Uncommon Sense Archives
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January 4, 2009
People are going to say bad/mean things about you whether you like it or not. It’s a fact of life. It’s also something that prevents many businesses from participating in online communities and other websites that offer user generated content.
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December 20, 2008
Sure, graphic designers can get a lot of credit and attention – like the lead singer of a rock band. But without a strong supporting cast helping to define and execute the design, that graphic designer is singing a capella.
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December 12, 2008
Accomplishment of something simple is surely more favorable than failure to complete a task due to its lack of definition and complexity. Keeping something simple (especially when working with multiple stakeholders) is actually not easy at all.
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December 9, 2008
Blackbird provides African Americans with a custom web browsing experience based on their specific needs and interests. Let’s keep race relations out of the browser development business.
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December 7, 2008
I was asked recently at work to provide some information about best practices for creating and maintaining public social networking profiles (namely LinkedIn and Facebook). Here’s what I came up with…
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November 15, 2008
Yes, the g-speak spatial operating environment is stunning, but save the drama for your mama.
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October 8, 2008
When people say, “I can’t do that,” what they often mean is, “I won’t.” Read on for a few simple questions to realign others (and your) expectations of what can’t be done.
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September 23, 2008
I just wanted to throw up a quick post (plug) about a new blog that I’ve been contributing to: Dad-o-Matic. If you’re a parent (especially a dad), or planning on becoming one, please drop by and give us a read.
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September 13, 2008
Collaboration is great… to a point. Too much collaboration can be detrimental to the success of a project.
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September 7, 2008
Here are five tips to help ensure that you are involved (and stay involved) in a healthy client relationship.
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August 26, 2008
Like software, humans also have user interfaces. What messages are you trying to send through your own personal user interface?
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August 22, 2008
As social media takes hold and anyone with an Internet connection is given a voice (or a megaphone), it is essential that businesses rethink their marketing strategies.
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August 14, 2008
Are you a narcissistic attention whore? Do you have an innate desire to annoy friends, family and perfect strangers? Then you should be lifecasting!
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August 10, 2008
To ensure the optimal user experience on your website or corporate intranet, it is important to understand how to outrun the crap avalanche. The following steps will help make sure things stay neat and tidy.
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August 5, 2008
In our gadget-obsessed age of disposable consumption and materialism, I notice more and more people identifying their own self-worth through things. This has all lead me to consider what really matters. What external things really define me as a person?
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June 30, 2008
I’m coming clean. I’ve been with someone else. It’s grown from a lurid fascination to an obsession. I have even recruited my friends to join in the fun. I disgust myself.
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May 27, 2008
As a consumer, whom are you more likely to trust—someone you’ve never met who is likely getting compensated for his or her product endorsement, or a peer who shares your tastes and interests, is genuinely excited about the product and isn’t getting paid to have an opinion.
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May 16, 2008
An IA Graveyard is a collection of content that, for some reason, would not fit into the existing architecture of a website, often resulting in confusion and a lack of findability for the end user. Avoid sending content to the dead zone at all costs!
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April 11, 2008
I’ve been on both ends of a Rick Roll; I was even Rick Roll’d live in front of a few dozen people by my thoughtful and charming user experience team. The video below takes the art form to a new level by including Muppets. And, as we all know… Muppets make everything better, except Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
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February 24, 2008
Yes, I forgot my baggy. Does the baggy make my fellow travelers and me safer? Can someone please explain why my toothpaste, hair gunk and shaving cream are more secure within the baggy?
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February 19, 2008
When designing a user interface, be aware that seemingly innocuous UI decisions can cause confusion.
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February 4, 2008
Evidently, it’s my turn to reveal eight titillating tidbits of personal information about myself - thanks Rob. If you’re having trouble sleeping, this may help…
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January 26, 2008
Are user generated content websites like Facebook and MySpace taking advantage of their users? The aforementioned websites are valued at billions of dollars (estimates range from $15 to $65 billion for MySpace alone), but without the users who create all of the content on the sites, aren’t the businesses effectively worthless?
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January 13, 2008
As the amount of consumer choices for shopping, entertainment, information and education grow, the businesses that will ultimately come out on top will understand the importance of creating a positive user experience for their customers. Those that don’t see the value in pleasing their customers will eventually find that they don’t have any customers left to please.
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January 1, 2008
We all do it—turn the blind eye to something we know in our hearts is wrong. Avoiding potential conflict, whether physical or psychological, seems the modus operandi for most people these days. While this conflict avoidant behavior is understandable, it is tearing at the fabric of society.
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December 26, 2007
As 2007 comes to a close, let’s take a look back at some online trends that I would rather not see again in 2008. Realistically, many of these trends will persist, but a guy can dream, can’t he?
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December 1, 2007
By applying some basic information architecture and user experience design principles, even a trip to the Rhode Island Department of Motor Vehicles could be transformed into a pleasant experience.
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November 12, 2007
The era of the deep discount big box store is over. Why bother fighting crowds, standing in endless lines and dealing with rude employees at a warehouse store when shopping and research can be done from the comfort of our homes and offices? The businesses that will succeed in the next decade will make personalized customer service and a pleasurable user experience their top priority.
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November 7, 2007
As I pushed my cart and dragged my two children into the self check-out lane of our local grocery store, a realization came over me: Shouldn’t I be compensated in some fashion for performing the role of cashier and bagger? Rather than paying a cashier an hourly wage, the store owner expects me to figure out how to operate the check out and payment system and bag my groceries for free.
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November 5, 2007
To be successful in any business venture, it is essential that the business owners understand their customers’ needs and fulfill those needs while providing value to the customer.
The same concept holds true online.
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October 29, 2007
Lately, it seems as though every client that I work with is asking for a community or social networking aspect to their website project. Marketers are gradually realizing that social media is seizing control of their brand message, and, in turn, they feel that if they enter the fray they can regain the upper hand. Whether or not all of these clients actually understand what social media entails is another question.
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October 24, 2007
Slowly but surely I have been making enhancements to the site and building out the page templates. Most recently, I have completed the blog detail page template which displays a full blog post, the comments area and comment form.
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October 13, 2007
Those of you who have visited before can see that Adjustafresh is currently in the midst of a redesign; it’s been a long time coming.
I have outgrown WordPress—I still think that it is a great tool for blogging and even for content management on very small websites. I needed a new content management system that produced clean, semantic code; a CMS that would allow me to easily maintain the entire website, post to the blog more frequently and kill the spam.
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