.Yep, 2008 is about spread! If you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to make your videos viral and if you want to learn more about how to do this, young Gavin over at RyanShamus.com has just written a great article on how to make your videos viral. As Gavin points out, to be viral, your video has to be different - funny, unique, interesting and, I would add to this, inspiring. In other words, you have to engage your audience enough that they consider your video worthy of sharing with their friends via email, social networking or even on their own blog. After all as Gavin points out, "the term ‘viral’ comes from the same concept as a virus - it spreads! But, in this case the spreading is a good thing." Basically, having a viral video is like word-of-mouth marketingBut, it's a few t...
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Useful Web Resources for Small Business and Non Profits #5
2008-04-04 16:29:00
Useful Tools for Small Business es on the WebBlidgetCreate a blidget; a widget that sits on your website and pulls in the latest entries from your blog. Customizable and freeBrowsershotsBrowsershots lets you test how your site looks in different browsers; Firefox, Opera, IE, Safari, running on different operating systems; Linux, Windows, Mac.Colour LoversIf you are planning changes to your Web site, Colour Lovers helps you work out what color schemes work well together. It also gives you RGB and Hex reference numbers if you want to pass them on to your site developer.ContributeIf you are paying a programmer for each tiny change to your website, it can get expensive, and quickly. Contribute allows you to easily update pages on your site using your browser; no technical knowledge required and can save you tons of money in programmer fees. From Adobe - $169 with free trial period available.DeclutteredHow to declutter your desk. Not so much a tool, but a how to on making your desk neater...
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Useful Web Resources for Small Business and Non Profits #4
2008-04-04 16:20:00
Linking Strategy for Small Business The Ultimate guide to building the perfect linkThe biggest problems small businesses face is getting links to their site. Matt McGee walks you through types of links, how to approach them and what not to do.102 Ways to get backlinksWritten in the order they need to be done, Courtney Tuttle walks you through how to get links to your site the right way.Link to Yourself Using Anchor TextAnchor text is extremely important if you want search engines to notice you under specific key words, Darren explains why and how to do it.20 Ways to Get Legit Links Without Getting Penalized by GoogleIf you don’t want to annoy Google, but want people linking to your site, try Tad’s recommendations – they work.Link Buying Guide: Directories, Ads and ReviewsIf you want to buy links, buy links that don’t jeopardize your online presence. Loren Baker lists his favorites.PR and MarketingBlogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing ToolFrom the New York Times, a re...
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Internet Marketing Services
2008-04-03 14:15:00
The Different Types of Profesional Internet Marketing Services Search engine marketing can only be done in two ways; natural rankings and advertising. Top natural search engine rankings in competitive keyphrase environments usually demands the employment of an SEO Service. That is what this article is all about : SEO Services that offer organic results.Pay-per-click searchengine advertising does not require a search engine optimizer at all. It requires a person that can modify an advertising account. There are very few skills involved. Practically anyone can change a bidding campaign.On the other hand, the expertise involved in search engine optimisation requires a unique skill set. Difficult niche SERP ( search engine results pages ) competitions generally demand for the kind of high caliber web site optimization that only a small portion of SEOs are able to actually perform. These extremely powerful optimizing services come in three types : Ethical, Unethical and Somewhere in the m...
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ANNOY Your Customers With Flash Animation!
2008-04-03 13:50:00
If you use flash animation you may find yourself asking:"What the #!@#%! happened to my website?" The answer is clear. FLASH ANIMATION IS BAD FOR BUSINESS.Flash is bad for usability, accessibility and search engine marketing. So why do I care if you use flash animation on your website?My business is built on helping businesses get high search engine rankings and quality traffic to their websites so they can increase their sales and get better awareness for their products and services.Yet, we still get customers who want Flash Animation rather than providing good search engine friendly content.THE FACT IS: Flash animation forces search engine spiders to understand and rely on Meta Tags to rank your website and you risk annoying your website visitors.It's true, however, that some search engine spiders will index some flash file content, but it has significant limitations.The Goal for Your Business is to get found and sell your products or services.So be honest and ask yourself: (1) "...
