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Mixd Blog
Keep up to speed with all that’s going on with the Mixd team; comings & goings, highs & lows, ins & outs and so on. (Incidentally, blog is a contraction of the term web log; why use two syllables, when one will do?!)
Phil in Lycra
I know many of you will be disappointed having read Phil’s post about commuting, not to see him in Lycra… so here you go!
Your commute just got interesting
Happy 1st November everyone! Whilst driving to work this morning I was thinking how lucky I am to have the commute that I have to Harrogate. I am sure that I am not alone to say that I have had my fair share of long, dull and tedious commutes. Perhaps the longest of which was the 5-hour drive that I did to Scotland every weekend when I worked as a white water raft guide! I have to say I am glad that working in Harrogate means I no longer have to compete with the masses travelling into Leeds each morning – something I spent many years doing in previous employment. I’m hard placed to beat the commute I have from the market town of Otley (on the outskirts of Leeds) across the edge of the Yorkshire Dales and over to Harrogate where Mixd is based… it’s a great little ride on the bike too!
Wait, you bike to work?
Yes, whilst the drive across the edge of the Dales can be positively up-lifting, it does get better on the days when I can leave my car at home and cycle to work. I thought I would give you a little insight into what my commute is like on the days I bike to work, so here goes…
Lights on
It’s that time of year again… so like many enthusiast cyclists out there I have invested heavily in lights so powerful they put Blackpool illuminations to shame! I reckoned I could do the distance in about 45 minutes each way. So the choice was either a road bike which I reasoned would be fast but meant I’d need to wear the Lycra outfit back and forth and since they don’t have mudguards I’d be getting a wet bum if it rained. Or I could go for something more ‘cool’… use my mountain bike, cut the corner off and go through the woods at Norwood Edge. The choice was made! Potential for a wet arse and how I’d look in Lycra meant there was no contest. Mountain bike it was then.
Take the rough with the smooth
Setting off from Otley in the dark is always a tough call. Especially when it’s wet and windy and you know you’ve got 45 minutes of pain to follow! Out of Otley and over the river before the right towards Farnley. Bang! It’s hits you… the first climb that leads gently up towards Lindley Wood reservoir. On with the iPod and dare I say the new ColdPlay album. Feels wrong to say I like it but it helped me tackle the mighty Norwood Edge climb before cutting off and going cross country. This is the biggest and worst climb of the ride and despite the tough gradient when you get going, it’s really not all that bad. When I got over the top you’d be forgiven for thinking it was an entirely different country; there was barely a cloud in the blue sky and the sun was just starting to come up. It’s for moments like this that I do it! Down the hill to Beckwithshaw and down into Harrogate. There done. 42 minutes and 38 seconds. Argh, it’s a hard life being a web designer!
So what is the ideal commute and how long is acceptable?
So what is your commute like? Just curious to see how long it takes folks to commute to work? How long before its ‘too long’ and wastes too much of your day, where do you draw the line? Does the method of transport influence your decision? Currently my commute is 30 minutes in the car or 45 minutes by bike!
Roll with it… working with Oasis!
Not that Oasis!
We have created new branding and launched an online presence for Oasis, an ethical, not-for-profit human relations consultancy.
The branding and website are designed to help Oasis to clearly articulate its unique approach and skills, with much of the web content focusing on real-life case studies and testimonials.
Some might say…
Cathy Neligan, Communications Officer of Oasis says:
“Working with Mixd was an absolute pleasure. Their emphasis on getting to know exactly what we wanted meant we maintained an effective working relationship throughout the project and resulted in exactly the solution we needed. They came up with creative solutions for our branding, web and print, and we were able to rely on their expert advice and honest feedback.
“Feedback from clients and users on our new branding and website has been fantastic and we have seen an increase in enquiries and bookings through the website immediately following launch.”
Who and what is Oasis?
Oasis works with organisations to help them develop new and more effective HR and personnel management strategies. It’s clients range from not for profit organisations, charities and educational institutions to major companies such as Northern Foods, Skipton Building Society and Betty & Taylors Group.
The masterplan…
Built to the latest front-end standards in HTML5 and CSS3, the website really lives the Oasis brand and makes user interaction easy, even for such a content rich site. The jQuery animation on the homepage helps get across key brand messages with the site supported in all browsers (including iPhone/iPad) without the need for Flash.
The Executive Developers section allows users to easily search or browse to find the right developer for them, by name or region, and the Resources section allows free downloads of PDF Manuals and the online purchase of books utilising simple PayPal integration. The entire site is incredibly quick to load and navigate, by fully optimising both the front- and back-ends, whilst the search engines are kept happy by the ground-up integration of solid SEO practices that see the site sitting pretty on page one for many key search terms, even without an ongoing SEO campaign.
The website can easily be updated by Oasis through our adaptation and integration of the WordPress content management system which includes bespoke features including Custom Post Types to allow easy input of wide ranging content.
Don’t look back in anger…
Here’s what the Oasis site looked like before our involvement.
View the new Oasis School of Human Relations website.
A massive improvement wouldn’t you say? Definitely… no maybe about it!
Why is scoping important?
