Things are gonna change around here

There’s a manifesto inside me, I know it. Not some crazy bunker-dwelling screed (but time will tell), but a sometimes funny, sometimes scary view of what I see every day.

So here’s the pitch: 365 days. One sketch per day. A little pithy commentary after each sketch.

I’ll do it all on free platforms. Sort of a digital verison of Walden without the trancendental insights or intelligence. I’ll make every sketch available as a t-shirt, coffee mug and poster. If I’m lucky, I’ll break even on the hosting.

The only thing I’ll pay for is hosting and Moleskine notebooks.

There, I wrote it on the internet so it must be true.

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.

Rebranding != Changing Your Name or Slogan

There must be something in the water. The great state of Wisconsin has a new tourism slogan “Live Like You Mean It” and the SciFi Channel is changing it’s name to SyFy.

I can imagine these meetings: “We need new energy! We need a new brochure…no…a new SLOGAN!…a new NAME!!” Imagine broad sweeping arm gestures accompanying that sentence as if the speaker were expanding her arms to embrace the entire expanse of her new empire.

Both these moves are classic branding mistakes. A slogan is not a brand, it should sum up what’s already there. Otherwise don’t bother. The best take on this was in the book “Cutting Edge Advertising” where the authors advised, if it’s not as good as “Just Do It”, don’t. Especially don’t if the slogan’s been beaten like a rented mule.

In regards to Sci Fi’s name change, Bonnie Hammer, former president of Sci Fi is quoted in the New York Times, “We couldn’t own Sci Fi; it’s a genre. But we can own Syfy.”

Let me ask everyone who watches Sci Fi, do you care if the channel can own it’s name? I sure as hell don’t. What does that have to do with the quality of your programming? When I thought of T.V. and science fiction, I thought of Sci Fi. Now I’ll cringe every time I linger there.

What’s even more surprising about the Sci Fi name change is that their audience is one of the most cynical and dismissive of this kind of chicanery. These are the people who will point out plot holes in comic book story lines from decades ago and you’re going to try to jam brand-speak down their throats? Why don’t you see if the folks over at D.C. Comics can get Batman into therapy and get a cheerier disposition. Because, you know, women from 18-35 think he’s too negative.

It’s all ridiculous. It’s like giving yourself a nickname and insisting everyone else use it. People either think you’re nuts or arrogant. The internet exposes these flimsy excuses for real branding as weak and inauthentic. Just stop. Please.

When HTML Email Goes Horribly Wrong

I get a lot of questions about how to make email newsletters visually appealing. While I understand the desire for adding some sizzle to your communications, This entry from design standards champion, Jeffrey Zeldman, outlines the pitfalls that await the HTML emailer.

The article, When is e-mail like a bad website?, deconstructs an HTML email sent from a major cell phone manufacturer, presumably with plenty of resources to perform usability testing (Be sure to look at the screenshots to see how mangled the messge gets). Read the rest of this entry »

What’s precise vs. what’s helpful

Take a look at the following collection of New York City subway maps.

The maps on the left are very precise. They are geographically pure. This would be great if they were intended for geographers or anyone else who needs a precise map.

However, these are graphics to inform people who ride the subway. They could care less about the surrounding landscape. They just need to find the right transfer, to get in the right tube. The information and clarity of the subway lines themselves is what’s most important.

The maps on the right are redesigned with the user in mind. They clarify the relationship of the subway lines to one another. Geographical purity is sacrificed, but the result (in theory) is a happier and more civil subway commuter.

Who is your audience? Do they need every tiny detail? What can you remove to provide more clarity to the message.

Remember, design and communication is the practice of subtraction.

Tracking Referals from a Campaign with Google

I get this question a lot: “how do I track how many people click through from my newsletter/ad/flux capacitor?” The best way to do it is to use Google’s URL Builder

What it does is tack on extra information to the URL for analytics tools (like Google Analytics and LiveStats) to chew on.

Here’s an example:

Read the rest of this entry »

Are you(r images) superfluous?

Eyetracking points the way to effective news article design is a fascinating article. The first two case studies in the article offer strong scientific evidence that a picture is not always worth a thousand words. The third case study has some disturbing insight into the male psyche.

People read faster and retain more if copy is formatted in a manner that is easily scanned, easy to read from top to bottom. That means subheads, bullets and good use of whitespace. This approach allows readers to answer the questions “where am I?”, “what am I reading?” and “do I want to be here?”

The bottom line is that good, clean text formatting is far more important than a random pretty picture. So be sure to ask yourself if the images you’re using are vital to the page you’re publishing.

Remember: good design is the practice of subtraction, not addition.

Electronic Newsletters Best Practices

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but this topic has drawn me out from underneath my teetering inbox: electronic newsletters. Everybody’s doing them, or wants to. Why? We’re getting lean and mean. High-gloss print pieces are expensive and require longer lead times. Often we don’t have time to think past the next cup of coffee that will sustain us through the next sprint to the end of the next project.

So, are we spinning our wheels? What are the best practices? Are people even reading these things?

Well, because your Webmaster loves you, I went to great lengths to type “e-newsletter best practice” into Google. I found this gem: It’s time to raise the bar on e-newsletter best practices.

The best advice is item #1: Content is King. Seriously folks, this is 80% of the battle. Content trumps fancy design every time. If you’re pressed for time, groom the content. Get an editor to look at it. See if you can take out words. Make it punchy. Make it lean. Design is the art of subtraction and good writing is the art of reducing the number of words and making each word carry its weight.

This article is rich with good advice and required reading whether you’re thinking about doing a newsletter or want to improve your current newsletter.

Google’s PageRank Explained or Why you should’ve paid attention in Math 319

Okay, I’m still reading How Google Finds Your Needle in the Web’s Haystack, but this much is clear:

PageRank is complicated.

My motivation for posting this is entirely selfish. Next time someone asks “can you tell Google to put my page at the top?” I can reply “that all depends on your eigenvalues, here’s a link.”

I don’t know about you, but in my experience, using the word eigenvalue usually puts an end to any conversation.

Search Engine Basics – Part One, What Search Engines Are Important?

I get a lot of questions about search engine optimization (SEO), and with good reason. A recent competitive analysis found that over 50% of prospective students conducted an internet search during the course of their evaluation of different MBA programs. Not only that, but this method of research was the largest percentage of any other communications channel. Let me repeat this by yelling on the internet: THE LARGEST PERCENTAGE OF ANY OTHER COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL.

Read the rest of this entry »