- Reset expectations about typing. Typing is so commonplace these days, we barely think about it. But no matter how speedy someone is on a mobile keyboard, it is always easier to select text on a touch device than it is to type it. Before you add a text field ask yourself: is this absolutely necessary? If it makes sense for your application, dynamically populate a list of possible answers below an input field once the user starts typing a letter or two (Google and Path are two of the many apps with this type of autocomplete functionality). Shave seconds off of interactions wherever you can because those seconds add up!
- Condense labels for forms and tables. Brevity is always advisable on the web, but it’s nonnegotiable in iOS. Any time label text for table elements is wrapped or truncated it interrupts the visual flow. Keep labels as short as possible without sacrificing meaning.
- Rethink forms. Instead of a consecutive list of questions and input fields on one long screen, think about forms on iOS as several quick interactions strung together. It’s helpful to maintain consistency with iOS standard controls by keeping cancel/back and submit/next buttons in the navigation bar at the top. The best forms are not drudgery to the user but just steps that must be taken to get something useful done.
- Take advantage of gestures, but… Gestures are tricky because they’re easy to both under and overuse. There are three ways that I find gestures most appropriate:
- Offer them in the same way you might offer a keyboard shortcut in a desktop application — it’s there for improved experience and efficiency, but it’s not necessary to make the app function.
- Use them if you have created realistic controls that mimic real-world interactions.
- Present them in your app when you need to require deliberate intention (like answering your phone or deleting an account).
- Think in taps, not clicks. A finger tip is infinitely bigger than the tip of a mouse pointer and that significantly affects your interface. Once you have a wireframe or mockup put together for a screen of your app, step back and look at it. Does it look like Honey I Shrunk the Web Page with lots of touchable areas crunched together? Is someone with thick fingertips going to be tempted to throw their phone across the room out of frustration? This seems obvious, but it is can be a daunting challenge to stop thinking in clicks.
- Don’t go overboard. It’s easy to swing too far in the other direction and use an array of different native elements because they’re there. The switch is an example of an element that has been widely overused because of its novelty. Well-placed interface elements put the people using your app in control, but superfluous interactions can make them feel like your marionette. A critical eye and some honest colleagues will help prevent interface bloat.
Instead of strictly following these guidelines, which will change as the platform changes, it’s best to focus on thinking critically about the medium and the people your product reaches. The advent of hundreds of millions of mobile touch devices is revolutionizing the way we think about the web and even desktop applications. Stay ahead of the curve by challenging your paradigms now!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Avoiding Web Habits in Your iPhone Apps #ux
Friday, January 28, 2011
Dexter’s victims through season five
How Videos Go #Viral [#INFOGRAPHIC]
Take a look at this infographic, which was created by Brian Sieber based on insights from The Jun Group, and in the comments, let us know how you generally share and find out about new and interesting videos online.
Click image to view full size.
via mashable.com
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Improving Conversion After the Add-To-Cart « Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog
It’s a bit blurry in the screenshot, but the calls to action are stacked (groan), and given equal “weight” (size, color and prominence). The top button says “keep shopping,” the bottom “shopping bag.” The product page’s content and cross-sells compete with the calls to action, and they appear to get no action from eyeballs.
Check out how a smart redesign fades out the background, fixes the button styling and changes the “shopping bag” label to “view shopping bag” (more clarity).
The impact on attention is remarkable:
via getelastic.com
nice..
Friday, January 21, 2011
Chase Bank Uses QR Code in Homepage Banner (NetBanker)
Here's the first time I've seen a QR code used on a bank homepage. After an animation sequence (below) announcing Chase Bank's new Android mobile banking app, the final graphic displays a code that Android smartphone users can scan to download the new app. Very clever.
Chase Bank homepage (20 Jan 2011)
Landing page (link)
via netbanker.com
Thursday, January 20, 2011
The Gifts Project Unwraps – eBay & Index Ventures Inside
Consumers are led through a flow where the group buy is initiated, friends are selected, contributions are tracked, and finally the gift is provided.
Early testing and data from eBay Group Gifts has shown a significant increase in average ticket price. That is, the average sale price of an item.
