Archive for the 'Design' Category

What Facebook Co-Founder, Mark Zuckerberg Really Means:

A common mistake in communication lies between how the message is sent and how it is received. When you read the comments to the letter that Mark Zuckerberg posted last Tuesday, you will see a good example of miscommunication. This article is written to help translate what Mark Zuckerberg said, and what we believe he actually meant.

It has become apparent to me after reviewing comments to the “Open Letter from Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg” regarding the upcoming changes to the Facebook platform, that many have read, but not quite understood what is to come of Facebook. I admit, it was difficult to find actual comments about this new change after sifting through the cheap guerrilla marketing posts, but I managed to read some posts from Facebook users who are truly concerned about what is to come of their favorite online social networking group. Some users posted suggestions about more changes that they want Facebook to make, while some posted threats to stop using Facebook if any more changes are made. I even ran across comments from readers who believed that this letter was about customizing your wall/profile page to be more like MySpace. Perhaps the confusion among these select readers came from the way the letter was written.

That’s quite alright. I think I have a pretty good filter for decoding what was said and what was actually meant. I have broken it down one paragraph at a time and translated it into lamense terms for those who aren’t expected to naturally understand organizational strategy for the online world.  The quoted text is from Mark Zuckerberg (what he said). The paragraphed text is broken down (what he meant).

Here you go:

Open Letter from Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg; Broken Down

“It has been a great year for making the world more open and connected. Thanks to your help, more than 350 million people around the world are using Facebook to share their lives online.”

(Thank you all 350 million of you for helping Facebook help you share your lives online and stay connected.)

“To make this possible, we have focused on giving you the tools you need to share and control your information. Starting with the very first version of Facebook five years ago, we’ve built tools that help you control what you share with which individuals and groups of people. Our work to improve privacy continues today.”

(We know that one of the things that you really love about Facebook is the ability to control the information you share. That’s why we focus on making sure you can control your privacy settings. We are continuing to improve that because we know how important it has been to you.)

“Facebook’s current privacy model revolves around “networks” — communities for your school, your company or your region. This worked well when Facebook was mostly used by students, since it made sense that a student might want to share content with their fellow students.”

(Facebook’s privacy settings were designed for students to share content with each other. Now that the Facebook user base has reached way beyond the student community, we need to redesign the privacy settings to accommodate the masses.)

“Over time people also asked us to add networks for companies and regions as well. Today we even have networks for some entire countries, like India and China.”

(Once again, Facebook has reached way beyond the student community. And we have been asked by other companies and regions, such as India and China, to add a whole network for them too. This means an entire network for all of China. An entire network for all of India. An entire network for each company, organization and region, etc.)

“However, as Facebook has grown, some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we’ve concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy. Almost 50 percent of all Facebook users are members of regional networks, so this is an important issue for us. If we can build a better system, then more than 100 million people will have even more control of their information.”

(Adding new networks resulted in a Facebook growth spurt and millions of members in these new regions and companies take up 50% of the Facebook population. It looks like it may be time to redesign our privacy settings to accommodate the growth and diversity of users.)

“The plan we’ve come up with is to remove regional networks completely and create a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone.”

(Here’s the plan; Remove regional networks. Create a simpler model for privacy control.)

“We’re adding something that many of you have asked for — the ability to control who sees each individual piece of content you create or upload. In addition, we’ll also be fulfilling a request made by many of you to make the privacy settings page simpler by combining some settings. If you want to read more about this, we began discussing this plan back in July.”

(We’re working on simplifying privacy settings and expanding your ability to control what you share.)

“Since this update will remove regional networks and create some new settings, in the next couple of weeks we’ll ask you to review and update your privacy settings. You’ll see a message that will explain the changes and take you to a page where you can update your settings. When you’re finished, we’ll show you a confirmation page so you can make sure you chose the right settings for you. As always, once you’re done you’ll still be able to change your settings whenever you want.”

(We are going to need you to update your own individual privacy settings. You will see a message that will explain the changes and will take you to a page where you can update your settings. When you’re finished, you will see a confirmation page so you can double check your work to make sure you did it right. If you didn’t do it right, and you realize that later, you can still go back and change them just like you can now.)

“We’ve worked hard to build controls that we think will be better for you, but we also understand that everyone’s needs are different. We’ll suggest settings for you based on your current level of privacy, but the best way for you to find the right settings is to read through all your options and customize them for yourself. I encourage you to do this and consider who you’re sharing with online.”

(We’ve build a system that can make suggestions on how to set your privacy controls, but you should really read through the information yourself before you start making your changes.)

“Thanks for being a part of making Facebook what it is today, and for helping to make the world more open and connected.”

(Thanks for being a part of making Facebook what it is today, and for helping to make the world more open and connected.)

“Mark Zuckerberg”

(Mark Zuckerberg)

There now. Glad we got that all cleared up.

Thanks for reading.

Think people don’t notice how your brand is presented? Just ask IKEA

Design-geek issues such as font usage rarely see the light of day in mainstream media, but a recent Time Magazine post is a good reinforcement of how important even the smallest of details can be to your customers.

