Power to the People

We’re happy to welcome Dionne Aiken, former C&P’er and current freelancer extraordinaire, back to Taking Aim for the following guest post!

by Dionne Aiken

The pyramid of power is shifting as “we the people” are becoming more empowered and involved in causes for justice, equal rights and freedom.

With the Occupy Wall Street movement, the “99%” in NYC sparked what is now a widespread movement both nationally and internationally, drawing attention and media coverage to their voice and fight for “equal justice for all.”  Their website continues to be a source of information for passionate protesters and organizers who want to be heard by the “1%.”

Google, Wikipedia and YouTube (as well as a number of other websites) had their logos censored with a black bar to make a statement and spread awareness about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the detrimental effects it could have on our “freedom of speech” on the Web.  The viral campaign catapulted by their informational website & social media hooks led to more than 7 million petition signatures and consequently the house postponing the drafted bill.

“Make him famous” became a popular phrase when a video about war criminal Joseph Kony went viral. The entire campaign spilled over into Facebook and other social media sites and even took to the streets in their gurilla style “Cover the Night” event.

The Trayvon Martin case is another example of passionate individuals fighting for justice. Citizens took to the streets with “hoodie” movements and protests. This also spilled over onto Facebook and led to more than 2 million petition signatures to prosecute George Zimmerman.

These examples give “power to the people” a whole new meaning, as individuals are continuing to join the fight for equal rights and ‘justice for all’ while making their voice heard. This voice is amplified by Web and social media platforms which provide a sounding board for sharing and spreading information quickly and virally.

It is inevitable that this communications phenomenon will continue as the nature of our online arena and interactions therein continue to evolve and become more “governed by the people.”  Will your message be heard?

Jennifer Aniston’s Sex Tape for Smartwater

by Dionne Aiken

I had to do a double take when I saw a tweet from Chelsea Handler yesterday:

This attention-grabbing tweet which at first glance appeared to be yet another celebrity sex tape leak was actually a very witty YouTube video ad for Smartwater. (Small children might want to leave the room … the puppy scene is a bit much!):

A good point Jennifer Aniston makes is that it’s not enough to just tell everyone to drink Smartwater.  You have to take it a step further and “go virus” to get noticed.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media platforms operate on the very concept of the viral spread of information. These sites are major catalysts in the continuous reshaping of our online behavior. On these platforms, we see the phenomenon of an idea, message and or campaign start with one person or group of influencers and spreading exponentially, taking shape with each share, retweet or like.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-smith/how-facebook-really-won-t_b_828629.html

If you’re familiar with the terms “Tiger Blood” and “Winning!” then you’ll also notice how Charlie Sheen was able to capitalize on this as his website livethesheendream.com became a viral success in such a short span of time.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/03/viral-charlie-sheen-fan-site-cashing-quotable-star

We continue to see this change in the model of how people and brands are reaching their audiences to adapt to a dynamic social landscape to set themselves apart from the masses.

Whether you “go virus” or not, an important take away from this is that without strategy, the message is lost and “Winning!” becomes a difficult feat.

YouTube v.s. Vimeo – The Faceoff

by Dionne Aiken

When it comes to video embedding and sharing, there are many options such as BlipTV2, Flickr, and Photobucket just to name a few.  However two leaders that continue to stand out among all others as the top video streaming services are YouTube and Vimeo.

So what are some major differences between the two? And what makes one better than the other? I pulled together a comparison chart to see how they both measure up to help answer that question:

Click here to view PDF.

CEOs across the state are talking via video about how technical assistance from a client program of ours called GrowFL helped grow their business.  Here is the same video in both YouTube and Vimeo:

The video streaming service you use will most likely depend on your specifications and needs but of these two champions in the game, which one is the winner?

The Psychology behind Web Design – Part II: How?

by Dionne Aiken

In “The Psychology behind Web Design Part 1” I briefly touched on why psychology is so important to web design in that it not only enhances the user experience but also drives calls to action and thus business results.  But how do you get there?