With social commerce exploding, timing couldn’t be better for The Gifts Project. The obvious question is will they be able to scale their business? Time will tell of course, but it certainly feels the stars are beginning to align for them. Now there’s only that pesky little thing called ‘execution’.
via techcrunch.com
Self-Service: Bank of America's MyFraudProtection Allows Online Review of Suspicious Card Transactions (NetBanker)
How it works
______________________________________________________________________Step 1: Following the link, I ended up at an entirely new site, running outside online banking where I was required to re-enter my account number (screen 2), last 4 of SSN, zip, and phone number (see screen 3).
Step 2: I was then required to answer random questions pulled from the credit bureau to authenticate myself (screen 4).
Step 3: Finally, I was able to review and approve the transactions in question (screen 5). Then I was thanked and told I could use my card again (screen 6).
However, after all this, I was still not able to pay my account online and had to call after all. The rep told me that it takes between 2 and 24 hours for online banking access to become available (note 1).
______________________________________________________________
Analysis
_______________________________________________________________________All-in-all, I liked the system. However, it needs to be more integrated into online banking (see note 2). Given all the extra work required to authenticate myself, it would have been faster just to call the 800-number. If I was a normal customer, that's what I'd do next time. I hate the stress of going through the authentication process, with everything on autopay who can remember their exact payment amounts anymore?
And worse, there is a security disconnect here. I log in to my credit card account only to be told it's unavailable and that I should login to some site I've never heard (that doesn't even have a Bank of America URL, note 3) and turn over personal info. It looks more like a crude phishing ploy than something from a major bank. And as far as I can recall, there was no customer education on this process.
So, I applaud Bank of America for making transaction verification self-service. But there's still much work to be done before it replaces the phone process.
1. Main Bank of America Account Overview screen (14 Jan 2011)
via netbanker.com
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Facebook Now Shares Phone Number & Address With Third-Party Apps
"Because this is sensitive information," reads the announcement, "[...]permissions must be explicitly granted to your application by the user via our standard permissions dialogs." Take a look at the example permission dialogs box, however, and tell us if you think this is enough.
As All Facebook points out, there is very little here to call attention to the fact that Facebook would now be sharing something that it previously did not share. In this particular dialog box, it's only one of two items, but many similar boxes contain more. "[Users] probably won't notice the addition of the words 'current address and mobile phone number' to the text, and likely click 'allow' without noticing that they're actually granting more access than ever before," writes Jackie Cohen for All Facebook.
via readwriteweb.com
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Doctoral degrees: The disposable academic | The Economist
A very slim premium
PhD graduates do at least earn more than those with a bachelor’s degree. A study in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management by Bernard Casey shows that British men with a bachelor’s degree earn 14% more than those who could have gone to university but chose not to. The earnings premium for a PhD is 26%. But the premium for a master’s degree, which can be accomplished in as little as one year, is almost as high, at 23%. In some subjects the premium for a PhD vanishes entirely. PhDs in maths and computing, social sciences and languages earn no more than those with master’s degrees. The premium for a PhD is actually smaller than for a master’s degree in engineering and technology, architecture and education. Only in medicine, other sciences, and business and financial studies is it high enough to be worthwhile. Over all subjects, a PhD commands only a 3% premium over a master’s degree.
via economist.com
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
HOW TO: Make Sure Your Smartphone Payments Are Secure
Better Understand Where Your Data Lives
Above and beyond everything else, common sense dictates: If there’s enough money in the bank, someone will try to steal it. 7-Eleven only carries $20 cash at night for a reason.
Your payment data should solely be stored on your phone and not in someone else’s database with tens of thousands of other credit card numbers. It’s hard to steal from someone if there’s no money in the safe. This is the only thing that truly deters hackers from going after a big score.
Keeping your payment data solely in your phone is equivalent to keeping your credit card in your wallet.
For consumers, you can usually find out where data is being stored by perusing a website carefully or reading well-researched articles and reviews. Journalists are doing a better and better job of ferreting out where your data lives, and how it is being passed around.
