Archive for the ‘Rant’ Category
Does exactly what it says on the tin; just the posts that relate to the above...
Gordon’s Alive! (but he’s dying a slow and painful death)
Gordon had Ming but Adobe’s Flash has had to contend with a more powerful adversary in the Late Steve Jobs and he was equally merciless in his pursuit of wiping out his enemy.
And after years of bitter fighting it seems Jobs has succeeded where Ming failed, bringing Flash to its knees – if we are to believe the current rumours that is. Adobe is said to be pulling the plug on Flash for mobiles and tablets, instead focussing on HTML5 for playing video and animated content saying “We will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device configurations”. Although apparently Adobe will continue to support Flash for desktop platforms as well as providing bug fixes for some mobile platforms.
Perhaps Adobe’s hand was forced though, with most mobile devices choosing the open HTML5 format instead of proprietary plugins like Flash for multimedia elements. Windows also announced recently their Windows 8 Metro browser would choose HTML5 over Flash for security, reliability and battery life. These are good choices by the device-makers, with HTML5 constantly evolving due to the efforts of the W3C Working Group hoping to bring the web towards a fully standardised, open format.
As those immortal words once pronounced – “Gordon’s Alive!” but we don’t think Princess Aura will be able to save this particular Flash…
You’re hired…
Over the last few months the Mixd team has steadily been growing and as a result we have been encouraging web designers and web developers of the future to get in touch. Those of you that regularly read the Mixd blog will know that we work closely with York College and the University of Leeds on their graphic design and digital media courses. We get to meet a whole range of students, all eager to land their first job. Of course finding your first job involves one big hurdle that we must all overcome – the interview! And I think we can all remember that interview where you fell flat on your face with the first question or some other embarrassing moment!
First, a little bit of interview advice
So all this talk of interviews got me thinking about what lessons I have learnt and I think the biggest single piece of advice I can offer is do your homework!
It really should not need to be said but so many times I have interviewed people with little or no knowledge of the company or the kind of work we do. With the web being what it is these days, there really is no excuse for not knowing every little detail about the company. Twitter and Facebook are wonderful tools that can be used to gain insight and knowledge before going for that dream job. Check out the company Twitter feed and find out the names of key members of staff. Then find them on Twitter! Engage them and build up a relationship prior to going for your interview. If nothing else, you will get to know the company and are more likely to know whether or not they are right for you. You will also build up a list of topics to talk about if you are stuck for something to say!
My strangest job interview
So back on the subject of worst / strangest job interviews, I thought I’d tell you a little story about an interview that I had some time ago and the lessons I learnt. I was applying for a job as a white water raft guide and had been shortlisted and asked to attend an interview at a hotel close to London. I arrived early (always a good start) and was directed to a particular suite in the hotel. Expecting a one-on-one interview with the owner of the company, I was somewhat surprised to find a room full of other raft guides, all eager to land their dream job guiding on rivers in the Alps. My interview was at 11am, so I had time to chat with a few of them and it quickly became apparent that we had all be asked to attend an interview at the same time, 11am. At this point I did think the situation was a little strange as there was no one to be seen from the company.
11am came and went and we were all left waiting. No one knew what was going on. I tried calling the number I had been given but got no answer – the hotel didn’t know either and as time went on the ‘interview’ got stranger and stranger. First a buffet lunch was served followed by the opening of the hotel bar “It’s all paid for, have what you like” I was told by the barman. It was at this point that the room divided – those that took advantage of the free bar and had a ‘few’ drinks and those that felt it wasn’t appropriate to drink whilst waiting to be interviewed. Not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth, I found myself with a small group of others stood at the bar chatting and getting stuck in to the free hospitality. After an hour or so the barman ushered the small group of drinkers round into a smaller round adjacent to where we had been. As we walked into the room our faces dropped – the owner of the company was stood there with one or two other members of staff. He simply smiled, opened his arms and said “congratulations”!
