I just came across this site http://www.wetellstories.co.uk/, more experimentation by Penguin in the world of Web 2.0. Penguin already impress with their online ventures, with Web sites such as amillionpenguins.com (a Wiki novel), Spine Breakers (a community around books for teens) and Blog a Penguin Classic (blogging and user-reviews for Classic books).

In We Tell Stories, there are six stories being added over the course of six weeks. They have a different theme for each week’s story;

• Week 1 (The 21 Steps) is a Google Mash-up story, which is a really cool idea and works really well. Unfortunately (in my opinion) the story is poorly written and too obvious. I didn’t read the whole thing, maybe it improves?!
  
• Week 2 (Slice) is a story told through blogs and Twitter
  
• Week 3 (Fairy Tales) is like a Choose Your Own Adventure, or a personalised book. Not particularly exciting in my opinion.
  
• Week 4 (Your Place or Mine) is a story written in real-time, which is interesting.
  
• Weeks 5 & 6 are yet to be released.

Apparently there are elements of an Alternate Reality Game too, but it’s not clear to me exactly how this fits with the site, further exploration is needed.

With many of these initiatives, in particular We Tell Stories, it raises the question of whether people are willing to read books online (or on-screen). Maybe not just yet, but once e-book readers like Amazon’s Kindle support proper Web-browsing (and high speed Internet) e-novels will be set to take off.

Tim O'Neill, Managing Director UK

Labels: Design and Usability, Web Culture and Trends, Web marketing

Web design stems from graphic design so most aspects of traditional print design apply (apart from the ink and paper). However, there are many unique problems that a web designer faces.

However if you can master the following qualities, you will be in a good position to face these challenges.

1. Be User-Centric
At the heart of good web design is good usability. If a user cannot quickly and efficiently access the information, product or service they have visited for, they will leave with a negative impression of the site and therefore the brand.

Good usability begins with the structure of information. Information architecture is the process of organising information in a logical, intuitive manner so that the user can find their way around the site quickly and painlessly. Get this wrong and the user will lose confidence in the site very quickly. To get this right, you need to step in the shoes of a user and approach the site as they would.

Personas are fictitious individuals who act as stand-ins or ‘archetypes’ of users. Using a variety of different personas for each project can identify patterns and discover what is necessary, what is unnecessary and to differentiate between what is used frequently and what is needed only infrequently.

2. Ensure graphic integrity and originality
Many aspects intrinsic to web design can hinder originality and produce cookie-cutter web sites.

• Templates are used to display content that is dynamic and ever-changing,
• Pages are produced with code that places restrictions on layout not found in print design,
• Technologies restrain the use of typography
• Our carefully laid-out designs can change dramatically on different users systems
• Colours can vary from screen to screen.

So how do we combat this?

3...We Keep learning
The internet changes fast and new developments in web design are being made daily. Its crucial to be in constant touch with new technologies and designs to stay afloat and progress or you risk stagnating. Because of the many challenges faced in the medium - browser inconsistencies, liquid dimensions, accessibility etc - original and creative solutions are discovered all the time and you need to be constantly scouring the web for inspiration.

Stagnation can arise by following flavours of the month and not pushing yourself to discover new techniques. It's easy to develop a style that you fall back on time and time again. It may save time but you will not be reflecting the brand if every design uses the same style.

4. Remember the Brand
A Web site is an extension of the brand just like the store down the street or the box a product comes in. In many cases the Web site will be the first interaction a customer has with the brand after seeing an advertisement, so it has to compel and reflect the brand's values.

It is crucial to have a clear understanding of the brand for each project. The personality of a brand can be communicated with sound, animation, feedback and interaction as well as traditional graphic design.

Read the brief, then read it again. Revisit it constantly throughout the design process to ensure to are meeting the clients requirements and expectations.

5. Pay attention to detail
Focusing on “what isn’t right”—can take a design from “nearly there” to “there” and beyond. At times designers present concepts that they believe are 90-100% done. However to the detail-savvy designer, the work appears to be only 50-70% there. You can see the ground work and foundation, but you know it's just not finished. To take a design to 100% you need to achieve polish and add the touches that will make a design really shine.

The key to embracing details is to think critically about your design. If you think an element isn't right, try something else until you sure it works. Regardless of how 'cool' a particular aspect may be, if it doesn't serve the design - get rid of it. Never be precious about your designs.

Keep notes while designing—these will form a good basis for a style guide. Consistency displays sophistication and shows that you fully understood and made sound decisions. Consistency should be transparent.

Take regular breaks during the design to step back and take another look. Your own gut reaction will likely be similar to the initial impressions of those who see it for the first time. Always step back and re-evaluate.

Details aren't easy. They take time and patience, but you'll be rewarded for your efforts and they are the key to producing something you'll be proud of.

Conclusion
Web sites are experiences. Not only do we design graphically, but we design user interactions, we design sound and we design journeys.

A Web site isn't just a two dimensional space rendered on a computer monitor, but a environment that leads a user down a path through space an time, reinforcing brand values.

Isaac Forman, Senior Designer

Labels: Design and Usability

This is the first mag I have received from Adobe (but it’s Volume 4 apparently),
and I was surprised by their choice of technology to distribute and implement a digital magazine.

The Adobe Magazine is:

1. Distributed via email to Adobe’s design marketing list (see the online version)

2. The email links to a downloadable ZIP file (10Mb in size)

3. Then extract the ZIP file and open the PDF file

4. And view from your desktop (I recommend viewing in Full Screen mode)

Adobe also makes Flash, which is a popular way of delivering online magazines with rich interactivity. So why have they decided to go old-skool and use PDF?