For app developers and payments services, keeping the data out of their servers absolutely involves more work and clever engineering. It’s hard to avoid any third parties (whether for processing or hardware), because those third parties can make things a lot easier on a startup. It’s worth it to start down this path if you haven’t already, since consumers will increasingly demand it.
Be Confident the Data’s Encrypted
The very best approaches to mobile security never send your payment information in any way that an enabled hacker in proximity could intercept your data.
It should be a priority to have industry-standard encryption. Customer smartphones talk directly to the POS. Ideally vendors and companies won’t even need this extra data in the first place.
Your Cheat Sheet
In sum, the stakes are high when the smartphone replaces the wallet. We have to rethink where the data lives and who has access to it, convenience notwithstanding. We’re all responsible for asking the hard questions to be informed consumers when we support a carrier, manufacturer, vendor network and technology.
Here’s your cheat sheet for owning your mobile transaction financial health. I urge you to ensure that your credit card information is:
- Only sent to the venue’s POS system, rather than passing through third party services.
- Only stored on your phone, where it’s safest, and not in the cloud.
- Always encrypted when it is sent to the POS system, where the transaction is taking place.
via mashable.com
Creative Use Of Video in Web Design: Background Videos - Smashing Magazine
The performance of a website including a background video depends significantly on the speed of the user’s internet connection. Video backgrounds certainly do not fit in every setting; they wouldn’t be meaningful in online magazines or blogs. However, they can work really well in entertainment and certain corporate settings which are supposed to communicate artistic qualities, exclusivity, branding or even high quality standards. As you will see, they work very well in portfolio websites, fashion websites and promotional campaigns. Below you’ll find a showcase of good and not so good websites that implement this dynamic eye candy at full screen.
check out some awesoe examples at: smashingmagazine.com
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
“Madness of Crowds” or “Wisdom of Groups”? - Improvisations - MIT Sloan Management Review
Co-authored by MIT’s Thomas W. Malone, Alexander Pentland, and Nada Hashmi, along with Anita Williams Woolley of Carnegie-Mellon and Christopher F. Chabris of Union College, the Science story details two studies about how groups perform.
The researchers concluded that “group intelligence” correlates less with the intelligence of the individuals and more with the social sensitivity of group members, an equality in how conversation is handled, and even the proportion of females in the group.
A Boston Globe story last month, “Group IQ,” picked up on the Science report and added a few interesting details. “People have been studying group dynamics for decades, seeing crowds variously as sources of madness and wisdom,” writes the Globe’s Carolyn Y. Johnson. “[Senior author of the study] Malone and colleagues could not find an example in which people had asked the relatively simple question of whether groups had intelligence, the same way individual people do.”
How and Why I Still Devour Blogs :: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Why I devour blogs
Learn how to blog
Keep up on competitors and customers>
Get smarter about your industry>
Get smarter about any industry
Keep tabs on what’s new
Check out the details at: ducttapemarketing.com
Monday, January 3, 2011
Should webinars be a part of your social media strategy? — a Q-and-A with Ann Handley
Attendees and the businesses that host them love webinars for six key reasons:
- They act and feel more tangibly alive than, say, a white paper or case study. Attendees can hear the speaker, watch the slides (or video), and, in short, interact with the content you produce in a more robust environment.
- They are interactive and social. Done right, webinars feel like real-world classrooms or conference rooms. Participants get a chance to ask questions, and they can chat with the speaker, the moderator, and each other. Outside of the webinar itself, participants can interact on social back channels like Twitter (which only amplifies its visibility, of course).
- They are less intimidating. Maybe your prospects aren’t quite ready to field a call from your sales team, but they are happy to hear what you are all about in a no-pressure webinar in which they are one of many.
- They are broad-reaching and affordable, which means you can accommodate far more people, too. Instead of inviting a few prospects to an in-person event, you can invite hundreds to a virtual one. What’s more, it doesn’t matter whether the people you are trying to reach are in Dubuque or Dubai.
- They’re a team player in the content mix. Webinars can be “reimagined” (to use a term from “Content Rules”) as many things, including podcasts, articles, blog posts, or on-demand events.
