Logic+Emotion

The Novelty Curve

Something tells me that this visual shouldn't require additional explanation.  :-)

Q+A With Chris Gokiert: COO of Critical Mass, Chief Guitar Hero + Karaoke Coach

Chris Gokiert is the COO for Critical Mass (the company I work for).  Though Chris started his career as a  working archaeologist, he eventually found his way into the ever changing world of digital media and has never left it.  Chris has been with "CM" since pretty much the beginning and has seen it all when it comes to life in the technology lane.  I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Chris and topics ranged from Tim Horton's to "agency 2.0", to Karaoke.  Enjoy.

DA: So before joining Critical Mass, you worked as an archaeologist—is there anything that you learned from that experience that you apply to your current position?
CG:  Marketing is all about desire and motivation.  Archeology is all about understanding the context and motivation of the society that you are researching.  I was on more of the sociological or anthropological side of archeology.  I was big into the motivation and desires of the societies.  What we found on digs were really just the artifacts of the humans and society.  Marketing is the same.  We are always trying to figure out what motivates our customers.  The big difference is we aren’t dealing with dead people.

DA: You’ve been in the digital space for a long time—what got you into the medium in the first place?
CG:  Honestly, I had a wacky idea about doing a bunch of online gaming based on ancient historical figures.  I figured I needed to learn about how to do it so I applied at Critical Mass to learn.  I just never ended up leaving.

DA: There’s a lot of chatter about the agency of the future and what that will look like—what’s your take?
CG:  I think we are seeing a lot of what the “agency of the future” will look like now.  All agencies from all mediums are circling around the concept.  Digital is definitely is becoming the centering point.  The problem is that all of the agencies are roughly saying the same thing about being the “lead agency” but they just don’t know how to do it.  The agency of the future is still going to lead with ideas and customer insights.  Analytics are also going to play an important role.  Most importantly, the agency of the future is going to have to be a leader in understanding how technology is integrated into users’ lives.  The ideas and customer insights are ultimately going to play out on a technological platform of some sort.  If the agency doesn’t understand that, they won’t be allowing their clients to reach their customers OR, crucially, allowing the end customer to reach out to influence the brand or each other.

DA: We talk about having “digital DNA”.  What’s your interpretation of this statement?
CG: We live and breathe anything digital. We are able to take our ideas out to other mediums but we generally start with digital.  It’s what we’ve grown up with, it’s what we know, it’s what we do.

DA: Who are some of the companies/brands that you admire.  Why?
CG:  I generally gravitate towards companies and brands that have a sustainable point of difference, or are able to battle through the tough times.  Companies like Nokia, Sony, and Puma come to mind.  Each of those companies were considered laggards at some point in recent history but all had a sense of vision and commitment to drive real differentiation in the marketplace.  If you look at them now, they are all leaders in their categories.  An X-Box with an HD DVD player, anyone?

DA: “Web 2.0” has gotten the attention of pretty much every business you can think of.  Why should we care, or not care?
CG:  Web 2.0 has been around for a few years now so we see it as a standard in anything that you do.  Amazingly, it is still a buzzword  out there so you need to talk the talk to be a part of the party.  Kidding aside, the only people that are still talking about it are the ones who aren’t getting it or haven’t implemented it.  If you think about how much easier Web and digital applications are with Web 2.0 frameworks, it’s mind numbing to think that some folks are still doing it the good ol’ fashioned way.  I guess that’s a long of saying, “We should care.  If you want something done in a more cost effective manner that provides a superior customer experience, you should be thinking Web 2.0.”

DA: You’re a Canadian citizen.  What’s up with the whole Tim Horton’s thing?
CG: I don’t really know.  People say it’s the donuts but it’s really about the coffee.  I don’t drink coffee.  I tried to in order to fit in college but it just didn’t stick.  Just like Web 2.0, I learned the lingo.  “Double Double” is all you need to know.

DA: I’ve seen you in action at Karaoke.  What are the secrets every aspiring Karaoke singer should know?
CG:  It’s all about knowing your audience.  Pick a song that the crowd knows, get them to sing along, and you are golden.  It doesn’t matter how poorly you sing, it’s all about showmanship.

DA: You’ve worked on Dell for some time.  What did you learn from this experience?
CG:  Faster, Better, Cheaper.  Dell drilled it into us and there is nobody better at being able strategize, ideate, create, and execute than us after working with them for 6 years.  When we first got involved with Dell, we thought we knew what it was like to run with an eCommerce giant...we were definitely naïve.  We got the ideals of measurement and business cases pounded into us.  We learned the balance of incremental optimization and innovation in a world that test, test, and test again before launching anything.  We also became experts at melding brand experiences with transaction practices. If you look at the brand building and transactional solutions in the online marketing space and Dell.com, I think our track record was pretty successful. 

DA: In your opinion, what are some of the biggest challenges in regards to the agency/client relationship?  How about opportunities?
CG:  Like any relationship, communication is always the biggest challenge.  I find that the best client relationships are when there is real trust and openness.  Although partner is thrown around a lot, many clients have been trained to keep their agencies at a distance.  This leads to a lot of guessing, which leads to mistakes.  If you have a very open dialogue, the opportunities are endless.

