Motrin, a US healthcare company put on their home page a large video advert with the basic premise that mothers who carry their babies are likely to get back ache and their pain killers are right for the job. Nothing wrong with that, however the message was ill-judged “Wearing your baby seems to be [...]

Posted in Marketing, Social networks, Work 1 Comment »

Language matters.  How you describe something frames your reference.  One of the problems with so much software is that it is designed for generic “users” (typically UML stickmen) who may also have roles, but don’t have lives.  Why this obsession with users?  Everybody “uses” things.  Surely the important thing is to understand the nuances of [...]

Posted in Customer Experience, Marketing, Methodology, Social networks, interaction design No Comments »

I set this website up in 2001 to record the overland trip Lindsey and I took to India. I wrote my diary entries (I’d not heard of the word “blog” at the time) onto my palm pilot and uploaded my notes in internet cafes when we found them. I called the site “dancingmago” [...]

Posted in Social networks, Web 2.0 No Comments »

Credit card companies talk about “front of wallet”. With customers having a number of cards at their disposal, how does a credit card issuer ensure that their card is the customer’s card of choice; the card they will pull out first because it is at the front of the customer’s wallet?
How do you make [...]

Posted in Banking, Customer Experience, Social networks, Web 2.0, Web design, interaction design No Comments »

On Saturday I attended the Hong Kong BarCamp. This was the first Barcamp I have attended and it blew me away. Here were 200-odd people, brought together on their own volition to share and learn.

On-line communities are easy to subscribe to, requiring minimal effort to participate. Being physically present requires more [...]

Posted in Social networks, Work, innovation 1 Comment »

This appeared as a headline in my iGoogle world news tab today.
A series of disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s choice as running mate, called into question on Monday how thoroughly Mr. McCain had examined her background before putting her on the Republican presidential ticket.
Now I care little about American politics and even [...]

Posted in Social networks, Web 2.0 2 Comments »

I’ve been interested in Twitter for a while now - it is probably one of the flagship web 2.0 innovations, (and its Ruby on Rails). But I’ve had a problem with it; I can’t answer the question “what’s in it for me“. What is the point of Twitter? I signed up a while [...]

Posted in Social networks, Web 2.0 1 Comment »

Michael Klynstra writes enthusiastically about Meosphere. My first impression is that I’m not so sure. It may be a cool and compelling proposition but it is not obvious to the visitor what it is all about. Needing a large call to action “Click here to see how it works” should set the [...]

Posted in Customer Experience, Social networks, Web 2.0, Web design, usability No Comments »

Social networking is all the rage at the moment. I’m attending meetings where clients are buzzing about creating a community… and I find myself challenging their enthusiasm. I return to a simple question: “So what”. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and ask “What’s in it for me?” Leisa [...]

Posted in Customer Experience, Marketing, Social networks, Web 2.0 No Comments »

When VW beetles, kombi vans, or any Volkswagen air-cooled motor pass each other, their owner’s wave. There’s an unofficial community around the product. How cool is that to have people passionate about product?
Do your customers wave each other? Do your products inspire a bond, knowingness amongst their owners, a community?
Maybe you’d [...]

Posted in Customer Experience, Marketing, Social networks, travel 2 Comments »