From what I can guess, it’s probably to showcase some of the nice new features of PDF that people seldom use (chaptering, hyperlinks, some interactivity, embedded video, image switching, etc). It’s also nice that from one big initial download you have a seamless experience, can view offline and PDF is naturally very printer friendly.

But you lose a lot. By using PDF you compromise interactivity, as compared to a Flash-based online magazine. And by being offline you lose even basic social-networking options such as the ability to make comment (Adobe have a very crude way of doing this: email the editor), social bookmarks, personalisation, tagging etc.

I think the format works for this particular magazine, but I also expect a lot of Adobe users would object to a 10Mb ZIP download on principle, it seems like a dated approach from a company that prides itself on technical innovation.

What do you think?

Tim O'Neill, Managing Director UK

Labels: Design and Usability, Technology

While I was reading the AFR article I noticed something funny. As I highlighted text in the article I noticed every second character had been switched out with a space. How bizarre!

See screenshot below:



Further investigation unfolded they use a fixed width font,create two layers, each with half of the letters and non breaking space (NBSP) interlaced between every real character. To put this together they use CSS to overlay the two panels and then they get the final text.

Think of all the issues with this technique. The use of a floating div tag to overlay one set of content over another would create a massive strain on server and bandwidth. Coupled with this, the accessibility of the site is non existent. Any screen reader would take the text as is and would output absolute gibberish successfully rendering the site unusable in this instance. Finally using your web browsers search facility to find copy in the body is useless too.

The underlying issue I have with this technique is the lack focus the AFR gives to usability. The Australian Blind and Vision statistics indicate that as of 2004, 0.25% of the population suffered from complete vision loss and 2.36% suffer from some soft of visual imparity. Read what you want into these stats but either way the Australian Financial Review is severely isolating a good proportion of the population with their site.


It's quite amazing that the AFR have gone to all this trouble to stop a user from copying and pasting an article. Especially given that anyone with a background in Javascript could circumvent this in about 5 minutes.

So the Australian Financial Review have successfully implemented DRM but at what cost? Well they’ve thrown out all accessibility, usability and readability not to mention any chance of a Google index.

Anthony Harrison, Project Manager

Labels: Design and Usability, Web Culture and Trends

A lot of people have asked me lately what Podcasts I am currently listening to (or watching to be more specific). So for all of you time-poor information sponges out there I have compiled a list of my favorite ones in no particular order. I didn't include everything but hopefully there are a few there that you haven't heard of.

There are a few towards the end of the list which are not strictly work related either so beware. Please leave a comment if there are any others that you think need to go on the list.

SVA MFA Design as Author
Guest Lectures Lectures by renowned critical graphic design writer Stephen Heller. Always very well prepared and incredibly insightful. Topics cover a broad range of historical topics.
http://design.schoolofvisualarts.edu/weblog/guestlecture/

SVA MFA Design as Author
Paul Rand Lecture series This is a truley amazing podcast. Visiting designers and critics talk with MFA Designer As Author students. Guests include such greats as: Milton Glaser, RIck Poyner, Jessica Helfand and many more...
http://design.schoolofvisualarts.edu/weblog/paulrand/

Design Matters with Debbie Millman
Debbie has kept me company on many long dog walks and I feel much better for it. She always have great guests on her show; Stefen Sagmeister, Chip Kidd, Barbara Kruger, David Carson, Malcom Gladwell, Art Chantry, Hillman Curtis, Rich Valicenti, Michael Bierut ... the list goes on. Great format, always time there for a few laughs in-between hard hitting questions and contemplative observations.
http://www.sterlingbrands.com/ListenLive.html

Tweed Museum of Art
Graphic Design Lectures The Tweed Museum of Art hosts numerous special events and artist lectures, including the Art + Design Lecture Series, a joint venture of the Department of Art + Design and the Tweed Museum of Art that brings artists and designers to UMD to speak about their work and experience. Events are held in the Tweed Lecture Gallery unless otherwise noted.
http://www.designernetwork.org/?q=node/46

Typeradio Podcast
This is a very entertaining podcast with lots of international guests - most of which are designers I should have heard of but usually haven't. One of the guys is from Underware.nl http://www.typeradio.org/loudblog/

Idents.tv
This is a great one to subscribe to. Particularily for those of you with a short attention span. As the name suggests it is just a record of all the latest television identity sequences (idents).
http://idents.tv/blog/

NGV Podcast and online audio
This is a great audio podcast for those of you who live in Melbourne and often frequent the National Gallery of Victoria. My only comments would be that I would like to see more frequent updates but otherwise good.
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/podcasts/

MoMA Think modern lectures
The Museum of Modern Art NY also provides a similar service which is great:
http://www.moma.org/visit_moma/audio/2006/pub_prog/downloadAAPAA_2006.html

Not quite art
Host Marcus Westbury, founder of the This is Not Art Festival in Newcastle and the former director of Next Wave Festival in Melbourne, takes on a tour of how the art world looks from the other side.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/notquiteart/

Cool Hunting Video
For anyone who cares anything about design and design culture needs to subscribe to this. And for those of you who are dads like me and don't have time to find cool stuff yourself this serves it to you on a silver platter.
http://www.coolhunting.com/