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text-align:center works in IE but not in Firefox
2008-04-03 13:49:00
When things work in IE as we expect, we presume that it’s perfect and should work in other browsers too. text-align:center; or text-align:right; properties for layout works well in Internet explorer as we want but it doesn’t work in mozilla-family of browsers, why?Well there is nothing wrong with Firefox or Netscape but something with IE, read the property again, text-align must be for alignment of the text inside an element and not the alignment of that element itself, right? This is why Firefox/Netscape will not align the element but the text inside it, and that’s perfectly alright! But IE on the other hand uses this property to align elements as well as text inside them to specified location, which is logically wrong as far as the alignment of elements is concerned.Well anyways it works in IE, but then what is solution for Firefox/netscape if you want to align elements in the center/right?It’s very simple, use margin:auto; (all margins top, right, bottom, left would be ad...
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Float:left does not work in Firefox/Netscape
2008-04-03 13:47:00
The code might be something like:test text left or imagetest text rightand style with properties:#left {width:30%; float:left;}#right {float:right;}everything is perfect and works as expected in Internet Explorer, then what’s wrong with Firefox /Netscape ?There’s nothing wrong, IE is acting Smarter, it actually calculates and considers the width for ‘right’ div to be 70% but Firefox or Netscape takes it to be 100% which I think is logically correct as if we don’t specify the width=100% that means we assume the browser considers it to be 100%, and the same thing is happening here in case of Firefox and Netscape.Well, now do I need to tell the solution? Pretty simple, assign width preferable little less than 70% e.g. 68% and everything will work as you want in Firefox, Netscape as well as IE.
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jQuery Plugins and the repository
2008-04-03 13:37:00
It is cool and amazing. jQuery is a light weight JavaScript library that does some awesome jobs in event handling, animation and Ajax interactions on a HTML file. They call it "The Write Less, Do More" JavaScript library which can do wonders if at all you are bothered about code optimization and adding some cool effects to your webpage. It is little complex but small and very powerful, lets take a look at following code:$(document).ready(function() {$("#Jmenu ul").hide();$("#Jmenuli").filter("[ul]"). hover(function(){$(this).children("ul").s how("slow");},function(){$(this).children ("ul").hide("slow"); });});The first line gets it ready for the Action. The second line searches for ul structures inside the parent ul with't forget to add jquery.js file in your html file, it can be found on their site. Now if I had to write the same code using typical JavaScript it would be hundreds of lines of code to get the same effect. That was just a small example of what jQuery can do, needless to...
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65 Resources for Grid-Based Design
2008-04-03 12:01:00
Grid-based design is obviously a popular approach in modern web design. Ford designers that use grids, this post includes links to useful tools that can improve your efficiency and effectiveness, as well as some articles for advanced techniques. For those of you who are not as familiar with the details of grid-based design, there are plenty of articles and learning resources here.Articles:Grids Are Good - Presentation in a PDF documentGrid (page layout) - WikipediaWhy Use a Grid - Mark Boulton5 Simple Steps to Design ing Grid Systems: Preface - Mark Boulton5 Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems: Part 1 - Mark Boulton5 Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems: Part 2 - Mark Boulton5 Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems: Part 3 - Mark Boulton5 Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems: Part 4 - Mark Boulton5 Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems: Part 5 - Mark BoultonFeeling Your Way Around Grids - Mark BoultonOh Yeeaahh! - SubtractionThe Funniest Grid You Ever Saw - SubtractionGrid Co...
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Useful Web Resources for Small Business and Non Profits #3
2008-04-03 10:42:00
Business BloggingBusiness Blogging 101Darren Rowse gets you thinking about how businesses should use blogs, and gives you the basics in plain English if you want to start blogging.Choosing a blog platformThere are many blogging platforms around, some requiring technical know how, others not. Read this post if you are not sure which platform suits your needs best.WordPress.com For an easy to use, non-techie approach to blogging, WordPress will give you more than other platforms. Ad-Free, customizable, and optimized for search, Google loves WordPress, so will you. If you are tech inclined, you can run WordPress software (free) on your own site. See also, WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org for more information about the differences.How to install WordPress softwareTen video tutorials from Stefan Mischook on how to install and configure WordPress if you want to give it a go yourself.Ninja Blog SetupIf you decide to go with WordPress software and host it yourself, but don’t want the heada...
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Useful Web Resources for Small Business and Non Profits #2
2008-04-02 17:09:00
Creating and Maintaining an AudienceHow to Get Repeat Visitors for Your WebsiteThere are two types of visitors to a site: new visitors and repeat visitors. In this article, Maki provides insight into how to create an online place that people will want to return to.Give Your Readers Room to Participate in Your BlogIf you are having a hard time getting visitors to leave comments, read this article by Problogger Darren Rowse that explains how you can gently encourage and engage your readers, and build a reputable online presence.10 Free Ways to Get Blog Exposure, New Readers and SuccessThere is much you can do if you want to spend money on getting exposure on the Web, but what can you do to increase exposure without having to pay one cent?Analyzing Your SiteAnalytics On The Cheap: Six Free Stats Packages for the Startup or Small Business OwnerIf you’re not analyzing your website, you should be. Tamar Weinberg describes six free statistics packages and explains how they can help your ...
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Useful Web Resources for Small Business and Non Profits #1
2008-04-01 09:05:00
Before you Launch your Small Business WebsiteBefore you Launch that Local Small Business WebsiteRead Rae’s tips on what you need to think about before you launch your small business website - particularly good if you have yet to begin your online presence.Your Domain NameIf you want to create a professional and credible site, one that enhances your product, service, or business, it is imperative you choose your domain name with care. Problogger Darren Rowse explains how the right domain name can make or break your business.10 Tools for Researching Domain NamesNot only is it important to find the right name, it’s imperative to make sure that the name you decide on doesn’t have any bad history associated with it. Steven explains it best and offers 10 tools for you to use in your research.Blog Dammit!Duct Tape Marketing author, John Jantsch, provides number five in a five part series, Blog Dammit! and explains why you must start and grow a blog in 2008 if you haven’t already.Wo...
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11 Accessibility Tips
2008-04-01 06:02:00
When developing a site we all sometimes overlook simple methods that we can use to make our site more accessible. Here's a list of tips that should really be used by all of us, myself included.1. Structure your document so it can be read without stylesheetThis is the most important tip. Be extra careful of properly structuring your page. Use headings to describe content sections, use lists, make sure that you page has the logical flow. Don't rely on stylesheet to create that flow for you.2. Separate your linksSeparate consecutive links with more than just a white space. Screen readers tend to interpret two (or more) non separated consecutive links as one.3. Meaningful links When read out of context, make sure that your links make sense. i.e. use "read full article" instead of "click here".4. Include skip to content linkPermit users to skip repetitive navigation links. If you have the same navigation at the top of the page this allow users to go directly to the content instead of h...
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Common 5 Web Standards Misconceptions
2008-04-01 05:58:00
When starting to get interested in web standards, you hear a lot of buzzwords, a lot of theories about what web standards are... Here are some most common misconceptions.1. Web Standards = ValidationMarkup and CSS validation has an important role. It can be of great assistance while you're learning, because W3C validator not only points out the errors in your code, you can also learn how to fix them.However, passing validation alone doesn't mean that you're page is built according to web standards.I once compared validation and spell checker. If you run this sentence through spell checkerDog fox brown lazy over jump.it will find no errors. But does that sentence make sense? No. Similar thing happen to your document when you're not using proper html elements for structuring your markup and not paying attention the the logical flow.I can't stress enough the importance of semantic markup.2. Web Standards = CSSCSS is a style sheet. It is a (powerful) tool that we use to make things...
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Synchronize Outlook Email, Calendar, Contacts With Gmail
2008-03-28 07:59:00
MailShadowG is an application that will allow you to sync Outlook with Gmail . MailShadowG is a product of Cemaphore Systems, a California based company, promising to eliminate the exchange server related costs and sync web based email products like Gmail with Outlook. MailshadowG released today as a beta service for companies. The best part of the service as it claims, syncing email, calendars, and contacts between outlook and gmail. The syncing is done two way, from outlook to gmail and gmail to outlook.With MailShadowG, you can synchronize Microsoft Outlook with a trusted Internet email provider like Google, by mapping the repository that exists in Exchange (for email, calendaring and contacts) to these backend systems.By using a Google as your data repository, you can eliminate the need for expensive infrastructure, hardware, & co-location facilities.What’s more, MailShadowG can enable any external email service providers to act as a Microsoft Exchange server. No other solu...
More About: Email , Calendar , Contacts

Zemanta: Content Suggestion Engine for Blogging
2008-03-28 07:53:00
Zementa is a content suggestion engine for bloggers launched yesterday. It suggets relevant links, pictures, related content while you are writing a post.Zementa launched in Alpha currently supports, Wordpress, Blogger and Typepad platforms. You can install the Firefox Add-on to see how it works. Once installed it will show a small icon in the URL bar, when it finds the supported platform the icon turns bright. If you use wordpress you will see a new tab beside your write panel, when you start writing your post it will find relevant links, photos and articles. You can add the content you are interested in your posts.Zementa looks at your content and refresh recommendations for every 300 characters you write. Currently it works best with English language blogs only, but it may work with other languages if it finds some buzzwords. Zementa gets related articles from pre-indexed data 300 top media sources and its own user blogs. The images are suggested from Wikimedia commons, Flickr, S...
