It’s the Little Things

So there I was, doing yet another random task online…uploading a profile picture to my new and long overdue Technorati profile, when I came across this little gem of copy that I felt I had to share with you…

“Tip: Please do us a favor and upload a photo that does not show your very special but also very private parts. When you do that, we have to take time away from making our website faster and better to go find your profile and hide it, and that’s bad for you and us. Thanks for helping!”

Technorati Profile Picture

Technorati Profile Picture

I love the tiny bit of humor used here. Oh and if you enjoy this blog if you don’t mind a little shameless self-promotion, there’s a link below to Add to Technorati Favorites, please click, THANKS!

Keep it Real
:)

2009
06/15
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NETworking

‘There is a utopian dream that the coming of the net will bring positive social changes. I have my doubts about that. It is going to bring great social changes, but they won’t all be positive. At the same time, if I have a positive feeling about what’s happening with digital technology and the revolution that it brings, it is because netification, computerization, and digitalization all increase choices. That is about all that technology gives, but that is a very large thing. For example, a person born now who is interested in the arts can paint, sculpt, make films and make music in many different spheres. Two centuries ago, there were fewer choices. Each time the media reinvent themselves, they expand the number of choices without excluding any of the previous ones. On this simple level, the net and the literary space — the thinking space that it created — will allow a whole new space for the arts. It is also a space that will allow new kinds of political and social structures, and it will allow them as a net gain.’ Kevin Kelly [1990's]

– John Brockman (ed.), Digerati. Orion (London 1997)

I find it amazing that something said nearly 20 years ago still rings true.

2009
06/11
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Review: A Look at Twitter Clients

Hey gang! So this post has been in the works for quite some time and have been trying to finish it up. But with new Twitter clients created everyday it’s impossible to keep track & review of all of them so I’m going to make this a series and post what I have so far. I’d love to hear what you think of these and the clients you use too.

Twitterific-
One of if not the first app i installed on my iPhone, it was love at first sight.  Brought to us by the good folks at Iconfactory. I sadly don’t use this any longer but definately recommend it for those just starting to Tweet. I also really miss the ‘chirp’ you hear on startup…it made me smile every time!

Twittelator-
Includes much more functionality of Twitters website than Twitterific but I have to be honest that I miss the charm of Twitterific. From it’s chirp on load each time new Tweets appear in your timeline to it’s clean and simple design. For me while Twittelator has more bang I’m a sucker for the brand personality Twiterific has to offer.

Twittervision-
Self-stated as not a traditional Twitter client, Twittervision allows users to see Tweets post to a world map as they come in!

Twhirl-
Desktop Twitter client built as an Adobe Air application. The thing I love about this most is it’s ability to handle multiple accounts. I also like it’s small screen footprint as well.

Twitthat-

TweetDeck-

By far the most powerful Twitter client I’ve come across. You can have multiple columns of content streaming in at one time all focused on different subject matter. For example, as you can see below I’ve got the following columns set up:

  • All friends- so that I can see everyone that I follow
  • Replies- so that I can tell when someone is sending a Tweet my way and I can respond or so that I can see when someone ReTweets a post of mine
  • Close Friends- One of the great features on TweetDeck is that you can create Groups amongst those you follow. In my case, here I’ve created one that I call “Close Friends” which is comprised of those I physically know in real life (you know those people known as family, co-workers, and real friends not just those in the virtual space…those are not real friends…I’m sorry they just aren’t)
  • Manifest Digital- Another thing you can do is keep tabs on any search term you choose. In this case I want to keep an eye on what people might be saying about the company I work at, Manifest. Not a whole lot going on right now on Twitter but during SXSW & PhizzPop there was quite a buzz! This feature as you can imagine is a great way to toe-dip into monitoring what’s being said about your brand.

And that’s just how I have 4 columns set up. There are actually many more that you can’t see & I actually can’t show you because they are client related. BUT check it out for yourself and let me know how you decide to use it.

My only beef with TweetDeck is that it does not allow for multiple accounts (yet). I’d be ever so greatful if in future releases there was a tab-like feature that allowed me to manage my personal account as well as the Manifest account and any of the other accounts I may happen to manage.  hint-hint TweetDeck ;)

Tweetie- I honestly haven’t tried this one yet but I hear it’s great.

I plan on continuing this post as I come across more clients. If there’s another one you’d like to recomend please leave me a comment below.

2009
06/11
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Social Media
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I want my NOW

I was a Sprint customer forEVER until I caved and bought an iPhone early last fall and had to switch to AT&T (sigh…that’s another hassle-filled post altogether). I felt like I was the only completely satisfied customer they had…hardly a dropped call, customer service was alway great, wait times were a little long– but I’ll take the good with the bad.

Well THIS is GREAT!

Sprint's "This is Now" campaign microsite

Sprint's "This is Now" campaign microsite

Not only is it pulling at least seemingly live data from multiple sources across the globe but watch closely and you’ll see that some of the individual widgets interact with each other.

Apparently, this is at least the second iteration of the site as it was originally launched in late ’08 by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners according to Creativity.

“Goodby has launched a new site for Sprint that shows off the tools and capabilities of the mobile brand’s Now Network broadband cards.

The site’s busy interface offers a horde of real-time information you can access with the cards including live news feeds, current world population, environmental factoids, countdowns and even flight stats.”

