Three Simple Words: Ease, Of, Use

On a daily basis clients ask, “How can I get more people to use my website?”. On an hourly basis I find myself asking, “Okay, now where do I find the info I need?”. The Internet has become the go-to source to get our questions answered quickly, but there is still a real breakdown between the media and the user. Search engine optimization has become so important to companies on the web that they are cluttering their sites with jargon-laden copy in an effort to jump up the rankings, often overlooking the one thing that will keep people coming back: customer service.  Now I’m not referring to the ability to return a faulty screwdriver without a receipt, but rather referring to the experience a user has upon arriving at the site. The keystone: ease of use.

Okay, so this topic has the potential to become a lengthy post, and/or debate, so I’m going to keep this brief and use one example for now: skype.com .

Skype is one of the simpler, most user-friendly websites I have seen in quite a while. Personally, I don’t need to know how they got started or the technology behind their service. My main goals in coming to the site are: 1. download the service and 2. find information on using the service. Right away, I see a button to download and a navigation tab that will take me to another page about using the service. In addition, there’s even a little blurb about what Skype is, a true revelation (sarcasm). Please notice, there are not endless paragraphs about voice-over IP service, or VOIP applications that contain repeated catch phrases just in the hope that a random international college student or a small global business will search Google for ‘United States voice over internet phone service’.

Don’t get me wrong, search optimization can be vital to the success of your business but what use is search optimization if the user never gets past the first page of your site? At blueye, we put a lot of thought into the designs that we present to clients. We want our clients to not only be happy with the look and feel of the site, but we want them to be happy with the results once the site goes live. As a designer, the biggest compliment a client can give me is telling me that they are making sales and that clients and customers are telling them how easy their site is to use.

Remember, simple can be a really good thing. History speaks for itself: the tuxedo, chocolate ice cream, the bicycle – all simple products, with plenty of users worldwide.

Louie the squirrel’s rescue

We had a very interesting day here at Blueye yesterday; as Shannon, president and founder, arrived at the office she found an injured squirrel lying on the pavement. She immediately came inside and began looking for someone to call to come rescue this helpless little fellow. However, everywhere she called kept telling her that they could only help domestic animals and that if we were in a more rural area they could help the squirrel. When hope was almost lost she stumbled upon the Animal Welfare League; this organization was more than happy to assist Shannon in her squirrel rescue mission.

The Animal Welfare League was founded in 1935 to stop the suffering of animals in the Chicagoland area. Their founding shelter was established at 6224 South Wabash Avenue and still exists today. They aim to provide quality services for their neighborhood patrons at a low cost, while simultaneously providing care to homeless animals. Since their conception they have opened two additional locations and continue to care for helpless animals and help them find good owners that will care for them.

By the end of the day everything was back to business as usual; the squirrel was being cared for, Shannon felt at peace with her decision and Animal Welfare League saved another animal’s life. If you would like more information about this organization you can visit www.animalwelfareleague.com and maybe you too can save an animal’s life.

Footnote

Since this blog was written we have received notification from the Animal Welfare League that after the fully examined Louie the squirrel they discovered he could not be fully stabilized or saved and had to humanely put him to sleep.

Does social media equal a boost in profits?

Over the past year social media has become a huge fixture in World culture. People are constantly signing up and getting involved in this ever-growing world community. Some individuals join these social sites to reconnect with old friends, while others join because they want to find others in their areas of interest. Finally, corporations join these networks because they want to increase their clientele and find out what people are saying about their product.

However, there is a large benefit that comes along with the latter reason for joining social media networks and that is profit gain. A recent study done by Wetpaint and Altimeter Group showed that those corporations that are heavily involved in social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, wikis and forums are experiencing an increase in profits. Likewise, it was found, “Those brands that were the most engaged saw their revenue grow over the past year by 18% while the least engaged brands saw loses of negative 6%.”

In order to organize this study, those conducting it divided each of the top 100 companies from the 2008 Business Week/Interbrand Best Global Brands survey into four profile groups; “Mavens,” “Butterflies,” “Selectives” and “Wallflowers. The Mavens are those brands who are deeply engaged in seven or more social media sites. The Butterflies are characterized by being “wannabe Mavens” they have seven or more social media profiles, but are not as engaged in each one equally. The Selectives focus on fewer sites then the Mavens and the Butterflies,

no more t

han 6, but deeply engage their clients in conversation. Lastly, the Wallflowers are brands that are on 6 or fewer sites, but are not truly engaged in any of them.

Even though we cannot directly correlate the increase in corporations’ profits to their social media interaction we can display the growing trends

we see in these brands’ profits. After seeing these statistics and knowing that social media involvement has more than doubled since 2007 let Always Be Social lead you into the new era of marketing and get you involved in your clients conversation.

Human Interaction is Important Too

Last night my friends and I were discussing how technologically dependent people are today and how impersonal our society has begun. We then went on to discuss the two main reasons people are, in many ways, permanently attached to their electronic devices.

The first reason we pinpointed was convenience; technology makes everything so much easier. You can pay your bills, catch up with an old friend and conduct business via the Internet with the press of a button. People in this day and age, myself included, are all about instant gratification, the faster, the better.

The second reason we discussed was the fact that everyone else was doing it. If everyone you are talking to is always online and you know the only sure way you can reach them is via email, Facebook or Twitter then you too will be drawn into this society.

Now don’t get us wrong we are by no means about to make our Twitter, Facebook or email accounts inactive, but we are going to attempt to spend a little more time interacting with people in real life as

well as online. I’m sure we would all hate to become completely disconnected from our friends and family and only interact with a machine for the rest of our lives. Certain things such as viewing the longest solar eclipse or choosing a college to attend should be done in real life not via technology.

However, as stated earlier, I am by no means saying I am going to put my MacBook in the drawer or throw my Blackberry in the ocean, but maybe every once in awhile it wouldn’t hurt to put down technology and spend time with the people in your life that make it worth while.

Internet Explore 6 is stifling our growth

Over the past decade technology and the Internet have advanced greatly, but there is one thing that everyone across the web development and technology industry feel is stifling our growth, Internet Explore 6 (IE6). The technology and sophistication of this web browser has been far surpassed by browsers such as Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Internet Explore 8, yet people still have the desire to use IE6.

There are several disadvantages to this browser, however a few of the main issues with IE6 is that web developers and designers have to practically hack up their websites just so they can load in IE6. Likewise, .png images don’t display correctly in IE6, which takes away from the creativity of developers and designers.

Another liability of IE6 is that by not upgrading your Internet browser you leave yourself vulnerable to virus attacks. Furthermore, the majority of social media networks such as Digg and Youtube have stated that they will be cutting back on IE6 support and Facebook already suggest that their users upgrade internet browsers before starting their activities on the site.

Yet, despite all of these facts people still use IE6; however with the introduction of HTML 5 this Internet browser will ultimately become obsolete. We have justified using IE6 for years, but with the new capabilities of HTML 5 it will no longer be a logical or feasible use of Internet space in the years to come.

Social Media is replacing mainstream news sources

Throughout his life Michael Jackson has always been the target for much media attention and thus it should be no surprise that his death would be the same. Over the past few weeks we have been bombarded with an abundance of information about the life and untimely demise of Michael Jackson.

Yet, unlike in his youth not only did Jackson have mainstream media conveying their feelings about the situation, but he also had online source discussing the event as well. The day of his memorial services 500,000 Facebook users changed their statues to mirror the events that were occurring during the ceremony. Likewise, from the moment it was announced that Michael Jackson had died of a heart attack people were twittering about it, changing their Facebook statuses and writing blogs about how devastated they were about Jackson’s death.

