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Thanks to Short Takes for the midday WTF moment! Visit Pickle Power online and see it for yourself. Somewhere there's a joke about "brine over brains" but I'm still reeling from the concept.
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Every year the Norwegian firm Netlife Research puts out the Bad Usability Calendar.
By highlighting fresh examples of bad personalization, exaggerated Web 2.0 design and pointless pull-down menus, each month is a little reminder to keep it simple, keep it functional and add a little beauty in the process.
Last week I wrote about writer’s block and a few hacks to try to get around it. Later that day, a Twitter pal, who specializes in UI design and information architecture, commented, “Did you know writer’s block happens even when you're doing documentation? It's true, I swear.”
Although I had never really thought about documentation specifically, well…of course. Blockages happen during every creative process.
Now here’s the rub…
Creativity infuses every single act we commit – from planning out your day in the morning to finding new ways of sneaking veggies into your child’s dinner at night.
Of course, on-the-job creativity pays us more than new and exciting ways to vacuum the carpet, so we tend to pay more attention to it. Besides, if we tried to be creative at everything, we’d probably burn out.
So, every day, people opt for selective creativity. We’ve learned that making a back and forth movement with our Hoover, while daydreaming about something else, gets the job done and the Creativity Police aren’t going to jump out of the closet and accuse us of not putting enough “blue sky thinking” into the chore.
So what am I babbling about?
Just as culture isn’t something that we buy a ticket to – it lives and breathes all around us – art and creativity aren’t limited to museums and galleries. It encircles us.
It shows up in how we approach our live and our work. No matter who we are or what we do.
We are all superheroes. We all have the Power of Imagination.
Need inspiration? Check out the photo below and see how something as geekerific as data centre cabling can become art at Pingdom.
Courtesy of Tim D.
Happy Monday all!!
The folks at TechCrunch report that Yahoo! is integrating Del.icio.us user-generated bookmarks into their search results.
How many times have you heard that quality content is what will win you business? Well everyone needs to hear it again. Mitch Joel from Twist Image tells us How to Make Money by Giving Something Away for Free.
In the creepy category, Copyranter digs up this ad for Love’s Baby Soft from the 1970’s.
Ever wondered what tools SEO pros use? Here’s the list from SearchEngineRoundTable.
I just don’t know what to say about these Japanese McDonald’s ads. And neither did Iain Tait from CrackUnit. Thanks Iian for the find!
Skelliwag offers these Top 5 Blogging Tips for Success in a Crowded Niche
So you want to have a deeper understanding of Usability and Interface Design? Check out this great reading list from Smashing Magazine.
Dave Fleet at FleetStreetPR asks: Why are you so afraid of conversation?
Here are six simple tips to increase AdWords clicks, courtesy of OneDegree.
OnlinePR brings us this downloadable survey of large companies which shows how they are (or more likely) are not using their web sites to the maximum and how they employ social media.
Friday Fun:
This Netherlands department store has the best use of Flash I've seen a looooong time. Thanks to Kathryn from Zoonini for the link!
This morning I was catching up on my reading and came across an article from just under two weeks ago (Yes, I have a LOT of catching up to do!) from Gizmodo entitled 1960s Braun Products Hold the Secrets to Apple’s Future.
The article looks at the incredible design talent that is Dieter Rams and compares his work to the current work of Apple designer Jonathan Ive. It’s a fascinating article and if design or anything Apple interests you, then it is a must-read.
What caught my eye were Rams’ 10 principles for good design. They are:
- Good design is innovative.
- Good design makes a product useful.
- Good design is aesthetic.
- Good design helps us to understand a product.
- Good design is unobtrusive.
- Good design is honest.
- Good design is durable.
- Good design is consequent to the last detail.
- Good design is concerned with the environment.
- Good design is as little design as possible.
It got me thinking. (Yes, even at 7-something a.m. in the morning, the old brain was inspired enough to move past basic motor skills mode…) If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then I intend to flatter Dieter Rams.
Here are 10 principles for good copy.
- Good copy is human.
- Good copy has a unique brand voice.
- Good copy resonates with its target audience.
- Good copy is compelling, lulling, alluring.
- Good copy is deceptively simple.
- Good copy is authentic.
- Good copy is visual.
- Good copy adds value.
- Good copy has no unnecessary words.
- Good copy makes us feel alive.
Have no fear, Fair Reader, seeing as this is my first blog entry of the week, the irony of a post on writer’s block is not lost on me.
While this week it was a series of rush jobs that forced the delay of my blog, in my time I have spent days anguishing over copy. Staring at the computer screen as if that would magically help. Writing a lametastic line or two, only to pitch it in the bin and start over again.
It’s happened to every writer at some point. Being stuck is a feeling, a state of mind. Never the reality. So, it’s just a matter of shifting your perspective.
Wikipedia has several solutions, including the mandatory “take a walk”, but here are 10 hacks that have, from time to time, worked for me.
Get over yourself – Understand that the first draft isn’t going to be perfect, and yes, it might take eight more drafts before you get close to something that makes you remotely proud… but just get it down instead of staring at the screen. Build your raw working materials.
Say hi to lo-fi – Still have a tape recorder around? Talk out what you want to say and transcribe later.
Be inspired – There isn’t a subject that someone hasn’t written something about. See what other people have to say. Use that as a starting point. Do you agree? Disagree? How would you say it differently? (Plagiarism is strictly verboten!) As well, read something completely different. Read voraciously. Be inspired by different writing styles.
Go Luddite – Get away from your computer completely. Grab a pad of paper and a pen, and head out to the nearest park. (Local pubs not recommended.)
Break it down before it breaks you down – Ah, chunking, the writer’s best friend. Take your unwieldy piece, the one that you just don’t even know where to begin, and break it down into more manageable sections.
Stay off the grid – Turn. Twitter. Off. You will not spontaneously blow-up, I promise. If it’s not Twitter, perhaps it’s the email you check compulsively every 3 minutes. (That can’t just be me, can it?) Get rid of the white noise that distracts you and offers an easy procrastination out.
Throw out the rules – Go ahead, if it makes it easier, start in the middle.
Stop taking it all so seriously – Creative juices never flow when you are stressed out. Call a friend; drag them out for a coffee and a laugh or two. Shift your mental state to positive. Get rid of the gremlins in your head telling you that you’ll never make the deadline, the client is going to hate you for life, you’ll never work again, might as well go for a drink... you’re going to end up alcoholic and homeless anyway. Maybe your gremlins aren’t mine, but you get the idea. There’s a lot of self-inflicted limitations. Figure out which ones are true and which ones aren’t.
Curiosity never killed anyone – Okay, it did in a few calamitous “I wonder what this does…” instances. But, from the safety of your office, home, den, etc., get curious about your topic. What’s interesting about it? How can you reframe it and see it in a different light?
When in doubt, sleep on it – Your subconscious gets up to strange and mysterious stuff at night, rifling through the endless file folders of your brain pulling out completely disconnected thoughts, ideas and concepts. It’s not very logical, but it often works.
Have you got some tips for getting out of your stuck rut? Share them in the comments!
This week, we'll start on the subject of big companies who just don’t get the power of social media…
1. Hasbro and Mattel miss a golden opportunity with Scrabulous by asking Facebook to take down the hugely popular application over copyright infringement. Matt Dickman from Techno//Marketer explains that marketers need to banish the lawyers from the room. Do it. Do it now.
2. Target doesn’t understand the power of blogs: “Thank you for contacting Target; unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets.” Un-freaking-believable. And the PR perspective with this post from Albert Maruggi at ProvidentPartners.
3. Still doubt the power of blogs? MarketingCharts.com shows us the results of a study conducted by Brodeur showing that Blogs Influence Journalists, Nearly all Facets of News Coverage.
4. As Vermont celebrates 40 billboard-free years, Adfreak lends space to praise of the best of a bad medium.
5. Back in December I told you about how McDonald’s was advertising on report cards. Well, Brandweek reports that parents weren’t so keen on the idea of rewarding good grades with free junk food, and -even better!- that McDonald’s is listening.
6. SearchEngineRoundtable reminds us about the value of a good redirect.
7. With the rise of every star, there is an inevitable decline. Iain Tate from CrackUnit.com looks at whether to pull the plug on Facebook.
8. Are you blogging and want to attract more social media attention? Problogger has some great tips in ‘How to Create Social Media’s Favorite Type of Blog Post”
9. Collin Douma at the Canadian Marketing Blog takes the plunge to explain the basics of Twitter for those who don’t get it.
10. What would make your site a little friendlier? The fine people at SmashingMagazine.com suggest trying a mascot, and they’ve amassed a gallery of examples for inspiration.
Friday Fun:
Missed Steve Jobs’ 90 minute Keynote speech at MacWorld this week? Well, Mahalo Daily gives it to you in 60 seconds.
Sometime in late 2006 Smith Magazine, a magazine devoted to storytelling in all its forms, put out an open call that invited the public to submit six-word memoirs. Sipping gin, I was all too happy to oblige.
On February 5th, the book Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser is to be released. Apparently I am now one of the (obscure) contributors - but have no idea what I submitted.
There’s a big launch party in NYC on the February 9th. The magazine Vanity Fair has reviewed the book and said "Will thrill minimalists and inspire maximalists." Oprah Magazine opined, "If you have only 30 seconds, skim the pithiest of life stories." While I don't remember my submission, possible contributions might be...
- Restless youth. Questionable taste in fashion.
- Ten moves in as many years.
- Moved to Montreal. Much hilarity ensued.
- High school French don’t forsake me.
What would your six-word memorial be?
I stumbled across this image, and I'm down with the 3-earnest-people-crowding-around-a-book genre of stock photography, but please, please, make sure the book isn't upside-down and backwards.
The Friday Top 10 Reads is back! Here's a smattering of from then until now...
Merriam Webster has nominated “w00t” as word of the year for 2007. Since when have gaming terms with integrated numbers been considered words? Since now, I guess. Along with “grass station” and “locavore”, there were some interesting developments in with words last year.
And just as news words are born, there are people who’d like to see some words die in 2008. See which ones Aaron Brazell at Technosailor.com would like to put to rest.
What is social media to you? Well to Mitch Joel at Twist Image, social media is punk. (By the way if you like punk analogies, check out an old post of mine from April 2007 - 5 Lessons Any Copywriter Can Learn from The Clash.)
With everyone all a-Twitter these days, sometimes it’s easy to forget about good old direct mail. Until you see an amazing piece like this one from Amnesty International.
Jared M. Spool takes a look at the topic of Account Sign-In: 8 Design Mistakes to Avoid, offering up some sage advice.
Tamar Weinberg has gathered an extremely impressive list of her picks for the Best Internet Marketing Blog Posts of 2007
Are your link building tactics failing you? SearchEngineLand says don’t blame Google.
What will you hear a lot about in 2008? Here’s a sampling:
- Data Portability: With so many social networking applications available, how many online profiles do you have? You’ll hear much more about the Data Portability Work Group that has been formed to establish the common denominators to make it easier to manage all of your online data. Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more have joined the discussion.
- Dave Fleet at FleetStreetPR.com has a great post on Ten Things That will Change Your Future.
Friday Fun
Time to rush out and get your Seth Godin action figure. Every marketer needs one!
If you’ve ever emitted a primal scream, pounded your keyboard or let out a frustrated “What the f*&k?!!??” you’ve experienced site architorture.
But, most of the time, it’s not even as dramatic as that.
What is “site architorture”?
- It’s information that is buried with no clear direction on how to find it
- It’s a non-consistent look & feel that invites suspicion and eats away at credibility
- It’s multiple and needless clicks
- It’s not prioritizing information through a clear visual hierarchy
- It’s bucking convention for the sake of bucking convention
- It’s counter-intuitive arrangement of information
- It’s not being able to easily get back to where you started
- It’s being given so many options that you don’t know where to start
- It’s a dead link, just when you said “Aha! This is it.”
- It’s the choice to use a small internal scrolling box for content as not to “mess up” the design
- It’s the absence of understandable navigational signposts and “way-faring” indicators
- It’s designers/companies who dictate what version of any given platform or app you need to view their site
- It’s any barrier to the information you are looking for
- It’s cutsie/meaningless menu item descriptions
- It’s a site that doesn’t scale well to various resolutions
- It’s bloated code, code that should be in an external CSS, bad code (Javascript errors and the like) and no doctype
- It’s a print mentality applied to the Web
- It’s “design in a void” with no consideration to content
- It’s graphics that take for-EVAH to load
- It’s built-in obsolescence – a site with no forethought to scalability.
- It’s embedded key, informative text in graphics or frames, rendering it unreadable to search engines
- It’s underlined text that looks like a link but isn’t and conversely…
- It’s a design that doesn’t make it obvious what is clickable
- It’s forcing people register for the most basic thing
- It’s ignoring accessibility issues
Oh, there’s more. Lot’s more. But a girl’s gotta work. Have you seen signs of site architorture? Send it to me!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a list of things an arm long that I would like to do on my site. There’s all the usual stuff – update my portfolio, freshen up some of the text here and there, and on and on. I guess it’s like that old parable about the cobbler’s children having no shoes.
Anyhoo, one of the things on ACR’s Great List of Stuff To Do is a customized 404 page. I love it when people take the time to think up something clever, funny or just plain “human friendly” - something that brightens your day when the page you are looking for seems to have vanished.
Let’s face it, standard 404 pages are generic, dull and somewhat insulting – as if the blame has been shifted to you. “The page you are looking for isn’t here. Are you a bit thick? Make sure that the Web site address displayed in the address bar of your browser is spelled and formatted correctly, you gormless lump!”
What makes a good 404 page? Depends on who you ask, but SEOmoz has some solid advice, saying:
We generally urge that at least one or more of the following be included on a site's 404 page:
Here are a few 404 pages for inspiration.
- Notification that the user has reached a page that does not exist
- A search box
- A link to the site's site map
- A link to the home page
Ziff makes being lost an enjoyable experience, and reminds its visitors to get a little fresh air once in awhile.
Greenpeace provides a bit of levity and some interesting factoids in the process, making the 404 a nice respite.
Okay, Fraser Lewry, this is just sick and wrong!! Blogjam presents a 404 that gives me nightmares.
MuchMusic's 404 accuses its users of screwing up the interslice…and offers some odd Pink Floydish graphics in the process.
Does not being able to locate your page lead to drinking? Not sure, but these two 404 pages seem to be an indication that it might.
- Luminous offers a bit of haiku and a bottle of bourbon to keep you company.
- CSSleak offers two cocktail recipes while you’re killing time on the 404.
In the helpful and human-friendly category…
Twitter’s 404 stays on-brand and is rather helpful as well.
Apple's 404 error message gives you lots of alternatives to choose from, and offers a search tool.
And, lastly, proving that Marxists do indeed have a sense of humour comes this 404 from Marxists.org.
To see a whole bunch of creative 404 error messages sure to inspire, check out Smashing Magazine's list from back in August 2007. And, be sure to read 404: End of the Line or New Opportunity by Matt Dickman over at Marketing Profs Daily Fix Blog.
Do you have a favourite 404? Send it to me!!
I'm working on mine, and will let you all know when I've finally got it created!
Shortly after moving to Quebec, I found myself in the following situation: a rather brusque and bureaucratic woman was demanding to know my “coordinates.” I blinked a few times, silently mouthed the word “coordinates” back to her and tried to conjure up the approximate longitude and latitude of where I stood. She meant my address and telephone number.
There was a lot of that.
For the longest time I thought that a high percentage of the Montreal population were involved in the film industry, because there seemed to be a lot of “animators.” I later discovered that Quebec Anglophones had adopted the French “animateur” for someone who organizes events and workshops. It can even mean “host” or “director.”
Every market has its local quirks and regional differences. And every medium has its quirks and differences.
Take print copywriting (or as colleague David Rosam cleverly calls it “dead-tree copywriting”) as compared to Web copywriting… huge difference.
In print, the collateral is physical. It’s felt, handled, carried off to a favourite reading chair. You can fold a corner of the page to mark your spot, or flop your magazine face down on the table while you get yourself another spot of tea and hunt around for a biscuit.
Online… not so much. Although this is not earth shattering news. We all know that people consume information differently online than they do in traditional print media, but HOW does it differ when it comes to the Web?
Experts agree that, on text-based Web pages, there is “the golden triangle of scanning”, which also sort of resembles an “F.” Usability expert, Jakob Neilson conducted a very interesting eyetracking study back in 2006, if you’re interested. As you can see, online copywriters are under a little bit of pressure to grab attention. (Designers are under even more pressure, as website visitors decide in a fraction of a second if they like a site’s aesthetics or not. Yikes! )
Does this mean that people don’t read online, that they simply scan? Does it mean to keep all content above the fold? No. Not at all.
People scan for relevancy and to determine interest, once interested, yes, indeed, a site visitor will read. Of course, a simple transactional site might need less copy than a complex B2B sale, where the goal might be to get the visitor to click through for more product information.
In general, next time you are writing:
- Don’t bury your lead.
- Get to the point.
- Use headings effectively.
- Tell people what you are offering and why it can help.
- Incorporate bulleted lists with salient information.
- And then start to build your story and relationship.
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