Greg Palmer

Two Screens: Huffington Post and Livestream

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:32:38 -0500

Hey everybody - just a quick Two Screens post, which is where I point out two screenshots that recently caught my eye.

First, I was watching Leo Laporte's talk at the Online News Association conference and was underwhelmed by the Livestream player. It's a great service, but I think the player could be easier. Actually, I think this about a lot of video players. Check out the "on-air" and progress boxes on Livesteam's player. Both are really small and tough to read or understand. Vimeo is the gold standard for me.

Alright, next up is Huffington Post. I was browsing on Tuesday and noticed that the words "Professional SEO" appeared right below my profile photo. I have no idea why, but it looked like the site had been hacked by malware.

AND a bonus screen. This ad for enterprise network services came up and the word survey is spelled "servey." Not exactly inspiring my trust.

Wishing House Was On Tonight? Here's What You Missed

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:14:21 -0500

So, Fox decided that there wouldn't be a new episode of House tonight, but that's ok - I'm here to fill you in on exactly what you missed.

The episode opens in an ornate opera house. If you're from anywhere near Princeton you'll assume its got to be New York, but for the sake of House let's just call it the Princeton-Plainsboro Opera House. Anyway, quick shot to the contralto belting out a few lines, sweating, looking a little sick. Cut to a shot of an unstable lighting fixture swinging precariously above her. Is she having a heart attack? Will the light fixture fall? C'mon, you're a bright kid, you can outsmart House!

The fixture falls, glass flies everywhere, the audience gasps, but the massive stage light narrowly avoids the sweaty, corpulent singer. In the VIP boxes, an old man - presumably a donor of some sort - gasps a little harder than the others and slumps over.

Cue theme.

I won't spoil the details for you, but here's the rundown. Foreman thinks he knows what's wrong with the man. House thinks he's wrong, but is too much of an arrogant prick to offer a real suggestion, leaving his minions to perform needless and probably painful tests on the patient.

Cuddy gets angry at one of a million of House's wacky antics. Cut to Cameron and Chase fighting. How long til those two get a divorce anyway? They're too pretty to be married. Thirteen leaves Foreman a voicemail. It distracts him so much that he does something wrong with the patient and misses a critical clue.

Back to the conference room. Foreman realizes the clue he missed. House chastises him. Chase isn't paying attention because he murdered the Omar al-Bashir stand-in. House chastises him. Cameron is on the ball, but worries about the emotional stability of all the men in the room. She says so. House chastises her.

The patient deteriorates, and the team complains that they're still missing something. But what? Is it lupus? Cancer? Wilson is called in and says it's not cancer, which might still mean it's cancer because he's not as smart as House. No one is.

The patient almost dies. Three to four theories have turned out to be wrong. What could it be? A young, beautiful stranger appears. Nope, it's not House's delusion, it's the patient's maid. She's been boffing him on the side for some time now, and turns out she's got any manner of STDs. But now, she feels bad and wants to save him.

That's it! He's got a lymphosciatic melonomic case of herpes! Why didn't we think of that sooner? Just give him some goddamn antibiotics and send him on his way to apologize and/or divorce his wife of fifty years and live the rest of his short days in Cabo with his hot maid. Everybody wins.

House is still alone and lusting for Cuddy, who's also lusting for him but has bigger things to worry about since she seems to have lost her baby that she wanted so much. Where is that thing? Maybe Thirteen stole it when she disappeared. Cameron and Chase are still barely speaking, and Foreman is on his trajectory to become the next House.

End scene. See you next week.

The Future of Human-Computer Interaction?

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:33:21 -0500

This is a really well-thought-out view of what might be next to replace the mouse. I'm sold and want this now! Be sure to watch until the end as they do a great demo.

I'm Sure Our Relationship Would be a Real Home Run

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:55:32 -0500

Amazing. There are no words.