WFMU's Music to Spazz by with Dave the Spazz
This is literally what I'm listening to as I write this list. Maybe not everyone has the same musical tastes that I do but give this a go if you are open minded. A broad range of obscure, 50's, rockabilly, country, punk etc. Nothing quite like it.
http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/MS

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
This is a fantastic audio podcast which analyses Films Noir in order to better establish the definition of Film Noir. Covering early movies like 'Double Indemnity' (my favorite) and "The Maltese Falcon" and much more recent Neo-Noir movies like "Blade Runner" and "Brick". It's just great knowing there are people out there that love Fm Noir this much.
http://outofthepast.libsyn.com/

Tim Kotsiakos, Creative Director

Labels: Design and Usability, Reactive, Technology

For all of those of you interested who haven’t had a chance to get into Actionscript 3 (AS3), Colin Moock, one of the gurus of Flash who wrote Actionscript 2 Definitive Guide and the new AS3 Definitive Guide, is being flown around the world to present an overview of AS3.

http://www.adobeas3tour.com/

The dates are

• Feb. 20 - Munich
• Feb. 27 - Amsterdam
• Mar. 3 - London
• Apr. 29 - Bangalore
• May. 5 - Sydney

Here is an overview of what he covers

http://moock.org/lectures/groundUpAS3/

For those who can’t make it I would suggest watching the video of a presentation he made at FITC.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2468935003205486599&hl=en


Dan Oxnam, Interaction Director

Labels: Design and Usability, Technology

As a bit of a music freak, I’ve recently started to think about the role of technology and software in the proliferation of electronic music in the past ten years.

Electronic music has always appealed to me due to the way in which even an ‘unmusical’ individual can make good music. With an understanding of rhythm and the ability to find a good groove, anyone can spend some time learning one of the many programs available and make a track. Some of the top producers out there at the moment wouldn’t be able to play a tune on a piano, but what they can do is manipulate sounds into a way that works in a sweaty club at 4am. This doesn’t mean it’s easy in any way, it just removes the old fashioned, and in some ways classist, system of learning your music theory and spending most of your youth forced into piano or violin lessons (yuk, flash back alert).

Punk may have started this in the 70s, but the tools needed for making techno are in pretty much every home – all you need is a half decent PC and a pair of headphones, and you’re off.

In the past 4 years things have become even more accessible, with intuitive programs being launched that have flattened the learning curve.
Ableton is leading the pack currently, with their Ableton Live software (www.ableton.com). A piece of software designed as much for the bedroom set-up as the high spec pro studio, or even the club. Based around one window, this integrates the production process (be it synthesis, sampling or loops) with the performance - allowing a budding producer to write a track, and then ‘perform’ that track with live edits, without having to use another program.

What this program also includes is probably the best ‘Help’ options I’ve ever seen. It can run through mock-ups of each section, meaning a complete beginner can be guided through any process they wish – even on your first session with the software you can be editing loops and creating synth patterns. Programmers should reference this ‘Help’ service, as it seems that this is often an afterthought, a searchable online manual simply isn’t enough anymore. We as web developers should be including this in large online projects– well planned Information Architecture can aid this – as users should be guided through any complex parts of a site.

Apple is also in the running with the new Logic 8 (www.apple.com/logicstudio/logicpro/). A massively powerful piece of software that is close to an industry standard (along with Pro Tools). This new version is both user friendly, but customisable enough for even the most complex projects. It is used by producers writing techno for sweaty Berlin clubs as much as it is by composers for Hollywood film scores.

Apple have made some enemies with Logic though, locking it as a Mac only program, but with the new iMacs dropping in price their gamble may have paid off, with many Windows fans making the big leap over.

There are a number of alternatives, and much cheaper alternatives at that. These are great for playing around, with many using drag-and-drop as a tool to build loops. You can even write tunes on your PlayStation these days…

Digital technology has become widespread in the DJ world also, with a huge number of performers leaving behind the chore of dragging a massive bag of vinyl to gigs, and instead opting for playing CDs or using on the impressive vinyl emulators – check out www.serato.com to be blown away for some digital/analogue integration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_Emulation_Software).

This technology is also adaptable for mixing videos (‘VJing’ – clever eh?) and allows a number of acts (check Diplo and DJ Yoda for some fine examples) to control the music and the visuals at an event – and who says digital technology is killing the DJ?!

On that note, all this digital talk doesn’t mean performance is dead, far from it. There’s a wealth of control surfaces in production, in small runs, that mean the digital performer is no longer sitting behind their laptop, clicking with a mouse (or checking their email).

This technology is allowing producers to be more creative, edit and add to the bones of a track in response to the crowd. It’s a very exciting time in this arena, just check out some of these links:

www.monome.net or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJwxbTKwONc
http://mtg.upf.edu/reactable/ or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-RhyopUmc (Microsoft Surface anyone?)



And even the big boys are getting involved… http://www.tenori-on.co.uk/



Matt Bachle-Morris, Web Producer

Labels: Design and Usability, Technology, Web Culture and Trends

• Patching of fundamental usability problems which could have been avoided by involving the design team in the selection of technology.
  
• Wireframes that have been completed by a non-creative person resulting in a fairly dull overall concept.


• Focus group testing of all the usability issues but no measurement/feedback on the effectiveness of the overall visual communication.
  
  

2. Design involvement throughout the process

This approach involves experienced creative representation from the beginning to the end of the project. This can be perceived as the more expensive approach. Usually it is most at odds with people who see designers as adding value only at a superficial presentation level and haven't experienced the first hand benefits of working collaboratively with a design team.

