Category Archives: Usability

Samsung Acclaim – my new phone

July 10, 2010
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
My Life, Photography, Social Media, Usability
4 comments

It’s no iPhone, but it’s still pretty awesome. Of course, my last phone was a flip phone with absolutely no internet access.

This is the first phone US Cellular is selling that has Google’s new Android OS. Being from Google, it integrates really well with any of your google accounts – gmail, youtube, voice, talk, etc.

The sheer awesomeness of the various apps is keeping me pretty intrigued! A few of my favorite apps -

  • The obvious – facebook, twidroid (twitter), email, youtube
  • Voice Search – simply say a search term and it searches google for what you said.
  • Your Navigator Deluxe – get directions, maps, traffic updates. You can say the city you are traveling to and it gets directions
  • CityID – find out where that unknown caller is calling from.
  • Air Horn – plays various loud air horns – perfect for when your coworker comes in to your office and farts (as happens to me daily)
  • Google Goggles – take a picture of anything and it searches google for it.
  • Google Sky Map – aim phone at the sky to identify, search and find various planets, constellations and stars!
  • Pandora - stream music as you can on pandora.com
  • WordPress – post to your blog
  • gStrings – tune any musical instrument
  • Solo lite – find guitar chords, and play an interactive guitar from your phone
  • Barcode Scanner – aim at any barcode and google search that item – whether it is to learn more about it or to compare prices online
  • Of course the phone also takes photos and video with a 3.2 MP camera. I can even post pictures/videos straight to this blog or facebook/twitter/etc

And now for a few photos:

Left: one of three home screens. Right: full list of all apps, available from the bottom slider arrow (seen on the left photo)

Has a full QUERTY keyboard along with a 3.2 inch screen

Left: Solo lite app that allows you to find guitar chords and play them on the interactive guitar

A very cool new WordPress plugin.

April 30, 2010
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
Usability, Viral Advertising, WordPress
no comments

Jeffrey Zeldman (@zeldman), self-proclaimed web standards guru just tweeted about a WordPress plugin for adding a Facebook ‘like’ button to your individual blog posts.  So, of course I clicked through and checked it out! I instantly installed it on my blog here and tested it out. I absolutely love it.

It seems that most people shy away from commenting on blogs (or more recently even writing on your wall)… but they jump at the chance to simply express that they ‘like’ something you’ve posted (on facebook) I guess it’s the equivalent of nodding in agreement instead of speaking your full opinion of something. Bringing this feature to WordPress iss a no-brainer. When someone clicks ‘like’ on my blog posts, a simple note will be posted to your news feed saying ‘John Doe likes such and such’. Where, “Such and such” is the title of my blog post. How stinkin’ cool is that?

OK, now try it.(note that if you are viewing my blog homepage, you have click the blog post title to see the ‘like’ button under the content.)

Creative Improv launches new website

February 10, 2010
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
Clients, Creative Improv, Usability, Website Design
no comments

Path of Principles homepage, featuring a slideshow with images generated from Flickr, color-coded buttons and news/social media links

Path of Principles subpage featuring a visual timeline slider and popup captions to define certain keywords

Check out the live ‘Path of Principles’ website

We (Creative Improv) recently launched a website for the national Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity. It aims to provide a home for their lifelong membership training program. This project focused on their program, prospective audiences and social media links. We gave specific attention to outlining key information via visual sliders as well as an ease of use and navigation.

Speaking of Creative Improv, have you become a fan on facebook or followed us on Twitter?

Have you subscribed to this blog’s RSS?

Think Google. Think iPod.

February 8, 2010
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
Bad design by design, Inspiration, Someone Once Said..., Usability
no comments

Just because something looks good doesn’t mean its useful. And just because something is useful does not make it beautiful.

— Joshua Brewer

Think Google – amazingly simple and useful, but not beautifully designed.

There is a difference between usability and beautiful design. It can be ugly and usable or it can be beautiful and unusable.

Every once in a while you find something that is both usable and beautiful. For this: Think iPod.

What makes a website great?

June 15, 2009
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
Usability, Website Design
one comments

I recently read this on CSS-Tricks:

There are websites that we visit because we have to, but we wouldn’t get an account with.
There are websites that we have accounts with that we would never participate in.
There are websites we participate in that we don’t enjoy.
There are websites that we enjoy but don’t participate in.
There are websites we enjoy and participate in but don’t share everything with.
There are websites that we share everything with, but don’t trust.
There are websites that we trust and share everything with; these are the sites we love.

For me – these are the website that fit in these categories:

There are websites that we visit because we have to, but we wouldn’t get an account with.
USPS.comThere are websites that we have accounts with that we would never participate in.