At the time, I didn’t quite know what had just happened but I later realised that the owner had planned the entire day and was sat watching us all from the adjacent room. Those that were outgoing and sociable (and enjoyed a drink) were exactly the kind of people they wanted in their company.
Have you had a strange or particular bad interview experience?
p.s. I was also once asked at a job interview “If you were a mythological creature, what would you be and why?”
p.p.s. Bob once attended an interview where the only task was dished out by a miserable looking bloke “Get this raw egg in this glass milk bottle without cracking the shell. I’ll be back in an hour.”
Alternatives to the Royal wedding (29 April 2011)
Are you one of the people desperately looking for an alternative to the Royal wedding on Friday?
Well, we’ve had a good search around the font of all knowledge that is the internet and are pleased to bring you a Mixd [sic] assortment of alternative things to do.
Alternative things to do on Friday 29 April 2011
(to escape the Royal wedding)
Our favourite!
Kate Middleton may have kissed a few frogs to find her Prince, but if you’re in the USA, jump on board any one of a number of events to mark the 3rd annual ‘Save the Frogs Day’!
England
- Funeral procession and living wake to mark the demise of vital public sector services (Manchester)
- The Croft, hosts ‘An Alternative Indoor Royal Wedding Street Party’ featuring live acts including ‘Cesspit Rebels’! (Bristol)
- Outdoor Cinema at The Red Lion presents ‘The Italian Job’ (Hunningham)
- Queer Resistance presents ‘Royal Zombie Celebration & Flash Mob’ (Soho)
Ireland
- Bray Jazz Festival (Co Wicklow)
- Lunchtime Arias at The Gaiety Theatre (Dublin)
Scotland
- The Scottish Baby and Toddler Show (Glasgow)
- Republic presents ‘Not the Royal Wedding’ party (Edinburgh)
Wales
- The Welsh National Scooter Rally (Builth Wells)
- The Socialist Party presents ‘A Socialist Party republican alternative BBQ to the royal wedding’ (Swansea)
Elsewhere
- The Cyber Bingo Network’s online bingo hall known as Bingo Zest, will close down. So get in quick! (Online)
- A full day’s viewing of ‘The Only Way is Essex’ starting at 8.10am. I kid you not. (ITV2)
Whatever you’re doing. Have fun and enjoy it!
Do let us know if there are any events that you feel should be in this list!
Usability; from cash points to the world wide web
Picture the scene if you will…
I’m on my way out to meet my mates. Looking rather dapper if I do say so myself. We are off to see a club DJ, but I need an extra tenner for my ticket. I’m running well late. The taxi’s waiting. Now on with the story…
I dashed to the nearest cash point and as I only needed a tenner, I instantly went to hit the top left button as that is traditionally where the £10 button is – right? To my dismay I ended up withdrawing £100 because some idiot thought it would be a good idea to go against the norm and change the usual order of the buttons and put £100 in the top left. Go ahead, chuck them in the air and see where they land. That’ll do!
Users’ expectations
This left me annoyed, not to mention a tad uncomfortable with the extra cash secreted about my person for security. However, it got me onto thinking about the cash point idea in relation to web usability and user interface design. When users visit websites, they expect things in a certain place and subconsciously look in certain areas of the page for certain functions. If things change, the majority of users will end up confused or even worse, frustrated.
Typically, the logo and home button is top left, search is top right, privacy and terms are in the footer… and so on. Of course with every rule, there are exceptions… and in this case, there are many ‘ground breaking’ or simply plain wacky websites out there. They deliberately (that’s the key here) steer away from these classic conventions in the pursuit of user enjoyment, increased interest or to generate the curiosity factor.
Counter intuitive design
A good example would be the Finnish design agency Hello Good Looking (HGL). Their entire site goes against modern convention and best practice, and for most users will be counter-intuitive. Specific examples that break the mould include:
- the site is built entirely in Flash (they do of course have an iPhone specific alternative!);
- the logo sits bottom left;
- some info is blurry until clicked upon;
- the navigation is experimental and floats around the page; and
- the content runs horizontally, not vertically.
