Archive for January, 2008

Over time users expect websites to behave a certain way. Clicking the logo will take them to the home page, Navigation will be presented at the top or left, copyright and legal info will be found in the footer. These expectations help users navigate faster since they know what to expect when visiting unfamiliar websites, based on previous experiences on the web.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_expectations
A good rule of thumb or design principle to use in interaction design is to follow the “Principle of least astonishment“. In the case of interactive software applications, for example, users form expectations based on their experience with similar kinds of software.

With more websites taking the leap from static content brochures to interactive services, these same principles apply for website design as well.

Here is a quick usability test.

• I want to find and add people to both my Myspace and Twitter accounts.
• I dont have the direct links to them, I will need to search for their names
• Continue Reading

Where are you when great ideas hit? Driving down the road, standing in the shower or sitting at the beach? I use sticky notes, random scraps of paper and the inside of my arm to record my inspiration, but these are hardly ideal. Qipit may not be the newest or most popular web app on the market, but it definitely is one of the more useful ones. Here’s the gist of it - you take pictures of whiteboards, notes, and other non-digital scratchings with your camera phone. Send them via MMS to qipit, and “wha-la,” your image is converted to PDF and stored for easy access. The happy hour inspiration recorded on a cocktail napkin will never be lost again.  Neat stuff!

GENOCO launched an iPhone/iPod Touch application that allows users to order and purchase Starbucks drinks from your device and ridding yourself of the Starbucks line. Hmm, quite intelligent and seemingly irresistible to a Starbucks lover. The program looks pretty sick with a very sleek interface and QuickPay transaction system - so you don’t need to fumble through your wallet for dolla dolla billz yo (Ok, please cut me off from the coffee now).

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Last month dt headed over to Eventful’s office for Lunch 2.0; we had so much fun that this month, we are hosting it! For all of you who are interested in talking Web 2.0, come on over to our office on Friday, January 18 from 12-2 for some pizza and networking! If you plan on attending, please register here (it’s free!) so we can make sure to have enough food.

In case you’ve never heard of Lunch 2.0, here’s a little background. It started up in Silicon Valley- a company would buy lunch and host other people interested in talking Web 2.0. It has grown as people around the world have adopted it and started setting up events in their own cities. We can thank Andrew Warner for taking charge and bringing Lunch 2.0 to San Diego! Here are his flickr photos from last month.

Looking forward to meeting some great people and catching up with the rest of the Lunch 2.0 gang

I just sat in and listened to a seminar by Seth Godin where he talked about the 14 trends present in his new book Meatball Sundae.

“Meatball Sundae,” is a buzz word created by the author, are something you want to avoid. They are new tactics put on commodity products. Meatball Sundaes are like WallMart trying to create a social network. WallMart sells meatballs, things everybody needs and can get almost anywhere. They tried to put some toppings on the meatballs. Some sprinkles and whipped cream in the form of new media tactics like web 2.0 and social networking. Meatball Sundaes are destined to fail, they are done for the wrong reasons and have consumers confused. To keep your company from creating its own carnivorous sundae Seth detailed 14 trends for companies to consider for 2008. Continue Reading