Some successful example engagements of this approach include:

• Seeking counsel from designers on factors like technology so as to ensure that any limitations are understood and considered as part of the selection process.


• Collaboration with designers on wireframes to establish the information architecture. Rather than just addressing basic usability and requirements, herein lies the opportunity for innovation to explore new and unexpected ways that users will ultimately interact with the interface. The wireframes process is the critical stage for a designer to demonstrate and test the intent of these ideas.


• Consultation with the designers on what types of feedback they need (beyond usability) which might help them refine the effectiveness of the overall emotional response of the UI.

It stands to reason that I would advocate the role of the designers throughout the project every time. And I have seen the benefits of doing so over and over again. I realise the topic is much bigger than this modest post tends to suggest and that there are many different types of projects and roles which might put my simplified argument to the test.

My ultimate observation is that any reluctance to work with designers in a more collaborative way usually stems from a naivety about the importance of the role. Ultimately the project can miss a good opportunity or lead into very real costs as the inevitable question is asked: "Where did we go wrong?"

Tim Kotsiakos, Creative Director

Labels: Design and Usability, Process and Methodology

In my recent travels I have noticed a quiet revolution in the sky, with the roll-out of redesigned Inflight Entertainment (IFE) systems by some of the major airlines.

BA and Singapore Airlines are clearly investing heavily in IFE, no doubt to further differentiate themselves from the low-cost operators. From a customer’s perspective, it’s pleasing to see that the user-interface design has improved to a very high standard.

On a recent flight from London to New York with British Airways, I had the pleasure of using their new Audio and Visual on Demand (AVOD) system. Designed by UK agency GT, and powered by Rockwell Collins' Total Entertainment System, the touch-screen interface is clean, simple and very easy to use.

However, in my opinion the design lacks personality (or charm), as a result of being too clean and simple. That said, BA carry over 2.5 million passengers each month, so it’s hard to argue against a utilitarian design.

Regretfully, BA couldn’t resist the temptation of banner advertising (in this case a BA Holidays promotion), not to mention the pre-roll video advertising that is now standard before each movie.


On a (much longer) flight from London to Melbourne with Singapore Airlines, I was able to experience and contrast their old vs new inflight entertainment systems. I have always liked the old system, which boasts a clean (inoffensive) design, nicely consistent with the Singapore Airline branding. Think flowery flourishes and orchards aplenty. However the new system is the best I’ve seen…

First impressions help. On boarding the sparkling-new 777, I marveled at the lovely new high resolution, wide (10.6 inch) LCD screens, set within the newly designed seat-back. The seat panel includes a USB port and (surprisingly) Microsoft Office software is built into the system.

The hardware is a great start, and the next thing I noticed was the IFE was available immediately. Yes, I could start watching Underdog while other passengers were still boarding! Furthermore, the user-interface design is outstanding. Carefully crafted icons and nicely designed backdrops are a treat. It’s no longer traditionally Singaporean (the interface could just as easily work for BA), but it perfectly matches the contemporary cabin design.

I am unsure who designed the user-interface (if you know, please add a Comment below), but the system is powered by Panasonic Avionics eX2 system.

On long-haul flights, a good IFE really does make the difference, and in my case will heavily influence my choice of airline. It’s great to see that BA and Singapore Airlines (my two favorite carriers) are getting it right; unfortunately the same cannot be said for Thai Airways.

On my return flight from Melbourne to London with Thai, the second leg of the journey (from Bangkok) was like a step back in time. In a bad way. It’s practically inhumane to endure a 13 hour flight without seat-back IFE, especially when the only entertainment (on the projector) was; an old episode of ‘Everybody Hates Chris’, a BBC documentary and the movie Hairspray!

Rest assured, I won’t be flying Thai again. But I’m already looking forward to my next flight with Singapore. I would love to see the Business Class seat-back design, so if you’re reading this SIA, please contact me about that free upgrade!


If you know of any other examples of great IFE user-interface design, please let us know by adding your comments below…

Footnote: I have to mention the fantastic Bose Noise Cancelling headphones, which I find make every flight more enjoyable, regardless of how good or bad the IFE. Expensive, but a great investment if you travel often. Ask for them this xmas!


Tim O'Neill, Managing Director UK

Labels: Design and Usability, Technology

Recently I was asked to do some last minute consulting work on JetStar's e-ticket check-in kiosk. The kiosk was a bright orange box and incorporated two monitors and several peripherals; an infrared scanner (which uses new technology, invisible to the eye), the credit card reader and the printer. The on-screen graphics aimed to inform the confused traveller about which of these intimate interactions to use and what could be gained by such a romantic exchange of personal data. Simply put, most of my advice aimed to create a better visual relationship between the icons onscreen and the icons painted onto the kiosk (visible in screengrab above). Reducing the time it takes to self check-in literally saves money and an incremental decrease of 30 seconds is a really big deal. It was an interesting project which got me thinking more about how people use the device, their expectations and how important context is when designing interactions. For example; Airports are busy, travelers are already anxious about catching the flights so when they arrive at the kiosk they are already predisposed to anxiety, they are also planning on their experience to last a very short time. The device itself has to be 'visually read'. First timers need to take in the machine and immediately interpret the various ledges, bumps, indentations, colors, surfaces and moldings and connect them somehow with actions they need to perform. Buttons need to be the size of the human finger which changes the proportions of everything on screen. Touch screens don't have a hover state (because they don't have a mouse) so clickable items need to look really clickable and the interface can't provide visual feedback for pre-click reassurance These are just a few considerations. Every device is different and I am reminded of how important it is to consider design in a broader setting. I am often disappointed by the usability of ticket machines, ATM's and other devices. Often all it is is a poor marriage between the hardware and what's happening on screen. Maybe designers and engineers need to collaborate more often or maybe the world just needs more marriage guidance councillors?

