Design as Art

, , 0 Comments

“The form follows the function” – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

As I was reviewing and cleaning out my countless (I told you before I’m a big note taker) iPhone notes, I stumbled upon some quotes from Bruno Munari I jotted down when I read his Design as Art a while back. This short book was written in 1966 but still speaks volumes nearly 50 years later, especially NOW. We live in times where design and technology go hand in hand. It’s not good enough anymore just to be technically sound. A product also must be properly designed to showcase the technology for the eyes of the consumer. You must intrigue a person and keep them engaged. I would go as to say that design, in consumer-facing products, is more of the driving force than the technology behind it. Let that sink in. The user experience as a whole should never be taken lightly. There’s a ton of subtle psychological tricks behind a greatly designed product. Snapchat, Instagram, AirBnB, Twitter, Venmo, and other burgeoning products of today you use on a weekly basis aren’t anything mind blowing in terms of the technology behind it. But they’ve been designed beautifully and specifically go at the needs of their users. They master 1 thing in a simple yet effective way.

I would recommend grabbing Design as Art here (there’s probably a free version online somewhere as well). I’ve left you with 2 chunks from Bruno’s book that really stuck out to me:

“Culture today is becoming a mass affair, and the artist must step down from his pedestal and be prepared to make a sign for a butcher’s shop (if he knows how to do it). The artist must cast off the last rags of romanticism and become active as a man among men, well up in present-day techniques, materials and working methods.”

 

“The designer is therefore the artist of today, not because he is a genius but because he works in such a way as to reestablish contact between art and the public, because he has the humility and ability to respond to whatever demand is made of him by the society in which he lives, because he knows his job, and the ways and means of solving each problem of design. And finally because he responds to the human needs of his time, and helps people to solve certain problems without stylistic preconceptions or false notions of artistic dignity derived from the schism of the arts.”

Facebook, Instagram, Parse & Co. = Mobile Ad Domination

, , , , , , 0 Comments

“This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people.” Mark Zuckerberg

This is years in the making. Ok, a decade if you count back to Facebook’s birth in early 2004. Potentially the perfect storm of mobile advertising. Mark has been focused on creating such a thing since FB hit the stock market. He realized Facebook needed to shift gears quickly in order to dominate mobile and continue growing in revenue. He also knew Instagram has the trajectory to be a cash cow, far exceeding it’s $1B price tag. Think about this for a second, mobile advertising on FB now accounts for over 50% of their revenue. Guess how much mobile ads accounted for revenue at Facebook’s IPO? $0. Boy have they gotten with the times.

I wouldn’t say I’m an IG addict like some of my friends but I do check the app a few times a day. I’ve already started to see IG testing with “sponsored” posts. They’re slowly stepping into this, and rightfully so. They don’t want to tarnish their simple yet addictive user experience. They don’t want people to bitch and moan about too many links or ads being shoved down their throats like Facebook often does. If Instagram can stick to their secret sauce and hold out on ad overload, they can easily become the next MAJOR mobile ad network with the help of Facebook.

How?

They’ve already begun testing, but imagine when Facebook and Instagram figure out a way to best share and intertwine their data/mobile ad experience between the two platforms. Let’s say your checking out your browsing a brand’s profile on IG, then hop on Facebook and see an ad for that brand, maybe even with a special offer of some sort. They can close the entire loop if they work closely enough with the brands themselves. AND not to mention Instagram is perfect for subtle, nonchalant brand awareness to get users’ initial impressions. It’s built specifically to showcase beautiful images and get eyeballs. That’s it. IG doesn’t even allow links in posts. It’s the perfect place for a brand to get recognition before turning this into a purchase or more granular engagement via Facebook.