It is fair to say that scoping is the most important stage of any design and development project.
“None of us plan to fail, but some of us fail to plan.”
Anon. (I saw this quote as graffiti on a dressing room door!)
Without scoping, a design and development project is like trying to build a house without any solid foundations; in fact, a project built on nothing but assumptions (assume makes an ass of u and me!) and guesswork would be like trying to build a house on quick sand.
The key reasons for scoping:
- Target audience needs are reviewed
- Project requirements (and risks) are identified
- Routes to meet these needs are researched
- Deliverables are agreed
- Planning and allocation of resources are made simpler
- Indicative project costs and time-scales are firmer
- Money allocated to the project is better spent
- An initial investment creates an informed project platform or in certain cases shelves a project, saving valuable resources that may have been wasted
- Overall project time and cost is streamlined
- Solid scoping makes the project as successful as it can be
Scoping is an investment, not an expense
A good Monday
We all hate Mondays. But then again we all love the Internet. So imagine how I felt when these two opposites collided yesterday morning after discovering not one, but two sites which impressed me more than a little.
Magnum Pleasure Hunt
http://pleasurehunt.mymagnum.com/
Have to say this one’s been out for a while but it was the first time I’d seen it. Now I’m not the biggest advocate of Flash (in fact I will do anything to avoid it) but when it’s used to do something as creative as this then I can cut it a bit of slack. Give it a go! It’s essentially a simple online platform game, but I won’t ruin it for you.
The Boston Globe
At the opposite end of the web technologies spectrum the brand new The Boston Globe site went live yesterday, carried out by Ethan Marcotte, Scott Jehl and Filament Group. The key here is that the site has been optimised, and is responsive to a wide range of devices including mobiles and tablets (resize your browser to see this in action!). This is no mean feat for a site of this scale and certainly not when it contains fixed-width advertising.
The techniques used here build on Ethan’s brilliant book Responsive Web Design which means the website adapts to any given screen resolution, without the need for a separate m. site. Building a website in this way is one option to consider when choosing your mobile strategy.
So there’s two lots of inspiration from a Monday. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
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Ammendum:
My comments about the Boston Globe are coming from a technical perspective, being a front-end developer myself and liking cool stuff. However is the site heading in the right direction? I’ve just picked up on Joshua Benton sharing some thoughts about how effective the new site is on the Nieman Journalism Lab website.
Blown-away
You’ll have to pardon the pun, but I was blown-away when I was shown this the other day. Flabbergasted even! Take a peek:
Now I’ve done some pretty silly things on the bike in the past but this is next-level silliness. I didn’t even know a sport like this existed! But there you have it, Wingsuit Base Jumping
Fair play to ‘em
Do I need a mobile strategy?
Why mobile?
The way we use the web is changing. Gone are the days of a fixed PC where you went to ‘surf’ the web for an hour or so after you’d popped the kids to bed. Instead, we are now able to view the web almost whenever and wherever we want utilising a whole host of devices available to the modern web user; Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, PlayBook… and so the list goes on.
Mobile usage stats
The stats below are taken from Boagworld, the blog of web strategist Paul Boag (March 2011), and from a post by David Hillis on CMS wire (Feb 2011).
- There are over 5 billion mobile phone subscribers throughout the world (73% of the population!) and of this figure, over 1 billion use smartphones
- Projections forecast that mobile internet usage will overtake desktop internet usage by 2014
- 50% of all local searches are executed on a mobile device
- On average, we spend 2.7 hours per day on our mobile devices
- More than 200 million Facebook users use Facebook for mobile and they are more active than desktop users
- 40% of all Twitter traffic is mobile (circa 60 million interactions per day)
- Over 200 million YouTube views occur on mobile devices every single day
- Over 10 billion iPhone Apps have been downloaded
- Mobile data consumption has risen 400% over the last 2 years
- The younger generation send an average of 3,400 text messages per month
Blimey! It’s pretty obvious that mobile internet usage is on the up and some leading industry figures report that it is growing ten times faster than the world wide web ever did!
To quote Paul Boag:
“The figure that grabs my attention the most (and should yours) is that the number of people accessing the web via mobile devices will surpass the number accessing via desktop users by 2014. That is only 3 years! Time to sort out your mobile strategy now.”
I like words, but show me pictures…
The infographic from Microsoft Tag below is a great representation of current mobile usage (early 2011) that illustrates why it commands respect and needs to be taken seriously by everyone and not just digital marketers.
Do these stats blow your mind, like they do mine?
Do you have a mobile strategy? Do you think you need one?
Let us know what you think below.
Draw attention!
This has nothing to do with web design but if you are a web designer, training to become a web designer, would like to be a web designer or just like to keep abreast of the latest technologies and apps us web geeks are using then you might find this interesting. Then again you might not!
When we started Mixd nearly 7 years ago we were big fans of the so called ‘Devnet’. At the time we needed to find a quick and easy way of sharing design visuals for client feedback. There has been many ways of doing this over the years from emailing PDFs, emailing JPG images and god forbid, even presenting in person on white foam boards! We used to upload a JPG of the visual to our server in a client specific folder, and then email the link to the client with a paragraph explaining the design, the inspiration, the purpose of each element and so on. If you have been a Mixd client for some time you may well be familiar with this.