Tim Kotsiakos, Creative Director

Labels: Design and Usability, Reactive

Watching this excellent Vodcast from Cool Hunting a few weeks back revealed an amazingly talented artist/storyteller Jonathan Harris who uses primarily Web technologies and the internet as his medium of expression.

His most accomplished interactive work (in my opinion) is the 2007 Webby nominated ‘We Feel Fine’. Described by the artist as ‘an exploration of human emotion’, it’s a Java Web Application which searches weblogs on the internet for postings that relate to feelings and emotions, and harvests the words and images. You can then search or filter the information to narrow the results, by type of emotion, for example ‘happy’ or ‘sad’, location, sex, age and time, and then view the snippet of the weblog.

Not only is it an excellent concept, but it’s beautifully executed both from an interface design perspective and from a code perspective.

A similar concept, with a specific focus on depicting the romantic lives of American teenagers is called the Dumpster. It also visualises content harvested from the internet, but more specifically ‘a fixed collection of 20,000 romantic breakups that occurred during 2005’. It’s also interesting in that it uses a playful and interactive visual interface to access the content, making for a fun and engaging experience.

Jonathan Harris’ most recent work, called Universe, is also a Web application and described as “a system that supports the exploration of personal mythology, allowing each of us to find our own constellations, based on our own interests and curiosities….Using the metaphor of an interactive night sky, Universe presents an immersive environment for navigating the world's contemporary mythology, as found online in global news and information from Daylife”.

Wow, super-cool. I hope by exploring these sites you’ll also be left inspired and encouraged to share your stories with the world.

Actually, all this reminds me of a project we did a few years ago for the Australian Drug Foundation, called Somazone, which gives young people a space to share their stories with others, dealing with issues such as sexuality, health and drugs.

Carl Panczak, General Manager, Sydney

Labels: Design and Usability, Technology, Web Culture and Trends

For well over a decade AGIdeas has ‘inspired, provoked, challenged and amazed’ members of the design community. And for past five years I’ve seen proof of that in the gusto of post-agideas designers in our team. While the vast majority of the week is dedicated to the creative side of creativity, there is always a small stipend toward those of us in the business side of things. This comes in the form of the Business Breakfast Forum.

‘2 hours that could change your business’ is what the glossy brochure chortled. It posited some impressive statistics on how design has influenced change (particularly around profitability) and piqued the interest of just about every Project Manager and Account Manager at Reactive. ‘We too believe in the power of design!’ we rallied. This breakfast was made for us, so we booked our $70 tickets and waited for the big day.

Our facilitator Harold Mitchell kicked off the proceedings, once again reiterating the promises made in the brochure. Indeed, the forum made such a strong start that within three minutes of Richard Murray’s presentation I had already forgotten that the breakfast had run short on coffee.

Well prepared, intelligent and energetic, Murray (of Williams Murray Hamm) regaled us with brilliant examples of creative and successful design. Using several case studies Murray was practically breezy about how design can create profit for clients. He demonstrated some truly creative thinking on the part of his firm by showing us the brief, the market research, the solutions and the results. And my, they were impressive results. For example, Murray tells us that within one week of shelf-life his firm’s re-branded Sainsbury’s Organic range had practically paid for itself. By taking us through this classic process Murray demonstrated how a good brief, proper research and creative thinking can reposition products in the marketplace, create buzz and provide a significant profit increase for the client.

After such striking examples of how design can change the world the audience was pumped, and perhaps the next speaker Scott Strong (Ford Motor Company) provided a little too much of a change in pace. Strong - more subdued in his approach than Murray - talked more generally about the importance of a design culture in a creative organisation. He noted the importance of good people, a good working environment, good research and so on. While Strong was earnest in his approach, his understanding of the audience seemed limited (in that there was an element of ‘preaching to the converted’. - Surely all design agencies believe in good people and a solid design culture?). Small details – like the rendering of fonts, choice of imagery and quality of the design in Scott’s power point display indicated also that his presentation was a little off target. I started to wonder if there was a coffee cart set up outside the building.

A surprise finish to the forum Masaaki Kanai (of international retailer Muji) presenting in Japanese (through a translator). Having been assured by Mitchell that this wouldn’t take up any more time than was scheduled (and being a big fan of Muji products) I went into this unusual approach with an open mind. I could see the benefits of having a translator – it would allow the presenter flexibility (and enable us to ask questions directly to the speaker). Speaking in rather long intervals (necessitating a pre-prepared script for the translator) Kanai spoke about the role of design at Muji (the mantra of which is ‘no brand quality goods’). More specifically he explained Muji’s philosophy around design, and how design can influence cost (for example designing textiles in their natural colours will reduce the cost by eliminating a dying process). This tidbit made a nice bookend to Murray’s presentation on how design can influence profit – but it was only a very small point to be considered in his presentation. Ultimately Kanai gave us a rather long advertisement for Muji (which is ironic given they don’t yet have a store in Australia).

The moment the formalities were over I cut my losses and bolted out of the building in search of that coveted cuppa. While I never really expected that this two hours would change our business, I did expect a little more – more of the kind of thing that Murray provided.