Below is a screenshot of IG’s ad tools released less than a month ago

Source: InsideFacebook.com

Source: InsideFacebook.com

You think this Facebook and Instagram’s cross referencing of data is all Mark has planned? No way. Not at all. It’s truly only the beginning of Facebook’s mobile ad goliath. Remember when I harped on the concept of an “app ecosystem” before in my post back in June, “Mobile Observations from Abroad: Facebook’s Ecosystem is Crushing It”?? Well think of it such an ecosystem where data from each service learns from each other resulting in better targeting. Facebook also owns WhatsApp and Parse for which they haven’t begun tapping into those potential revenue reservoirs as of yet either. I’ve said it before, but I still think Parse might be the most underrated Facebook purchase of them all. And Facebook even got it for a steal deal of only $85M! With Facebook owning the backend keys to a massive (and growing) amount of apps, the possibilities of integrating other apps’ data to better serve their ad network is enormous. They’re plenty smart to figure out how to create that along the way. Heck, they’ve probably already begun testing. I’m thinking something of a Google AdWords for mobile apps.

In the meantime you should hit ‘comments’ and chime in – would luv to hear your own opinion on all this :) If you want read more I recommend Danny Sauter’s post, this one, and this one too.

Should Instagram’s Hyperlapse be a standalone app?

, , , , , , 0 Comments

Rightfully so, there’s been a lot of hype around Hyperlapse. Wired recently did a feature about how the idea came about (like other great creations, as a PHD thesis at Stamford), the nuts & bolts behind it, and basically why they think it’s a mobile breakthrough. They even went as far to call it a $15,000 video setup in your hand.

In Instagram like fashion Hyperlapse is clean, sleek, and to the point. No frills or unnecessary features. It does exactly what it says it does. It’s almost too simple, makes you wonder - That’s it?? Now here’s my question – Should it really be a standalone app or did the team fumble by not making it spanking new feature of IG? As most technologies, only time will tell. But in the meantime, let’s break it down a bit more.

___________

Google’s Larry Page has his own way of analyzing companies before an acquisition and it isn’t solely based on revenue or growth, although those are an obvious ingredient to get in front of Google. They call it the ToothBrush Test:

When deciding whether Google should spend millions or even billions of dollars in acquiring a new company, its chief executive, Larry Page, asks whether the acquisition passes the toothbrush test: Is it something you will use once or twice a day, and does it make your life better?

- David Gelles NYT

I take a similar approach when analyzing new apps, or other new products and their potential. Will I use this once a week? Or at least twice a month? 

Microsoft recently released their own consumer facing Hyperlapse technology, and there’s rumors that Apple’s new iPhone will have something similar. But it’s clear Instagram has won the race to bring it to the masses’ fingertips first. Although I think Hyperlapse is technically sound and overall a great engineering feat, I’m just not sold that’ll it’ll be another home run for Instagram/Facebook like the IG team is hyping (ok, I promise I won’t say ‘hype’ again) it to be. I’m not totally convinced that releasing this technology as a standalone iPhone only app was the right decision long term. I have a lot of photographer and videographer friends who I know are currently salivating over this thing. And yes the masses will use the hell out of it NOW since it’s the new kid on the block. But let’s not forget that on average people are very picky with their selection of apps. Most heavy IG users have their go-to set of apps they use for editing photos & videos. Another app is more memory drained, memory you could have used for more videos or photos. More stolen real estate. For the average user, are there enough use cases during the span of 1 month? Will the average user have Hyperlapse on their iPhone 3 months from now??

hyperlapse app

image source: Forbes

I’m very curious what it’s engagements metrics will be a year from now. Will it sustain itself or should Instagram just have integrated it with their main app? Like I said at the beginning of this post. Only time will tell but I’m going to say Hyperlapse should of been just a new sparkly feature in their existing app.

Be that as it may, kudos to Instagram for constantly innovating.

