Monthly Archives: April 2009

While Flash may at times be a very effective tool in web design (when used correctly), many times it’s abused and fails to add value to the website it’s used in. Flash could even detract from the website’s usability. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Flash distracts from site’s core values, such as the actual content
   Flash content tends to be created once and then left alone. Frequently updating content is key to generating traffic. Also, human awareness is usually dominated by anything that moves, so Flash could distract users from the most important part of your site, the content!  Human-computer interaction expert, Dr. Jakob Nielsen,  points this out in his Guidelines for Multimedia on the Web .  “Never include a permanently moving animation on a web page since it will make it very hard for your users to concentrate on reading the text. “
2. Flash reduces accessibility for users with disabilities.
   For one thing, users can’ t zoom in on text appearing in flash videos. This can be annoying for your older visitors or those with vision problems. Also, screen readers aren’t able to decipher flash embedded on a page. Plus, a site that depends heavily on Flash forces users to install the Flash Player in their browser if they haven’t already done so.
3. Flash encourages design abuse
   Just because we can make things move doesn’t mean we should. Flash usually encourages this “gratuitous animation”, which as mentioned in the first point, can easily distract users.  Some Flash designers also tend to decrease user interactivity (which is what Flash is good for in the first place!) by “reverting to presentation styles that resemble television” (Nielsen). This is a big no-no in web design usability.
4. Flash is not search engine friendly.
   This isn’t necessarily a usability issue, but its still a huge drawback to using Flash. SEO is usually a vital part to the success of a website.

Flash development isn’t completely evil and has its place in web development. Discretion is necessary to carefully balance the pros and cons of Flash to create the best experience for your users.

Software developers realized years ago that we were solving the same problems over and over.  In order to keep from reinventing the wheel on each new project, programmers began developing self-contained, reusable ways of structuring sofware to solve common problems.  They dubbed them Design Patterns.

Ok, ok.  So that’s boring.  But what’s not boring is that some really smart user interface designers have started to take the design pattern idea into the realm of user interfaces.  I’ve found two websites that have catelogs of proven design patterns waiting to be used.  Some of them are simplistic, such as pagination and breadcrumbs, while some are more complex, but each solution has been time tested to solve common UI problems, ensuring a great user experience.

Check it out!

Infragistics Quince: http://quince.infragistics.com/

Yahoo! Design Pattern Library http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/

Just search around a bit in Groups on Facebook, you will find pages promoting everything from rock bands to beer to politicians. These same people are also using Twitter, Flickr, YouTube etc. to promote by developing content, driving traffic and holding contests.

One industry you don’t see a lot of in the social media arena is automotive. Many older industry’s have had trouble adjusting their marketing to the web. Finally a motor company is not only utilizing today’s web but making it interesting. The Ford Fiesta has been sold overseas for awhile, they are bringing it to the states in 10’ and marketing by using online content driven by… well, the drivers.

Ford gave 100 Fiestas to people selected from 4,000 applicants. The winners get to use the cars for six months in exchange for completing “missions” with different themes. They’ll share their experiences through YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter accounts that Ford created for the campaign.

Ford is using this campaign (they are calling it “The Fiesta Movement”) not only to promote the car but to get genuine feedback publicly from the drivers. This is using social media as it was meant to be used. I think Ford is going to get some great results. Good move Ford!

FordFiesta Twitter page

The Fiesta Movement Facebook page

Fiesta Movement Flickr Page

FiestaMovement YouTube account

Looking at our production schedule for the next few months, it dawned on me that it consisted primarily of web services and online systems.  We’ll always have a soft spot for standard web sites and content managment systems, but it’s exciting to see the innovative ideas flowing through bottlecap these days.

With the economy slumping and consumers hanging on to more of their money, new online markets and opportunities are popping up for entrepreneurs.  Web development seems to be on the rise as an affordable way to take advantage of an amazing idea.

It also seems that existing companies are re-evaluating their business models in order to cut costs and find new revenue streams without restructuring  or sacrificing quality. What better outlet for this than the web.  Automating a portion of a company’s offerings through an online system can provide tremendous value as well as establish new business.

Anyone who has a website wants to know what their users are doing, how they’re responding to their site and what can be done to get more user interaction.

One useful tool we will always suggest and implement is Google Analytics.  The amount of details that you can get from that simple implementation is mind blowing, but now is not the time to get into the details of how to use your analytics tool, rather I wanted to talk about a new site analyzer that was recently brought to my attention.