Well now the site is being leveraged to push the new Palm Pre instead of broadband cards.

Look closely in the middle above the Twitter bird and you can even play a quick mini game of Pong. The site also features an interactive screen saver as well as a widget you can post to your facebook profile (…get ‘em while they’re hot?).

I also have to mention (and yes, this is where the other shoe drops) that even though the site is cool and clever, one single great campaign is not going to have a lasting effect. It takes multiple wins like this coupled with a great customer service and met expectations. As I mentioned at the start of this post, I was a happy Sprint customer but I know that I was one of few. A lasting positive brand image has to come from within first otherwise your marketing efforts, no matter what the channel, become empty promises.

See the live version for yourself. A warning to guys with laptops…if you ever want to have children…be warned that this’ll make your fans kick into full gear.

Enjoy! And let me know what YOU think of the Now Network site.

2009
06/10
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Goodbye Blogger, Hello WordPress!

It’s finally happened! Long overdue, I know, but I finally got mortmort.com live! With this, I’ll likely no longer update this Blogger site especially since I was able to easily port everything over to WordPress.

All I need to do is find the right template, make my tweaks, get some link re-directs going, maybe add in a portfolio section if I ever find the time, and I should be good to go!

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get this going…not like it was all that difficult! I would like at some point to have a true site, not just a blog but that I know will stay a dream for some time.

ok, so with that…I’m off, back to work! There’s lots and lots to do! Can’t wait to tell you more about everything (well almost everything ;) I have going on!

For now enjoy this video that helps to elude to the origins of Mort!Mort!

2009
06/09
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If you just HAVE to unsubscribe…

I love the Thrillist. I just never have time to read the daily emails and they end up clogging my inbox so this morning I finally decided to unsubscribe and was presented with this wonderful bit of wit that seriously made me think twice about clicking the “See ya” button.

 
In case you can’t read the text here’s what it says…
If you’re the kind of dangerous lunatic that wants to stop receiving Thrillist, just select the edition(s) below you’d wish to unsubscribe from, click “SEE YA”, and pray that your preferred deity offers mercy upon your soul.

Another great case where a little bit of humor and wit in the right places can help your brand image. I still unsubscribed but now I love this site even more…I’ll be back.

Here’s a couple of related posts on HTML emails:
HTML Email: What NOT to do

FREITAG: Now THAT’S How You Write a Confirmation Email

2009
06/03
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Marketing
UX Design
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My 2¢– Legible Legal…Is that so hard?

Why is it that companies never (or at least very rarley) make legal copy legible? I hate to pick on Southwest because they happen to be one of my favorite airlines but this example is what promted the question…

Now I know that in some cases legal copy, and  terms and conditions can be extremely long and not exactly something you’d tell a friend to check out like that last novel you devoured, but at least give users some paragraphs, bullet points, leading…you know…some formatting!?

Why should companies do this, you ask? It’s simple. Because it’ll look like you have nothing to hide. When I saw this example from Southwest I instantly thought, “Ok great…now that I signed up for this promotion how are they going to convolute it so that I really don’t get what they say I will?”

It feels sneaky and underhanded. And you know…maybe this example is but i don’t know because I stopped reading it after the second sentence. Is that what you really want? For some companies sadly, it is. But I’d like to believe that your company is different, that you do want your users to understand what they are, or just signed up for. You may even avoid irate customer service calls later on because everyone is on the same page and knows exactly what to expect. Fewer customer service calls = less money. User/customer expectations set = happy customer.

Agencies can be partially to blame for this as well. Little or no time is usually given to privacy policy pages, legal, etc. Take 30 minutes and leverage some CSS styles you’ve already created and make it at least appear that you want people to read these pages. Build that time into your budgets and timeline instead of letting it be an afterthought. We all know people are sue-happy and that legal copy is somewhat of a necessary evil so plan for it.

MORAL OF THE STORY: The less difficult you make things for your users and the more transparent you are about your offers/products/services/company the better.

2009
04/02
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Visual Design
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Quote for Today

“Life is something to do when you can’t get to sleep.”
Fran Lebowitz

I think this one resonnates because I haven’t been able to sleep much lately. Or at least very regularly.

2009
03/31
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HTML Email: What NOT to do

I’m not sure what I can say about this Mountain Dew email (or Dews letter if you will) other than this is a perfect example of how NOT to create an HTML email. Keep in mind I’m much more marketer than developer but I can tell you a few things wrong with this picture.

1. Images do not download until i hit the tiny little “Download Pictures” link
2. Even worse, there’s a gazillion of images here that will not load. If it’s 1 or 2, heck maybe in some case 5 larger image slices is fine. The sheer number here makes this look like a mess at best and spam at worse.
3. As the creator of this you don’t really know what email reader this is going to be delivered to so I can understand the desire to keep the integrity of the design by using images but at least offer me a link at the top of the email to view this in a browser in case one of the fifty images throw a table cell out of whack an render your email unreadable.
4. I’m not even going to comment on the visual design you see once you choose to download pictures other than less is more.

I will point out that at least the subject line has been given some [some] thought.

What do you think?

2009
03/30
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CATEGORY
Visual Design
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Is the Internet a Democracy?

If so, why?

If not, why not?

Let me know what you think below.

2009
03/29
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Random Thoughts
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