University Portals
MySpace.com

There are websites we participate in that we don’t enjoy.
USBank.com

There are websites that we enjoy but don’t participate in.
CNN.com
Most design blogs

There are websites we enjoy and participate in but don’t share everything with.
Facebook.com
Youtube.com

There are websites that we share everything with, but don’t trust.
To an extent, Twitter.com (just a bit of untrust, simply because it’s online)

There are websites that we trust and share everything with; these are the sites we love.
Mint.com
GMail.com
Google Sites
Google Docs
Google Reader
Twitter.com

Politics & Effectively Using the Web (part five)

October 29, 2008
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
Branding, Politics, Usability, Viral Advertising, Website Design
no comments

In part five, I take a look how Obama is getting out the vote and viral advertising.

I’ve decided to change this post slightly from what I described earlier. I’d like to focus purely on Obama and his various websites and viral advertising.

YesWeCanSong.com
The first time I had ever heard of the term ‘viral advertising’ was when will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas came out with the Yes We Can music video. We discussed it extensively in my Advertising course. One thing is true, when advertising is done independant of the candidate it is very good. That’s why ‘Swift Boat Veterans’ were effective in attacking Kerry because it wasn’t Dubya saying these things, it was an independant source. It also works for ads supporting a candidate, such as the Yes We Can video. This video highlights Obama’s great oratory skills and the particular cadence that is very effective with his speaking. I also took Public Speaking last semester and learned that your speaking ability has a lot to do with the silence/pacing you use. Obama definitely has this nailed. I guess you could compare it to how smooth-talking Clinton was. I heard a comedian say recently “You know, Clinton could say ‘I am not here’” and you would think “he’s right, he’s not here.”

 

YesWeCarve.com
Another viral website that was started from four guys not even part of the Obama campaign. The website was designed so well that I actually believed it WAS by the Obama campaign. This website takes advantage of the beautiful design and branding of the Obama campaign and allows visitors to carve Barack-o-lanterns with various campaign imagery on it and submit photos of the lanterns to their blog. Now imagine for a moment someone started “Maverick-o-Lantern.com” What stencils could they provide? A picture of mccain’s face? That wouldn’t work, all those wrinkles would cause your pumpkin to fall apart if you carved that… But I digress. I carved a Barack-O-Lantern and posted it to their website. Mine is found here.

The remaining items are all paid for by the Obama campaign.

FightTheSmears.com
This website was started a few months back when the primary season ended and Obama knew McCain would be on the attack. It basically takes rumors or attacks by McCain or other sources and gives the facts about each ‘smear’. This is effective in that ‘setting the record straight’ isn’t being done on the main campaign website, because if it was, it would seem that Obama is all about dispelling fear and not about the real issues. In this case he can do both at the same time, but keep his main website as place to learn about Obama’s stances on issues. On FighttheSmears.com, one can sign up for email updates on various smears.

Under The Radar
This website is a subdomain (radar.barackobama.com), but treated as it’s own website, with a very different design from the main campaign website. This site goes a step further than Fight the Smears does. This website lets users submit various attacks that are being launched at very local levels (direct mail, etc). The website gives you an interactive map and allows you see where various attacks are being done. This and the previous website does very good job of showing the numerous attempts to suppress support, and can only look bad for McCain.

VoteForChange.com
I registered to vote in Kirksville via this website. It gives visitors a step by step process to fill out info and then it generates a PDF with your info filled in and then you can print, sign and turn it in. I almost forgot to turn it in, but the deadline day, October 8th, I received a robo-call from Michelle Obama reminding me to turn in my form.

Cell Phones and the iPhone
Obama announced his VP pick through text-messaging – although it was leaked hours before sending the message, most people first found out about it from a text message, because it was announced at midnight the night before. Obama even has an iPhone App. I don’t have an iPhone, but would assume that this App is very effective. Any iPhone owners have thoughts on the App?

Video Game Ads
I had no idea that you could advertise in video games, but Obama has done so. Obama has placed billboard ads in nine XBox360 games in ten swing states. Even one more way that he is targeting the 18-30 year old crowd. I won’t be suprised to see my potato chips having political ads in the next presidential election. Picture this: ‘”Vote Palin 2012″ on your chips. Her slogan on the chips can be “Chew on this: I’m just a regular hockey mom”

In part six, I will look at the use of the web in the final days of the election and the results of the election.

Politics & Effectively Using the Web (part four)

October 23, 2008
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
Bad design by design, Branding, Design Concept/Ideas, Politics, Redesign, Usability, Viral Advertising, Website Design
no comments

In part four, I take a look at the recent website redesign by John McCain and compare it to his previously all black website.

Beautiful Design
I believe I’ve said this on my blog before. This presidential campaign has largely been about change. Most significantly, a change from really horrible design in political campaigns to truly beautiful design and focused branding, most on the part of Obama’s campaign, but most recently with McCain as well.

