Twitter in Action, Fanboy Tweets, Entrepreneur Re-Tweets

I just had a powerful experience with Twitter that has cemented it in my mind as a powerful marketing tool.

In preparation for a meeting on a site UI this morning, I revisited An Introduction to Using Patterns in Web Design on 37signal’s site. It’s a fantastic overview of Christopher Alexander’s approach to design based on “chunks” or patterns.

After I read the article, I tweeted about it. I was sure that any number of my followers might have an interest in it. If not for their personal use, then for a reference if and when they work with me.

Here’s the tweet:

Doodlehaus tweet about Designing with Patterns by Ryan Singer

Here’s where it gets interesting. Minutes later, Jason Fried, owner of 37Signals tweets about the same article. He noticed someone was revisiting some older content produced by his company and saw it as an opportunity to promote 37Signals’ expertise on the issue.Check it out:

Jason Fried of 37Signals tweets about Pattern Design

From a random shout into the Twitter void to nearly instant recognition from the owner of one of the Web’s most innovative companies. Now that’s cool.

There are other halo effects from this exchange. Ryan Singer gets props for his article. 37Signals gets more exposure as a leader in clean, usable interface design. Christopher Alexander sells some more books. Hey, I write this post that references all these things.

All because of one little tweet.

Web 2.0 Thumbnail Sketch

Social media and social networking sites offer new opportunities for organizations to publish content and interact with their customers. So just what the heck is Facebook? Why would I upload video to YouTube? Who stole the “e” from Flickr? Answers to these questions and more in this post. Read the rest of this entry »

How is Facebook like the mob?

Social networking sites are incredibly popular, particularly with college students. In particular, Facebook stands out as having the most penetration into this demographic. So, from a marketing perspective, it only makes sense that Facebook is the perfect place for universities to focus their social marketing strategies.

Not so fast.

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People aren’t watching much video on their iPods

So sayeth Nielsen Media in a recent study.

Some quick numbers from the article:

• only 15.8 percent of iPod users ever played any video content on their iPod or iTunes
• only 1 percent of the content items played on an iPod or iTunes was video content

Unfortunately, the article doesn’t talk much about the demographics of the 400 iPod users they sampled. It would be interesting to run a similar study of college student iPod use where lecture videos were available via iTunes.

Business blogs are important

Why do I need a blog? Aren’t they just a tool for armchair politicos and people who want to post pictures of their cat?

While there are plenty of those sorts of blogs, there are plenty of reasons to blog in the corporate world. Heck, you’re reading one right now! In Why business blogs are important, you can read all about the reasons to blog.

Some of the reasons include knowledge transfer among employees (best practices and the like), to develop stronger customer relationships (with, oh I don’t know, alumni and prospective students), and to attract the best employees (hey, these folks are experts, I want to work for them!).

It’s a good read. Another good read is The Artful Manager, a blog by the Bolz Center’s own Andrew Taylor. If you were wondering, “what kind of blog should I have?” then you should read Andrew’s blog and see a master at work.

What users hate most about Web sites

In What users hate most about Web sites , Sandra Rossi outlines some all-too common Web usability mistakes. To sum them up:

1. Invasive advertising: luckily, we don’t need to worry about this. However, making anything on your site invasive is a bad idea.
2. Re-inventing the wheel: people do not want to have to learn how to use a site before they can browse it. Fancy experimental navigation is for your own personal playground site, not for a corporate site.
3. ‘Leap of faith’ links: that means disclosing information on content and file size. There’s nothing I personally hate more than clicking a link that launches a pdf when I was expecting a web page. The Acrobat plugin takes forever. Always tell people if they’re not going to get a web page
4. Attention-deficit Web sites: “Users have a special hatred of flashing icons and banners, because they draw the eye away from what is important and hinder their progress,” Cunnington said. Blinking, flashing, buzzing and scrolling text is annoying.
5. War and Peace length: “A common mistake in Web design is to just [convert] a brochure to the Web. But the Web is its own medium, and communication has to change to reach users. Users are known to read 25 percent slower on the screen than on paper, read fewer words and don’t like long pages which require scrolling down,” she said. ‘Nuff said

So there you have it. The top 5 of “Web No-Nos,” print them out and glue them next to your monitor or tatoo them on your forearm if you’re really hard-core.

New Report: Nearly 50 MM Americans Create Web Content

That’s right, 50,000,000! That’s according to the Pew & American Life Project.

The Web is becoming more participatory and users seem to be very willing to contribute. From the article:

“[The Web is] shifting now to user-generated content; it shows people engaging with the Internet in a number of different ways in their lives,” said John Horrigan

Even more salient for the higher ed market:

“Online content comes more often from younger people”

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Netflix refines web simplicity

In Netflix – Keeps It Reel, BusinessWeek online takes a look at the usability of the Netflix site as compared to Blockbuster (the company Netflix socked in the mouth). Both site designs (Netflix, Blockbuster) have similar designs at first glance. But after a longer look, you can begin to see the points that BusinessWeek is making.

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