For companies with respected online brands using stock photography can be a terrible disservice to all Web site visitors and your online reputation. In user tests at Interface Guru, we have found the more tech-savvy users (like engineers and programmers) are particularly intolerant of stock photography and will think less of a brand if they see it used on a Web site.
Stock photography recognition is no longer a skill limited only to the more fluent Web users. There are now tools called reverse image search engines available to all users. With these specific search engines, users can instantly discover the source of an image on a Web site as well as find other Web sites using a particular image.
Here is a quick breakdown of the more popular reverse image search engines:
1) TinEye (http://www.tineye.com/) - Exact match of an image uploaded or image URL linked by the user. Arguably the most popular of the reverse image searches, it even provides plugins for Firefox and Chrome browsers. With a simple right-click on an image, users can check to see if your graphics are used elsewhere on the Web.
2) Byo (http://labs.ideeinc.com/) - Searches for images based on similar colors.
3) Gazopa (http://www.gazopa.com/) - This engine will search based on color and shape similarity.
4) RevIMG (http://www.revimg.net/) - This reverse image search is focused more on art and architecture. It looks for the exact image (just like TinEye), but users must specify the artistic category that applies to the image before they can conduct the search.
5) Google's Similar Image Search (http://similar-images.googlelabs.com/) - While less robust than specific reverse image search images, this functionality is now built right into Google Image search returns.
Chris Barton, photography blogger, has an entry where he uses a reverse image search to find all instances of sites using a particular employee stock photograph: http://fairtradephotographer.blogspot.com/2010/03/microstock-why-would-reputable-company.html
In a follow-up entry Chris provides a risk assessment breakdown of all your available options for providing images on your Web site:
http://fairtradephotographer.blogspot.com/2010/04/microstock-how-to-avoid-poisonous.html
He rates stock photography as the highest risk to your organization and creating your own images as the lowest risk.
At Interface Guru, we agree that using stock photography is a risk - you do not know what other Web sites have purchased the image and are using it on their site. Your images on your Web site should be as unique as your company; create your own graphics and images on your Web site and tailor them to match your content.
- by Kyle Kulakowski
Showing posts with label Web strategy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Web strategy. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Good food, great Web experience
Recently I ordered Domino's Pizza for the first time in years and discovered that the new sauce isn't their only innovation. Their new Web site includes the Domino's Tracker, an application that gives you the real-time status of your order (the Tracker activates after an order is placed, so I'm including a screencap from a recent order). A glowing status bar tells you exactly where your pizza is from the moment you place the order, to when Terrence puts it in the oven, to when Dmitri the delivery driver is en route to your house. It's a great example of online customer service.
One of the drawbacks to delivery service is the open-ended nature of the delivery time. A quoted delivery time of 45 minutes could mean anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes before that pie hits my counter. As the timer ticks down I often end up perched on the edge of my couch, eagerly jumping up each time the outside gate creaks only to be disappointed by my neighbor's face. As a customer, I love the transparency offered by this app. No more guessing about if I have time to take a shower or run to the bank.
That simple addition to their Web site made for such a great brand experience that, a week later, I ordered another pie just so I could get screen caps of the Tracker in action. Now my only question is how long will it take other brands to do something similar?
One of the drawbacks to delivery service is the open-ended nature of the delivery time. A quoted delivery time of 45 minutes could mean anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes before that pie hits my counter. As the timer ticks down I often end up perched on the edge of my couch, eagerly jumping up each time the outside gate creaks only to be disappointed by my neighbor's face. As a customer, I love the transparency offered by this app. No more guessing about if I have time to take a shower or run to the bank.That simple addition to their Web site made for such a great brand experience that, a week later, I ordered another pie just so I could get screen caps of the Tracker in action. Now my only question is how long will it take other brands to do something similar?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
There's no replacement for a good research plan
Yes, you should test your Web properties, especially the transactional ones (e-commerce, subscriptions, digital libraries); we routinely recommend usability testing combined with other techniques such as multivariate testing or A/B testing. Anchor Wave's Anthony Rivera (@ant1832) asked us about The Ultimate Comparison of Multivariate Testing, originally tweeted by always-on-top-of-it Smashing Mag - which solution do we recommend? Good question, since startup costs range from free (Google Website Optimizer) to $33,000+ (Accenture). Where to begin?