However, in times such as these we must wonder where our world is headed. Twitter, Facebook and other social media avenues are becoming extremely viable in providing their users with constant up to date and accurate news information. What we must begin asking ourselves is whether or not mainstream news and broadcasting will be necessary anymore i

n a few years or will we simply use social media to receive all our world news and upcoming events.

Bella Baby Photography

Blueye Creative has recently finished the redesign of Bella Baby Photography’s new website.

Bella Baby is a photography company that specializes in newborn photography. They feel as though babies look their best when they’re being held in their parents’ arms. This photography company has been deemed the new face of hospital baby portraits. They use freelance photographers, natural light and professional SLR digital cameras to capture the true essence of your newborn.

However, they are not completely confined to newborn portraits. They also have a section of their company that they refer to as Bella Life, which is geared toward capturing every other stage of a child or families’ life.

We created Bella Baby a cleaner and fresher site, while preserving the overall feel of the current site. The subtle changes we made stayed true to the professionalism of the current site but added a touch of modernism in the mix as well.

We also made the logo more prominent throughout the site to emphasize their branding. Along with this we strayed away from the initial design’s multi-color and pattern backgrounds. Originally we wanted to create two separate color schemes for Bella Baby and Bella Life, but ultimately we settled on adding a white background to both sights, which aids in the seamless transition from one site to the next. The white background also keeps the focus on the photography and shows it off more than in the previous sight.

If you would like more information on Bella Baby Photography or would like to see their new site you can visit. www.bellababyphotography.com

Mowalla Productions

Blueye Creative is pleased to introduce our newest clients, Mowalla Productions. Mowalla is a marketing production company that specializes in the creative production and management of music and entertainment event marketing programs,they coordinate event production and management and sponsor event development and execution. Mowalla also scouts and represents artists and provides non-profit services. To date Mowalla has represented artists such as Flaming Lips, The Roots, Flogging Molly, Jessica Simpson, Jimmy Buffet, Wynonna Judd, Kirk Franklin, Violent Femmes, Cold War Kids and Girl Talk.

Currently Blueye is doing a website re-design for Mowalla Productions which will entail designing an entirely new site layout and feel. We are attempting to provide Mowalla’s website the same energetic and inspiring aesthetic they provide each of their clients on a daily basis. We are using a three-color scheme pattern to provide a simplistic, yet lively and engaging website for their company. We are eagerly awaiting the completion of this project and hope everyone will visit the new site when it is up and running.

If you would like any additional information about Mowalla Production you can visit their current site http://www.mowalla.com.

Diva Tweet-up Recap

Blueye Creative would like to say thank you to every who came out to our very first tweet-up this past Monday. For those of you who have not heard, our “Diva Tweet-up” was a great success and we are extremely pleased with the turnout for the event.

For those of you who were not able to attend the tweet-up we will give you a brief recap. Blueye Corporation, Always Be Social, Maven, Where I’ve Been and Windy City Social co-hosted a “Diva Tweet-up” on Monday June 15^th from 5:30pm-7:30pm at District Bar, located at 170 W. Ontario in Chicago. Blueye was promoting its new service Always Be Social, which is geared toward social media marketing.

Always be Social would establish your company’s online persona by creating a customized Facebook and Twitter page for your business. Once this is established we would further research your product, find your audience, create and join conversations, which in turn will establish your following. Lastly, we would manage both of your pages and pass your message along as you focus on what you do best, your business!

Check out our Newest Social Butterfly, 800gooddog.com, a dog training company located at 1352 W. Lake, which you can follow on twitter, @800gooddog, or become a member of their fan page on Facebook.

Finally, because our tweet-up on Monday was such a success we are already planning another. You can find details on our upcoming tweet-up or any other information about Always Be Social by following us on twitter, @alwaysbesocial, joining our Facebook Fan page or by visiting us at www.alwaysbesocial.com

(Event photos to come)

Blueye Presents: Always Be Social