Changing the brain
I have always believed that the Internet is changing the way we think. To me, the Internet is a comfort zone. Maybe it is because of my age and the amount of time I spend online. I know this is not the same feeling older people have about the net. Their generation didnt grow up in cyberspace, where as I did.
New areas of the brain are being used while other areas are taking a break. Life never stops evolving and this has an effect on the brain. Today, we use more of our brains than we ever have in human history. But that doesnt mean that other sections of the brain are receiving the same amount of attention that we gave them in the past. New ideas and technology bring about new changes in human evolution.
Read the article at BBC.com.
The insights of a low-fi person person going tech.
Heres a bit of my background for context:
My gut instinct has always been against computers. As a kid I enjoyed Asteroids, Galaga and trading Atari game cartridges in my neighborhood (yes this dates me), but when some of my friends got into Commodore 64s I couldnt have been less interested. In high school I was in the sole computer class for a while, but I found absolutely no purpose or thrill in instructing a dot to move across a screen and repeat on command, so I transferred back to Trig where I could cut up again with my friends.
I was a Luddite. As a musician I scoffed at electronics (I still do, mostly) and Ive never liked digitized music (a post yet to come).
But Ive accepted much. A few years ago I finally decided to step into the present, at least with one foot, and now Im beginning a career in web development at Newfangled Web Factory--a great setting with really nice, smart people who take a very human and educational approach to web development.
In this blog I hope to record ah ha breakthrough moments and post shortcuts as I learn them to benefit anyone. Nothing will be too obvious for inclusion. And Ill post some about music and culture too.
Newspapers vs. Online
One reason I decided to get out of the newspaper business is because the industry has seen a rapid fall since the Internet boom. Although I have never been much of a newspaper reader my entire life, I started my career straight out of college working for one. But everyone has to start somewhere and I learned a lot from this experience. Besides, I was in charge of online content and news. So I never had to touch the printed product.
There have been many studies done focusing on the decline in newspaper readership since I graduated from college in 2006 (yeah, Im young). Many were passed around the newsroom while I worked at the paper trying to convince the older folks to jump onboard with the new ideas. That never worked. No matter how many articles, case studies, or research results they read, the older generation is convinced that newspaper still hold a place in our communities that can never die. Obviously, I thought otherwise.
I came across this article rating the top 25 newspaper websites currently in cyberspace. The bigger companies with more money (and possibly more outlets besides print) have a better chance at surviving this online change. But as costs of resources, personnel, and lost of advertising continue to grow, the print industy continues to shrink and online efforts become more and more essencial. Unfortunetly, there will be smaller papers that lack the skills and money to make the leap.
What do you think the future of newspapers will be? Honestly, I doubt the newspaper we know today will exist in 10 (maybe Ill give it 20 ...) years. As the digital generation steps in to the leadership role of todays world, online media will become more and more important and old ways will be pushed aside to make way for new trends.
I get my news by checking RSS feeds, media websites, and email alerts each morning. I rarely watch TV news and never pick up a print edition. The printed product is old by the time I get my hands on it and TV makes me wait for the stories I want to hear about. I can just jump on to the computer and read the latest headlines as they happen. Why get your news any other way?
Is Google Making us Stupid?
Read Nicholas Carrs article in this months Atlantic magazine about what the internet is doing to our brains.
Whats on Your Shelf?
In case you havent noticed, literary social networks are proliferating faster than they can be adopted by the digerati (hat tip to Bettina for that term). As far as I can tell, Goodreads is the most popular, though I wouldnt be surprised if another application sweeps it (its happened before- remember Friendster?). This article notes how egocasting contributes to literary social networks growth and also wonders which of them will be the facebook of the group (i.e. dominate). I wrote a post in February comparing Goodreads and Google Books, and concluded that I preferred Google Books, but thought I should update the thought to include some other approaches.