Here's the short answer: We recommend selecting the best fit for your company. (You need to decide whether you need both multivariate and A/B testing; check out Avinash Kaushik's simple explanation of the difference. Or check out the handy glossary from Web Analytics Blog.) Essentially, multivariate testing swaps out components of a Web page, while A/B testing swaps out two (or more) versions of a Web page. Both are valuable and merit consideration.
Basic criteria to consider when choosing a solution:
- Scale: How extensive is your digital product?
- Flexibility: Can you modify your test targets?
- Self-service: Do you need or want hand-holding?
- Return on investment: If your digital product is a major source of revenue, shouldn't you invest in testing it with something more than a free solution?
There are two basic fallacies to avoid in considering multivariate testing or A/B testing:
The first fallacy is the idea that testing one page is enough. User experience consists of multiple steps (or screen views) through a Web site, Web application, or kiosk. Whether you select multivariate or A/B testing, the tool you choose must account for task sequences - the steps that users take through your digital product.
This is not to say that one page can't make a huge difference. Our usability testing shows that common, simple missteps - such as an interface change at a critical transaction point - will discourage users from completing a purchase. But the larger point is that measurement must be designed to span the entire process - especially because conventional metrics may fall off the map when the user proceeds to a different URL.
The second fallacy is the idea that ANY product replaces a considered research plan. In our practice, we rarely encounter well-planned research, where the organization routinely measures success against defined goals. (A notable exception: Playboy, where measurement is a regular activity conducted by research professionals.) As with usability testing results, well-planned research is most valuable when shared within the organization. The purpose of conducting research, after all, is to inform your business activities.
If you have not established a research plan - even at a back-of-the-napkin level, with definition of user profiles at a minimum - it's probably too soon to engage in multivariate or A/B testing. Because you really don't know what you need yet.
Are you an enterprise, a medium-sized business, or a small business? Your research initiatives should map to the size of the business. The enterprise MUST invest in professional research (and if it does not, it will eventually fail or under-perform, which amounts to the same thing). The small business can take advantage of free or almost-free tools. The medium-sized business can find solutions somewhere in the middle. Regardless of budget, a basic research plan must be in place before solutions are selected. It's a basic part of your Web strategy.
Here's the short answer: We recommend selecting the best fit for your company. (You need to decide whether you need both multivariate and A/B testing; check out Avinash Kaushik's simple explanation of the difference. Or check out the handy glossary from Web Analytics Blog.) Essentially, multivariate testing swaps out components of a Web page, while A/B testing swaps out two (or more) versions of a Web page. Both are valuable and merit consideration.
Basic criteria to consider when choosing a solution:
- Scale: How extensive is your digital product?
- Flexibility: Can you modify your test targets?
- Self-service: Do you need or want hand-holding?
- Return on investment: If your digital product is a major source of revenue, shouldn't you invest in testing it with something more than a free solution?
There are two basic fallacies to avoid in considering multivariate testing or A/B testing:
The first fallacy is the idea that testing one page is enough. User experience consists of multiple steps (or screen views) through a Web site, Web application, or kiosk. Whether you select multivariate or A/B testing, the tool you choose must account for task sequences - the steps that users take through your digital product.
This is not to say that one page can't make a huge difference. Our usability testing shows that common, simple missteps - such as an interface change at a critical transaction point - will discourage users from completing a purchase. But the larger point is that measurement must be designed to span the entire process - especially because conventional metrics may fall off the map when the user proceeds to a different URL.
The second fallacy is the idea that ANY product replaces a considered research plan. In our practice, we rarely encounter well-planned research, where the organization routinely measures success against defined goals. (A notable exception: Playboy, where measurement is a regular activity conducted by research professionals.) As with usability testing results, well-planned research is most valuable when shared within the organization. The purpose of conducting research, after all, is to inform your business activities.
If you have not established a research plan - even at a back-of-the-napkin level, with definition of user profiles at a minimum - it's probably too soon to engage in multivariate or A/B testing. Because you really don't know what you need yet.
Are you an enterprise, a medium-sized business, or a small business? Your research initiatives should map to the size of the business. The enterprise MUST invest in professional research (and if it does not, it will eventually fail or under-perform, which amounts to the same thing). The small business can take advantage of free or almost-free tools. The medium-sized business can find solutions somewhere in the middle. Regardless of budget, a basic research plan must be in place before solutions are selected. It's a basic part of your Web strategy.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Social media and culture fit: You can't fake it
While listening to my colleague Mike Schmidt's podcast on "social marketing," (a good primer for newbies, featuring Jerry Harkins of MacTutorTucson.com) I considered my setup experience with Google Buzz this morning, and my Mayorship of the Hotel Congress on Foursquare, and the status updates I posted to Facebook and LinkedIn on the way. Another day in the roiling surf of social media. Which service gets your allegiance and time?
As with all digital media, it depends on your users and your business. Some truisms are helpful; we know that bands prosper on MySpace, and charitable causes flourish on Facebook. But in our view, the key to social media is culture. Are you willing to be what Schmidt calls a "good social media citizen"? Are you willing to help people solve problems even when the dollar is not immediately attached? Or are you only willing to invest time in exchange for dollars?
The greatest challenge for conventionally structured organizations is to become those "good social media citizens" when lack of transparency and buyer-beware have been the standard marching orders - until the emperor-has-no-clothes power of the Web came along.
The selection of social media most valuable to your business is a tactic. The strategy: Support a corporate culture whose values are revealed by social media. Successful strategic values include collaboration, humility, helpfulness, expertise, hard work. Going the extra mile. You can't fake these values in social media. At least, not for long.
You should never ignore a technology because you don't know what it is. In our practice, we frequently encounter Web teams that don't use the very technologies about which they are expected to make decisions. "You have to try it to understand it," says Schmidt, the principal of Anchor Wave, and there we agree wholeheartedly. Kudos to managers who understand they may have to rock the boat by introducing - dare we say it - meritocracy. Who are willing to experiment. Who understand that workers must demonstrate interest AND capability. In some organizations, where seniority and longevity rule, this is a tough battle. But it must be fought, and it must be won.
Those who hold back until someone else figures it out (a philosophy proudly stated to me by the principal of a New York "digital design agency" a couple of years ago) are simply walking into the theatre in the middle of the metaphorical movie. You'll never catch up with the story, much less the subtleties. How can you make good decisions about digital media that way? The answer is, you can't.
But where do we find the time to filter out the valuable social media endeavors from the less productive ones? Find that time - because as co-podcaster Jerry Harkins points out, people filter out conventional marketing messages without even realizing the are doing so. People are likelier to trust peers over authority - a finding Interface Guru first realized during a usability test for Clickability in San Francisco in 2001 - and your conventional marketing message may be pointless in 2010. Harkins directs listeners to The Purple Goldfish Project - a great resource on how businesses (and people) can - literally - blow people away with a gesture of respect and service. When you see the examples, you realize the winning companies' strategies are less about what they spend, and more about the core values they hold dear. What can you learn about your own brand that's worth sharing with the world via social media?
You can't have a robber-baron culture and a collaborative social media strategy. One of the two will lose.
As with all digital media, it depends on your users and your business. Some truisms are helpful; we know that bands prosper on MySpace, and charitable causes flourish on Facebook. But in our view, the key to social media is culture. Are you willing to be what Schmidt calls a "good social media citizen"? Are you willing to help people solve problems even when the dollar is not immediately attached? Or are you only willing to invest time in exchange for dollars?
The greatest challenge for conventionally structured organizations is to become those "good social media citizens" when lack of transparency and buyer-beware have been the standard marching orders - until the emperor-has-no-clothes power of the Web came along.
The selection of social media most valuable to your business is a tactic. The strategy: Support a corporate culture whose values are revealed by social media. Successful strategic values include collaboration, humility, helpfulness, expertise, hard work. Going the extra mile. You can't fake these values in social media. At least, not for long.
You should never ignore a technology because you don't know what it is. In our practice, we frequently encounter Web teams that don't use the very technologies about which they are expected to make decisions. "You have to try it to understand it," says Schmidt, the principal of Anchor Wave, and there we agree wholeheartedly. Kudos to managers who understand they may have to rock the boat by introducing - dare we say it - meritocracy. Who are willing to experiment. Who understand that workers must demonstrate interest AND capability. In some organizations, where seniority and longevity rule, this is a tough battle. But it must be fought, and it must be won.
Those who hold back until someone else figures it out (a philosophy proudly stated to me by the principal of a New York "digital design agency" a couple of years ago) are simply walking into the theatre in the middle of the metaphorical movie. You'll never catch up with the story, much less the subtleties. How can you make good decisions about digital media that way? The answer is, you can't.
But where do we find the time to filter out the valuable social media endeavors from the less productive ones? Find that time - because as co-podcaster Jerry Harkins points out, people filter out conventional marketing messages without even realizing the are doing so. People are likelier to trust peers over authority - a finding Interface Guru first realized during a usability test for Clickability in San Francisco in 2001 - and your conventional marketing message may be pointless in 2010. Harkins directs listeners to The Purple Goldfish Project - a great resource on how businesses (and people) can - literally - blow people away with a gesture of respect and service. When you see the examples, you realize the winning companies' strategies are less about what they spend, and more about the core values they hold dear. What can you learn about your own brand that's worth sharing with the world via social media?
You can't have a robber-baron culture and a collaborative social media strategy. One of the two will lose.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Shiny New Toy Syndrome: Crippling your Web presence?
Is your Web presence hobbled by Shiny New Toy Syndrome?
Used to be that the CEO was most prone to Shiny New Toy Syndrome. (Actual quote from a major media boardroom: "ESPN's doing it... it must be working for them... why can't do that too?"). We tech types breathed a sigh of relief when Chief Technology Officers became commonplace, since the CTO is supposed to disabuse the CEO of the dancing sugarplums that usually surround Shiny New Toy.
Turns out CTOs are just as - if not more - susceptible to Shiny New Toy Syndrome (SNTS). Especially when pushed in a flashy new demo from an 800-pound-gorilla vendor. Why does this happen?
Vendor schmoozing aside, this happens because the company has not established requirements. Sure, the toy is shiny, but: Does it meet your requirements? Does it duplicate the functionality of an existing, better-developed tool? Will it create ROI, or will it add a maintenance burden that you didn't plan to meet? Or is this yet another instance of the technologist's worst nightmare: Wishful thinking?
Major American businesses, associations, and scientific projects are losing time, money, and opportunity to SNTS. We see it on far too many projects. The cure: The creation of objective requirements - based on a coherent Web strategy - that set a standard for selection and implementation of technologies.
Play is clearly more fun than work. But CTOs are paid big salaries to make responsible decisions that affect the livelihoods of hundreds of people - not to mention the company's brand.
Toys are for kids.
Used to be that the CEO was most prone to Shiny New Toy Syndrome. (Actual quote from a major media boardroom: "ESPN's doing it... it must be working for them... why can't do that too?"). We tech types breathed a sigh of relief when Chief Technology Officers became commonplace, since the CTO is supposed to disabuse the CEO of the dancing sugarplums that usually surround Shiny New Toy.
Turns out CTOs are just as - if not more - susceptible to Shiny New Toy Syndrome (SNTS). Especially when pushed in a flashy new demo from an 800-pound-gorilla vendor. Why does this happen?
Vendor schmoozing aside, this happens because the company has not established requirements. Sure, the toy is shiny, but: Does it meet your requirements? Does it duplicate the functionality of an existing, better-developed tool? Will it create ROI, or will it add a maintenance burden that you didn't plan to meet? Or is this yet another instance of the technologist's worst nightmare: Wishful thinking?
