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DrupalCon DC 2009: 5 Key Trends
Veröffentlicht 20 Mar 2009 von John EckmanTags: Acquia, Assembled Web, Collaboration, Community, Conference, Content Management, Crowdsource, Culture, Design, Drupal, Media and Publishing, Open Source, PHP, Platform

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend DrupalCon DC 2009. (DrupalCon is the semi-annual gathering of Drupal developers, users, themers, consultants, and contributors; its generally held once in the US and once in Europe each year - the next will be DrupalCon Paris in September 2009). + Read more

Designing for the Social Web
Veröffentlicht 10 Nov 2008 von John EckmanTags: Community, Design, Digg, Direct Consumer Engagement, Facebook, Information Architecture, interface, Recommendations, Social Networking, User Experience, User-Centered Design, Web 2.0

When the World Wide Web first hit popular consciousness, the major challenge for designers was to understand that the web wasn't print. The conventions, patterns, and approaches that traditional design had prepared them to rely on were no longer valid, and they needed to develop new conventions for the new medium. + Read more

Website Application Design - Milkshake Usability Part 1
Veröffentlicht 08 Jul 2008 von Optaros Tags: Analysis, Demographics, Design, Ecommerce, ecommerce Strategy, eTail, Marketing, Personas, Retail, Shopping, User Experience, User-Centered Design

    Usability and milkshakes: Need to sell more widgets? To answer this question the first challenge is to know why your customers want to buy them. Don't assume you already know.     + Read more

Social Shopping and The Game of Life
Veröffentlicht 23 May 2008 von Adam MichelsonTags: Community, Design, Ecommerce, ecommerce Strategy, Information Architecture, Product Management, Retail, Shopping, Social Networking, Visualization, Web 2.0

  The top question we get today regarding social shopping is as follows: "We've done product ratings and reviews; what social shopping features should we implement in 2009 that actually will lead to increased traffic, basket size or conversion rates?" To help our clients answer this question we developed the 2009 Social Ecommerce Guide + Read more

Web widget provides engagement around comics
Veröffentlicht 13 May 2008 von Jim MunzTags: content syndication, Design, media, Media Advertising, syndicate, Syndication, syndicatr, User Experience, Widget

Optaros has developed for King Digital, a unit of King Features, a web widget that brings extended benefits to both the host site TimesUnion.com and the King Digital. King Digital is now able to deliver all of the great content that they have in their collection and can provide community functionality along side that helps keep the user engaged for extended user sessions. + Read more

Ecommerce Solution - ROI of RIA in ecommerce
Veröffentlicht 13 Mar 2008 von Adam MichelsonTags: Ajax, Design, Ecommerce, Enterprise 2.0, Flash, Flex, Retail, Shopping, User Experience, User-Centered Design, Web 2.0, Widget

Rich Internet Application capabilities, such as whiz-bang Flash and AJAX capabilities do look cool. But do they attract return on investment for ecommerce solutions? Do they drive up conversion, average order size or deter abandonment? There does not seem to be definitive A/B testing consensus to prove it, but some RIA capabilities do seem to make a positive impact while many seem to have dubious returns. + Read more

From requirements to a designed UI in 5 too-short days!
Veröffentlicht 30 Jan 2008 von Optaros Tags: Ajax, Alfresco, Assembly Methodology, Collaboration, Community, Design, User Experience, User-Centered Design, Web 2.0, Wireframing

When Swisscom Mobile challenged our Zurich team to design a total overhaul of the Labs public beta website in just 4.5 working days, some said that it couldn't be done. And they were right - it took 5 days! This project proved the value of two things we pride ourselves on at Optaros: methodology and experience. The methodology included our Design Workshops, where stakeholders and users follow their path to completing a task using rough screen mockups called wireframes. + Read more

User Experience IS the Difference
Veröffentlicht 10 Jan 2008 von Optaros Tags: Design, User Experience, User-Centered Design

Excellence in User Experience Design is a key differentiating factor when selecting a professional services firm to deliver solutions for your company. Purely technical solutions are fast becoming commoditized. For the same cost, many top firms can deliver something that meets your basic operational needs. One difference will be whether you end up with something that your customers or employees can effectively use. + Read more

Enterprise Applications Need Design
Veröffentlicht 10 Jan 2008 von Optaros Tags: Design, User Experience, User-Centered Design

Enterprise applications often get overlooked when it comes time to spend energy on creating an effective interface. There are real benefits to delivering an intuitive interface for an enterprise application and real penalties to be paid for having a poor one. + Read more

What kind of community?
Veröffentlicht 10 Jan 2008 von John EckmanTags: Community, Design, User Experience

One of the basic challenges in creating online communities involves getting beyond the idea that all communities are alike. Communities have cultures, and those cultures evolve essentially out of the behavior of the community inhabitants. This doesn't mean, however, that you have no control over what kind of community you create. And I don't mean simply by controlling who you allow to join.  + Read more

Blurring the Browser/Desktop Boundary: Mozilla Prism, Adobe AIR
Veröffentlicht 10 Jan 2008 von John EckmanTags: Design, Open Source, Platform

Perhaps it was inevitable. Given that ajax and flash enabled the creation of web-based experiences which look and feel like desktop applications, and given that dekstop applications increasingly rely on data and interaction from the Internet, the two worlds are becoming difficult to tell apart. + Read more

Has technology finally caught up with design?
Veröffentlicht 09 Jan 2008 von Charlie Stuart-KingTags: ADA, Design, User Experience, User-Centered Design, Web 2.0

Since the inception of web design, visual designers have been constrained by many restrictions like limited color palette, jagged-edge fonts, low resolution screens and developers saying “no way, forget it, no curved corners!” Not any more... + Read more

Time to update your Online Banking site?
Veröffentlicht 09 Jan 2008 von Charlie Stuart-KingTags: ADA, Analysis, Corporate Websites, Design, Finance, Metrics, Personas, User Experience, User-Centered Design

Overview: The exciting news is that the world of banking and investing has made some lots of exciting developments over the past few years. Competition is hot in gaining market share in the retail banking space but even more so in long-term investments space. Whether your customers are active traders, long-term investors or even just run a checking account, they all deserve, and most now expect, a cutting edge site that is seamless and full of options should they want it. + Read more

Icons: Does your site need them?
Veröffentlicht 09 Jan 2008 von Charlie Stuart-KingTags: Design, User Experience, User-Centered Design

Icons are a great addition to many sites. Whether it be a drop-down arrow or a shopping cart icon, they will add a positive visual language to the overall site experience. The challenge is knowing where and when to use them appropriately.When you are transitioning from business requirements into wireframes, your visual designer will be able to advise you on the best course of action but there are a couple of helpful rules of thumbs to guide you: + Read more