The Guardian article that I mentioned above introduced me to two new literary social networks, Library Thing and BookRabbit. Library Thing is a US-based social network that is definitely more data-oriented, as it gives users a large number of options for associating information with a book title. In the screenshot below, youll see the default view for a book on Library Thing- note that the level of detail available is definitely for the librarian in all of us:
This next image shows how Library Thing consolidates some of the data into an easy-to-use tabbed interface:
Lastly, for visually-oriented users, Library Thing also has a covers view similar to Google Books (BookRabbits shelf view takes the cake, though, as youll see).
BookRabbit, which is a newer UK-based social network, has some unique details that make it worth checking out. One neat approach is its shelf view, which allows you to submit a picture of your actual bookshelf and then map the image of each book to a record of it in your account. Then, you can just mouse-over the hot-spot youve created to show the books details to the right of your shelf:
BookRabbit also makes it easy for users to browse each others libraries and purchase available books:
As I wrote before, GoodReads definitely seems to be the most social of the literary social networks. Im not sure what the numbers are in particular, but I would guess that it is the most popular, too. In my earlier assessment, I said that even though I like to use Google Books to catalog my library online, GoodReads definitely had them beat in social features. They still do. That said, if youre interested in information about a book, rather than connecting with other readers, Google Books is probably better- some books even allow you to search through the text (see screenshots below- Goodreads first, then Google Books)!
For a more in-depth comparison with a feature-by-feature breakdown between Google Books and GoodReads, check out my earlier blog post. In the meantime, its hard to know which platform will come out on top as so many of them offer unique and helpful features that will be more or less attractive to different kinds of users.
Some Examples of Great User Interface Design for Travel Sites
I have probably booked every single trip I have ever taken as an adult online (except for most of the trips I took within Asia while living in Penang, Malaysia), which leads me to wonder two things: 1) How do travel agencies stay in business and 2) Why has it taken so long to see smart improvements being made to online travel search and booking tools? In any case, here are a few examples of great design and thinking that Ive come across lately:
All Around Great Design:
First, I was linked to the Cologne airport website this morning and think its one of the best websites Ive seen in a long time. Theyve thought everything through, including having current departures and arrivals, parking availability, and prices updating frequently.
The homepage (above) shows the most recent schedule front and center and has its main navigation shown with clear and easy to understand text and icons.
You can even check on the availability of parking (above) on the site!
You can access the most up-to-date flight timetable (above) on the site, too.
The tourism page (above) uses nice, bright and clear icons to represent the information it provides.
Smart, Helpful Details:
Sidestep.com is another site that helps you search for available flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. Ive been really impressed with its simple design and some of the small details that become quite helpful once you start using the site.
The screenshot above shows the search tool on the Sidestep homepage. I love how it auto-fills the city you are searching for and doesnt require you to click to another page to figure out its airport code.
The search results shown above include a simple matrix view that shows the cheapest fares from among all its data.
I love this little detail shown above. You can mouse over one of the return flight options in your search results and filter all the results based upon that time slot. Who wouldnt use this??
Not Necessarily Pretty, But Pretty Cool:
This last site is a local one- the Triangle Transit Authoritys website. Its not the most attractive in the world, but it has a great search tool that takes real life into account.
Using the search tool, you can specify any address you want and even how much you want to walk, the speed with which you walk, and how much time you think you need between transfers in order to narrow your results.
The detail above shows how simple the search results are. I love how they not only show the total time, including the total distance youll have to walk, but it also shows the order in which youll use various forms of transportation on your trip. Very Cool!
Heres a link to CNNs Top 25 Travel Web Sites.
A Few Unique User Interface Approaches for Ecommerce Sites
Making purchases online can be confusing, tedious, frustrating and unreliable. Most of these problems are a result of poorly planned and executed user interface design. Whether it is a badly placed checkout button, a confusing multi-step checkout process, an un-editable shopping cart, or even a poorly organized catalog, many details have to be carefully considered and in sync in order for an online store to perform at its full potential. After all, if a person is trying to buy something on your site, youve already done the hard work- selling to them! Sealing the deal should be simple and painless. Below are a few examples of well considered and well executed details in some e-commerce sites Ive run across lately:
Simple, Quick and Visual Search Results
This quick search results layer on apple.com is actually really helpful. It provides quick results as you type your query, with visual aids too.