Finally, candidates are seeing the value of a great brand and beautiful design. By ‘great brand’ I’m talking about the cohesive theme and logo. For Obama it has been ‘Change’ and ‘Hope’. For McCain it has been ‘maverick’ (or is it ‘a couple of mavericks’?) and ‘Country First’. What I think is even more effective is a theme that gets placed on a campaign by the public. In this case it was in the form of Internet viral advertising, especially the ‘Yes We Can’ music video. I can’t think of a viral advertising ‘brand’ that has been placed on the McCain campaign. There have also been some negative viral advertising affecting Obama such as Internet rumors that, ‘He’s a Muslim.’ As Campbell Brown on CNN pointed out a few days ago “So what if he is a Muslim? Since when was that a disqualifer for president?”

Website (re)Design
The website design for both candidates can make or break them in terms of young vote. Young people are all about hip and cool. That’s what first draws them to a candidate in some cases, then they look at the issues. This isn’t the case with all young voters but for some it is. So how does a young voter remain on a website that is black, gray and a little blue with pictures of people their grandparents age? The answer is: ‘they don’t.’ So as I first visited McCain and Obama’s website you can guess which one I was drawn to more, especially as a designer. A young voter’s life is always ‘changing’ and they usually have much ‘hope’ for their future. And what is it that Obama has focused his campaign on? Hope and Change. What do people want after Bush’s presidency? Hope and Change. What do I want a little more of in my pocket? Change. (haha, get it?)

Before McCain’s website redesign at the end of the summer, it wasn’t successfully keeping young voters there and giving them something to grab hold of. His website color scheme was a depressing black and blue and there were about thirteen pictures of him on his biography page (mostly black and white). That is thirteen reminders of how old he is. The constant replaying of McCain’s POW video on his website didn’t connect with young voters since it is from a war so far removed from our generation. Also, McCain’s stance on the Iraq war is not striking a chord with young people as a whole. For example, the statement about being in Iraq for one hundred years. Overall, I concluded last spring that McCain was not reaching young voters and needed to utilize his website in better ways.

Finally a Redesign for the Maverick
What do you get when you have just one maverick? A black and gray website. Add a younger, less-experienced maverick to the team to make ‘a couple of mavericks’ and what do you get? A website very similar to the competition. I say this because McCain’s website changed for the better about 2 months before adding Sarah Palin to his mavericky campaign. Check out my screenshots of the McCain website next to the Obama website. If I were to just glance at these, I would guess they were from the same campaign. Almost identical blue, glowing white shadows/lights, addition of ‘people group’ mentioned in a previous post. Why would anyone want to go from the deathly black and gray to hopeful blue and glowing lights? It might be that they noticed Obama’s website was well designed, structured and communicated their theme of change and hope. I guess communicating the theme of ‘country first’ is visually depicted identical to that of ‘change’ and ‘hope’.

That, or the McCain campaign generously borrowed design ideas from a better looking website. How blatant can you be? I believe my side-by-side image says it all.

In part five I take a look how Obama and McCain are getting out the vote and recent online buzz (Keating Economics, Fight the Smears, Yes We Carve, etc)

Politics & Effectively Using the Web (part three)

October 19, 2008
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
Bad design by design, Branding, Design Concept/Ideas, Politics, Redesign, Usability, Website Design
no comments

In part three, I continue my discussion of McCain and his ineffective use of the web. This is part three of six.

Excluding 50% of Americans
John McCain’s website does not have a ‘Students for McCain’ webpage. In fact, last Spring he had only three people group webpages: Lawyers, Women and Veterans for McCain. But still today, there’s no “Students for McCain” webpage. What gives? This would lead one to believe that McCain doesn’t value every voter, and only values his three favorite type of voters: Women voters, Veteran voters and Lawyer voters. Sure, these three groups are probably the most likely of any group to actually go to the polls and vote… but why exclude 50% Americans?

A Logical Approach with a Community-Driven Approach
Barack Obama didn’t exclude all non-women, non-veterans, and non-lawyers. He has webpages for many ethnicity’s, sexual orientations, and political parties. He also includes: People of Faith, Kids, Seniors, Small Business, Labor etc. Most important to my discussion is that he has a ‘Students for Obama’ webpage. This, combined with Facebook, MySpace, Twitter social networks is giving Obama a huge edge with getting young people’s attention. Within each page there are blog posts particularly relevant to that category. That is brilliant because now someone in that category can ‘comment’ and discuss issues with people like them. Building a community is central to Obama’s website; from his various blogs on people webpages to ‘MyBO’ where voters can get involved locally through events and more.