Mac Sends a Love Letter to Chase Utley @ Yahoo! Video

Live Feed, News Feed? WTF? Explaining Facebook's Big Changes

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:11:10 -0500

So you say you're confused about Facebook's new homepage changes? Me too - it's confusing at first, but pretty easy to understand once you get the hang of it.

The Live Feed is the easier one to understand - it's a live view of what's happening in your entire network. Who's posting what, who's becoming friends with who, etc, all as it happens. Unless you manually remove someone from your feed (just like you always could), you're seeing all the news that's fit to print, or something of that sort.

The News Feed is something altogether different, and ultimately it will be the more useful of the two feeds, because it automatically displays the news Facebook thinks is most interesting and relevant to you. How? Facebook isn't saying, but it's combination of lots of different factors - how close you are to the person, how many people comment, share, or click "Like" on a piece of content, how close you are to those people, and I'm assuming lots more that we don't know about.

Hopefully that helps! I'm going to be researching this change in more detail, so please share your questions and thoughts with me.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder, Right?

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:24:18 -0500

Hey there, friends. It's been a whopping 22 days since I last blogged. Forgive me, Father. I'll say 10 Hail Mary's and promise not to do it again. And really, this post isn't anything special, but some miscellany:

The FakeAPStylebook Twitter account rocks my world and makes me laugh multiple times a day. Gems like this one make it all worth it: "The noun "Wang Chung" should be capitalized, but not the verb." Good to know.
The New York Times only lost $25 million this quarter. That's almost break-even. (2008Q3 they lost $150 million)
I've mothballed GovTechNerd in favor of some more exciting projects.
I'm starting a new website with some friends. It'll be up very soon, but in the meantime check out CitizeNYC on Twitter and Facebook. Lots of cool stuff happening there, including...
Our very own web podcast show, hosted by Ryan Davis and me.
I can't wait until Going Rogue comes out, nicely timed to launch the same day as Going Rouge. Yup, that's serious.

Ok, well we're all caught up now, right?

Two Screens: GQ and Target

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:19:18 -0500

I'm a big proponent of great copywriting. I think it has the power to salvage an average site, and is the only thing that takes a site from exceptional to outstanding. It's a shame when big brands don't engage in robust content strategy. Here are two examples:

GQ Magazine: I was reading an old profile of Ted Kennedy, and this was the footer of the article. What's bothersome? Who goes to GQ or any other monthly magazine for "breaking news"? No one. Lesson: Don't pretend you're something you're not.

Target: Every once in a while I order something from Target (given that there are none in NYC). This was the response screen after I placed my order. Sins? Multiple.

"We cannot confirm the price of an item until your order enters the shipping process..." What? Telling me rules *after* I order, and right after you thank me for my purchase?
"...a small number of items on our Web site may be mispriced..." followed by a few lines of instructions basically saying if they figure out they should have charged you more, they cancel the order.
And finally, a note tacked on to the end saying not everything might come in one box.

Ok, what's so crazy about this? Not much that's complicated, but again things that should be addressed with great writing and content. This page isn't a genuine "Thank You" at all, it's a terms and conditions sheet, hidden *after* you order. Boo Target. Bad customer experience.

Capitalism - A Love Story and the Business of Life

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:49:13 -0500

With our collective public attention focused on the ongoing economic meltdown, it's worth examining whether the reasons for this situation are the result of relatively short-term regulatory failure or more deeply embedded structures and institutions society has built over time. In that vein, Capitalism - A Love Story is Michael Moore's latest effort to inspire large-scale political change.

In his signature style, evidence and reason take a back seat to copious gotcha scenes and stunts. The evidence to back up Moore's case is there, but it's obfuscated by his own film-making and, like usual, doesn't tell the whole story. The film attacks President Bush, but ends without a much-needed analysis of how things have changed during the Obama presidency.

Two Screens: T Magazine and Crucial Technologies

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:49:04 -0500

I take screenshots of good and bad user experiences all the time, so I'm trying out this new format for some posts. Every time I have two screenshots, I'll post them. They don't necessarily have anything to do with each other, though a theme might be fun in a future post.