How to Become a Functioning Member of Society Again

, , , , , , , , 0 Comments

“The promise of technology was that it would make us masters of time. It has, ironically, made us into time’s slaves.” Harold Schweizer, Professor of English at Bucknell University

This post was directly inspired by 2 other ones. One is in my alma mater’s magazine summer edition, in which I was quoted near the end about instant gratification and the generation today. Very interesting read. The other post is titled “This is your brain on mobile” by Jeremy Vandehey which gives a quirky and quantitative analysis of just how destructive our obsessive phone habits can be. I recommend reading both, but obviously after you read my tidbits below ;)

60a3c9b14061ac218b785af1fb92cb5a

Devices are Drug Dealers & ‘likes’ are Drugs

Whether you have an iPhone, iPad, Surface, Android, Windows Phone, whatever – you’re probably be addicted to that all to frequent buzzzzzz of satisfaction. It could be a text, a tweet, if you’re lucky it’s a Facebook or Instagram ‘like’. “Yes! I’ve gotten 11 likes on Instragram! I’m so popular! Everyone loves me!” It’s a rush. We yearn for the feeling of checking our phone and 20 friends have liked a post within 10 minutes.

I’m no exception. I check for ‘likes’ after I post a pic to IG all too often. People seemingly check social media more than they do their work email while at work. Think about that for a second. Do you fall into that gap? Let’s face it. We are slaves to social media. To our ‘friends’ accepting us, accepting our humble brags whether it’s via a tweet, a status update, check-in, or uploaded image.

How to fix this? Should you go to social media rehab? Not yet, there’s actually a very simple procedure to wean yourself off, albeit it may cause a bit of a withdrawal but I know you can do it. BE STRONG and go into your phone’s settings, if you have an iPhone like myself go to Settings – Notification Center – and then tap a specific app and turn off ALL notifications. You can do it. I know you can. Try this for a day, then 3 days, then a week. I guarantee it’ll help your addiction.

OFF or Airplane Mode: Live By It

You tell yourself – “Ok, time to do work”, maybe it’s work work, studying, errands, the gym -then you look at it like it’s taunting you, telling you – “Pick me up”, “Play with me, cmonnnn you know you want to”. How many times have you fallen into that trap? Start work, stop, check your phone, tweet back, continue work, check instagram, go back to work. Then an hour goes by and you’re like – wtf have I even completed? NEXT TO NOTHING.

If you’re the time that absolutely cannot focus and needs to check their phone every few seconds. Skip my previous advice of turning off notifications and KILL YOUR DEVICE. No not literally. I advise you to turn on airplane mode or turn it off altogether. The first 15-30 minutes will be tough once it’s off. You’ll be scratching your neck like a coke addict, wanting to turn it back on, find out how your friends are procrastinating also. Don’t do it. You’ll get stronger and stronger as you do this more. You’ll realize how much you can get done if your phone is off and away. Maybe you won’t get fired. Maybe you’ll become a productive. Who knows, maybe you’ll become a functioning member of society once again.  You’ll become productive.

BRING BACK SERENDIPITY

When was the last time you had a random but positive human interaction? Maybe on the subway, waiting for the bus, at the airport. You know, where humans hang out. And no, bumping into someone on accident because you were playing Candy Crush (even worse, the Kim Kardashian app) does not count.

Do you really need to play that new game while you take a 2 minute subway ride? Even worse, while you wait in line at Starbucks? I guarantee the likelihood of you meeting someone new and awesome will dramatically increase if you ignore those notifications, turn off your phone, or put it somewhere hard to reach (your back pocket does not count).

______

Put your phone away, lift your head up & open your eyes and hears. There’s a radical world around you.

 

iBeacons & Mobile Marketing for Retailers

, , , , 0 Comments

The creation of expectation is its own independent process.ibeacon-future

I’m a mobile marketing junkie, especially when it comes to anything relevant to location-based targeting. ShopDrop was conceived from my constant prodding about small, local retailers and how they get the word out about sales. Location is becoming more and more valuable to marketers as the technology improves and becomes more robust. Foursquare, as well as the concept of ‘checking-in’ (or “Hey guys look where I am!”), has fizzled out and now they’re fumbling around with Swarm. There’s a number of other strong contenders in the location aware app space, all trying to carve out their own lil’ niche due to the data’s value they can potentially garner. Even Andrew Mason recently jumped in with Detour. My interest lies in retail, specifically clothing stores, when it comes to location-based services. I think social is a bit harder to keep users coming back, as well as more competitors and it’s simply not where my experience nor interest lies. When it comes to proximity based retail apps, it’s also becoming competitive yet with no clear winner. Yes, RetailMeNot broke out with an IPO but they’re NOT focusing on location based deals, they’re interested in major retailers online and sometimes offline, sometimes — not their focal point. There’s Shopular who’s built a very sustainable and convincing app resulting in a capital raise fo $$. I’m very curious there plans of what to do with this money, from a macro perspective I think they need to FOCUS MORE. They have clothing deals, Toys R U, RadioShack, from a user standpoint it’s a bit fragmented and messy.