Personalized Product Recommendations
Most larger e-commerce sites are catching on that satisfied customers will return and buy more items and gradually build trust with them, especially if the site gets to know the customers preferences. amazon.com has been building this kind of rapport with its customers for a long time, and has plenty of customer-specific recommendations on its homepage and throughout the site, provided you are logged-in. One nice detail is the visual recommendations display shown below. By clicking the arrows, your recommendations spin in perspective before you.
Another example of this can be found on the new borders.com site. Their homepage has a bookshelf display that can be personalized based upon specified preferences and your purchase history. Since I havent purchased anything on this site, its recommendations to me arent really based upon anything concrete- thats my careful way of saying, Im not a Jewel fan, really! (see below):
Simple Shopping Cart and Checkout
Planning the checkout process is probably one of the biggest pitfalls in developing e-commerce sites. What seems really straightforward on paper or in a prototype can be completely problematic once customers actually want to use it. I recently bought something on gap.com and was surprised at how well-considered and simple the entire process was. Below is a screenshot I just took of how their shopping bag keeps track of your purchases, and how simple it is to edit as you go. I threw this t-shirt into my cart as an example, which, so you know, was easy to cancel. Over $30 for a t-shirt? No thanks!
We took a very similar approach when building the shopping cart interface for our client, Cranston Print Works, at qtfabric.com. See the screenshot below (our brilliant Creative Director, Justin Kerr, came up with this almost two years before Gap did!):
Also, below is a screenshot of the checkout screen, which is really well done. Rather than having to click through multiple screens and lots of are you sure? confirmation steps, Gap has put all the steps into one flexible flash-driven application. You can edit any of your information without having to load a new page, or click back on your browser by using the simple edit buttons beneath each piece of information. Once you hit edit the area expands to show all the fields for each piece of data, which you can edit, save and then close.
I would love to see our own sites start to use some of these approaches and begin to be a bit more creative with how we approach search, catalog, and checkout interfaces. Especially checkout interfaces (the gap.com example above is my favorite- not flashy, just smart)!
Let me know if there are any other great examples out there, too.
Google IO, Day 1
Today was day one of Googles annual developer conference, at the Mascone Center in San Francisco. Geared towards the developers that use Googles services, and offering In-depth technical sessions, hands-on training, and face time with engineering teams, the conference attracted more than 3000 web professionals for a session-packed, two-day event.
The day kicked off with the keynote, hosted by Vic Gundotra, giving a good overview of Googles investment in the developer community. With many guest speakers chiming in on various areas of focus, some key points were Googles impact on the HTML 5 spec, some feature and pricing announcements on Google App Engine, and the release of GWT 1.5.
Overall, judging from session attendance and overall feedback, it seems that App Engine and Android are the two areas that are garnering the most interest from the developer community. Actually, one of the most tangible aspects of the concept so far is the general enthusiasm and excitement over the technologies and concepts being presented. Compared to past industry events that I have attended, there is a noticeable sense of direction that is new, which honestly is really exciting and refreshing.
Search Engine Marketing: At The Corner of Context and Intent
This month I had the pleasure of speaking at Highland Capital Partner's Internet Marketing Summit on the subject of search engine marketing. In my presentation I showed why search marketing is by far the most dominant form of Internet marketing. Over forty percent of all Internet marketing budgets are spent on search engine marketing.
This month's newsletter will review the principles that make search marketing so effective. We've discussed many of them in past newsletters, but this month I'll tie them all together. You'll learn how the combination of context, intent and recommendation make search marketing the gold standard by which all other Internet marketing is measured.