Jan 1027
My mom called me up one day to tell me that she loved the Google logo that day and what did I think of it? (I think the Google logo was commemorating the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street that day, btw.) At that moment, I realized that it had been weeks, maybe months, since I last visited the Google home page. Of course I use Google every day, but I use the Google search that’s built into my Web browser. Whenever I need to do a search, I click into the little box, type my keywords, then hit Enter. And voila, I get my search results.
I got to wondering if the home page, the single that we, as Web designers, spend soooooo much time wire framing and designing, has lost its luster. So I started checking our usage reports. Sure enough, the home page of this blog gets represents between 7-10% % of the total traffic in any given month and 6-9% of total entry pages. It makes sense given that most of the traffic comes from the blog’s RSS feed, e-mail updates, social media pages and search engines, all of which direct visitors to specific pages, NOT the home page. The Matrix Group Web site home page gets 28% of total traffic, and that number makes sense, given that many people come to the site to learn more about the company as a result of our direct marketing efforts.
I started checking clients’ usage reports and I found that of all the sites I checked, the results were similar. The home page gets between 17-40% of total traffic, and 15-30% of entry pages.
It turns out that lots of other people are thinking about this phenomenon and some are even declaring that the home page is dead. Rick Stratton from Feed.us says, “(y)our homepage’s homepage is dying” because search engines, social media, RSS are linking directly to content pages.
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Nov 0910
There is an ongoing discussion at Matrix Group about content and Web design.
One camp says that clients need to have all of their content prepped and ready to go before design on a Web site even begins. The other camp says this view is not realistic, content is always behind, and clients often need the design to inspire them to update their content.
So which view is right? I actually think that both sides are right. But I think the question is misdirected. The real question is: how do we make content more important, earlier in the Web site design and development process?
Here’s something every Web design and development firm knows: Content is often the responsibility of the client, it’s often delayed, and it’s the most common reason for delayed launches. A List Apart has a whole section on their site devoted to content strategy. I love Bronwyn Jones’ article on how good design is not possible without good writing. And I think Erin Kissane is on to something when she discusses content templates (not design templates) as a way to help subject matter experts put their knowledge down on paper.
Here is what I have learned about content, the importance of content to design, and coaxing good content out of clients: Read the rest of this entry
Oct 0901
Matrix Group collaborated with author and certified financial planner Kelly Campbell to launch a redesigned Web site for Fire Your Broker. The redesign features Kelly’s book Fire Your Broker, a practical guide to help individuals take over their financial futures and find the right broker.
Our work included:
- A new blog where Campbell addresses financial issues, and offers insightful tips on how to prepare for retirement and sustain financial security beyond one’s working years.
- The incorporation of other social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter to help establish a fan and follower base.
- The implementation of Expression Engine as the CMS.
- A fresh look and feel that serves that highlights Campbell’s expertise and perspectives on the nation’s brokerage industry.
Visit Fire Your Broker
Sep 0925
Matrix Group worked with the Flight 93 Federal Advisory Commission and the Flight 93 Memorial Task Force, to design and launch the Flight 93 National Memorial Web site. The purpose of the site is to raise public awareness, funds, and commemorate the memorial, so that future generations may learn, and remember how the brave actions of few, can make a profound difference.
Matrix work included:
- A Web site that carries over design elements and functionality from the National Parks Web site to the Honor Flight 93 Web site. Including, familiar navigation, imagery style and messaging.
- A “Give Now” form, encouraging public engagement and donations.
- Implementation of a user-friendly Content Management System (CMS)
Visit the Flight 93 National Memorial Web site
Aug 0918
Matrix Group collaborated with Association of Oil Pipelines (AOPL) for a Web site redesign and a MatrixMaxx Implementation.
Our work included:
- A fresh, and engaging Web site design, promoting AOPL as the expert in fuel transportation, and an environmentally aware organization.
- Implementation of a Content Management System (CMS), allowing staff to make Web site updates with no programming background.
- A color-coded, interactive map, where visitors can scroll over each state to see the location and the type of major pipelines in the US.
- Web site integration with MatrixMaxx, Association Management System (AMS). A comprehensive web-based solution, allowing AOPL to seamlessly link their Web site to their membership databases.
- Hosting and Maintenance
Visit the Association of Oil Pipelines
Aug 0917
Matrix Group staff created a Tenth Anniversary Microsite that incorporates fun designs and invites site visitors to actively contribute and participate by:
- Including favorite Matrix stories from the last ten years in the Share Your Memory section
- Scrolling through an interactive 10-Year Timeline, filled with important dates, facts and photos from Matrix Group’s very first purple wall, to our new office in Crystal City
- Learning Fun Facts about Matrix, by scrolling through what Joanna refers to as our “tribute to information design.” Did you know Matrix has collectively accumulated 381 toys and speaks over 10 different languages?