Next year I hope to see more curatorial thought to the breakfast forum. (and more coffee of course!)

Pepi Ronalds, Studio Manager

Labels: Design and Usability, Reactive, Web Culture and Trends

AGIdeas is the biggest international design event in Melbourne. I've been going since I was a Swinburne design student some ten years ago. It was this event that introduced me to many of the great designers of today. I still attend with excitement in anticipation of the great creative ideas I’m going to learn all about.

This year I was sitting in my chair way at the back of Hamer Hall. In front of me was a young thankless student listening to his iPod so loud I could practically sing along. I sat watching the last ten minutes of Paula Scher. This was one of the few opportunities I had to be able to get away from my work commitments and I'd been looking forward to seeing Paula speak for ages.

She must have spoken about her commercial work from Pentagram before I got there. I know her work fairly well, it is bold and intelligent - I could talk about it more but I won't. Instead I'd like to talk about her map paintings which she does in her country home three days a week.

Labels: Design and Usability, Reactive

This was my second year at the Semi-Permanent conference, and the experience was no less novel or engaging the second time around.

The event is well organised, held at the Sydney Convention Centre, with an excellent A/V set-up. All speakers are filmed and projected onto a large screen, while their laptop presentations are projected next to it, on a second large screen.

With six speakers each day, they each had one hour to present. The approach is usually similar, as they talk through their work chronologically, starting from their experience of studying in the graphic arts through to their discoveries and successes in the art and/or commercial arena.


Day one highlights included the entertaining Dutch graphic design duo Michael and Eva from Toko. Their work is prolific, graphically strong and their presentation was very funny, as they joked about the many differences between their homeland, Holland, and temporary new home Australia. Plus I bought one of their cool t-shirts.


Tiffany Bozic displayed the ingenuity of a genius, as she took us on a journey into her rich and imaginative world of art.


The comic book illustration work of James Jean was also a real highlight. Well spoken and truly inspiring, he encouraged all artists in the house to look for the Roar of Thunder in their work.

Day two was equally as interesting, with Aussie Jonathan Zawada kicking off the day with an insightful presentation on the reality of creating commercial graphics, and how important is it is to appropriate ideas and make them your own. Reminds me of something amusing I read recently: 'originality is over-rated'!


Mike O'Meally, skate photographer, dished out some free skate products to the kids up front, before taking us on a journey of travel and photography. He was inspiring in the way he encouraged the audience to pursue their dreams and never be discouraged by anyone telling you any different. He also told us a great story about a ghostly photograph which spoke louder than words, taken on 12 September, skating around NYC.

Nash Edgerton, stunt man turned film director, showed us the only thing that really counts when it comes to directing is imagination, ingenuity and perseverance. His short film, Lucky, demonstrates that it really is possible to make something totally amazing on a shoe string budget.

The only criticism I have of the festival is the lack of cheap, good food in the Darling Harbour area.

I strongly recommend anyone who's studying or working in the graphic arts to take time out for Semi-Permanent, because you can't create great work unless you're inspired, and this conference certainly leaves you feeling pumped and inspired for months to come.

Carl Panczak, General Manager, Sydney

Labels: Design and Usability, Reactive

Google maps are certainly pretty cool and everyday people are dreaming up of more creative ways to use them!

But do they help or hinder us when finding directions? If you wanted an office or store location map on your Web site, is a Google map the right option?

Well I think that depends. If you want to pack your location map with interactive features like zooming, panning, satellite and hybrid image modes, then a Google map is a pretty nifty option.

But if you want to help people find your office as easily as possible, then it might be better to invest in a well crafted map by a graphic designer.

An advantage of commissioning your own map is it provides an opportunity to include colour, graphic and typographic cues from other aspects of your branding. This helps to maintain a visual consistency between the map and your Web site.

A good location map shouldn’t be too detailed. It’s probably not necessary to show every side street in 4km radius. Likewise, it’s probably not much use for a visitor to know the colour of the rooftops on surrounding buildings (i.e. Google satellite maps).

The user is more likely wanting to know where you are situated in relation to major landmarks, what major streets you’re off, and where’s the best place to park. By focusing on key bits of information and removing irrelevant detail, you are enabling the user to orientate faster and hopefully reduce any frustration trying to locate your office or store.

Another good idea is to provide a printable version of your location map that fits nicely on an A4 printout.

Tim Fouhy, Managing Director Australia

Labels: Design and Usability, Technology

Marketers know that in order to execute successful campaigns, all channels of communication with customers require at least one call to action. The Web is absolutely no exception. In fact due to information overload, it demands even more candidly communicated calls. Calls to action extend much further than buying and include subscribing, donating, applying, submitting, bookmarking the page, contacting, referring to friends, discussing, getting help or support, or simply getting involved.

Visitors make a decision about whether or not to stay at a Web site very quickly, usually within a few seconds. Does your Web site convey its three most important calls to action within 20 seconds of a visitor arriving at your home page? If not the action they may well take is to hit the Back button.

Being an avid internet user myself, it’s all too often I see a corporate Web site simply displayed as an electronic brochure and find myself hitting the Back button or typing in another URL.

It all comes down to content. The right words will capture the attention of visitors and drive them to action and the wrong words will lead to distraction. "The goal of content is to expose business value and articulate it in a way that matters to the customer," leading subject matter experts Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg write. "Great copy persuades the reader to take action."