It’s called Crazy Egg.  I’ve seen heat map analysis for user-interaction on websites before, but I haven’t seen it done with the flexibility this app appears to offer. I especially like the confetti feature in the demo, being able to tell where your users are clicking and grouped by how they were referred to your site is a powerful tool and should help you understand your traffic a little better.

Throughout my time here at Bottlecap, I’ve worked on a number of e-commerce projects ranging from offering only a few products to thousands.  With the tools and resources available today, there has never been a better time to get started.
Advantages

• Open 24/7
• Cost of running and maintaining is significantly less than a physical storefront
• Requires less man-power
• Easier to collect data/statistics, which can help you make better decisions

Disadvantages

• Less personal, some customers prefer the face to face interaction of a brick and mortar store
• Customers may not trust the security of online payments

What is preventing more businesses from developing a web presence?  A lot of it has to do with the fact that starting an online business requires a significantly different skill set than a traditional one.  And often, people are afraid of what they do not understand.  This is where Bottlecap can help bridge the gap between the technical and non-technical side of things.

Is your business or idea ready to make the leap?

There are many ways to improve the usability of a web application, but probably one of the simplest approaches is to allow for personalization. Users like to feel like they’re in control of their environment, and allowing them to customize the look and feel of the application is an easy way to give them control without compromising the core functionality of the application.

One good example of this can be seen on Twitter. Users are able to select from a set of skins, edit these skins as they wish, or upload their own image to use as the background. Facebook also makes good use of customization, allowing users to move things around or add tabs on their profile page. Even doing something as simple as changing their profile picture can make users happy. These are the little things that make the difference between good applications, and great ones.

I was paying my bills online yesterday when I realized I haven’t even owned a checkbook in over a year. So I started thinking, How am I now comfortable managing all of my finances online when only six years ago I wouldn’t even provide my real mailing address to sign up for Yahoo! Mail?

Establishing trust with your users remains one of the largest hurdles a new online service faces. Even though we depend more and more on the Internet for daily tasks like paying bills, keeping in touch with old friends, or shopping, stories of scams and identity theft fill the news leaving users suspicious, or at best skeptical.  Large companies such as Paypal.com and Amazon.com have built up a reputation over time that exudes trustworthiness, but how does a smaller company or start-up build that confidence?

Here is a short list off the top of my head of ways online companies have gained my trust.

1. You are trusted by another person whom I trust.

2. The information I have to give you to use your product is not very sensitive.

3. I’ve trusted you with a little, and you haven’t let me down.

4. You are transparent and detailed about how your are going to use my information, and what you are going to do to protect it.

5. You use a third party service I trust (such as paypal.com) to handle my sensitive information.

Disagree or have any other suggestions? Let us know in the comments.

If you are anything like me, you barely go to the doctor and have probably jumped from doctor to doctor as you have changed health plans throughout the years.  If I need to give a doctor access to my medical records or even gain access myself, where do I start?

Google Health allows you to organize all of your health info into one place, as well as gather your medical records from doctors and pharmacies.  Once you have everything in place you can start securely sharing your info with doctors,  pharmacies and family members who need to know.

Now Google Health and CVS Pharmacies are teaming up. Last week CVS announced that customers will be able to import their prescription records into Google Health , as well as update and manage these records in real time.

Managing health records online is going to make managing personal health so much easier. Imagine taking care of an elderly parent and needing access to health info to help make informed decisions… Google Health is going to be an invaluable tool.

Microsoft is getting in the game as well with HealthVault.

I recently starting using Xobni (pronounced ‘Zob-nee’), and I must say that I was blown away.  Very rarely do I come across a plug-in or application that gets me excited enough to update my facebook status, but Xobni did the trick.

Imagine receiving an email from a new client and instantly being able to see what they look like, where they work, who they’ve worked with in the past, mutual contacts, pictures of their kids…  Xobni is a plug-in for Outlook that integrates social networking and amazing reporting into your daily correspondence.

Once it’s setup, Xobni will use your facebook, linked in, and other services to compile a profile for that contact.  On top of that, it offers email analytics such as response time, average received emails, and when you most frequently receive emails.

Bill Gates called Xobni “the next generation of social networking”, and credited it with leveraging the data in email to help users better manage their relationships.   He may or may not be right, but it has changed the way I use my inbox.