- And finally, they work. Remember that earlier stat from Business.com? Further research backs it up: Event or conference presentations rate second to referrals and personal awareness as the top method for how professional services companies initially identify the firms they work with.
via smartblogs.com
95+ Predictions for the Web in 2011
For the past two weeks, editors and contributing writers at Mashable (
) have been gazing into our crystal balls to try to discern what’s coming in the next year. Below is a roundup of all of our predictions posts for 2011, covering over 90 topical predictions for what’s in store for the web and social media in the coming year.
- Ben Parr on predictions for… Social Networks in 2011
- Tim Ferriss on predictions for… Social Media Marketing in 2011
- Jesse Thomas on predictions for… Digital Advertising in 2011
- Vadim Lavrusik on predictions for… News Media in 2011
- Christina Warren on predictions for… Mobile in 2011
- Jenn Van Grove on predictions for… Startups in 2011
- Jolie O’Dell on predictions for… Web Development in 2011
- Jacob Gube on predictions for… Web Design () in 2011
- Erica Swallow on predictions for… Small Business in 2011
- Leyl Master Black on predictions for… Public Relations in 2011
- Geoff Livingston on predictions for… Social Good in 2011
- Brenna Ehrlich on predictions for… Music in 2011
- Charlie White on predictions for… Games in 2011
- Matt Silverman on predictions for… Politics () in 2011
- Brian David Johnson on predictions for… Connected Devices in 2011
- Josh Jones-Dilworth on predictions for… Online Data in 2011
- Gabe Zichermann on predictions for… Game Mechanics in 2011
- Philip Ruppel on predictions for… E-Book Publishing in 2011
via mashable.com
Top Social CRM posts of 2010 #scrm #crm
Here are the most popular posts according to all of you
A collection of 50+ enterprise 2.0 case studies and examples- I wasn’t able to find a large collection of E2.0 and collaboration case studies online so I aggregated all the one’s I did find and put them together for easy reference
Trends for companies searching for a social media “something”- A quick visual look which scans the job descriptions of job postings to see what companies are looking for as it pertains to “social.”
The many faces of Social CRM- Social CRM has been visualized quite differently by many people so I decided to take the images I found online and aggregate them to show multiple perspectives on the same topic.
Here’s to you, the social media manager!- A little salute and thank you to the social media managers of the world.
An open letter to CRM and social media people- Social CRM is oftentimes discussed as being social media plus CRM but there’s been a bit of arguing between the two camps which I think is unnecessary, there is a lot that everyone can learn from each other, this is my plea to do so.
The evolution of CRM to social CRM- A visual look at how CRM evolved into social CRM.
Social media vs social CRM vs social business vs enterprise 2.0- With so many terms and definitions floating around the web it really becomes hard to differentiate and understand what is what, here’s my attempt to clarify things.
What is social CRM: an introduction (technically from the very end of 2009)- Yes, technically this is from 2009 but it was still a very popular post and worthy of mention here. It’s my attempt to help introduce and clarify the topic of social CRM.
HOW TO: Use Social Media to Create Better Customer Experiences
Only when you are confident in your ability to support the collaborative process should you invest in a full-scale social media effort. I recommend following these simple steps:
1. Listen and respond. You should be listening for signals from social media for needs of existing and potential clients. You want to engage proactively: listening at the point of need; as well as reactively: listening for indicators that someone may need help. To provide another personal example, Virgin America effectively and quickly responded to a need I had via social media. Unlike its competitor, Virgin got back to me very quickly, taking care to resolve the issue in the backchannel instead of sending me to an 800 number.
2. Cross-reference social and internal customer data. Is there anything that could have made the Virgin example even better? Certainly! It would have been even better if the company automatically knew my frequent flyer number without me having to message it. To successfully serve someone or give them an unforgettable experience, you need to know what your relationship is with the person who tweeted, your history of communication, as well as purchase history, if it’s a customer. For example, at my company, we help you cross-reference people from the social media stream (either your own or as a result of tracking keywords) to the internal record for a full 360-degree view.
3. Understand context of relationship. Quick caveat: this new level of customer intelligence should be used in context of the relationship. While the customer may want you to get the full scoop on him or her in a customer service scenario, a company should never appear like it is using the personal information of someone who has no relationship with the company.
via mashable.com
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