Studies of shopping behavior show that consumers tend to be more likely to buy something if they are asked to do so. Even panhandlers who ask for money on the street are much more successful than those who just hold out a cup or a sign!

So perhaps you are a charity or government department and you don’t have a commercial purpose in the sense of selling goods and services; however you still want to generate a call to action: an opportunity for the visitor to say, "Yes I'm interested!"

Every time you write a piece of Web content, you should also write at least one call to action at the end of that content. That's maximising your chances of converting a visitor to a prospect.

You may think that putting a simple contact form on your Web site will generate leads, and sure enough if you have a totally unique product or service it will generate a few. But most businesses operate within a competitive landscape, one with similar products and services. The best way of generating as many sales leads as possible is through demonstrating how and why someone would want to contact your company.

The whole idea is to get the users of your Web site to do something, or to direct them to a page or section of your website that you would like them to see. To do this, provide links within a product or service's descriptive content, and direct them to an online contact form that contains those same link texts. Links like "Receive a product demo", "Take a tour of this property", "Learn more about xyz" are all effective ways to directing your Web site visitors into a course of action.

By doing this you answer both fundamental questions; Why am I contacting you? (eg. for a product demo) and How do I do it? (eg. by following this link to a contact form).

Namita Davey, Project Manager

Labels: Design and Usability, Web marketing

The term ‘usability’ refers to how well someone might use a human-made tool to achieve a particular goal. Within the context of web design it refers to how efficiently a task can be completed, be it purchasing an item, looking for information or completing a function. The usability of a device is best summarised by Jakob Nielson's and Ben Shneiderman's five defining factors:

• Learnability (e.g. intuitive navigation)
  
• Efficiency of use
  
• Memorability
  
• Few and non-catastrophic errors
  
• Subjective satisfaction

These five factors should be at the front of mind during any web design project. Furthermore, the process should be user-centred so that its outcome is more likely to rate well against each of these factors upon completion. However, what becomes problematic is the measurement of ‘Subjective satisfaction’. Although this is the most difficult factor to measure, herein lies the greatest opportunity to create a truly unique and memorable experience.

Usability rules have become ubiquitous and it is almost easy to forget to even question them. We refer to previous work or best practice examples which all suggest the same things which in turn validate our decision to prescribe the same thing over and over again. All outcomes are categorically 'usable' but at the same time risk being indistinguishable. For the same reason I would hate Volvo to be the only car on the road I would also hate to see every Web site look the same. Essentially what I am interested in is the less discussed (and equally important) idea of knowing when to break convention and when to invite innovation into the process of creating a usable product.

At this point I could refer to many, many products which in my mind have exceeded all five of Nielson and Schniederman’s five factors whilst also breaking convention and ultimately providing an elegant outcome which is truly innovative. The iPod is an obvious choice. The very nature of how the device is used by its owner makes it unique and desirable. Instead of compromising the design, in effect a focus on usability has completely informed the design. This allows the product to ‘cut-through’ and establish itself as a one-of-a-kind.

Another example is Droog’s toilet door handle for the blind. This simple door handle appears much like any other. When you clasp the door handle you instantly feel the braille bumps behind the handle which:

• for the blind, instantly identifies the ‘male toilet’ from the ‘female toilet’ (without having to search for any additional reference)
• for the non-blind, instantly raises social awareness of the blind
• and as a piece of design is uncompromising

Given today is World Usability Day, I think it is important that we consider how to use usability as an aid in developing great refreshing design rather than a catalyst for more of the same. Yes usability is important (if not critical) so let’s make sure we truly understand it, embrace it and help it improve people’s day to day lives.

Tim Kotsiakos, Creative Director

Labels: Design and Usability

Reactive have noticed some websites coming to market that are primarily text based that have been developed entirely in Adobe Flash which led some of our team pose the question: Why would you do that, aren’t you creating a lot more work for yourself?As the Interaction Director at Reactive my first reaction is, 'why not?' For starters Flash works on all platforms in all browsers and will remain absolutely pixel perfect no matter what. As opposed to HTML/CSS sites which currently need to be tested, tweaked and retested in a minimum of 6 browsers across two operating systems. If you need more reasons see my entry: Tackling the thorny issues with Adobe Flash.

The example cited is http://www.pierinc.com/ a company that develops online applications using Adobe Flex and there in lies the primary reason for delivering their entire website in this manner: If you aren’t using the technology then you are going to have a tough time selling it to clients.With the latest release of Adobe Flex companies have the ability to quickly and efficiently deliver these applications on an enterprise level utilising the agile development model with a Flash front-end which will not have any of the issues prevalent in CSS.

Flex is a server side code based on xml which allows you to write and deploy flash based applications like pier in a very short timeframe. It is specifically designed for use with modular/component based systems/sites where you write the component; let's say the "news module" and then you just have to write something like this for your home page
Code for Pier site (very simplified):

This would grab the components and build them on the fly on the server and the deliver them to the client making it more efficient.

Find out more about Adobe Flex here

Yahoo maps using Flex

And the hard sell

The primary reasons Reactive does not utilise Flex is the current license cost of $20,000USD per CPU and the extensive use of component based development process which does deliver a more robust solution but the ramification is an increase in the time lines a decrease in flexibility and of course an increase on the bottom line.

The advantage of Flash sites in general however is that they can deliver a much more seamless user experience with a higher degree of feedback and a quicker delivery of specific requests, currently known as Rich Internet Applications. A couple of great examples developed by Reactive using Flash include, Global Corporate Challenge and Ferguson Plarre's Design-a-Cake.

