Period Three Blog

Jun112009

Tumblr

Posted by Gene in Social Web, Blogging

We have several clients that we have setup blogs for over the past few months and we normally (almost always) use Wordpress. We’ll setup an installed version of Wordpress next to their website and pull in their post feed onto their main homepage or some sub section via RSS. We’ve done this with Twitter RSS feeds as well. I don’t really want to get into a Tumblr vs. Wordpress discussion, i’ve read them and honestly it’s not really comparing apples to apples.

Tumblr is possibly one of the easiest ways you can run your own blog on the internet, and it’s FREE. In their own words:

Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your browser, phone, desktop, email, or wherever you happen to be. You can customize everything, from colors, to your theme’s HTML. Even use your own domain name.

Tumblr really is a blogging engine at heart, but it’s more like a purist cross between a blog and Twitter. It really shines if you are looking to make short/quick posts, post pictures or video files. The thing is it’s not as intimidating as a full featured blog, the system gets out of the way because it’s so simple and you don’t have to worry about all the moving parts. You can just focus on what you’re posting and get on with your life.
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Jun042009

Award for Best Web Usability

Posted by Gene in Period Three News

The WebHostingSearch.com has given Period Three the Award for Best Web Usability for the month of June. In their own words:

In the name of Web 2.0 we at WebHostingSearch.com are now handing out an award to one site each month that stands out from its competitors. The award is for Best Web Design with particular focus on great usability and accessibility. 21st century web design is so much more than color schemes, flashy banners and glossy buttons. Few understand the importance of usability and accessibility in web design so what better reason than to reward the ones who do.

Thank you Eva and all the rest of the team at WebHostingSearch.com we do truly appreciate it!

BTW: WebHostingSearch.com is really a great resource for web hosting service information, the site has reviews on all the major hosting providers as well as articles and video tutorials on hosting applications.

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May262009

Holy crap J.J. Abrams’ Ted Talk

Posted by Gene in Storytelling

I know i’ve posted a few Ted talks, you’re probably like “dude, enough with the Ted posts”. Seriously listen to what J.J. Abrams has to say, he’s quite possibly this decade’s master storyteller.

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May192009

Top 5 things users want in your website

Posted by Gene in Design, Usability

Here is another great blog post talking about what users look for in your website, be it copy or design. This one is from Patrick Neeman on usabilitycounts.com.

Users want the message to be clear
Users want context to see if they fit
Users want consistency
Users want to be heard without having to shout
Users don’t want the shiny (unless it’s in context)
Users want to be guided (without being guided)

This is all about giving the user what they ~~want~~ expect and not what you the designer or developer think is a cool feature or the way you think it should be done. I’ve had the privilege of taking part in a good amount of real user studies on website’s i’ve worked on in the past, every time it is an eye opening experience and I learn something new about how people use the things I design. I couldn’t recommend more doing a simple usability test on something you are working on. Do it right now, go grab a friend put them behind the site you’re working on ask them to complete a task that is one of the main things the website is supposed to do and watch. Simple as that!

My absolute favorite part of Patrick’s post is this:

What does work are sites are are intuitive enough and forward thinking enough to provide a path for the user to go. The elements of user experience should be defined enough so the site acts the way the user thinks it should act i.e. the user shouldn’t have to learn it, especially for consumer facing sites. It’s about predictive user experience.

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May142009

Episode 17 - UMS Podcast

Posted by Gene in Design, Web Development

This week we talk about two ‘green’ web companies, Studio 7 Designs and EnviraMedia.

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May132009

The Seven Deadly Sins of Website Copy

Posted by Gene in Marketing, Email Marketing

This is a great article from Michel Fortin, that covers what he sees as the 7 deadly sins of website copy writing (really any marketing project copy falls under these 7 items). I agree with what he’s saying overall. Think about these things as you are pulling your next projects copy together and i’m sure you’ll be a success.

1. They fail to connect.
2. They lack a compelling offer.
3. They lack reasons why.
4. They lack scarcity.
5. They lack proof.
6. They lack a clear call to action.
7. The lack good copy.

Particularly I like #6, I scream about this a lot to clients and I say it over and over again. The further boil this down Michel says:

Focus on the “power of one.” That is:
One message
One audience
One outcome

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May062009

Ten Things I Have Learned: Milton Glaser

Posted by Gene in Random Stuff

The link to this short essay by legendary designer/illustrator Milton Glaser seems to be making the rounds again, at least i’m seeing some tweets about it. Here’s the quick synopsis, it’s good for all of us I think:

01. YOU CAN ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU LIKE.
I discovered that all the work I had done that was meaningful and significant came out of an affectionate relationship with a client.

02. IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE NEVER HAVE A JOB.
Never have a job, because if you have a job someday someone will take it away from you and then you will be unprepared for your old age.

03. SOME PEOPLE ARE TOXIC AVOID THEM.
There is a test to determine whether someone is toxic or nourishing in your relationship with them. Here is the test: You have spent some time with this person, either you have a drink or go for dinner or you go to a ball game. It doesn’t matter very much but at the end of that time you observe whether you are more energised or less energised. Whether you are tired or whether you are exhilarated. If you are more tired then you have been poisoned. If you have more energy you have been nourished. The test is almost infallible and I suggest that you use it for the rest of your life.

04. PROFESSIONALISM IS NOT ENOUGH or THE GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF THE GREAT.
Professionalism does not allow for that because transgression has to encompass the possibility of failure and if you are professional your instinct is not to fail, it is to repeat success. So professionalism as a lifetime aspiration is a limited goal.

05. LESS IS NOT NECESSARILY MORE.
You cannot prove to me that a solid blue rug is in any way superior. That also goes for the work of Gaudi, Persian miniatures, art nouveau and everything else. However, I have an alternative to the proposition that I believe is more appropriate. ‘Just enough is more.’

06. STYLE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
But the point is that anybody who is in this for the long haul has to decide how to respond to change in the zeitgeist. What is it that people now expect that they formerly didn’t want? And how to respond to that desire in a way that doesn’t change your sense of integrity and purpose.

07. HOW YOU LIVE CHANGES YOUR BRAIN.
I am convinced that if someone was to yell at me from across the street my brain could be affected and my life might changed. That is why your mother always said, ‘Don’t hang out with those bad kids.’ Mama was right. Thought changes our life and our behaviour. I also believe that drawing works in the same way. I am a great advocate of drawing, not in order to become an illustrator, but because I believe drawing changes the brain in the same way as the search to create the right note changes the brain of a violinist. Drawing also makes you attentive. It makes you pay attention to what you are looking at, which is not so easy.

08. DOUBT IS BETTER THAN CERTAINTY.
Schools encourage the idea of not compromising and defending your work at all costs. Well, the issue at work is usually all about the nature of compromise. You just have to know what to compromise. Blind pursuit of your own ends which excludes the possibility that others may be right does not allow for the fact that in design we are always dealing with a triad – the client, the audience and you.

09. ON AGING.
Rule number one is that ‘it doesn’t matter.’ ‘It doesn’t matter that what you think. Follow this rule and it will add decades to your life.

10. TELL THE TRUTH.
‘Do no harm’ is an admonition to doctors concerning their relationship to their patients, not to their fellow practitioners or the drug companies. If we were licensed, telling the truth might become more central to what we do.

Make sure and read the whole thing if you can.

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May052009

Episode 16 - UMS Design Review Podcast

Posted by Gene in Design, Usability

Episode 16 of our podcast is up. It’s all about the details as we talk about ‘designthis’ and ‘Camp Creative Group’:

This week we focus on Kevin Bryan’s portfolio site, designthis, and the site of Camp Creative Group.

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May042009

What is a friend online?

Posted by Gene in Social Web

This info-graphic from Mike Aruaz is very enlightening. He has written about the differences between the friends you have in person and the ones you maintain online. You know, like in Facebook:

…online friendships are different from what we’ve traditionally called friendships. Digital technology has affected the number of relationships you can maintain, and the intimacy of those relationships, effectively enabling us to create fans who feel like friends… www.mikearauz.com

It’s increasingly important to consider the different levels of visitors your website or web application enjoys. If you know who’s visiting you and why they are coming then you can begin to create content or make changes to your app that’s specifically geared toward their interests and needs. This isn’t always easy to figure out, but this graphic is a really great representation of an accurate model you can use to map them out, or at least get you thinking about them to start.

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Apr292009

Twitter is a Search Engine

Posted by Gene in Twitter, Search Engine Marketing

I was talking with Jay the other day about Twitter possibly beginning to out perform Google in the search arena, specifically about searching at-the-moment relevant content. While doing research about search and twitter like i’m always doing I came across this quote about Twitter as a search engine service:

“Twitter is a search engine that indexes conversations about content.” - Kevin Ryan

I thought this just summed up the Twitter search experience very nicely.

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