Category Archives: Design

Abridged with the author’s permission from The Search Agents. First, let’s consider some stats about the mobile consumer: Mobile search queries have grown 5X in the past two years. (Source: Google, 2012) 95% of smartphone users have looked for local information and 61% call a business after searching. (Source: Google, 2011) 74% of smartphone shoppers [...]

Reprinted with the author’s permission from AttentionMax. This week AOL appointed former NBC Universal exec Chris Grosso to the newly created post of “general manager of the Homepage.” I was intrigued by this announcement. Not because of AOL’s decision to appoint Grosso, but because his title underscores the respect and authority that any homepage deserves. [...]

Reprinted with the author’s permission from The Tendo View. For many people, the most fun part of creating a website or publication is the visual design aspect. I know it is for me. It’s what I call “fun” creativity (as opposed to “not so fun” creativity, such as trying to transform a product data sheet into an interesting and [...]

Let Infographics Help You Make Your Point Instantly Reprinted with the author’s permission from Content Marketing Today. Here’s a great example of an effective infographic that illustrates social media behavior by age group, based on a Forrester Research study.  With few words and relevant graphics, it enables us to absorb lots of information in a [...]

Reprinted with the authors’ permission from Web Analytics World. The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics by Dona Wong is an essential read for anyone given the task of communicating information and data. The book is straightforward and reads like a style guide, primarily using visual examples over text. Using side-by-side comparisons of what [...]

Abridged with the author’s permission from The Tendo View. Design geeks across the Web were buzzing last month in response to the announcement that Edward Tufte, a statistician and professor emeritus at Yale University, was appointed by President Obama to the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel. The move was seen by many as a much-needed boost [...]

In his latest Alertbox, usability expert Jakob Nielson focuses on what he calls “one of the oldest principles of human-computer interaction,” namely, that users treat things grouped close together on the screen as related. The converse is also true: they treat things left far apart as unrelated, and can therefore easily miss a button or [...]

Abridged with the author’s permission from Pro Copy Tips. A lot of copywriters think that “copy is king.” And that’s true. Sort of. It’s true if you mean that the message is what matters. And it’s true that, as a copywriter, you are the one primarily responsible for writing the words that deliver that message. [...]

This two-part post originally ran as one, in slightly longer form, on The Content Wrangler. For part 1, click here . Abridged with the author’s permission. Comics can make you laugh, cry, gasp in wonder, or shake in terror, and they can also make great instruction manuals, training aids, white papers, or any other type [...]

This two-part post originally ran as one, in slightly longer form, on The Content Wrangler. Abridged with the author’s permission. When I utter the word ‘comics’ most people immediately think of spandex-clad superheroes, talking animals or a gang of perennial teenagers who never seem to graduate high-school. There is a common misconception that comics are [...]