HGL haven’t made a catalogue of errors however; this is all meticulously planned. They want to encourage the user to explore and enjoy the unusual online experience. Some would say that it’s a blatant attempt to show-off – ’look how good we are, we don’t have to follow any protocol’. Some would call them big-headed; egotistical; and even stupid. However, I’d be more inclined to think that they like pushing the boundaries and only want to work with like-minded people; in any case I don’t reckon they’ll lose too much sleep over it!
So, when is it okay to break the norm in terms of online usability? We’d love to know what you think.
Foursquare; a skeptic’s view
It’s official, Foursquare has gone mainstream
During a late summer trip to sunny Devon I experienced a number of firsts. Surfing, sampling the local cider and reading my girlfriend’s celebrity magazines. I can assure you I only read them to relieve the boredom of lounging! However, amongst the ‘what’s hot and what’s not’ articles was a feature on a relatively new piece of social networking jazz – Foursquare.
What is Foursquare?
Foursquare claims to be a website and app for mobile devices with geo-location functionality that allows individuals to publicly announce their location, make leisure / shopping recommendations and be crowned Mayor of their most visited places. Users are awarded points and sometimes ‘badges’, adding a competitive element that appears reminiscent of the highly addictive Pokémon badge collecting game (ahem — for those young enough to remember). Phil, Bob and Matt can’t even go into Harrogate on their lunch without checking in at a multitude of places, all trying to oust each other from their respective mayorships; I believe Bob is currently Mayor of Boots, Phil is Mayor of Marks and Spencers and Matt… Mayor of the local chippy!
So in what ways can businesses benefit from this service?
One way appears to be to offer discount incentives for customers who frequently ‘Check in’ at your venues, irrespective of whether you are Starbucks or a local shop. Foursquare’s ‘Tips’ function also seems a great aid when you’re stuck in a new town and need to find the nearest watering hole with a ‘happy hour’ on, or at least a decent clientele.
I can see how Foursquare, and its rival Gowalla, could be perceived as just a convergence of existing local review sites (such as Qype)… but with geo-location abilities. However, Foursquare’s game based nature makes it the winner if its increasing user base and widening of demographics is to go by; i.e. no longer just used by trendy urban hipsters and techies. Surely this means it’s going to provide a fertile channel for consumers and businesses to tap into.
Back to life. Back to reality…
Some people, much like myself, think it takes the adventure and excitement out of life, but as a certified caffeine addict I’d feel like a right chump for paying full price for my caffè lattes if I didn’t have to. I suppose I best jump on board. Here’s to hoping I don’t find myself in a bar full of techies and trendy urban hipsters with media haircuts!
How do you switch off from your work?
I have been involved with design and the creative industries for a little over twelve years now and one thing that hasn’t changed in this time is the expectation that people in our industry are available to do work day or night!
Like so many designers and web developers out there I have worked through the night to meet a 9am deadline or presentation, been sat in the office at the weekend just because “the design wasn’t quite right” and found myself thinking about how I can solve a frustrating IE6 CSS issue whilst throwing back another Jägermeister with friends late on a Friday evening! Yes, we’ve all been there haven’t we! It’s just part of our beloved industry!
So what has changed?
I found myself asking this very question whilst replying to a client request at 3am one Saturday morning (using my iPhone of course!) and it hit me. Technology has totally revolutionised the way we work but more importantly when we work. We see it day in day out at Mixd that more and more creative types are choosing to work in a freelance capacity where they have complete control over their working hours. In fact, many web developers are known for choosing to work late nights and not start until late morning… or even afternoon.
The problem is how do we switch off?
With today’s Android phones, Blackberries and iPhones we’re surrounded by our work all the time. I have to admit that the first thing I do when I get home is check my email! That’s closely followed by Twitter… Facebook… Foursquare! The list goes on! Even at a weekend my phone is never far away and, like many, I find it increasingly harder to switch off.
Have you tried switching off?
