An interesting study by OKCupid:

We selected 526,000  OkCupid users at random and divided them into groups by their (self-stated) race. We then took all these people’s profile essays (280 million words in total!) and isolated the words and phrases that made each racial group’s essays  statistically distinct from the others’.

For instance, it turns out that all kinds of people list  sushi as one of their favorite foods. But Asians are the only group who also list  sashimi; it’s a racial outlier. Similarly, as we shall see, black people are 20 times more likely than everyone else to mention  soul food, whereas no foods are distinct for white people, unless you count  diet coke.

And the result:

I have never said “big fucking Lebowski” nor do I own a “Harley fucking Davidson” but I digress.

The education levels of their users frighten me. There are some stereotypes that are supported by these numbers, but the article is still an interesting read. Read on…

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From UX Magazine:

The true impact of new technological capabilities that integrate with our lives is a blurring of the line between physical and digital experiences. We need to design for the  space between-the space between touchpoints, interfaces, and channels. The space between making a flight reservation online, changing my seat via an app and then getting to the airport and only then discovering that my “approved” carry-on luggage actually doesn't fit that style of 737. We can't just think about optimizing a retail website experience when the physical store experience doesn't connect. Often the signage, prices, and even the products themselves are different.

Even companies without physical presences should think about the on- and off-ramps to their websites. As customers rely on Google and  social mediato direct them to pages deep within relevant websites, we can no longer just design for people landing on our home page. For many companies' websites, traffic from those sources is greater than from direct load via a URL. Word-of-mouth references are exploding via  Twitter and  Facebook, and  QR codes can take us  from Times Square to a mobile site. Our users are coming from everywhere!

How many of you are designing for multiple devices and multiple contexts? Are you designing for the space inbetween?

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From GigaOm:

No, I'm not blown away by the 160 million number. What I'm impressed by is the thinking behind  Ping.

Ping may function like a cross between Facebook and Twitter for iTunes by allowing you to follow celebrities, create social cliques and get artist updates via an activity stream. I think it could have tremendous impact on social sharing and commerce.

…

Ping, from  what little I saw during Steve Jobs' demo, allows a similar level of social interaction. It can tell me who my friends think are cool and the top 10 favorites of people in my social graph. Some of my friends are famous deejays. Others just have eclectic musical tastes. They can collectively sift through over 10 million songs and help with the discovery of music.  This social-powered discovery is part of the biggest theme of our times: serendipity.

…

What if they too could share their likes and dislikes via a social layer inside Amazon.com? Or what if I could follow my favorite authors and get updates on their books? Much like Apple, Amazon owns book-based social service, Shelfari, and should find ways to embed the social layer inside of all Amazon products and connect its tens of millions of users.

In this model, if there is absolutely no friction to purchase (and let’s admit it, there is no friction to purchase, because iTunes is one of the easiest purchasing models in the world, artists are going to flock here.

If Apple opens the site up to a self service model, could you imagine what happens to the labels, not just MySpace?

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From TechDirt:

Both Microsoft and Yahoo failed to jump into keyword search in any serious way until long after Google established it as a giant business. At that point, both tried to play catch-up, with Yahoo buying Overture and Microsoft rebuilding its product — and  as we’ve also seen over and over again, by waiting that long, it was too late. The two companies still haven’t come anywhere close to catching up in market share, even if the technology is considered to be about equal at this point.

So the fear of some big company coming out and just “copying” you is generally overblown. If your idea is really disruptive, they probably won’t recognize it, and by the time they do, you’ll have a big head start, and their attempts to copy what you did will prove a lot more difficult than they expected.

How many newspapers are going to close because of the creative destruction of Craigslist?

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From AppleInsider:

The next version of iTunes, available today, includes Ping, a social music discovery tool that allows users to follow friends and artists, helping customers to discover and share new music.

“It’s sort of like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes,” Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said of the entirely new Ping service. He described it as a social network all about music, built in to iTunes.

The product is based on discovery, allowing users to see what their friends are listening to and what concerts they’re going to.

Users can choose to “follow” artists, as well as their friends, and iTunes will populate a customized top 10 list that represents what their friends are downloading. Users can also see concerts that are coming near them, and inform their friends that they will be attending.

If artists can connect with fans on iTunes, is there really a need for MySpace, a place for music?

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That’s about right.