I digressed a bit -

What ShopDrop and myself is aiming to solve, long term, is becoming the go to app for finding awesome deals and products from local retailers both large and small. We want to do this in the most subtle and valuable manner possible. Call it the rise of the ‘invisible app’ — not begging for your attention yet providing immediate value when contextually needed. We don’t want to waste your time. We don’t want to shoot you info you’re not interested in just because a marketer has paid us or we need engagement. NO. We want the app to learn from you. Learn from the stores/products you follow and interact with. Highly curated just for YOU AND YOUR LOCATION.

What’s the key to the mobile marketing future for retailers?

iBEACONS (along with a rad app of course)

iBeacons have been the talk of the town since Apple unleashed it upon us in mid 2013 along with iOS7. iBeacons give you that subtle and relevant touch on the user’s shoulder at the right time. It beats out NFC and works well with geofences. Currently about 1/3 of smartphones are compatible with beacons AND according to BusinessInsider they’re being tested by over half of the US’s top 100 retailers followed by 3.5 million active beacons in use by retailers by 2018!

What could a retailer use iBeacons for?Here are a few general and very powerful ways:

  • Purchase goods without waiting in a line
  • Receive deals upon walking by or in store
  • In store product directions (aisle navigation for larger retailers)
  • Location-based customer service
  • Hyper local & granular analytics

In a few years this will all be part of the norm. I wrote a post some time ago touching upon how you can use iBeacons and other location based technologies to your advantage. They’re very powerful yet potentially creepy technology — yes creep as in very Big Brotherish like many other data driven things nowadays. Users are more receptive to mobiles ad nowadays but you still must make sure it is all contextually relevant stuff! Focus on the end user’s experience. Make it quick and to the point. Get them the content they want. Here are a few tips on how you can do so:

Tastes is what the user likes or uses on your app or service. What they do, their activity, events. Pay serious attention to this before implementing any location-based marketing measures. Track this and then tailor content to this! Don’t shoot them a notification about some other thing they’ve never expressed much interest in. I’ve had apps shoot me ads about Target just because I walked by it, yet I’ve never interacted with anything Target related on the app. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Location is obviously a big factor in proper contextual marketing with iBeacons, GPS, geofences, or anything in that line. Let’s say a user has liked an H&M product or promotion and that same user is about to walk by a store with new stuff or a sale — now’s the time! Send them a notification! Boom — the power of iBeacons.

Mood is a bit harder to analyze and use in a relevant manner but it’s something to think about as devices and applications get better at mining data to help the user with a given task. Blasting someone with location-based ads while they’re packing and moving out of the city would not be beneficial. Maybe integrate some type of a speed tracking parameter in your application to help solve this. iBeacons’ hyper local (90 feet or less) aspect is a huge value ad in this sense.

Relevancy ties together all of what I just said to spit out something meaningful to the end user. Something they won’t look at for half a second and never reopen. Focus on this. Don’t just spam users because a client needs to meet certain demands or you need to hit a certain quota. Give them the content they want! According to Nielsen’s most recent mobile study 50% of user want to make a purchase within an hour while 67% of such users want a retailer within 5 miles. Find them what they need ASAP, don’t waste their time.

It’s going to be some time before iBeacons are a basic part of our daily technological lives but their value has been proven. Now it’s about executing properly without scaring away users from this new and powerful technology. When it comes to retailers, there needs to be ONE BREAKOUT APP focused around proximity based shopping habits. iBeacons within retail stores WON’T WORK IF THE RETAIL PARTNERSHIPS ARE SCATTERED AMONGST DIFFERENT APPS.

1 2 3 4 5 >»