So whilst chatting about how we ‘switch off’ outside of work, Matt suggested the bizarre and novel concept of switching my phone off when I leave work and not switching it back on again until I arrive back in the office the following morning. Can you imagine? And so the challenge was made…
It’s going to be like being back in the early 90′s! Do you remember arranging to meet friends in a specific pub at a certain time? If you were late you missed them! For those old enough to remember, we haven’t always had mobile phones!
So there we have it, for a period of two weeks I have agreed to switch off my iPhone at weekends and weekday evenings. Will it be the end of my digital world… we’ll have to wait and see!
Mind you, I’ve recently become the proud owner of an iPad. Now this was never mentioned and could surely pull me out of a hole if withdrawal symptoms get too bad…
External website links. New window or not?
Right. A big bug bear of mine!
It has been a growing and annoying trend that links to external sites from one website to another open in a new browser window and it has been something that we advise our clients against… time and time again. Some common misconceptions are listed below with several facts, based on actual user testing, to expose them as false.
“I’ll keep users if external links open in a new window…”
Many organisations still believe that opening a new browser window for external links will help keep users on their site. The hard facts show that it doesn’t! If a user is even the slightest bit interested in what you have to offer they will take note – if they’re not, then you need to work harder at improving content and your online offering in order to achieve your desired conversion. The strategy of opening links in a new window will not increase your site conversions and it certainly won’t help you sell more!
“It makes it easier for users to return to my site…”
The concept of opening links in a new window is also self-defeating since it disables the browser’s ‘back’ button which is the normal way users return to previous sites! So, basing the argument on the thought that it will be easier for users to return to your site is very wrong. In recent user tests carried out by Mixd, we found that many users often don’t even notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximised to fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the originating site will be confused by the back button not functioning. The end result is that they are likely to get frustrated, panic click and ultimately go elsewhere.
“I need to control my users…”
Many organisations work on the presumptuous rationale that the user cannot or will not decide on their own where they want to surf to, whether they want to return to the original site, or whether they want to pull up additional web browser windows to surf more than one site simultaneously. With the advent of ‘tabs’ in many of today’s browsers, the choice to open in a new browser window is even more outdated. Let the users do this if they want (they can easily right click ‘open in new tab’). You should not force it on them.
The facts
There are several key reasons why we believe you should not force new windows:
- Unless you warn them, web users are likely to expect the new page to load in the current window. Unexpected surprises are not good online and only confuse users. Confuse users and they are gone.
- It breaks the back button functionality. This is the second most used navigation function (source: useit.com), so breaking it is a big no!
- Users don’t want it! Opening a new browser window can be disorientating and confusing. If they wanted to open the link in a new window they would do so themselves!
- Using new browser windows can make an already cluttered taskbar, even busier and difficult to use. We’ve all spent ages hunting through the taskbar, looking for the window we want. Don’t make this even harder by increasing the number of windows to look through.
- Many users have security protection to stop ‘pop-up’ windows. And on some mobile devices new windows do not work at all. In essence, it could prevent the link from working all together for these users!
- The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) has guidelines against opening links in new windows. Checkpoint 10.1 reads: Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned windows, do not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the current window without informing the user.
Testing, testing 1, 2, 3
As part of our ongoing testing, we asked a number of test users if they were likely to return to a conversion page (let’s say an eCommerce website such as Amazon) if the page linked them off to another site – they all answered yes. Interestingly, most users said they would return to their initial search; i.e. from Google or in this case the Amazon home page. It proves the point: if your user is interested in what you have to offer they will come back! If they aren’t, they won’t!
With every rule there is an exception
If it is an absolute must (which we understand can happen sometimes) then you need to consider how the link is displayed. Again the W3C has guidelines on how best to deal with this situation by including a line of supporting text to inform the user that clicking the link will open a new browser window. View the W3C checkpoint 10.1 example.
What’s the solution?
There’s an adage that says ‘to assume makes an ass of u and me’. We should have a flashing image on the homepage; Doris (the MD’s wife) thinks the enquiry button should be puce; Trevor from accounts thinks the postage charges should be hidden. All guess work.
