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Year: 2013

  • There’s no such thing as future-proof

    There’s no such thing as future-proof

    Brad Frost is a web designer from Pittsburgh who recently spoke at web design dayon the topic “For a Future-Friendly Web“. His presentation is below, and his blog covers the detail and also has a video. Some highlights are: There’s no such thing as future-proof, but we can take steps to be more future-friendly. Content…

  • Where it’s at

    Where it’s at

    Every time I see this sign above a bin at work: I hear this track by Beck: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPfmNxKLDG4[/youtube] “Bottles and cans, just clap your hands, just clap your hands…” That is all.

  • Bag of assumptions

    Russell Davies has written a good piece this week about his change from working in agencies and marketing departments to working at the Government Digital Service. Some choice quotes: “it’s been surprising to me how much ‘marketing thinking’ has come to dominate the way large organisations look at the world. It’s sad. That bag of assumptions…

  • Speaking to be understood

    Speaking to be understood

    I had a discussion with a colleague today about plain English, and by coincidence, saw this blog post from Ben Terrett titled “Please, speak as you might to a young child, or a golden retriever”, a quote from the film Margin Call. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmHl7hKlVj4[/youtube] Ben adds some good commentary: “They’re using those terms because that’s what…

  • Making Things People Want beats Making People Want Things

    John V Willshire the founder of Smithery has written a setup piece for his talk next week at AdTech 2013 which looks at the relationship between communications and marketing with product and service development. Here’s a few highlights: “Yet something bothered me… …the things that marketing clients had to ask agencies to try and sell…

  • The high street of the future is like nothing we know

    Susie Mesure writes about Bill Grimsey’s blueprint for how to reinvent the nations town centres. “But if the present looks bleak for west London’s latest retail casualties, which join 40,000 more empty shops across the UK, then the future could be rather more exciting.” “the high street as we know it “is dead”. He envisages…

  • News International’s “single biggest strategic mistake”

    Last year Katie Vanneck-Smith talked about what she’s learnt at News International as chief marketing officer, following their “single biggest strategic mistake”. Here’s a a selection of headline quotes, give yourself the 13 minutes to watch it all. “Unstoppable page view growth and unstartable profits” “15% of The Times are delivered on tablets.” “Ask yourself,…

  • “Why we fail”, or “getting the design right and getting the right design.”

    Victor Lombard writes about the downfall of Google Wave… I think of it this way: if we only test bottle openers, we may never realize customers prefer screw-top bottles. That’s what Buxton means by getting the right design. A classic interface design guideline is that any object that looks familiar should behave in a familiar…

  • This consumer will not be a product.

    A few attention grabbing quotes from Mr  Eben Moglen. Anonymity is not profitable “In the 21st century that means they are committed against anonymity no matter what they think they are doing because anonymity is not profitable” Facebook is a private intelligence service “What is wrong with Mr. Zuckerberg is not that he runs a private…

  • Blurred social media boundaries with youth workers

    A Youth Engagement Practitioner has recently published some interesting survey results relating to Digital Engagement, describe by Carl Haggerty. I find it important to separate personal and professional social media use – many people I work with aren’t interested in a stream of pictures of my daughter, and family members don’t mind missing out on…