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What if some of the most famous online services were launched in 1959? That’s what Sao Paulo ad agency  Moma imagined when the released this 3 part series of fake vintage ads for Facebook, YouTube and Skype. The "Everything Ages Fast" ad campaign is  Mad Menera imagery that would look perfect in vintage copies of Esquire…more below!

Very cool.

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From OKCupid:

The chart pretty much speaks for itself; I’ll just say that the numbers for all three brands are for  30 year-olds, so it’s not a matter of older, more experienced people preferring one phone to another. We found this data as part of our general camera-efficacy analysis: we crossed all kinds of user behaviors with the camera models and found we had data on the number of sexual partners for 9,785 people with smart phones. We dropped what we found into Excel, and  voila.

This is part of a larger article where OKCupid did a statistical analysis of photo ratings they captured through their site. The best part — 11.4 million opinions on what makes a great photo.

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Very cool.

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From Tech Republic:

It can be frustrating when you and your clients are at odds with one another. It happens for many reasons and when it does, you run the risk of losing the client. Obviously, consultants aren't in the business of LOSING clients. The goal is to make them as happy as possible. But there are times when meeting a client half way becomes more than a challenge. The best way to nip this in the bud? Make sure you and your clients are always on the same page.

…

My favorite: Know when to let go

There may be clients you just can't see eye to eye with. Maybe there are personality issues, maybe a job went wrong and the client can't seem to forgive you. Regardless of the reason, you need to know when a consultant-client relationship simply will not work. It will be far better for your business not to string that client along (for fear of losing business) than to keep an unhappy client around. The longer you retain such clients, the more likely you are to develop a bad reputation. And the last thing you need is word getting around that you can't be trusted, that your work is subpar, or whatever gripe that client has. When you see a relationship isn't going to work out, end it professionally. Refer the client to someone who can help them. Do whatever it takes to leave as much of that bridge unburned as possible. There may be a time when that client, based on your professionalism, will refer another client to you.

Read on…

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Google agrees. Ha.

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I ran across the post below on another blog, written by Jason Seiden. He was talking about Human Resources, but this really applies to anymore in business. We too frequently don’t know the end game of how our solutions fit into the greater scheme of a company, and we should care. Especially as a consultant, it should be our job to find out. Unless you’re building widgets (and even then), each of us plays a small part in how we add value to the greater good of the company.

Every time I start with a new company or a new contract, I walk around and ask questions about how people do their job. I don’t ask the veep’s — I usually ask people in the trenches what the customers want. They’ll give you the straight up, non-politicized answer, and sometimes, they’ll give you that one little nugget that makes all the difference in the world.

UX people especially aren’t a system administrator where all our job consists of is keeping things running; we’re right in the middle of the business process. We should care.

Just a thought.

Here’s the post.

I recently ripped my pals in HR a new one. Then my friend and colleague Laurie Ruettimann reminded me that  if you're going to criticize, you should have a solution ready to go.

She's right, so I posted a solution — a solution that applies not only to HR, but really to anybody with a job anywhere in the organization. It goes like this:

Find out how your company makes money.

Once a week for the next four weeks, take one of your lunch hours and go talk with people in various parts of your company who can explain to you, in plain English, exactly how raw materials become finished goods (or how ideas become service offerings), and how sales happen, from initial contact to cash in the bank.

Take them to lunch.

Buy lunch for both of you.

Tell them it's your way of compensating them for answering what you're certain will be an hour's worth of rudimentary questions, and for helping you out.

Some topics you might want to ask about:

• Marketing decisions: who are your target markets? Why?
• What's the plan moving forward?
• How does the company generate prospecting lists?
• How is sales organized?
• Who builds sales demos?
• Incentive programs for customers… and incentive programs for the salespeople… motivate what behaviors?
• Are products discounted?
• Who responds to RFPs? Who finds out about them?
• Invoicing & collections: how quickly do your clients pay?
• How tight are the daily delivery routes?
• How well is the warehouse managed? What does it look like? How disciplined are the workers there?
• What's the real impact of unionization on the floor workers?
• Real estate: does your company own or lease? Why?
• Who owns purchasing decisions?
• Does the company hedge fuel purchases?
• Why do some departments charge others for their work? That seems crazy!
• Major client accounts: how much of the overall revenue do they represent?
• What is the driving factor behind internal technology decisions?
• What's the impact on IT costs if one person brings in their own laptop to work?
• Are our HR policies driven to create a culture, protect against lawsuits, or both? And if "both," then which is the higher priority?
• What's the CEO like, as a person? Is our company reflective of his/her personality?
• Who has the data on our customers/clients purchasing habits? If I wanted to crunch it in order to look for trends, how could I get that data, and who would I give the results of my work to?
• What does the company do with its cash? Does it have a huge checking account? Does it invest in 1-year bonds?
• Who is on the Board of Directors, and why?
• What are the company's loan obligations? What impact do those obligations have on the firm's ability to take risks or make investments?
• What new strategic projects are planned for next year?
• What strategic projects are being considered?
• What does top management see as the number one obstacle to growth?
• What do the rank and file see as the number one obstacle to growth?

