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May 2008 Archive

Fly-out Menus, Really?

posted by DL Byron on May 30, 2008

Count how many times the user has to fly-out that menu. It’s a lot. I did it 11 times to browse for bikes. Web 2.0 and Social Media have drastically changed consumers and users expectations. They want the data they want way faster than 11 fly-outs. In this case, a “browse all” function would’ve got me to what I wanted or at the least a very robust search.

REI’s new site, while visually appealing, has just a bizarre search. It’s totally random. You can find something once, then try again, and not. I bet they track abandonment rates for people that couldn’t find what they wanted and it’s higher than anyone wants to report.

More on what a Web 2.0 audience wants during BizJam Seattle and at Web Design World Seattle.

from the dreeping set on Flickr.

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12 Minute SEO

posted by DL Byron on May 30, 2008

Dear SEO consultant, check how a Bike Hugger result on Camel Back Bottle went to number 3 on Google in 12 minutes.

What you got in your Voodoo magic to do that?

from the dreeping set on Flickr.

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Social Media Doses, Online Presence, and Ads

posted by DL Byron on May 29, 2008

I was recently asked by Creativity Magazine to discuss Facebook and how I’d redesign it. Thinking about something brilliant to say, and considering the problems with the various Social Networks, I talked to them about dosing Social Media, how I lamented online presence, and other pithy observations. 

no_facebook.jpg

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Making media with Social Media

posted by DL Byron on May 14, 2008

For Textura Design’s 08 presentations, I’ve been using photos and imagery from Flickr: making media with Social Media. It started with a few searches and then I realized I could create an entire preso from creative commons licensed works. Where the rights were reserved, I asked and permission granted. Of course, I’m sharing the presos and also sharing the imagery we use from our photo collection.

Another cool thing is Flickr’s video. When I’ve assembled all the photos, added text, and the narrative, I output to QT, then upload.

More from our preso collection on Flickr.

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Hacking the Enterprise with Social Media

posted by DL Byron on May 13, 2008

We’re at Webvisions next week, presenting on Social Media and participating on a panel. Note that we created the media for the preso with Social Media, using photos and imagery from Flickr (slideshow version).

We’ve also got another Mobile Social going on with an urban ride and reception at Lucky Lab. If you’re in town, and attending, please come on by for the drinks, food, schwag, and good times.

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The Secret to Social Media

posted by DL Byron on May 11, 2008

When I was in University as the Internets came online, a professor told me that the Victorians were equally impressed with themselves over mail. They wrote “missives” daily, sometimes five times a day … the post office would come as many times as you needed and there was a whole network of mail. And they all wrote about how marvelous it was.

Same thing, different day with blogging, social media, and Twitter … we’re always amazed by ourselves and the novel ways we develop to communicate, when really only the methods change.

In the rush to new platforms, to figuring it out, to making money at it, the secret to social media is: do epic shit.

As blogger Brendon Connelly said, “yeah, you gotta pursue your vision—stuff you love, and rock it hard.”

Photo uploaded by shaderlab

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China time

posted by DL Byron on May 10, 2008

More from the dreeping set on Flickr.

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Shared Palettes

posted by DL Byron on May 08, 2008

I commandeered the Raygun bag from the latest batch of schwag Crumpler sent us for the Mobile Social in Portland, traveled with it to a conference and noticed, TDI’s palette is nearly identical to the colors in this bag! Double-checked and it is!

tdi_crumpler_sm.jpg

Are the shared palettes a design coincidence or just designers that think alike?

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Talk Amongst Yourselves

posted by DL Byron on May 05, 2008

Movie and slides from my Talk Amongst Yourselves presentation at Web Design World Chicago.

Also available on Flickr as a slideshow.

Creative Commons License
Talk Amongst Yourselves by Textura Design is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at Textura Design.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Contact.

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Mashing up the Enterprise

posted by DL Byron on May 05, 2008

Movie and slides from my Mashing up the Enterprise presentation at Web Design World Chicago.

Also available on Flickr as a slideshow.

Creative Commons License
Mashing up the enterprise by Textura Design is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at Textura Design.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Contact.

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Biker Warning

posted by DL Byron on May 03, 2008

I’d read about the gangland violence in Chicago, and I’m just saying just cause we ride bikes, don’t mean we’re wusses …when I’m out on the folding bike, I’ve got my pump with me too.

Uploaded by elmada | more from the dreeping set on Flickr.

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Question Mark Heads

posted by DL Byron on May 03, 2008

From those little badges of courage bloggers put on their blogs (icons for delicious, facebook, mybloglog, digg, furl, larry, moe, and curly) to various widgets, and now Question Mark Heads, there’s a tendency to group think in social media. Has anyone ever actually measured if those social bookmarking icons are ever clicked, like ever? Why would you a user do that? They can just bookmarklet them from a browser or just go to their account and post there.

Point is that an avatar feature was added to a blog engine and most commenters choose to not pick an avatar or couldn’t figure it out. So there’s a good blog post cluttered with hundreds of distracting Question Mark Heads (note that they’re male heads v. unisex heads). An if/when statement, I guess could publish an avatar if there was one …? Or just not have any avatars at all.

question_mark_heads.jpg

Back when we wrote Publish and Propser, the theme was “Practical Business Blogging” and the message was,”blog you’re own way.” Do what’s right for your business, use the technology, and focus on what works v. something that someone else is doing just because. 2 years on and it’s time for Practical Social Media and I’ll talk about that at

and more events to come.

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