With cManager, the new Reactive Content Management System (CMS), Web-Services and good use of Object Orientated coding practices we have developed a quick way of rolling out data driven flash websites.

Dan Oxnam, Interaction Director

Labels: Design and Usability, Technology

A couple of quick thoughts on what I see as the three thorny issues when it comes to Adobe Flash websites: Accessibility, Search-ability and the back button.

Accessibility
In my experience making Flash websites accessible is not because you can’t it is because of the cost implication for the client of pursuing this process. (According to WebAim you can make them (flash sites) more accessible than html )

Search-ability
Reactive have addressed the second issue of searchable flash sites with the Release of cManager 3.0 delivering a static version of the site for search-bots and then using server side redirection to deep link to pages within the site.

Back button
In the past it has been virtually impossible to make the back button function from flash sites meaning that one of the primary user navigation tools was disabled. With a bit of tweaking and bashing our heads together Reactive have managed to come up with a solution which works in almost all the current browsers (some of them just don’t meet the standards…) meaning that users can now browse through a site as they would html and bookmark/email pages of interest.

What does this mean?
It means there is absolutely no reason not to develop your site using all the power and potential of Adobe Flash. Reactive can help you deliver an accessible, Google indexable, searchable, bookmark friendly, back button enabled and content managed website.

What more could you ask for?

Dan Oxnam, Interaction Director

Labels: Design and Usability, Technology

SEO - Search Engine Optimization - is a set of methodologies aimed at improving the position of a Web site in search engine listings. Primarily, to achieve high rankings in search engines, a web site must be optimized for keywords relevant to the Web site’s subject. The keyword phrases you choose to optimize for should be equivalent to the queries users are likely to enter into search engines when seeking the product or service your Web site offers.

It is important that you optimize your site for the right keywords. Choosing popular single-word keywords is unlikely to yield satisfactory results. If, on the other hand you have very specific words that are unlikely to be found on many of your competitor’s sites, such as the name of your business for example, then it would be foolish to ignore these. But it is much better to choose a number of two- or three-word keyword strings to optimize for. For instance, if your site is about apples, “apple” is a mandatory keyword, but if you select a number of multi-word phrases such as “apple orchards”, “growing apples”, “buying apples” then success is more likely.

Another issue to consider is synonyms. Very often users will use different words for the same thing. However, be careful not to use every synonym you can think of. Most search engines have algorithms that include synonyms in the keyword match. But using relevant, on-topic phrases is likely to give you extra street cred by search engines.

The way you use the keywords you have chosen to optimize for can make or break your SEO campaign. It is important to use these terms frequently, but be careful - overkill can lead to being blacklisted by search engines. Try and aim for a keyword density of 1-3% for your primary terms and 4-7% for the rest. Anything over 10% is likely to be frowned upon by users and search engines alike. Where you use your keywords is also important. Search engines place higher relevance on keywords found at the beginning of pages, blocks of text, headings and titles.

Aim for about 10 keyword phrases to optimize for. It is not worthwhile thinning out your attack by tailoring your content for many more.

So content is king. Keywords alone will not shoot you to the top of search engine listings but choosing the right ones for your site and using them intelligently in your content is the first step to claiming pole position in Google.

Isaac Forman, Designer

Labels: Design and Usability, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation

Over the last 9 years Reactive has gone from humble beginnings to a market leader. It’s focus has changed as has its clients. The work is more strategic, more informed and more aware of it’s business intent. New offices have now opened in Sydney and London. Our org structure had changed to better service bigger business. Projects have increased in scope and variety. Quality of work has become more important than ever. And as ‘once-competitor-come-employee’ of Reactive the opportunity to re-brand was the perfect way for me to get to know the company from the inside - intimately. What I found was a significant gap between the story told by the existing brand and the real sprit of today’s Reactive. Different enough to require a ground up restoration.

It started with a marketing plan. Our management team used this as a reference throughout the process. We researched, brainstormed, discussed, and developed a plan. We identified three key requirements for the new brand; to communicate who we are, what we do, and (the bigger challenge) to describe what we are like. To assert our genuine point of difference.

It was acknowledged early in the process that the company’s key differentiator is it's quirkiness and human approach as well as it's focus on real results. As such the brand had to be approachable and whimsical whilst asserting the right amount of professionalism and sophistication. White and black are punctuated by a synthetic green colour; similar to the green used to display early computer operating systems. The type mark is a customized version of the typeface Klavika designed by Eric Olson. It sits proud and approachable. Keylines trail from the typemark in different directions and in different ways.

The trailing key lines suggest reactivity, movement, 3 dimensions, interactivity, depth, a network, motion or shape. They can appear abstract or simple depending on the requirements of the application. They trail from one side of the paper to the other side, resolving in the type mark. The brand appears in transition, having just changed or about to change. This reflects the nature of our company, of ourselves as individuals and our business.It’s great to be at the end of a thoroughly enjoyable process. Today we proudly launch our new Web site. I have a dozen boxes full of business cards, presentation folders, letterheads and followers which will be distributed to our staff. There are a dozen different word templates, fax templates, envelope templates, bills, invoices, email signatures and other internal documents which have been designed and will be used by all staff. All of this work was the contribution of many hard working people over the course of the last couple of months.

We hope you like the new us.

Tim Kotsiakos, Creative Director

Labels: Design and Usability, Process and Methodology, Reactive