The only real way to establish what your site users want is to undertake relevant, user-focused testing. Here at Mixd, we don’t create sites for our portfolio; we don’t create sites for our clients. We create sites for our clients’ users. User testing comes in all shapes and sizes; what to do and how to do it can be tailored to meet all budgets. However, the quickest way to a site that will fail is to think you know it all already. You don’t. Online, the user is in control. Delight them and they are yours. Confuse or annoy them and they are gone… straight into the hands of your competitors.
P..p..p..pick up a penguin
It was my niece’s birthday recently. My brother and I were gigging with our band in Wales the day before… of course, we had both forgotten to arrange a present and it was fast approaching 6pm on a Saturday! Rattling our male brains, we concluded that the perfect present (achievable within 24 hours via an iPhone) would be to adopt a King Penguin, somewhere in the far reaches of the Falkland Islands.
After a few Google searches, we found the right solution… a penguin called ‘Sparkle’ that could be sponsored for a year, with our lucky niece receiving email confirmation with interesting facts the next day (perfect) and a welcome pack, with fact sheet, cuddly toy, certificate etc. following by post in the week.
Now then… both myself and my bro work in the digital industry and we really struggled to work out what the heck was going on when we tried to use the site… and that’s before we tried to pay for ‘Sparkle’ (more on this later). It would appear that the custodians of the website have never, ever heard of usability with the main offences being contradictory information / instructions and ridiculous requests for data capture that would surely put most people off… unless they were in the back of beyond in the Welsh mountains, at 7pm on a Saturday, about to go on stage to play a gig. We persevered.
After about thirty minutes of guess work, hair pulling and good fortune, we were ready to purchase. Well… this purchase process was absolute testament to why, under no circumstances, should users feel like they have left your site when making an online payment. After a while, we ended up giving in and decided on completing the next day; this was mainly owing to the fact that it had got so late that we were called onto stage to start the gig… we were superb by the way!
The next day (our niece’s actual birthday), we awoke with a heavy head, regrouped, had a cup of tea and a sausage butty (with red sauce) and recommenced our battle. Eventually, we completed the transaction in the tranny van, somewhere on the M69 nearing Leicester. Although we were guessing that we had, as we didn’t have any confirmation from the website or through email… just a third party payment site thanking us for our payment; not even what the payment was for!
We did start to get worried when our neice didn’t receive the King Penguin email for a further week! Luckily, we hadn’t been scammed and it all turned out well in the end; however, we had sufficient time to go to the Falklands, kidnap ‘Sparkle’ and bring her back to Somerset for her to live happily ever after in our niece’s pond.
Now, I decided not to mention the site in question, but come on people… it’s not rocket science to realise that investing in the right framework at the start of your project, will pay dividends in the long-term; it’s simply short-sighted to do things half-cock and expect a good return on investment.
The moral of the story: put time, thought, effort and the appropriate budget into the usability of your website, especially with e-commerce.
The real moral of the story: be better Uncles and plan ahead!
…and now for something completely different
Academy Award-nominated actor, comedian, writer and film producer John Cleese comes to town next week as the keynote speaker at the Yorkshire International Business Convention to be held at the Yorkshire Event Centre, Harrogate on Friday 5 June 2009.
He will be there on business and probably far more serious than you might expect. The man who played hapless guesthouse owner Basil Fawlty (quite apt for the conference town of Harrogate) regularly lectures in America to students on matters such as psychology, business and writing… he has also developed his on screen characters to produce training films for the world of business.
The Yorkshire International Business Convention has a reputation for attracting high profile speakers and Big John follows in the footsteps of global names like Bill Clinton and ‘Sir’ Bob Geldof; albeit, his footsteps will be considerably further apart and no doubt created in a rather ‘silly’ fashion.
Here at Mixd, we are fans of his catalogue of work and will be paying our own tribute to mark the tall one’s visit… look out for us undertaking our own Ministry of Silly Walks up and down King’s Road next week.