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What is the biggest dilemma we face in the 21st Century?
2008-02-29 09:21:00
I think there are many smart people trying to solve the big issues we face. But here are the dilemmas I face every day.These always seem to be no-win situations for me as I continually get them wrong!1. When a woman gets on a train and I am not sure whether she is fat or pregnant. Should I offer my seat?2. When I am going on a first date am I supposed to get the check?3. I have just been on a fantastic first date. Should I call her the next day or just play it cool?4. At the shop I was handed back more change than I was due, should I speak up or just keep it?5. When someone serves you a horrible meal and then asks for feedback should you be honest or lie?6. After spending a long day in the office should I go to the gym or to the pub?7. The invite says ‘smart casual’, do I wear trousers or jeans?8. My boss asks me to lie about why some work hasn’t been done. Should I lie for him?9. Should I try and climb the corporate ladder or live a simpler life in the country?10. I notice a ...
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Will There Be A (Successful) iPhone-Only Social Network?
2008-02-25 06:03:00
iPhone owners, like users of most Apple products, are a fairly passionate, elitist group of people.I think an iPhone-only social network, if it had the right features, would be a huge hit with these users. Actually, I think any mobile social network would be a big hit, if it had presence awareness and was able to tell you both where your friends are and what they are up to. And also let you meet new people around you who were open to it.I wrote about some of the early experiments with mobile social networks last September (see our more recent coverage of LimeJuice as well). The big social networks, of course, aren’t ignoring mobile, either. But even Facebook’s iPhone app is just the desktop version optimized for that phone. It doesn’t leverage the device itself to tell you when friends are close.The goal here isn’t just to let users see where their friends are and what they are up to. The killer app is to facilitate meeting new people - either for dating (see a picture of ev...
More About: Social , Iphone , Network , Social Network

SYNCY That Phone
2008-02-25 05:52:00
Companies are starting to figure out that the contact information on your mobile phone may be the most important social network you have - perhaps even better than the email inbox that Yahoo is targeting.Danish startup ZYB started offering a service that simply backed up your mobile phone contacts to the web in mid-2006. A year later they turned all that data into a mobile social network. They’re one of the small startups with a real shot at mobile social network with critical mass. As of August 2007 they had 200,000 active users.It’s no surprise, then, that ZYB is being emulated. Israeli startup NewACT, with $6.5 million in funding over two rounds from Cedar Fund, are launching a new service called SYNCY into beta today. The service lets users migrate contacts, calendars and media from a mobile phone to the web. It’s part ZYB, part Sharpcast.While Syncy supports over 700 handset models, the iPhone isn’t one, so I took it out for a spin by installing it on a SonyEricsson pho...

Ecommerce Design Tips
2008-02-25 05:52:00
A while ago, frustrated at writing the same things over and over when doing an Expert Review usability document I decided I was going to create a pattern of design tips using a wiki.I thought at very least, if I worked on the content long enough then rather than having to explain what I meant by Design One, Two, Three or Primary Actions or Web Sites Are Journeys Not Structures, then I’d be able to, boiler-plate-style, slap together the relevant concepts and be able to:Explain a concept to do with usability or information architectureHave links to the relevant researchHave images that showed what I meantThe plan was that all I’d have to do is describe why something was relevant to their site. The plan was to make writing usability reports much less arduous.So What Went Wrong?The first thing that went wrong was a classic and all my fault. I started by listing everything I thought was important and then failed to write up the content. How many times has a project failed because of ...
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Helping others understand web accessibility
2008-02-22 05:44:00
When I hold workshops for people who want to learn more about web standards and accessibility, I often notice that the attendants really have tried to improve their accessibility knowledge. But they get overwhelmed when they go to the official documentation from the W3C and try to understand it.Mike Cherim brings this up in Making Web Accessibility Accessible, an article that is over a year old but still just as relevant. He notes that accessibility is harder to get into than it should be for several reasons, one of which being that the documentation (WCAG 1.0) is hard to understand. And it doesn’t look like things will get much easier when WCAG 2.0 is released and becomes the norm.In addition to the documentation problem, Mike also mentions the unhelpful attitude held by some people who seem like they don’t want to help the less experienced, the misguided or the misinformed, and instead choose to criticise them. I see it too sometimes, and I have probably been guilty of doing t...
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