See where this is going?

Build an understanding of the business. Armed with that knowledge, you'll  automatically become more effective at your job. And, you'll get seen as someone who cares.

(Now, if you lack the curiosity or authenticity to ask these questions and genuinely care about the answer, don't do this. Then you'll be seen as a fraud and people will resent you wasting their time.)

Something to  think about go do.

Problem solved.

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From UX Magazine:

In some cultures complex products are more appealing than products that appear simple. In South Korea, for example, products like refrigerators are designed to appear more complex than non-Korean ones, even when the prices and specifications are very similar, because that complexity is equated with sophistication and value, and is thus a symbol of prosperity.

Don Norman’s justification…

Why are Yahoo! and MSN such complex-looking places? Because their systems are easier to use. Not because they are complex, but because they simplify the life of their users by letting them see their choices on the home page: news, alternative searches, other items of interest.

It’s really in context. On-Star hides it’s complexity behind a single button or automated systems, but it’s still complex. Some products (think that The Onion Video about Sony) should be complex because of the context of their user base. It’s all about who you’re targeting.

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From Boxes and Arrows:

Each points offers some simple suggestions and points to consider when designing. Potential design patterns are recommended (and linked to) as examples for what could be done in your interface as you design and grow your service. Keep in mind that your context will dictate different specific solutions but the questions and concepts to think about will still be applicable.

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From InsideRIA:

As with any successful, new, and vaguely-defined industry, the User Experience field has brought with it a lot of confusion, and created a lot of confused people. Confused clients, who know they need User Experience expertise but are unsure of how to get it, and a confused work-force, who has started labeling themselves as User Experience experts without really understanding it. This group is very well-intentioned, and either doesn’t know the difference between what they do and real User Experience work or are just as eager to learn as anyone else. Yet they know that talking about User Experience sells projects and so continue to talk it up.

What Makes A User Experience Expert?

• They run discovery sessions.
• They focus on user stories.
• They do user research.
• They’re often not visual designers.
• Finally, they know that good User Experience is really the same thing as Customer Service.

Read on…

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More humor.

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Funny nonetheless.

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From Zenhabits:

Working too much is likely to decrease your productivity, leave you creatively drained, and negatively effect relationships with friends and family. Don't get me wrong, pursuing your passion is a beautiful gift and there is nothing wrong with working hard on projects you love. However, it's essential to take breaks. Whether you're working from home or in an office environment it's essential to nourish your creative spirit.

Favorites…

Unplug from the internet. Getting work done doesn't require an internet connection. It's amazing what can happen when you step out from behind the computer screen or your mobile device. Most of my killer ideas come to me when I'm taking a shower, on a walk, cooking a meal, and "not working."

Everyone is creative and ideas can come to you at odd moments. Just because you have an idea doesn't mean you have to implement it right away. Keep a journal with you at all times so that you can capture your idea and enjoy your down time.

And…

Constantly question your goals and life purpose. It's important to continually reevaluate your goals, life purpose and behaviors. For example if you constantly stay late at the office, sacrifice personal relationships because of work, or check your email obsessively, ask yourself:

• Why am I doing this?
• What is the end goal?
• Are my behaviors healthy?

Read on…

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From Mashable:

When I asked Resolve about the age groups of iPad users, I found out some other interesting information. The first owners of the iPad tended to be young professionals, 22-45, who were either early adopters in general or had a highly connected and mobile lifestyle.

However, the next group of adopters and those interested in buying an iPad are much older than the one might expect (45+). Anecdotally, I've seen this in my own travels and discussions with iPad or future iPad owners. The first wave of iPad owners were people like myself. The second wave of iPad owners, at least from what I'm seeing, have more in common with my parents.

Not surprised. I’ve been discussing this with a few friends. If the iPad had been around before, this would have been the device they bought before an iPod. Using it is so easy to use, I can’t imagine older users having issues, especially with a clearer, larger screen than an iPod.

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