T Magazine
This is an all-Flash interface where one doesn't seem to be needed. The result is choppiness, "loading" screens, and a loss in general readability.

Crucial Memory
I used to be a big fan of Crucial, but recently they've fallen down in two respects. One, their memory adviser tools told me to order the wrong memory for my Macbook. That's the bigger problem, obviously. The smaller one is below, where all links on the page are split into US, UK, EU, and Asia - including the customer login.

User Experience and Building Trust: Amazon vs. Zappos

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:21:33 -0500

Great user experience is all about establishing trust, then continually strengthening it. In Susan's case, Amazon broke her trust (literally):

I quickly found what I wanted and ordered with "one click". Two days later they arrive -- each broken into little pieces. Next I go online to let them know and get a refund. You can't talk to anyone when you have a problem at Amazon, and the refund process is NOT easy. I have to find the right form online (took several tries). I have to fill out the form correctly (several more tries). I have to print labels (they want the broken dishes back). I have to send the dishes back separately. One has to go back via UPS and the other through the US mail (why is this?!?).

This highlights the difference between the Amazon model and the Zappos model (even though they're now technically one company): the former focuses on getting you the right product quickly, the latter focuses on building an extraordinarily satisfying experience with you.

And the difference is massive. Amazon is effectively the Wal-Mart of the web; it's probably the cheapest place to find stuff, and they're good at distribution. But their advantage is derived from scale, not service. Zappos is focused on building each customer's lifetime value (LTV) through exceptional service; their advantage is from repeat transactions and customer evangelism.

Keeping the Trains Running. Or, How I Manage This Business

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:01:42 -0500

So today is my one month anniversary of becoming a full-time independent business owner! I'm loving every second of it and I'm constantly inspired by the supportiveness of my friends, family, and the NY small business community. Beyond my immediate circle, I've been so impressed with the quality of the tools available to entrepreneurs. Starting a business 10 years ago and starting one today are completely different prospects.

Here are some of the great tools I use to keep the trains running on time for me and my clients:

Freshbooks helps me balance the books at this place. I do a variety of work (user experience consulting, writing, etc), so having one place for all my business financial activity is incredibly important. I do all of my invoicing, expense reporting, etc. from Freshbooks. I can't recommend them enough.

Mint is where I manage my personal finances. I'm a little worried now that Intuit bought them (not a fan of Intuit's user experiences usually), but for now, Mint helps me budget and stay balanced each month.

Movable Type runs all of my websites. I know I'm in some sort of minority here because Wordpress is a huge favorite among independent bloggers, but I find Movable Type's templating system to be very elegant and usable. I've tried the competition, but the ease of modifying and customizing MT is unmatched.

Seesmic is my social media control panel. I used to use Tweetie, which I still recommend if you're a casual Twitter user. But if you need something more robust, Seesmic is a great client that lets you post multiple accounts, access and comment on Facebook posts, and way more. It's really the best social media dashboard I've found.

LaLa keeps me energized with great music mixes. It's free to listen to a song once, and after that you pay 10 cents to add the song to your collection if you like it. You can also get MP3s, but who needs them? The cloud makes great mixes. Greg S. of Hapnin turned me on to this.

Java Girl Coffee is around the corner from my house, and she's a much needed break during the day. Great blends and a fun (if sometimes lovably gruff) crew working behind the counter. Plus some simple but nice chairs outside on the shady side of quiet 66th St.

The NYC Parks Department might be an odd choice, but I really take advantage of the City's parks. I run on their East River path a few times a week and I'm just a few blocks from Central Park. Not every city has such great, accessible parks. New York rocks.

Is The Kindle a Failure?