Major American businesses, associations, and scientific projects are losing time, money, and opportunity to SNTS. We see it on far too many projects. The cure: The creation of objective requirements - based on a coherent Web strategy - that set a standard for selection and implementation of technologies.
Play is clearly more fun than work. But CTOs are paid big salaries to make responsible decisions that affect the livelihoods of hundreds of people - not to mention the company's brand.
Toys are for kids.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Privacy policies: Impacting conversion and online sales?
The last few years have yielded discussions of the role of text in interface, or text as interface. Stepping away from conventional interface design for a moment, we applied the principle of text as interface to an evaluation of the privacy policies on Amazon.com and Yahoo.com.
While both companies state that your information is shared with third parties and trusted partners, only Amazon lists names, which include:
Google's announcement today of Google Dashboard is a start in creating greater transparency. It allows you to view and manage information that Google is currently capturing. For example, you can view privacy policies and manage setting for all your Google accounts such as Blogger, GMail and Chat, view which of your data is private and which is visible to others, and remove items from your Web history.
We at Interface Guru encourage you to make use of tools and services that openly declare their usage of your personal data. Facebook's lack of transparency has been a recent hot topic - and rightfully so. Stand up for your digital rights!
What did we find?
We learned that Amazon's privacy policy is highly specific about the type of information it harvests about its users, whereas Yahoo glosses over much of the same information. The end result is the appearance of a lack of transparency on the part of Yahoo, compared to Amazon's extremely specific and open policy statement.
Why does this matter?
Our usability studies have shown that privacy policies and clarity of how well they're stated directly impacts a user's likelihood to complete an interaction. Amazon and Yahoo both admit to collecting the following information:
- Email address
- Login, name and password
- Cookie information
- Address
- Occupation
- Social Security number
- Personal descriptions/interests
- Software and hardware attributes
- IP address
What else is collected?
Yahoo remains vague, whereas Amazon specifies that the following information is collected and why:
- Computer and connection information such as browser type, version, and time zone setting
- Browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, and platform
- The full Uniform Resource Locator (URL) clickstream to, through, and from our Web site, including date and time
- Content of reviews and e-mails to us
- The phone number you used to call our 800 number
While both companies state that your information is shared with third parties and trusted partners, only Amazon lists names, which include:
- Target
- CD Now
- Verizon Wireless
- Sprint
- AT&T
Google's announcement today of Google Dashboard is a start in creating greater transparency. It allows you to view and manage information that Google is currently capturing. For example, you can view privacy policies and manage setting for all your Google accounts such as Blogger, GMail and Chat, view which of your data is private and which is visible to others, and remove items from your Web history.We at Interface Guru encourage you to make use of tools and services that openly declare their usage of your personal data. Facebook's lack of transparency has been a recent hot topic - and rightfully so. Stand up for your digital rights!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Are publishers killing Web advertising? Yes!
Are publishers killing Web advertising? We think so. Check out this piece on how publishers are killing Web advertising by Jim Spanfeller, the outgoing president and CEO of Forbes.com
. Spanfeller argues that the industry is devaluing its own online ad presence, and we agree. "A publisher can and should price their inventory at levels that will meet the market expectations and drive their business model. What they should not do is allow some sort of invisible hand (or should I say hands) to price their inventory against a backdrop of objectives that can and often does change at a moment’s notice. This practice has fundamentally driven pricing down across the web and, perhaps more importantly, changed the success metrics from ones based on 'demand creation' to ones driven by 'demand fulfillment.' " Amen! This is what happens when you don't have a Web strategy, which means you have no ad strategy. We see this disastrous trend in too many places. How is your company addressing this issue?
. Spanfeller argues that the industry is devaluing its own online ad presence, and we agree. "A publisher can and should price their inventory at levels that will meet the market expectations and drive their business model. What they should not do is allow some sort of invisible hand (or should I say hands) to price their inventory against a backdrop of objectives that can and often does change at a moment’s notice. This practice has fundamentally driven pricing down across the web and, perhaps more importantly, changed the success metrics from ones based on 'demand creation' to ones driven by 'demand fulfillment.' " Amen! This is what happens when you don't have a Web strategy, which means you have no ad strategy. We see this disastrous trend in too many places. How is your company addressing this issue?
