May 25, 2006

AJR: Newspapers adapting to Internet. Really.

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

Rachel Smolkin at American Journalism Review writes that newspaper leadership won't just roll over and die at the prospects of the Internet, including (a) being disintermediated, (b) being unbundled, (c) having prices destroyed or (d) any mix of a,... ›››

May 23, 2006

Two presentations at Poynter

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

I had the profound privilege of participating as visiting faculty at last week's Leadership for Online News Managers seminar at the Poynter Institute. Seminar participants already have the links to my two PowerPoint presentation decks, and I'm sure the... ›››

May 02, 2006

It’s a’hard, it’s a’hard, it’s a’haaaaard …

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

I'm planning to write an essay for this journal and the e-newsletter, and I need your help. Theme: [The Internet/The personal computer/Consumer technology in general] is still too hard to use. So do me a favor. E-mail me your... ›››

April 26, 2006

Publish ’til the cows come home, then what?

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

Vin Crosbie carries forward analysis by Prof. Robert G. Picard to a troubling conclusion: even with the fanciest of new media strategies in play, newspapers may be doing little more than buying time before death: Even if newspaper Web... ›››

April 24, 2006

MySpace design’s a page view farm

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

The Techdirt gang notes a problem with all those page views claimed by MySpace, the social network juggernaut. Many appear to be low-value by-products, whether on purpose or not, of the site's clunky user interface. Techdirt points to an... ›››

April 19, 2006

Sterling goes solo

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

Not sure how I missed this, but I found out today Greg Sterling left the Kelsey Group and has formed his own consulting enterprise, Sterling Market Intelligence. What's he covering? His new bio says he's "focused on online consumer... ›››

March 30, 2006

Porter to newspapers: (a) Get local! (b) Reinvent!

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

Tim Porter posted a copy of his excellent Nieman Reports essay, If Newspapers Are to Rise Again. Among many relevant points: Local is the franchise for newspapers. Local reporting, local photography, local commentary, local information, local interaction with the... ›››

March 07, 2006

Using interviews to refine usability testing

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

Jared Spool makes the case for using interview-based tasks to improve the likelihood of helpful results from Web site user tests. In interview-based tasks, the participants interested are discovered, not assigned. Unlike scavenger-hunt tasks, the test's facilitator and participant... ›››

Rapid Web prototyping using PowerPoint

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

Here's a cool idea from Jensen Harris for times you want to put Web product concepts in front of users in a more robust format than a piece of paper or static storyboard screen. Harris explains how to use... ›››

Category: Innovation | Technology | design | interactivity | usability

March 06, 2006

Growing pains of social media

- Small Initiatives - Sensible Internet Design

Two loosely related items: Mike Boland at The Kelsey Group blog brings up a BusinessWeek article that calls out the possibility of a 'social networking bubble': too many MySpace wannabes, too fickle a user base, too tough to control... ›››