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:16:33 -0500

Kevin Maney's analysis in the Atlantic points to yes:

A year ago--six months after the Kindle hit the market--I talked with Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, for a book I was writing. He told me sales of the Kindle were sizzling. But that's not quite the case if you really look at numbers. While Amazon did sell out of Kindles in 2008, it hadn't actually made that many of them. In fact, according to the market research firm In-Stat, the entire e-reader market consisted of just 1 million units in all of 2008, and Amazon nabbed only a slice of it. By contrast, Microsoft sold about 1 million Zune music players from mid-2007 to mid-2008, though the product was widely considered to be a failure.

It's an interesting point of view, but one I don't think should guide the discussion into what's next for print. First, the comparison of the Kindle to the Zune isn't a good one - the Zune launched in a very mature product sector with a clear market winner, the Kindle is attempting to effectively create a new market by fundamentally changing the dynamics of reading and publishing.

A better comparison would be between the Kindle and an old RCA Lyra MP3 player. RCA was out of the gate before the iPod and never had a blockbuster success, but helped define the market itself by recognizing the need for digital audio players. That's where Amazon is at, though I'll bet they stick with it longer.

Maney's main point, though, is that the Kindle attempts to create superior experience and convenience, but in the process succeeds at neither. And this is true - the Kindle is not the last (or for most people, even the first) e-reader you'll ever own. But the idea that sparked the Kindle remains true: paper is a medium ill-equipped for the requirements of information flow in the 21st century.

Personally, I like to hold a book in my hand, and the Kindle's product team recognizes that the physicality of books is part of their value.

Bezos and his core team devoted months, beginning in 2004, to analyzing the appeal of the book and to understanding why books have dominated the delivery of long-form narratives, stories, and information for 550 years. "We even got into how books smell," Bezos told me. "We did research, and found that the smell is mostly glue - glue and maybe mildew. We joked that maybe we should have a spritzer on the [Kindle] that would send out that smell." All in all, Bezos said, the team found that trying to improve on the book "was one of the most absurd challenges."

But what's not being talked about is something I see as obvious: the Kindle *is* an ideal replacement for newspapers and magazines. The generation of people who rarely pick up a physical paper rarely cite cost as their reason - they talk about inconvenience, lack of time, etc. For this, the Kindle is an ideal replacement. The day's (or hour's) news and opinion pre-loaded into your e-reader effortlessly. What could be more convenient and elegant?

Despite its flaws, the Kindle has solved some key technological and market challenges, teaching lessons for the next (and presumably better) generation of e-readers. Wireless, seamless delivery is one of the biggest. That should be driving sales of newspapers, weeklies, and magazines. From there, the market will only grow.

Update: Check out Paul Graham's Post-Medium Publishing, the best essay I've read related to this.

Don't Show Your Users Your Backside

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:10:34 -0500

I recently signed up for a library card. It's a really easy process with NY Public Library - you just sign on the website, fill out a short form, and they send you your new card. But along the way, they show you their backside.

What do I mean? As you type in your name, the NYPL system automagically capitalizes every letter you type. Presumably this isn't for the user's benefit, but for their backend systems. This is the type of tiny detail that makes a difference. If you need to convert data like that, do it when the user won't see it. It's the polite thing to do, right?

Beating All Odds: Living 101 Years, 81 Married

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:53:59 -0500

The statistics on this are *amazing*. (via New York)

But in dwelling on their 81-year marriage, the papers were obscuring the other--and far more remarkable--statistical fact: That a man born in 1908 lived to be over 101, and that the woman he asked to be his wife did the same. According to British census figures, his life expectancy was 49; hers was 53...

The chance of a man born in 1910 surviving to 101 years old is .133 percent, and the chance of a woman doing the same is .801 percent. If you multiply these two figures, you get the probability of a marriage between two such people: roughly one-thousandth of a percent (.00106533, to be precise).

Firefox Update Screen Gets Useful

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:13:45 -0500

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I updated Firefox and saw this screen after the requisite restart. Like most, I'm used to the "you're now updated" screen, but today it was even more useful by alerting me of the importance of updating Flash. Nice work, Mozilla.