DA: What’s one accomplishment that you are especially proud of.  Why?
CG:  I finally beat my wife at Guitar Hero.  She has a degree in music, majoring in piano.  If you play Guitar Hero, you know how hard it is to beat piano players.

Me, Mix 08 + My Vegas Persona

Meet Rusty Armano.  He's me.  Well, sort of.  He's the Vegas version of me.  Which means he's suave and loves the nightlife.  And next week he's going to MIX 08 to "mix" it up with the like of Guy Kawasaki, Hugh McLeod, Robert Scoble and many others.  I'm speaking at MIX 08 and among other things will be Twittering under my Vegas persona.  If this all sounds a bit interesting, you can follow "Rusty" here.

I'll also be uploading photos from MIX 08 on the My Vegas social network.  If you're interested in seeing what happens in "My Vegas", go here, sign up and send me an invite.  You'll be part of my "entourage" and will be able to check out what I'm interested in doing there.

Lastly, there are some great ways to keep up with MIX from MIX 08 on Twitter, to their blog.  And of course there's always "Rusty".  Hope to see you if you plan on attending.

Top 10 Signs You Might Need a "Twittervention"

1. You type "@" before names in e-mail, blog comments and data fields.
2. Your written communications have become extremely short.  140 characters or less.
3. You change your Twitter avatar at least 3-5 times a week.
4. You don't use your phone to make calls anymore.
5. Your blog hasn't been updated in weeks/months.
6. You check your Twitter account daily/hourly to see if you have new "followers".
7. New followers = euphoria while no new followers sets off mild depression.
8. You tell your friends to just "Twitter it" to you.
9. You experience panic attacks if Twitter is down for more than an hour.
10. You experience "Twitter remorse" due to having a high number of updates, but still can't stop doing it.

Thoughts of the Day

"1. Old-school design methods are failing. The pace of change among consumers and competitors has grown so fast that using a conventional process to hatch a marketing campaign, a Web site, or a new product virtually dooms it to being obsolete by the time it’s complete.

2. Innovation is the new currency. The days of a whopping marketing budget or a pretty design equaling success are over, as Blendtec has so well proved. If you’re not creating something that’s genuinely new—as well as useful and delightful—you are screwed.

3. Everyone is a creative. Your next-door neighbor can make a YouTube video or design a MySpace page that sits on an equal media playing field with anything we produce here at Avenue A | Razorfish.

4. Narrative is the experience. As the Web becomes the preferred destination for brand exploration, digital experiences must become richer, deeper, and more able to tell compelling stories. If your brand experience depends entirely on pages and clicks, it’s time to wonder, “What is my story?”

From Avenue A / Razorfish, Digital Outlook Report 2008 (Download full report here)

Thinking Through The "3 U's"...

I'm updating some thinking on the "3 U's".  The word and idea of "Unity" doesn't quite work even though there is some overlap in my thinking.  So here's another take swapping the idea of "ubiquity" for "unity".  Seems more appropriate.  Let me know what you think. 

Usefulness
Any experience is useful when it's meaningful and serves a purpose.  Currently much of marketing still breaks down into self-serving gimmicks and interruptions that offer little value. Much of what's offered in digital is no exception.  While the majority of criticism is of traditional advertising, the fact of the matter is that interruptive based traditional digital advertising is not much better.  These are the digital gimmicks that work to get your attention but are usually done so poorly that they offer no value whatsoever.  Usefulness is the exact opposite.

Utility
Utility = interaction that delights us in some way.  But hold the iPhone.  The industry has hijacked the word delight and brainwashed us to think that only companies like Apple and Disney are capable of serving it up.  Let me tell you a story about the "no-frills" Craigslist, which just happened this morning.  My wife took pictures of a large playset we wanted to sell.  She uploaded them at 10:00 A.M.  By noon, she had several people interested and she sold the set in time for a late lunch.  We had the set dismantled, picked up and were $100.00 richer that evening.  That's delight in the application economy.

Ubiquity
We are living in a fragmented world with what seems like infinite touch points available to us.  Brands and businesses who can distribute value across these endless touch points in effective ways will tap into new markets and solidify existing ones.  Even though some of us are interacting through multiple social channels—we can now find people just like ourselves who we trust and see what they like/dislike.  This influences our decisions from the stuff we buy to the things we recommend to each other.  The best marketing in the world tries to simulate this, but usually ends up coming off as contrived.  Meaningful interactions through multiple networks and channels leads to authentic word of mouth references and ultimately affinity.

The 3 U's: A Model for "Advertising" in the App Economy

BusinessWeek's Bruce Nussbaum recently wrote a terrific post in which he dissects the effects of social media in the business world.  In part of his write up, he analyzes the My Vegas effort.  While of course I think that's great—what he says here really stuck with me:

"In a world of social networking and conversations among bloggers, consumers and everyone else, you don't advertise to them, you advertise with them. So companies have to design spaces--or politically ask to join existing networks--where people have a purpose to pursue (if only fun). Las Vegas is a prototype where people can network before, during and after an experience--going to Vegas baby!