The piece linked here detailed a backlash against retail giant IKEA for having the gall to change…its primary font. That’s right — after decades of catalogs filled with unpronounceable names in a customized version of the typeface Futura, IKEA is switching to the more internet-friendly Verdana.

Now, perhaps the backlash will be somewhat confined to the design community — “Verdana, which was invented by Microsoft, was intended to be used on a screen, not on paper,” Time tells us — but regardless, the article proves a point that many companies just don’t get when it comes to marketing and brand identity.

People notice small details about a company or organization, and when presented with those details consistently, form impressions in their mind based upon them. Consistency helps define the communication, and when that consistency is removed, it makes people question what’s going on with the brand. The switch to Verdana may not result in lower sales of such products as the Aspelund (it’s a bed), but it certainly caught the attention of more than a few people.

So what’s the best policy? Build a brand identity, maintain it, and even guard it with your life. And if you make a change, it should be for a good reason. Maybe the brand has grown stale and needs a refresher; maybe the target audience has changed over time. IKEA apparently is making the change to save money, which every now and then is a good one too.

But if you think the little details aren’t important, think again. Somebody is always going to notice.

Attention Map

I recently read an article that introduced a new concept called attention maps. An attention map is basically a list of goals for a page that basically assigns a point value of importance to sections of a website then distributes those areas onto a page. The most important areas are larger and also fill up more dominant sections while less important areas get pushed down and/or to the right.

From a designers perspective, this is something that is often done without the use of a map. Generally, you put the navigation up top then bring in a fantastic photo and put a catchy slogan in there followed by a link to convert the viewer into a buyer. Pretty simple formula that has proven to be effective.

However, what if your client has multiple areas of expertise and they are struggling internally to decide which areas carry more importance than others? Maybe the board of directors needs a tool or diagram that demonstrates how a reorganization of priorities may look? This is where an attention map comes into play.

First establish a point value for all goals.

Example point distribution:
-20 points allocated among four goals

Example result:
* product photo and description : 10 points
* features : 6 points
* Other products: 2 points
* News: 2 points

Translated into design this is what would happen. The 10 point item is obviously front and center taking up the majority of the page. The features could fall to the right of this product section since it holds a value of 6. The other items: Other Products and News would fit in below. This is an effective distribution of space that should translate into a good web page.

In another scenario, the client puts a value of 4 on his main product but then spreads the rest of the 16 points evenly across 8 items. This breakdown divides his page into small parcels which will translate into a boxy and ineffective design.

In a nutshell the Attention Map can be a useful way to map out the screen real estate. Additionally, its a great way to show your client that there is logic involved. To create an effective website it takes more than just good design. An effective website is a combination of great design and logic.

The Art of the Landing Page

Landing page optimization and testing can have a dramatic impact on your online marketing profitability. But even without testing you can quickly eliminate several common mistakes that can instantly skyrocket conversion rates. These approaches work across a surprisingly wide variety of circumstances and industries:

Remove choices.
You should be very clear about your desired conversion action, (whether it is a sale, download, form-fill, or simply a click-through to another page). All other clickable links or choices on the page should be eliminated or at least visually de-emphasized.

Keep your promises.
Your visitors arrived from somewhere, and an expectation was set before they even landed on your page. This could have been in your pay-per-click ad, a third-party blog posting, or a comparison shopping engine. Make sure that you understand the context from which they arrived. It is critical to align the content of your landing page with their intent and expectations.

Don’t be loud.
Minimize visual distractions as much as possible. Do not use a wide variety of font styles, colors, and sizes on your page. Remove images and interactive rich-media content unless it directly supports your conversion goal and is a clearly superior way of conveying important information. Sometimes minimally designed landing pages are often the best converting ones.

Reduce anxiety.
Unless you work for an internationally recognized company, you have no brand-strength or credibility with your online audience. You should do everything possible to reduce anxiety on your page by using safe shopping seals, and other indicators of your trustworthiness. The logos of trade associations, acceptable payment methods, and money-back guarantee seals can all be powerful ways to make your visitors feel safer.

Enhance affinity.
People want to feel an affinity for your product or service. By transferring recognition or goodwill from other sources you can help reinforce their desire to act. Liberally use logos of well-recognized client brands. Add the badges of media sources that have covered or mentioned your company. Prominently display glowing testimonials from existing customers.

Have a clear call to action.
Have a prominent and clear call to action. Make sure that you spell out exactly what will happen if someone fills out the form or clicks on the desired link. Do not clutter the area around the call to action, let it stand out by its isolation on the page.

Cut down your text.
The Web is an “at-a-glance” medium. Study after study has shown that less textual content on a landing page leads to a higher conversion rate. Ruthlessly edit your text down to simple headlines and short bullet lists. Cut out the self-promoting marketing speak that people will not read anyway. Detailed information can be linked to on supporting pages.

If you follow these best practices you are guaranteed to make your cash register ring more often, so to speak.

Moving from Web design to Print

Macworld has a brief article for anyone going from web design to print design, it’s a good start for anyone that wants a little background on the main differences between the two mediums. Nothing helps more than having a seasoned print designer, in-house, to bounce questions off of, but this provides a nice list of things to consider, including DPI for screen versus printing, the CMYK color space as opposed to RGB for screen media and recommended programs.

Moving from Web design to Print




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