Monday, August 31, 2009
Our Web Strategy poll on LinkedIn
Do you have a Web strategy, or is the sheer existence of your Web site the strategy? Please take our brief LinkedIn poll and tell us where your company or organization stands on this crucial topic. If you're not a member of LinkedIn, you should be!
Attention to detail - careful with the clip art
This URL for a goth dating service was being passed around the office not long ago. I shall refrain from expounding further on who among us has the goth-iest tendencies but let's just say that black clothing, Neil Gaiman, and Smeggs are not unknown to most of us.
The first thing I thought when I looked at the home page was "Hm. This font seems suspiciously... corporate for being the '#1 alternative dating community on the net'." And while the word "goth" was sprinkled liberally throughout the content something just didn't seem authentic. I decided to find out more about the people behind GothScene.com who profess such dedication to bringing together single goth members of the gothic lifestyle scene. It wasn't easy. I couldn't find any "About Us" page and the FAQ focused just on technical and payment questions. The lack of identifying info fueled my suspicions that these goths were just skin deep. I continued searching for company info, clicking through various links and wondering how the division was made between "goth chicks" and "goth babes".
My suspicions were rewarded when a pop-up window appeared, asking if I'd like to chat live with a customer service representative about GothScene. Attention to detail had failed here - the pictured representative was a smiling, tanned blonde in a blue polo shirt.
Aha, in the privacy policy I found IP DatingMedia LTD is the owner and operator of this site. Further whois research led me to the parent company's site. Lo and behold, the very same headset-wearing lady is smiling at me from the front page! As I suspected, GothScene is just one of many "Premium Niche Related Sites". Not that there's anything wrong with that.
But when you're positioning yourself as the premium site for a selected niche that prides itself on individuality and being different, it's attention to detail that can make or break you.
We have a Web site, and that's our strategy
Why do US companies waste millions of dollars every year on Web projects that never had a strategy to begin with?
I'm writing this while flying Chicago to Dallas on a Southwest 737. Everything around me has been designed and tested to meet the needs of humans in flight: The cabin, the lighting, the tray tables, the seats, the doors. The cockpit instruments meet the critical needs of the pilots. The soft-drink glasses stand securely and don't leak. Why do we fail to bring this sort of thinking to the Web?
Many of our potential clients come to us saying there's no time of budget for strategy and planning. Please take note: You *must* make time to plan Web presence. If you do not, the end product, and your brand, will suffer. At best, you will miss opportunities.
Our process for Web strategy is simple in concept, difficult in execution: Get all the stakeholders in a room, and get them to consensus. You may (and should) cringe at the thought of doing this at your company. But it must be done. That's why companies hire people like us - to take the sting out of hard questions, while ensuring we get to an answer.
If your company has not developed a defined Web strategy based on business goals, it's not getting the most from digital media. We guarantee that.
I'm writing this while flying Chicago to Dallas on a Southwest 737. Everything around me has been designed and tested to meet the needs of humans in flight: The cabin, the lighting, the tray tables, the seats, the doors. The cockpit instruments meet the critical needs of the pilots. The soft-drink glasses stand securely and don't leak. Why do we fail to bring this sort of thinking to the Web?
Many of our potential clients come to us saying there's no time of budget for strategy and planning. Please take note: You *must* make time to plan Web presence. If you do not, the end product, and your brand, will suffer. At best, you will miss opportunities.
Our process for Web strategy is simple in concept, difficult in execution: Get all the stakeholders in a room, and get them to consensus. You may (and should) cringe at the thought of doing this at your company. But it must be done. That's why companies hire people like us - to take the sting out of hard questions, while ensuring we get to an answer.
If your company has not developed a defined Web strategy based on business goals, it's not getting the most from digital media. We guarantee that.
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