We still to this day use foam boards to present when meeting with clients and presenting a design to a committee. I can recall presenting logos to clients, each one carefully and painfully cut out and mounted on individual foam boards. I would then present each logo concept in turn, only showing the client one logo at a time and talking through the ideas as I presented them. Of course there were many tricks that were passed down to me. Always present and finish with your best work last and make your preferred logo slightly bigger so it would naturally stand out!
Mixd has gone all digital…
But wait, things have changed. The digital industry has moved on and so have we. We have recently been trying a number of different solutions for presenting visuals online. Included in these tests was Flickr – the online photo sharing network from Yahoo. This worked really well until we discovered Skitch.
So what is Skitch?
Well the inventors claim “We built Skitch to solve our own needs of sharing a visual idea, fast…”. It is a fantastic tool that is very quick and easy to use and allows us to easily send visuals to clients. Watch this 60 second Skitch tour to find out exactly what it is.
How we use Skitch at Mixd
Creating an amazing website is a collaboration between the client and us, the designers. We aim to work together to develop a design that is both visually stunning and effective at meeting business objectives. For this to happen both parties have their part to play and that’s why using tools like Skitch has really helped us. During the initial stages of design development the creative team can quickly share snippets of design visuals and ideas as they happen. Because it is so quick we no longer have to wait until we have a highly polished concept to present to client, meaning we get feedback quicker. We also use Skitch to test visual ideas and integrate this with other user testing we may be undertaking.
So whether you are a web designer or just need a quick and easy way to share ideas then perhaps Skitch is the app you have been looking for. Let us know what apps you use!
One careful owner…
If you’re in the market for a great deal on a used car in the Yorkshire area, you may have come across our recently launched website for Andrews Auto Parcs in Harrogate.
Website scoping
The website is the result of many hours of hard graft, with a great deal of time spent planning, investigating, scoping and ongoing user testing… to set the solid foundations that make for a structured, user focussed project. Early feedback from the client and users, along with analytics stats, is proving that it was time well spent.
Quality web design and development
Our usual standards of highly crafted code and user-centred web design are of course evident, with solid technical making complex processes, such as the finance calculator and vehicle search, easy for the user. This background technical is running using the fast emerging Ruby on Rails language and the integrated content management system allows the guys at Andrews (who will be the first to admit, that they aren’t very technical… hey, we can’t sell cars!) to take full control of their online presence from the comfort of their purpose built showroom.
Additional value added services
In addition, we undertook a photoshoot, developed a content strategy, advised on language and implemented comprehensive search engine optimisation for launch. Our work doesn’t stop there though – we like to take a proactive approach to evaluate and enhance our products – and we are currently investigating a smart-phone App and an ongoing search optimisation and pay per click campaign.
The website before Mixd’s involvement
Well, what do you think?
We’d love to know what you think about the site and if you’re in the market for a car, Andrews is well worth a visit… either online or in person.
Mountain bike madness…
I just wanted to say a huge thanks for all the support and the money raised from the 100 mile South Downs Way ‘bike ride’ that I took part in last Saturday for the British Heart Foundation. It is the 3rd year I’ve taken part in this event so in fairness I knew what I had let myself in for. The 100 mile off-road cycle route runs from Winchester to Eastbourne covering the entire length of the South Downs Way with a staggering 3,550 metres of climbing! It’s a tough route and a great test of endurance but also a thoroughly enjoyable event for a great cause.
100 miles in just over 10 hours!
I’m pleased to say I completed all 100 miles in a total time of 10 hours and 20 something minutes; a full hour quicker than my time from last year and I crossed the finish line in fourth spot! However, I was staggered to hear the fastest recorded time on the day was 7 hours 15 minutes by some elite rider… clearly I’ve got room for improvement!
It’s for charidee, mate…
I am also very pleased to report that I have raised quite a bit of money for the British Heart Foundation along the way. If you’ve not yet shown your support you still can at: http://www.justgiving.com/phil-shackleton.
Cycling rules
Looking back on the past 6 months of training I have learnt quite a few things about cycling. A few points in particular from a set of rather random cycling rules taken from Velominati’s – The Rules:
- Rule 12: The minimum number of bikes one should own is three. The correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.
- Rule 24: Speeds and distances shall always be referred to and calculated in kilometers. This includes while discussing cycling in the workplace with your non-cycling coworkers, serving to further mystify our sport in the web of their Neanderthalic cognitive capabilities. As the confused expression spreads across their unibrowed faces, casually mention your shaved legs. All of cycling’s monuments are measured in the metric system and as such the English system is forbidden.
- Rule 25: The bikes on top of your car should be worth more than the car. Or at least be relatively more expensive.
- Rule 56: When wearing a cycling kit and enjoying a pre or post ride coffee, it is only appropriate to drink espresso or macchiato. If the word soy/skim latte is heard to be used by a member wearing cycling apparel, then that person must be ceremonially beaten with CO2 canisters or mini pumps by others within the community.