Think of creating these kinds of event social networks around weddings, graduations, bat mitzvahs, grandpas 90th and mom and dad's 50 wedding anniversary--any ceremonial event. And put it on iPhones, please--mobility is pretty critical.

This little discussion moved from blogs and social networking to utility and usefulness. I'll say more on this soon because I think the entire advertising/marketing and /media/journalism industries are being reshaped by digital tools empowering individuals around the world."

And this of course inspired me to talk about what I like to call the "3 U's".  Here's how it breaks down:

Usefulness
Any experience is useful when it's meaningful and serves a purpose.  Currently much of marketing still breaks down into self-serving gimmicks and interruptions that offer little value.  Much of what's offered in digital is no exception.  While the majority of criticism is of traditional advertising, the fact of the matter is that interruptive based traditional digital advertising is not much better.  These are the digital gimmicks that work to get your attention but are usually done so poorly that they offer no value whatsoever.  Usefulness is the exact opposite.

Utility
Utility = interaction that delights us in some way.  But hold the iPhone.  The industry has hijacked the word delight and brainwashed us to think that only companies like Apple and Disney are capable of serving it up.  Let me tell you a story about the "no-frills" Craigslist, which just happened this morning.  My wife took pictures of a large playset we wanted to sell.  She uploaded them at 10:00 A.M.  By noon, she had several people interested and she sold the set in time for a late lunch.  We had the set dismantled, picked up and were $100.00 richer that evening.  That's delight in the application economy.

Unity
The promise of social features being designed into experiences is that it somehow brings us together in a fragmented world.  Even though we are all interacting through multiple social channels—we can now find people like ourselves who we trust and see what they like and dislike.  This influences our decisions from the stuff we buy to the things we recommend.  The best marketing in the world tries to simulate this, but usually ends up coming off as contrived.  We unite when we act in ways that were informed by groups of people who we trust.

So it's an easy way to look at a complex subject.  The subject of how technology continues to influence our behavior.  I don't know about you—but I use the Web very differently than I did 5 years ago.  See that little guy in the middle of the visual?  That's the evolving customer/consumer/user/participant.  Digital marketers who are using the same tactics that have worked in the past really need to think about that.

My Vegas is Showing: Brand Utility + Event Based Social Networking

See demo | Create a Profile | Send Me An Invite

One of the best things about working for a “Web shop” like Critical Mass, is that we actually get to conceive, design and build the kinds of online applications that the big brand agencies are still mostly talking about.  “Branded Utility” has become an elusive phrase within the industry where few case studies actually exist.  Nike + and The Dominoes Pizza configurator offer glimpses of the promise of brand utility which loosely translates to the opposite of advertising, as it has very little to do with messaging or articulating a brand’s promise.  Instead, branded utility offers some kind of functionality to an individual, group or community that serves some type of purpose whether it be rational, emotional or ideally both.

So instead of doing traditional digital marketing like banners or a microsite—we’ve recently launched the first iteration of the evolution of “My Vegas”, a combination of a “private social application” and utility that allows you to creative profiles, upload photos, manage trip details, compare attractions, schedule events coordinate activities with friends and more.  The platform is in it’s first iteration, so we have quite a bit of work to do on UI and integration with mobile—but it’s a start.  (It's also worth noting that Critical Mass is working with R&R Partners on this initiative.)

My Vegas is designed off two very simple insights:

People go to Vegas to have fun and “be someone else”
People travel to Vegas in groups and often “converge” at a common destination

This begs the question—what if we could get Vegas visitors excited about their upcoming trip and allow them to build anticipation with friends before actually going?  And what if they had a place to share “war stories” after?  The experience at this point offers two core features. My Vegas is sort of a “Facebook light” for you and your “entourage”, while the RSVP tool (Really Simple Vegas Planner) allows you to throw some events on a calendar and coordinate activities with friends.

RSVP Tool
One of the first things you’ll notice when using the RSVP tool is that we’ve broken the traditional “loading page” approach and went with a more “liquid” interface dynamically slides in steps from right to left while displaying a brief “burst” of motion.  Why?  Uh, because it’s Vegas baby—that’s why.  One of the challenges of designing a Web application like this is to get lots of functionality in it it without losing sight of the “fun” part.  The RSVP tool allows users to plan a trip, and let friends know where they will be staying and what they’ll be doing.  After you are done planning your “Vegas getaway”, you can invite as many friends who will be able to see what your up to.  Likewise you can do the same with them.  For folks who want to connect with friends around a specific event (like an annual trip to Las Vegas) but don’t want the hassle of joining Facebook or Myspace, this might be for them.

My Vegas
The My Vegas portion of the application is where you can play around and really ham up your “Vegas persona”.  Here you can see that I’m “Rusty Armano”.  But I can change this to be pretty much any over-the-top character I want to be (over 100 to choose from). 

There are no advertisements on My Vegas, instead I can show my “entourage” what I like by choosing venues, events and restaurants in the area that I like and plan on checking out (I want to see Cirque’s new Beatles show).  In the age of influence, we pretty much know that this is the best kind of advertising there is.  It’s called word of mouth. 