Here are the “Hows” behind design considerations taking into account the user experience and psychological needs (click on each item to jump to a section):

1. Trust
2. Familiarity
3. Purpose
4. Imagery
5. White Space
6. User Flow & Information Hierarchy
7. Color Psychology and Symbolism
8. Logo & Brand Consistency

Trust

Safety is the second fundamental human need as defined by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. By meeting this basic need you can build trust with your users. The bottom line is that people spend time on sites they trust. To build trust, consider the following:

1. Design Integrity The overall look of the site must be of a certain level of design integrity to make a good first impression and build credibility. This is an extension of your brand. If your site appears unprofessional, users may see your entire business entity as such and it could deter users. (This includes technical considerations also; for instance, adhering to Web standards and best practices, providing working links, proper coding structure, and good overall functionality.)
2. Don’t Get Too Personal Too Soon Don’t ask for personal information up front or in ways that are counter-intuitive or inconsistent with the user expectations. If these request disrupt the user flow, are abrupt, unexpected or out of place they become a deterrent. Find intuitive ways to integrate these requests seamlessly into your website where they make the most sense.
3. Use Trustworthy Indicators  Adding testimonials from noteworthy clients, reviews, seals of approval, recognizable affiliations, certifications and other trustworthy elements add value to your site and help establish a sense of trust with visitors.
4. Deliver A website, no matter how superb, is only as good as the actual business entity itself. The business entity must deliver on their product and services to meet customer expectations.

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Familiarity

When you go into a grocery store you expect to see aisles of groceries and signage on each aisle that tells you where things are located. You expect shopping carts, registers, entry & exits to be at the front of the store. The same holds true for a website. Once your audience is introduced to your website, there are certain expectations of where “signage,” items and locations of said items should be.  Consider the following to assist with placing elements in a manner that will assist with user familiarity:

1. Don’t Send People on a Wild Goose Chase Off the bat, people want to know what you do and how to contact you … don’t make people search or guess for these key pieces of information. Tell them up front or offer clear ways to access them, i.e., “About Us” or “Contact” pages or even listing a phone number or address in the header or footer on all pages of the site will help too.
2. Provide Road Maps People want to know how to get from point A to point B and where they are in the site at all times. Have clear navigational elements that stay consistent throughout the site and strong indicators or “you are here” landmarks that show users what page they are on. This can be done with basic design elements, or even a breadcrumb. It also helps to include a sitemap somewhere on the site that lists all the links to your pages. You can have a separate page or section dedicated to the site map and then link to it or, if the site map is small enough, you can add it to the footer so it’s present on all pages of the site. Providing good road maps and directional indicators or “signage” not only helps users navigate your site but also helps search engine crawlers crawl your site pages and links and thus boosts SEO.
3. Above the Fold Because we are taught to read from left to right and top to bottom in our Western culture, it is good practice to place all of the important website elements in the “top fold” or “above the fold.” Logo, branding elements, header, navigation, search fields and so forth should at the very least be visible in the top 800 by 600 pixel-area of your Web page to ensure that users can easily and immediately view/access them. This isn’t set in stone but you should take into account factors such as varying screen resolutions, multiple stacked toolbars, browser window sizes and so forth when considering your top fold real estate. Creating layouts that auto center with the user’s window or fluid layouts can also assist with making sure key elements get the exposure they need.
4. Design Consistency  Design things and place things in an intuitive manner. How many times have you gone to a website and clicked on what you thought was a link or button only to find that it wasn’t a link at all? If all the links on your website are blue, bold and underlined, don’t make your headings blue, bold and underlined, especially if they aren’t links! Make sure you have specific design treatments for each recurring element on your site and that the same approach is carried out throughout the entire site. Design consistency and intuitive placement of items, will help users get familiar with your site.

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Purpose

A great quote from Andy Rutledge’s article best sums the purpose of website pages:

“In a very general sense, the purpose of a site’s index page is to convince visitors that they should venture further into the site – and compel them to do so. In order to do that the page must engage in advisable psychology (through design and copy) while avoiding distracting and irrelevant purposes that run counter to the primary function of the page. The index page must not attempt to dump the entire site’s content into the viewer’s eyes in one fell swoop. Rather, the page must make a concise and clean first impression; an impression focused on a specific rather than all-encompassing purpose.” – Andy Rutledge

Each page should be specific to its functional purpose. The home page should introduce, attract and direct. The internal pages are where you want to deliver your actual content and pull users further into other pages and areas of your site.

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Imagery

Careful image selection and treatment will support the content on your website and reinforce an overarching concept. Images should also be contextually appropriate and purposeful. If not, they will detract and lessen the impact of your messages.  

White Space /Breathing Room

“In a very general sense, a contextually inconsistent environment, clutter and cramped quarters tends to encourage a lack of interest while open space and a consistent context in the environment tends to encourage interest and openness to suggestion.” – Andy Rutledge

By grouping things logically and allowing adequate spacing amidst and between copy, you allow users to focus and read your content and thus pull them into your site.  An article published by Smashing magazine gives more examples of ways to incorporate white space into your layouts with additional links and resources.

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User Flow & Information Hierarchy

Here is an example of a home page layout that has strong information hierarchy and thus strong indicators for user flow of accessing information:

 http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/06/24/a-closer-look-at-hierarchy-in-web-design/

Use strong design elements and employ basic design principles to highlight important areas and elements, support the message, and to direct the viewer’s eye and user flow.

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Color Psychology and Symbolism

Understanding the psychology behind the use of colors will make for better design decisions and will help better communicate and support your brand and messages.  For example, use blues to communicate security or yellow to communicate happiness.  There are many resources that talk about color and the psychology behind different colors*:

http://www.pepfx.com/articles/web_design/webdesign_colors.php

http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=19382&ca=29

*It is important to note that the above is in reference to colors in our Western society, the meanings people associate with different colors may vary across different cultural and geographical boundaries.

Logo & Branding Translation/Consistency

When you land on a company’s website is should be the same feeling as if you were to walk into their office building.  The website should be an extension of their brand, not an afterthought.  There is a certain lifestyle, a point of view, a culture, an attitude and aura associated with and unique to each company.  It is the designer’s goal to make sure all these elements carry over and are communicated in the look of the site.

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By addressing these key points, you can tap into the user’s psychology and create better web experiences.  In the long run, this will contribute to more calls to action and drive business results.

The Psychology behind Web Design – Part I: Why?

by Dionne Aiken

When browsing through websites, ever ask yourself “Why?” Why is the navigation at the top or on the left and then again at the bottom of the page? Why are all the links a certain color? Why does the overall website look and feel the way it does? These answers should be driven by conscious and purposeful decision, taking into account the user experience and psychological considerations, and not just because “I think the color blue and shiny Web buttons are cool!” (Although I must admit I’m a sucker for shiny Web buttons, myself!)

Basic design and psychological principles play a critical role in the push and pull of information between businesses and consumers by impacting the user experience in a way that generates calls to action and thus translates to business results.

An excellent article written by Andy Rutledge titled “Design Psychology” further attests to this as it goes through an extensive explanation of the psychology behind design and why individual subjective preferences should take a backseat to proven design principles and user expectations.

Similar to a step in our very own corporate philosophy “Analyze the Big Picture,” a video interview with Lance Loveday of Closed Loop Marketing and Eric J Hansen of SiteSpec  stresses the importance of a re-focus on overarching business goals to bridge the gap between developers, designers and decision-makers to boost ROI and business results. Throughout the interview they also make the connection between effective Web Design and ROI.

Here are additional articles written on the topic of psychology and Web design that further explain the “whys” behind the design decisions:

http://abduzeedo.com/psychological-study-web-designs

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2010/05/the-psychology-of-web-design/

As shown in the examples above, good design decisions take into account the user’s psychology, basic design principles and objective data, and lead to better Web experiences, user action and thus translate to business results.

In an upcoming post, I’ll explore the “Hows” behind implementing good Web design based on users’ psychological needs, so … stay tuned!

More Than Meets the Eye

by Dionne Aiken

According to Wikipedia, typography is the arrangement of type through the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning).

Whether for print or Web, typography plays a critical role in strengthening a design and supporting the communication of a message, but there is so much more to typography than first glance.

For example, what makes a good typeface, and how do we select the best typeface for the job? What visual cues are there in type that make our eyes stop and start reading as we follow a line of text? Or what makes something easier or more difficult to read? Why is OpenType one of the most widely used font formats?

A few weeks ago I attended a Typography Workshop conducted by Ilene Strizver of The Type Studio, wherein she answered all of these questions and more. In a segment called “Kerning Demystified,” Ilene took us through a series of exercises and examples using the following tips as a guide to problem-solve and troubleshoot type issues:

1. Sand in Hourglass Principle – visually and conceptually there should be the same amount of negative space between/amidst characters
2. Like Letterforms Have Like Spacing – theoretically, there should be the same visual amount of space between related character shapes: straight-to-straight characters have one distance or relationship, straight-to-round (or vice versa) have slightly less, and round-to-round slightly less than that
3. Three Letter Rule – look at letters in groups of three to better recognize kerning issues
4.  No Touching EXCEPT Diagonals – some exceptions, i.e., custom ligatures, etc.
5. Consistency is Critical! – there should be a consistent look to type overall

This last segment was very powerful; not only did we walk away with a ton of valuable information, but we also left equipped with tools for identifying and resolving type issues. Ilene encouraged all participants to continue practicing these exercises beyond the workshop in an effort to strengthen typography skills and to make better type choices.

I encourage you to take a closer look at type next time you’re out and about. You’ll begin to notice there’s more than meets the eye.

Failing Harder … to Fill the Logo GAP

by Dionne Aiken

It was Thomas Edison who once said “I failed my way to success.”

That said, if you’ve been following any of the buzz lately about the unveiling of the new GAP logo, you’ll agree they have a long way to go.

Twitter, Facebook and design blogs continue to flood with dismay and negative feedback about this epic design faux pas, especially given the history and brand image the GAP has upheld for years.

Despite the negative buzz, we see heightened social media engagement on the topic through a paradoxal Twitter account @GapLogo – tagline “I have feelings, too. Jerks.” and their Facebook page serving as platforms for continued engagement on the topic encouraging discussions and a mass exchange of ideas.  This has also sparked design competitions for incentives and has increased traffic substantially to blogs and other social media outlets.  Here’s a tweet from UnderConsideration:

We see social media used by a major brand the way it should be.  Showing the utmost transparency and engaging customers on a personal level.  It’s quite brilliant actually.

Looking beyond the mayhem, this silver lining of engagement and level of consumer responsiveness reveal a heightened sense of brand loyalty.    The fact that the GAP is uber-sensitive to this means that they are a few steps closer to finding a solution.  Until then … “fail harder.”

I know a lot of bloggers have polls about thoughts on the logo. We get it; everyone hates it.  But, what do you think should be done about this?

“… Involve me and I understand.”

by Dionne Aiken

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a Guerrilla Marketing workshop at Full Sail University by Mario Saccamango and Wagner of Beloved Experiential.

An old Chinese proverb best sums up their discussion on experiential design:

“Tell me and I forget.  Show me and I remember.  Involve me and I understand.”

Unlike traditional marketing which persuades people with ration and facts, experiential marketing takes this a step further and modifies consumer behavior through visual, emotional, mental and physical appeal.  The key is to engage them on all these levels to establish relationships and convert consumers to be brand ambassadors.  Mario and Wagner further illustrated this phenomenon with a pyramid diagram that showed the growth as each brand ambassador converted and created their own sub-groups of brand ambassadors creating a domino effect.  They also show a series of examples.

A powerful example given during their lecture was the Sony VAIO marketing campaign.  Sony VAIO wanted to take their stylish laptop to another level beyond just a piece of technology.  So they hired models wearing the latest high fashion designer clothing, sporting the trendy Sony laptops and released them on the streets of Manhattan, and in Grand Central Station to pose as live mannequins.  This attracted a lot of publicity to the point that Fashion Week eventually picked this up as an installation.

Another example a little closer to home is Beloved’s experiential marketing campaign for Barnie’s Coffee and Tea Company called “Favor Flavor.”  This five-phase guerrilla marketing campaign consisting of brand ambassadors donning mobile media units, a street tagging session and more is currently underway http://www.facebook.com/belovedexperiential#!/event.php?eid=146346258729172.  It will be interesting to see such a non-traditional marketing campaign hit the streets of Orlando.

Experiential marketing is all about connecting with your consumers by engagement that go above and beyond expectations providing intangible, memorable and most importantly personal experiences and interaction.

A Leave-Behind that Won’t Get Left Behind!

by Dionne Aiken

When Curley & Pynn VP and social media enthusiast Kim Taylor approached me a few days ago to create a leave-behind for a lecture on blogging I was clueless.  We were short on two things:  time and budget.  All I knew was that it needed to be eye-catching and memorable.   We took a step back and put on our thinking caps to “see the big picture.”  We started to think through the concept of a leave-behind.  The end result needed to be something memorable that would serve as a reminder, and also a useful reference tool that consumers could walk away with and keep after the lecture.

Given the limited time and budget, I could’ve just created some fancy 8.5 x 11 handout and called it a day.  But, handouts are too commonplace and unless you’re a student or you just so happen to travel with a binder or some oversized planner, one of two things were bound to happen:

1. The handout will get folded into tiny squares and shoved into a deep dark pocket or purse only to be found later shredded to pieces in the laundry, or
2. The handout will get thrown into the trashcan as soon as the chance is had and when no one is looking.

We wanted people to hold onto it, not get rid of it or destroy it.  Evidently the handout was not the solution in this instance.

So what then is the ultimate leave-behind?  A business card.

After Kim and I talked this through a bit more, the solution became “clear.”  An accordion-folded business card that when folded down slipped neatly in a clear sleeve for protection.  Through the sleeve you can see the title on one side, flip it over and you can see basic contact information.  Open it up and the tips are presented as the “Who, What, Where, When, Why and Hows of blogging.”

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By taking into account consumer behavior and usability we were able to create a leave behind that won’t get left behind.

The result – good design, where form and function meet in the middle.

Click here to download your free copy of the “Who, What, Where, When, Why and Hows of blogging.”

NYTimes.com Transcends our Concept of “The Newspaper”

by Dionne Aiken

Visited nytimes.com lately?  Maybe you logged on during the World Cup

or to track the oil spill.  Well if you haven’t logged on lately you’re missing out.

In such a dynamic information arena, where consumers can get “info-on-demand,” via the Web, smart phone and tech devices in a matter of seconds, some newspapers continue the struggle to keep up – others, like The New York Times, remain forerunners by taking advantage of this dynamic platform.  They grab the reigns and race ahead transcending our concept of the newspaper and news delivery.

In a recent interview, Steve Duenes and Archie Tse from The New York Times graphics department talk about the extensive work that goes into creating all the graphics on the news site.  When you think about the size of the site, the amount of information and small window of turnaround time, this begins to look like a daunting task fit only for a magician.

Duenes & Tse say that starting with a simple (yet sophisticated) foundation is critical in creating graphics that are sustainable but also expandable so that as information is added they hold up over time.  This process involves a lot of painstaking work and sorting through data to effectively communicate data, stories and messages in the clearest manner possible.

The end result?  Their graphics direct in amazing story telling.

From climate changes timelines, to carbon dioxide emissions

interactive tours though Broadway

or the number of Frisks in NYC.

For journalist, editors, and designers alike message delivery and how we tell our story is an important task.  It’s just data but it really all depends on how you look at it.