- Participate in the Twitter visualization we created, which dynamically pulls tweets from the company, Matrix staff, people we’re following, and our favorite topics
- The site also includes a “Where We’re Going” letter written by Joanna that reminds us where the company has been, and Joanna’s vision for Matrix for the future.
Jul 0914
We did it! We launched a microsite for the Matrix Group 10th anniversary! It took us several months and a whole lot of research, but we did it. Why create a site for the occasion?
10 years feels like a real milestone to us, especially to me. Like I say in my “Where We’re Going” letter, when I started the company, I wasn’t thinking about balance sheets or Web standards. I just wanted to help companies with their Web sites. And when my Advisory Board Chair asked me about my five-year plan (during year one), I just laughed; I was so focused on surviving the first year, five years felt like a lifetime. So it felt right to create a microsite that lets all of us at the company see where we’ve been and think about the future. Read the rest of this entry
Jul 0909
A client whose Web site we recently implemented asked us to make changes to their Web site. What is normally a routine request turned into a major affair. The problem? The design firm that had created their original designs had gone out of business. The contract specified that the design firm owned the design and the all source files. So when the company went out of business, gone went the files. Ugh.
I attended a wedding recently where the couple had hired a much sought after photographer. I asked him if he gave clients their digital files and he said yes. He said that he believed in charging clients a fair price and then letting them own all the original images. Yes, he makes more money if clients order photos or a photo book, but if they don’t, he’s been fairly compensated and he’s happy. Read the rest of this entry
Jun 0923
I love Twitter. Yes, it’s information overload and there’s a lot of noise, but I love the commentary and the interesting links. I also appreciate the updates from friends and family. More recently, I am loving the Twitter visualization sites that are popping up everywhere.
So, what the heck is a Twitter visualization? If you’re on Twitter, you know that there are millions of individual posts, replies, and discussions every day. Figuring that people out there would want to do things with this flowing data, Twitter publishes an API (application programming interface) that lets developers have real-time access to tweets and some user information. The result is hundreds (thousands?) of sites that let you search, map and analyze tweets, relationships between users, and topics. Here are some of my favorite Twitter visualization sites.
- Twistori is my favorite. Click on the words love, hate, think, believe, feel, wish and see a real-time stream of posts that contain these words in the tweet.
- WeFeelFine is a visualization of not just tweets, but blog posts and images as well. Explore Murmurs and see a flood of tweets with the words “I feel” in them.
- Twittervision shows tweets from around the world, overlaid on a world map so you know where the tweet are coming from. Twittervision is even available in 3D.
- Having an event? PepsicoZeitgeist shows real-time tweets about Internet Week in New York City. I especially love the top words from IWNY tweets.
- TweetStats lets you enter your Twitter username and see a bunch of statistics about your tweets, including when you tweet, average daily tweets, who you tend to retweet, etc.. Did you know all this about yourself?
- Twitter Friends Network Browser lets you see your Twitter network and click and drag to do fun things.
- Hashtags shows you the top hash tags on Twitter right now.
- MyTweetMap lets you see tweets from the people you are following, overlaid on a map.
- Dipity lets you explore tweets in a timeline format.
What’s fascinating to me is how Web designers and developers have found countless ways to transform the universe of Twitter data in new and different ways. Each site introduces me to new people to follow and gives me insight on new topics.
How about you? What are your favorite Twitter visualization sites?
Jun 0904
I was in a Web design review meeting the other day and the client remarked that he wanted to make sure “all the important content was above the fold.” My initial reaction was to agree but one of the Matrix Group Front-End developers challenged this notion. The fold, he told me, no longer exists and is a myth that limits our design horizons. The fold is gone? What other Web conventions can we/should we do away with?
In Blasting the Myth of the Fold, Milissa Tarquini argues that the myth that users “won’t scroll to see anything below the fold – is doing everyone a great disservice, most of all our users.” Moreover, the fold doesn’t even exist anymore because monitor sizes and screen resolutions are all over the map these days. When we refer to the fold, are we referring to the top portion of the page on my little Sony VAIO, or the 21-inch monitor on a programmer’s desk? And btw, what about people who work on multiple monitors and never maximize their browsers?
I resisted the notion that the fold is gone, but I am finally a convert. That’s it. The fold is gone. This does not mean that Information Architects and Web Designers should go nuts and create sites that scroll forever, but I believe we can reasonably expect that users will experience our sites differently and that all of them are okay with scrolling.
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