Shaping Up (kind of)
Sometime in the past few months (late Summer), McCain decided that he should have pages for more people than just women, lawyers and veterans. Maybe he finally realized that not everyone in American fit into those groups. I’m theorizing that he took a gander at Obama’s set of people groups and trimmed it down a little, leaving out many important people groups. Ironically some of the them being: LGBT and ‘Students for McCain’. He might not agree with LGBT voters or even Student voters but you got to at least try and reach out to them. He strangely added ‘Bikers for McCain’ (probably because Cindy McCain is a biker girl). He also has ‘Americans of Faith’ and thought it necessary to add ‘Catholics for McCain’ as if Catholics aren’t American with faith. He’s even got a news article on that page titled “Obama’s Catholic Problem.” Maybe Obama should put a news article up titled “McCain’s Young Vote Problem.”

He’s got people group pages, but their iss no community aspect.
These people group page on McCain’s website don’t offer community opportunities. For example, Catholics can’t interact with other Catholics for McCain while on the ‘Catholics for McCain’ webpage. So the result is saying: “See, I can write articles pay people to write articles about Obama’s Catholic problem and get pictures taken with Catholics”; instead of saying, “Here are some important issues to Catholics and a blog/comment section so you can discuss it with other Catholics.” The side columns to any people group webpage on McCain’s website offer non-related items, while Obama’s side columns offer some people group specific steps that can be taken along with non-related items.

In part four, I take a look at the recent website redesign by John McCain and compare it to his previously all black website.

Politics & Effectively using the Web (part one)

October 11, 2008
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
Bad design by design, Branding, Design Concept/Ideas, Logo Design, Politics, Usability, Website Design
no comments

In part one, I introduce the dilemma McCain has in effectively reaching young people on the web. This is part one of six.

As a designer I’ve constantly looked at the candidate websites and tried to imagine how people of different age groups would react and interact with them. These next six blog posts will be a culmination of this research and thought process.

John McCain’s age is not helping him reach young voters. An ineffective (or not as effective) use of his campaign website is hurting him in this area. Simple things such as branding, color scheme and number of times photographs of him are used on a single web page all drastically effect a person’s impression of him as a candidate. McCain’s brand: a militaristic star (seen on the right), is not a good choice in a time when more than half Americans aren’t happy about the wars we are in. McCain’s color scheme last Spring was black, and a little bit of blue. This just enhanced the idea that McCain would be the oldest person to be president if elected. Black, to me, symbolizes death, not ‘Country First’. His biography once had over 10 photos of him. 10 reminders of his age – all were in black and white. He also hasn’t embraced social networking. This could be done easily by making his campaign website a central hub for connecting with him through various social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace etc. Although, I believe he has recently adopted this concept. Good for him.

On the flip side, Barack Obama’s age and central theme is helping him. An effective use of his website is helping him in this area. Obama’s not even THAT young, so it can’t be solely because he is younger. Ron Paul was the second oldest candidate during the primaries and was generating more online buzz than Obama or McCain (for a small period of time). The creative typography, effective circle logo (seen on the right), colors, and key concepts of hope and change have really catapulted Obama. The design of everything involved with his campaign is great. The circle logo is reminiscent of the Midwest. It might be that the first time I saw his logo was on a sign placed in a corn field in Iowa, so I always think that the logo represents a corn field and sunset. The strong themes of hope and change have done well for him, especially with McCain’s lack of theme.

I spent the Spring of 2008 studying campaign websites of all 20 or so candidates from both sides for my Advertising course. I started the project simply researching and finding something I could zone in on. What became apparent was that many of the candidates weren’t attracting the same buzz online as Barack Obama and Ron Paul were. Ron Paul has sense fallen off the face of the earth while spewing the same phrase, “It’s all about the value of the dollar declining.” Obama’s success online and overall has continued throughout the whole campaign. This is apparent in the over 1 million facebook friends Obama had versus his next highest opponent who was Ron Paul at the time, with half as many friends. I forsaw McCain being the Republican candidate, so I wanted my class project to focus on generating online buzz for McCain – I know, it was a tall task. McCain never did and still doesn’t have a ‘Students for McCain’ website, while Obama does.

In part two I will look at exactly what is hurting McCain and his online presence.

What Makes a Logo Great?

July 30, 2008
Written by:
Stephen Emlund
Filed under:
Branding, Design Concept/Ideas, Logo Design, Usability
4 comments

I don’t know too much about logo design, since I focus most of my time with magazine design and web design, although I will try to list some things I’ve learned.

Effective Logos…

  • …are distinctive
  • …are visible
  • …are usable
  • …are memorable
  • …are universal
  • …are durable
  • …are timeless
  • …do not sell, only identifies.
  • …derives its meaning from the quality of what it symbolizes

Here are a two of my more successful logos. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on branding/logo design. Leave me a comment!