There are also a few nice touches like customizable layouts and themes which can be quickly configured to meet your personal tastes.  It’s pretty quick to get a profile set up and like most social applications, you can invite people who you know to be a part of it.

My Vegas 2.0?
So here’s where I need your help.  As I mentioned earlier, the Web application recently launched and we’ve got lots of refining to do as well as enhancements.  If you are a regular reader here—I’d like to ask the favor of checking it out and putting your recommendations in the comments area here.  Where do you see UI improvements?  Whet’s not working?  What are ideal enhancements (mobile integration, integration with desktop applications like excel etc?).  I really want to know as I’m doing a bit of an experience audit.

Lastly, I will be using my profile on my Vegas to post all of my pictures and some updates for Microsoft’s upcoming Mix 08 which is taking place in Vegas.  If you want to be part of my “entourage”—set up a profile and then send me an invitation to this e-mail address.  I’ll add you back and we’ll be be up to no good in no time.  See you in Vegas! (or at least on My Vegas). 

Interaction 08 Videos

So here's a video of my talk at Interaction 08

...And here's why you should watch it:

“There has been a change in what we’re being asked to produce for clients,” says MRM Worldwide CEO Alastair Duncan. “Agencies that have been traditional website builders are finding they can move into web applications.”

Advertising isn’t just about communications messages,” agrees John Owen, planning director at Dare. “It’s also about being useful. Nike+ is a perfect example of that.”
Top 100 Interactive Agencies

You're a smart group—so go ahead and connect the dots.  And be sure to watch the other Interaction 08 videos as they are excellent.

Twitter + Your "Far Outer Circle"

Here's what you need to know about Twitter.  If you have an inner circle of friends, and outer circle of contacts, but you don't have a "far outer circle", then the Web application may not be for you.  If you think you do have a far outer circle of contacts—keep reading.

I currently have close to 1200 people "following me" on Twitter.  Are they my friends?  Some of them are.  Are they friends in my inner circle—people I talk with daily?  Most of them aren't.  Twitter helps me engage with and stay in touch with all 3 circles, but perhaps is most effective with my "far outer circle" of contacts.

Who are they?  Well, they are the people who I may not be in regular contact through face to face, phone or even e-mail, but we can connect on Twitter and occasionally swap stories, links, jokes or whatever.  And sometimes we're not talking with each other, but "broadcasting" news or links that you are never forced to read and don't clog your in box.

Not all of us have "far outer circles" of contacts—but if you are active on multiple social networks, then it's likely that you do.  I've described a similar phenomenon as "office influentials"—something that we are seeing as being more commonplace in the work force.  People with unusually large networks who are typically active across multiple forms of social media.

Twitter isn't just for folks with large networks—anyone can use it, but the power and influence of the social application is often times related to the size and quality of the personal network.  Here's how I described Twitter nearly a year ago on BusinessWeek:

"Conversation Ecosystem

Twitter allows users to send and receive abbreviated communications or "digital shorthand" from a computer or mobile device. These are called "Tweets." The open-source nature of the application has spawned countless "mash-ups" where Twitter technology merges seamlessly with other open-source technologies such as Google (GOOG) Maps. Widgets and desktop applications such as Twitteroo and Twitterific take you outside of the browser and act as a sort of social instant messenger, sending and receiving rapid bursts of text and links.

Twitter can send and receive feeds. I now receive my news headlines from the service, getting up to speed from media sources such as CNN and The New York Times. That's why I call Twitter a conversation ecosystem—it supports multiple touch points of content and dialogue."

It's nearly a year later and what I would add to this is what I am saying here.  Twitter is especially useful for managing your "far outer circle" which ironically makes it feel more like your "inner circle".  It's not for everyone—but I like it.  You can find me on Twitter here.

People, Places + Events

Here's a few upcoming events I'll be either speaking at or attending.  If you are going to be at any of these—let me know!

Mix 08: March 5-7
I'm doing "The Fuzzy Tail" at Mix 08 and speaking alongside the likes of Guy Kawasaki, Lou Carbone and even Steve Balmer (Developers!... Developers!!).  The full list of speakers can be viewed here.

SXSW: March 7-11
This is currently still in the air, but I may or may not attend a Dell event. We'll see.

AdAge Digital Marketing Conference March 18-19
AdAge is holding their Digital Marketing Conference in NYC and I'll be on the following panel:

Making Social Media & Marketing Work
Social media and marketing is no longer an 'emerging media' buzzword, but a discipline that nearly every marketer has embraced.  What tactics are smart marketers eyeing? Where does the discipline lie within an agency? What kinds of new social media models will emerge in 2008?

Panelists include:
Michael Barrett, Chief Revenue Officer, Fox Interactive
Colleen Decourcey, Digital Chief, TBWA
Eric Plaskonos, Director of Brand Communications, North America, Philips Electronics

Blogger Social 08: April 4-6
I'll be in NYC for the first Blogger Social.  Looking forward to meeting many of you for the first time!

IIT Institute of Design Strategy Conference May 22-23
One of my favorite events of the year, I'll be a member of the unofficial press soaking up lots of brainpower from folks like A.G. Lafley, Bruce Nussbaum, Claudia Kotchka, Roger Martin and more.

Let me know if you'll be at any of these.  Hope to see ya.

10 Things I've Learned From Politics (so far)

1. Personality is just as important as policy.
2. It's better to believe in something vs. everything.
3. Words do matter.  The delivery of them matters even more.
4. Positive trumps negative.
5. Authenticity is hard to fake but easy to harness.
6. Leadership trumps politics.
7. The internet isn't a channel, it's THE channel.
8. Influence is contagious—so is hope.
9. You can't force people to like you.
10. Anything is possible.

Clusters + Connectors

I've described tightly knit online communities as "clusters" and manifestations of social media such as blogs (or widgets) as "connectors".  In recent weeks I've read a couple of perspectives that emphasize preferences for one over the other.  Some of us like forums:

"I love forums because they are conversational and with a little nurturing, they can blossom into a full-blown on-line community. This is true whether the common interests are cars, collectibles or a geographic community.

Another reason I love forums is that, unlike a blog, I could have stopped writing at the end of the last paragraph. On an active forum that assertion would have been enough to effectively start a conversation that possibly would be just as informative as this column. Certainly it would include the perspectives of two, three, five or ten knowledgeable people, each with an opinion on the subject."
~Why I love Forums--and not blogs

Others think we need to look outside of forums:

"The Information Architect/Interaction Design field is awash in web sites and discussion lists, though the former are (unfortunately) significantly more worthwhile than the latter. The lists are constantly filled with requests for ‘best practices’ around the simplest of interface issues (e.g., “Should I put my text above or to the left of a form field?”), seemingly endless debates on ‘what is IA?’"
~Less talking, more doing

But it's worth noting that forums, blogs, widgets and whatever alone are not where the action is at.  Community clusters and connections are building blocks of our individual and group social systems.   This is what I mean when I talk about infinite touch points.  We now have so many ways to connect with and influence each other that it's difficult to keep track.  But what happens when these touch points become orchestrated? When they compliment each other and act as functional parts of a larger organism?

Despite the increasing amount of digital fragmentation that we are witnessing in the space—there are powerful signs that integration is possible.  Yes, we're witnessing a new kind of marketing experience.  Ask Obama's staffers—they understand what's going on, they've seen it at work first hand.  Actually, we all have.

It's all about the clusters and connections.  And getting them to work together to create the kind of momentum that's difficult to slow down.

Do Something Different

It's Valentine's day.  Instead of sending candies, flowers and cards with hearts.  Send a special person a picture of the "Heart Nebula".  Yes, it really exists—and will get them thinking about the wonders of the universe.  Nothing says "I love you" like the cosmos.

2 Years Later: Why I Still Blog

2 days ago, this blog turned 2.  Today, I received this note from a professional who lives in India:

"I am a Usability Analyst. Working in India in a product development company.

I was surfing on net for some good Usability documents and i came across your website link. I read all your posts. I must say they are amazing. They gave me a one more good way of looking towards users, Creativity, Story building and much more.

There are so many points that we don't look into the way it should be... "

Wow.  And that's why I'm still blogging.  Thank you for your readership, your comments, your encouragement and the ways you challenge and help me refine my own thinking.  Writing this blog and having people who actually want to read it is a privilege and something I don't take lightly.

The Application Economy

Over at Forrester's Groundswell blog, Josh Bernoff recently wrote this in the context of social applications doing well in a recession:

"I say social applications and not social media for a reason. People will want to boost word of mouth in a recession. This is great news if you're selling community apps to companies. It's also good news for Facebook community applications and groups. You're a company and you want to charge up your citizen marketers about your product -- you can build your own application or climb on board an existing network and work within it."

I think he's right.  But I want to take a step back even further—I don't think it's just about social applications doing well in a recession as much as it is that useful online applications (not just social) could really be the biggest threat to both traditional advertising and what I like to call traditional digital advertising.  I owe this post to my wife, who's online behavior inspired it.  As a stay at home mom and "middle of the road" internet user, here's how she typically spends a day online:

Morning:
Check e-mail on Hotmail
Searches on Google
Spend time responding to and e-mailing friends + family
Checks out links from friends (recommendations)
Browses real estate sites (it's a hobby)

Afternoon
Checks e-mail
Searches on Google
Watches a video on YouTube
Browses Ebay
Browses travel deals on Expedia
Books flights for parents on Southwest
Browses Craigslist

Late Afternoon
Plays with kids on Webkinz, Noggin etc.
Checks e-mail
Searches on Google
Browses real-estate sites

Evening
Checks e-mail
Browses Ebay/Checks status
Watches TV on DVR

It's The Application Economy, Stupid.
My wife never clicks on an Ad banner.  She gets annoyed by talking people who pop up on her screen and she only watches shows on our DVR and skips commercials.  While she doesn't use Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Myspace or other social applications—she does spend the majority of her time on sites, or "web applications".  For advertisers, the enemy isn't social media as much as it is that she chooses to spend her time on applications she finds useful.  Everything else is noise.  Everything else is something to be ignored.

The biggest threat to advertising is useful.  It's that simple.  Useful is a time and attention grabber.  It takes away from most forms of marketing.  Useful as Webkinz shows us can also entertain—but to my wife, it's useful because it's quality time spent with the boys. 

It's truly the application economy.  Social applications included—but as my wife's scenario indicates, it's the application part that really matters as many internet users are still not active participants in social media.  So marketers are indeed faced with a challenge.  Continue to cram Ads (noise) into multiple digital platforms (phones, web, GPS—anything with a screen)—or they can try to figure out how to be useful.   Right now—the marketing industry is at war with the people who create useful experiences.  These experiences "distract" us—more accurately, they reward us.  The application economy is as "un-sexy" as it sounds—and that's exactly why advertising needs to take it seriously.

Interaction 08 In a Word: Better

Source Kevin Mullet, The Essence of Rich Interactive Experiences

As a self-proclaimed synthesizer, I'm always on the lookout for patterns.  There were lots of them at Interaction 08 which just wrapped up over the weekend.  The first pattern was the obvious—everyone there seemed to experience a type of "euphoria" which came from the realization of what they are.

'I'm an interaction designer—and this is what it means—and these people share my values".

The people at interaction 08 came from a number of different backgrounds.  Graphic design, Information Architecture, Industrial Design, Programming, Development,  Web Design, and others that I'm probably missing.  Everyone seemed to share the same struggle—what exactly do we call what we do and how do we evalngilize the value we provide?

And that's exactly what the conference and more importantly the IXDA community is all about.  But there was another pattern that I was interested in.  From Bill Buxton, to Gretchen Anderson, to Chris Conley, to Sarah Allen and even myself—there were clues that interaction design is more than just a practice, it's an integral part of a much bigger ecosystem in which the sum of the parts is ultimately more influential than the individual parts.

For me, the unofficial theme of the event was designing the holistic experience, which can include interaction, drama, storytelling, utility, community, purpose, and many other qualities that add meaning to our lives.  The above visual which I've borrowed from Kevin Mullet captures some of this holistic thinking nicely.  It's the combination of design, engineering and marketing which really matters.  It's the intersections if usefulness, usability and desirability that matter—not putting the emphasis of one over another.

Adam Greenfield calls this "Total Design"—but what we call it is less important that actually doing it.  In fact, while I was happy to see that people at the conference were identifying themselves as "interaction designers"—I didn't want to lose sight of the fact that while this is important—what's also important is thinking about how what we do fits into the bigger picture.

At the beginning of my talk—I said that I wasn't sure what to call myself.  But this doesn't mean I don't know who I am or what my role is in the world of creativity, design and interaction.  As interaction designers—or whatever we want to call ourselves, our goal should be to make things better.  We can make people feel less frustrated, more empowered and confident.  We can make people more productive, less stressed.  We can actually make lives better.

For me—interaction 08 in a word is better.

Better means more integration with technology—with marketing and even sales.  Better means thinking + doing.  Better means improving craft as well as ideation.  Better means reaching out to other disciplines and making connections that will lead to better experiences.

Like Mullet's diagram above—I came to similar conclusions as I pondered the role of experience design within the agency ecosystem.  I started with a sort of hub and spoke model—but then evolved to the "clover" metaphor.  For me, Experience Design was a part of the bigger living organism:



In the end, for me—Interaction 08 was a better way to move a discipline forward.  Like many of the attendees—I've found myself relating to this group more so than other organizations.  I guess that's a good start.  Or maybe it's just better.

Visualizing Agile

Day 2 at Interaction 08 and Microsoft's Bill Buxton is talking about "designig the ecosystem". I like this simple visualization of the agile method. Bill's talk offered up some great food for thought. He laid out the case that design isn't innovation, invention or creativity--it's choice. Interesting way to look at it. I like to think of design as purpose.

Alan Cooper: "Best of Market Trumps First to Market"

Alan Cooper, widely respected in the field of Interaction Design and related practices kicked off Interaction 08 with a simple but profound message.

"Best of market trumps first to market"

Alan laid out his case thoughtfully and practically.  We are living in a post industrial wold.  Knowledge workers such as programmers live in conflict with the business hierarchies who manage them.  Programmers don't respect authority—they respect credibility.  And so from Alan's perspective—Interaction Designers who can "think in blueprints" possess that credibility.  So I'm going to make the leap that what's being said here is that Interaction Designers form a significant "link" that make "best of market" possible.

All sounds good.  I believe in the concept of "best to market"—you only have to look at the U.S. and our predisposition to invent—only to have other nations take what was invented and provide "best to market" products and experiences.  Henry Ford knows this concept well—Ford's invention of the mass production automobile was "first to market"—yet you only need look at the automotive market place to see how that story demonstrated that "best of market" wins in the long run.

Or does it?

My take on Cooper's talk—is that while I agree wholeheartedly with the "best of market" scenario, I see another story being told when it comes to social applications.  Can You Tube, Twitter, Facebook, Slideshare, etc. be put into the "first to market" category?  It's debatable.  But most of the social applications to seem to rely on community influenced iterative design that often came after a "first to market" reality.  Social applications may be destined to follow what Cooper is advocating for which is an emphasis on craft and rigor.  The theory is simple—better craft leads to better business models.

Now the one example outside of social applications that I can think of that defies this perspective is Tivo.  In my opinion Tivo was as superior DVR that combined both "first to market" and "best to market".  But even with these advantages, Tivo stumbled.

Big topic here—and I certainly don't have the answers.  But I believe that watching what happens to the Tivo's, You Tubes and Yahoo!'s of the world are will help provide clues as we continue to navigate through the space.

Alltop—A Site For The Feed Resistant

The simple fact is that many people I know—yes even in the "digital" space still don't use RSS feeds.  Instead, they do e-mail subscriptions, bookmarking and even manual site visits sporadically when the mood strikes their fancy.  While the popularity of feeds and readers will likely continue as an upward trend—for those of you who can't be bothered with it, but want to peruse the blogs of some distinct voices on the internet, there's Alltop.

Alltop aggregates content from folks like Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Jason Calcanis, John Maeda—and yeah I'm on the list too (somewhere near the bottom).

Of course, the creators know we'll blog about it—but more importantly, this fits my agenda nicely.  My agenda, by the way is to get you to read these blogs.  RSS feeds shouldn't stand in the way.  So, go ahead and bookmark it.  And happy reading.  Knowledge is power.

The DaVinci Code

I'm speaking at the first ever Interaction 08 conference in beautiful Savannah Georgia.   Part of my talk will include references to Van Gogh and DaVinci.  What do they have to do with my topic?  Guess you'll have to wait to find out.  Here's what I'll be talking about:

Experience Design, Convergence + The Digital Agency

Experience changes everything. A design shop creates a marketing campaign. A marketing shop designs the user interface for a mainstream video game console. A big brand agency coordinates the design and construction of a concept retail experience. What’s going on?
 
This presentation will take a look at the increasingly blurring roles of individuals and organizations as we pursue the planning, design and development of experiences. We’ll discuss the evolution of skills and backgrounds and attitudes that it takes to thrive in an increasingly fragmented world where the lines between marketing, technology and even design seem fuzzy. We’ll take a look at some social features we designed for the Nasa website re-launch initiative and how we began thinking past the browser and into the mobile environment.

See you in Savannah!

Thought of the Day

"But social applications are about consideration, not awareness.
Blogs, word of mouth, social networks . . . they're about people connecting with other people. You may resist advertising if your finances are tight, but if your bud tells you that new movie is really worth seeing or that the Gap has the cutest new tops, that's more persuasive than advertising. Basically, in a recession, the consideration phase is more important than awareness -- and that's where advertising flops and social applications succeed."
~Josh Bernoff - Forrester

The Power + Limitation of Design

I recently did a Q+A for a publication that's going to be included at this year's IIT Institute of Design Conference (you should go).  The question got me thinking about Motorola and the RAZR.  It used to be my de-facto story to communicate the power of design.  But as I began answering the question—I quickly realized how the story highlights  both the power and limitations of design.  Anyway—thought you might enjoy a preview.  And definitely consider going to the conference which will include esteemed individuals such as Bill Buxton, A.G. Lafley, Claudia Kotchcka, Roger Martin, and Bruce Nussbaum to name a few.

Q: Give me your favorite example of a company or project that used design to figure out "where to play" or "how to win".

A: Interesting timing on this question.  I used to reference the Motorola RAZR as a textbook example of the power of design.  The story had all of the right ingredients: A brand that needed a breakthrough product, a prototype that pushed the idea forward, an end product that had reflective emotional appeal and influenced the design of other products.  But it’s worth taking a look at Motorola today which is currently having difficulties finding a buyer for their handset division.  Somehow along the way, they could not disseminate the success of the RAZR and the story ironically becomes a case study for the limitations of design.  I still believe design can be transformational, but it cannot be divorced from the corporate culture or values that a company believes in. 

My favorite current examples tend to highlight the ecosystem of experience a brand or company can provide.  I like to talk about examples such as Trader Joe's, SouthWest Airlines and even digital cousins such as Flickr and YouTube as examples of not only design—but the total experience.  What once started out as the poster child for design—the RAZR may actually become the poster child which demonstrates that form and function is simply not enough.  It was good design which ultimately became a low-priced commodity.  Sustainability is a hot topic in the design world right now and the RAZR illustrates that we need to think about sustainability beyond the “green” sense—Motorola was simply not able to sustain the momentum of the RAZR.  I recently read an article where the author said that the Apple Air is the “RAZR for notebooks”.  With hindsight being 20/20, this may not be the compliment it was intended to be.

Subject to Change: creating great products and services for an uncertain world

While I still have great appreciation and admiration for the field of graphic design—the simple fact is that I have a tough time relating to many aspects of it.  I haven't looked at an an issue of Communication Arts in years and AIGA becomes less relevant to me as digital media continues to evolve.

But, I will be adding this to my short list of books to read:



Co-written by several folks from design consultancy Adaptive Path, the chapters include:

CHAPTER 1
THE EXPERIENCE IS THE PRODUCT
“How do we deliver great products and services in an uncertain world? The thing to keep in mind, not just in the abstract, but truly and viscerally, are your customers and their abilities, needs, and desires.”

CHAPTER 2
EXPERIENCE AS STRATEGY
“All that matters to customers is their experience.” Therefore firms need a plan for the experiences they will offer, a plan so strong that it will guide decisions on how the experiences are marketed, maintained, and managed.

CHAPTER 3
NEW WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE
“We must understand people as they are rather than as market segments or demographics.” A new model for understanding your customers more completely and more realistically—the basis of an experience strategy.

CHAPTER 4
CAPTURING COMPLEXITY, BUILDING EMPATHY
“The success of experience-focused products is contingent on everyone sharing an understanding of users and a vision for the experience, because so many people play a role in delivering that experience.”

CHAPTER 5
STOP DESIGNING “PRODUCTS”
“The true success of experience design isn’t how well it works when everything is operating as planned, but how well it works when things start going wrong.” Products are simply interfaces to every service a firm provides.

CHAPTER 6
THE DESIGN COMPETENCY
“The act of design gives form to a powerful idea that many can rally around.” One design prototype can embody strategy, showcase an entire system, and immediately reveal the shortfalls of your business plan.

CHAPTER 7
THE AGILE APPROACH
“In an environment where exploration leading to a dead end is viewed as an expense to be reduced, true innovation is difficult.” New developments in the marketplace both allow and require new approaches.

CHAPTER 8
AN UNCERTAIN WORLD
“We should adapt to and embrace the uncertainty around us.” A new set of organizational competencies—-customer research, design, and agile technological implementation-—will shape the firms lead in these uncertain times.

Sounds like a good evening to me.

The Best (and Cheapest) SuperBowl Ad

What else is there to say?

The Law of Association

It's a simple exercise really.  Take a brand, and next to it—write the first word that pops into your head.

Harley-Davidson > Freedom
Coke > Nostalgia
Southwest > Folksy
Marlboro > Cowboys
Apple > Design
Marvel > Heroes
IDEO > Innovation
Nike > Style
Volvo > Safe
Google > Search (and possibly the internet)

Now—let's take a few brands that perhaps have seen better days behind them:

Motorola > ?
Krispy Kreme > ?
K-Mart > ?
Burger King > ?
Kodak > ?
American Airlines > ?
Ford > ?
AOL > ?
Yahoo! > ?

I'm leaving the question mark because several words come to mind for each but none really stand out—when you compare the lists, they speak for themselves.

Back in 1996 I got seriously infected by the internet—to me, companies like Yahoo! and Netscape were the internet.  I associated them with the Web and all the possibilities that came with it, and so I made the move to work full time in the industry.  Back then, Yahoo! was a great brand.  It represented the opposite of slow moving non-digital companies.  The name Yahoo! itself was a perfect choice—it felt like a maverick, an anomaly.  Back in 1996, if you worked in the Web—you could relate to feeling this way. We were mavericks.  Most businesses were struggling with what the Web meant for them—we looked to companies such as Yahoo! to help pave the way for the rest of us.  Today—we look to companies like Google.

Something happened.  If you asked people what Yahoo!'s business model actually was you'd get several different answers—some might say online content, others, applications and others yet—search.  But that may have been the first warning sign that something wasn't right at the core.

When brands—whether they be corporate or personal begin to lose meaning—when it becomes difficult to do the one word association exercise, then it's a sign that there may be trouble.  Even Microsoft—as much as most brand professionals are are quick to criticize has a definitive association:

Microsoft > big

In the end, Microsoft's move is consistent with the both the companies' business model and brand.  For Yahoo! it seems like if you compared the brand from the 90s to the current version—you would see a disconnect in associations.  This particular application of "the law of association" isn't real.  I'm just borrowing the phrase to illustrate a point—great brands always seem to stand for something definitive don't they?

The Twitter Bowl

(click for larger image)

I'm not making any predictions about the big game tomorrow except two, which have nothing to do with the game itself:

1. The Ad industry will prove it can still get us talking (for better or worse)
2. Much of that conversation will get documented in real time on social applications such as Twitter

That's right, along with the Ad industry—Twitter will once again display it's uncanny ability to seize the momentum of an event and act as a conversation ecosystem.  Remember, this isn't mass communication, it's niche communication.  It's less important that there are millions of conversations going on about both the game and the Ads—what's important is that for thousands of people, their behavior has been altered.  Instead of passively sitting in front of a TV cheering on the game or laughing at the Ads, many of us will actively be tapping away at mobile devices—texting away and connecting with people from all over the globe. 

This isn't a good or bad thing—it's just a reflection of how some of us act (and how most teens behave BTW).  Do yourself a favor, as you are watching the game tomorrow (or just pretending to watch).  Look at the people around the room.  How many of them will be fiddling with some kind of mobile device?  Yeah—phone calls count too.  Point is that tomorrow will most likely be an interesting case study for partial attention.  One eye on the game, another on conversations in the room and for some, yet another on remote conversations.

I'll be in all three modes—using Twitter to document my reactions to the advertisements.  How can you resist?  It's the one time of year where Ads are the most over the top.  You can follow me at Twitter here.

And if you're curious about what folks are saying about the Ads in real time—check out Superbowl Ads on Twitter, the brainchild of Jeremiah Owyang.

See you in the ecosystem.