by Karl Sakas on December 12, 2011
by Karl Sakas on November 29, 2011
If you do online marketing, you should know Facebook just agreed to a 20-year Federal Trade Commission privacy settlement. The FTC found that Facebook made marketing promises the social network didn’t keep.
Working at a marketing agency that specializes in website usability, my favorite tidbit was in Mark Zuckerberg’s rebuttal blog post on November 29, 2011:
In the last 18 months alone, we’ve announced more than 20 new tools and resources designed to give you more control over your Facebook experience.
The Facebook CEO goes on to list some of the changes, like adding inline privacy controls to existing posts. Great, but if Facebook’s averages one new privacy-protection tool each month… how are users supposed to keep up the latest changes? That’s not good user experience.
I’m sure more than a few of Facebook’s 800 million users miss things along the way. Even if each new feature had a 90% adoption rate, only 12% of Facebook users would be using all 20 of those features. I’m sure the adoption rates are much lower — I can’t be the only person who hasn’t re-tagged all my friends to the Lists feature.
It’s disingenuous marketing for Facebook to tout that they’ve got a bunch of privacy features, when most people won’t actually use them. If I were to paraphrase Top Gun, “Mark Zuckerberg’s ego is writing checks his servers can’t cash.”
Marketers beware. I’m fascinated to see the FTC is requiring Facebook to get third-party audits for the next 20 years. Imagine that — Facebook will be guaranteeing its privacy practices to the government until 2031. Twenty years!
What do you think?
by Karl Sakas on November 22, 2011
Results of user testing, c. 1874
Before they started mass production, two early typewriter developers asked the era’s leading court reporter to test their new business machine. In 1869, James Clephane’s rigorous tests destroyed one expensive prototype after another.
Adding insult to injury, the stenographer attacked each iteration with his “caustic” feedback about their continued shortcomings — and the inventor took it personally:
Said [Christopher Sholes] to [business partner James] Densmore: “I am through with Clephane!”
Densmore’s comment was: “This candid fault-finding is just what we need. We had better have it now than after we begin manufacturing. Where Clephane points out a weak lever or rod, let us make it strong. Where a spacer or an inker works stiffly, let us make it work smoothly. Then, depend upon Clephane for all the praise we deserve.”
We still do that 140+ years later, except that web developers and pharmaceutical researchers now call it “fast-failure” — and user testing services from hesketh.com rarely involve typewriters.
What do you do to determine fast-failure on your projects?
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons public domain via Wikipedia
by Karl Sakas on October 31, 2011
I’m starting a new job on November 14, running interactive marketing projects at hesketh.com/inc. in Raleigh, NC. My last day at Coalmarch will be November 11.
Hesketh.com is one of the country’s oldest web design firms, founded in 1995. The user experience agency focuses on non-profits and social entrepreneurs, including clients like the Girl Scouts and Duke University. Happily, my new desk overlooks the CSX railyard next to the company’s office in the restored Pilot Mill complex.
I’ll miss my coworkers and clients at Coalmarch but I’m excited about the new opportunity to work with Heather Hesketh and her talented team.
If you’re interested in joining Coalmarch, keep an eye on the Coalmarch job board for an upcoming client service and project management posting — you’ll be working with a great team.
And if you’re looking for web design jobs in Raleigh, hesketh.com is now hiring for three positions, especially for candidates who have experience building websites using the open-source Drupal CMS: a Back-End Developer, a Front-End Developer, and an Interaction Designer (aka UX Designer or Information Architect).
Thank you to everyone who’s shared their advice and support!
by Karl Sakas on October 25, 2011
Screenshot of VisionAirlines.com (click for full-size)
When I speak with new clients at my web design and marketing agency, I’ll often provide feedback on how to improve their website. But most sites aren’t as eye-popping as VisionAirlines.com.
Background on Vision Airlines
Starting in November 2011, you can fly directly from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) to Freeport, Bahamas for under $200, including taxes. But you’ll have to start by using the eye-popping, poorly-designed VisionAirlines.com website.
Vision Airlines is a long-time charter operator that’s now offering regularly-scheduled flights. Since shifting from targeting just travel agents and trip organizers, I think they could use some help on their direct-to-consumer strategy.
VisionAirlines.com Review — The Good:
To be fair, the website has some positive qualities, based on my review in late October 2011:
