Author Archives: IDS

Password Overload and Security Fatigue

Computer security is a big problem, especially considering the race that’s on to move everything about our lives online. This includes medical records, police files, work documents, purchase receipts, our movements and preferences, what we read, TV viewing, and on and on. Much of this is supposed to be private information, only available via secure login. But the reality is that hackers seem to access our information with relative ease. In contrast, we, the users, have to manage and remember a boatload of passwords to use our own information. The need to track, manage, update and vigilantly watch over all our accounts has given rise to the latest tech disease, security fatigue.

Security fatigue is defined in the study as a weariness or reluctance to deal with computer security. … The multidisciplinary team learned that the majority of their average computer users felt overwhelmed and bombarded, and they got tired of being on constant alert, adopting safe behavior, and trying to understand the nuances of online security issues.

Is just the thought of creating yet another password stressing you out? Read the full article at http://bit.ly/2e2zw0Y

Snapchat Specs

Spectacles from Snapchat is new, wearable tech that looks cool, takes video, and may well stick. It may also inspire Google to do something with their shelved (for now) Glass product — an over-ambitious project that wasn’t well-received last year. But I hope not …

If the Spectacles unveiling was pure L.A. cool, it contrasted starkly with the Google Glass debut four years ago, which was pure Silicon Valley geek … Where Glass wanted to be important, Spectacle claims it just wants to have fun.

Details: https://spectacles.com

Article: http://nyti.ms/2ddhZxM

More: http://bit.ly/2dsf6NY

IBM Embraces Design, Puts Customers First

IBM has embraced design as a core value to the extent that they’re retraining the entire company to “think design” — an interesting transformation of corporate philosophy that puts customers first to create more value.

“Designers bring [an] intuitive sense … and understand the power of delivering a great experience and how to treat a user as if they were guests in their own home,” says Phil Gilbert, chief design evangelist. The design program allows the $143 billion company to be more strategic and shift away from the engineering-driven “features-first” ethos toward a more “user first” mentality. “It allows us to solve real problems for real people …”

It’s a massive effort that involves retraining the entire company and hiring reams of design talent to lead the “design first” initiative. But if you believe that companies that provide the best experience for customers will win, committing to a strategy like this could well pay off.

Read full article: http://bit.ly/2cinCfw

Facebook’s Newsfeed

Businesses have gone to great lengths to set up Facebook ‘pages’ and get ‘Likes’ to expose prospects and customers to their goods and services. Such is what marketing is all about. But understanding how to use these devices to get consistent results can be daunting. In this new realm of marketing, we have little control, or so it seems. The following article from TechCrunch illuminates the workings of Facebook’s Newsfeed — the stream of posts users see when they’re on the service.

Understanding how the Facebook algorithm handles content helps us produce more valuable posts, which will then be shown to the people we want to reach. The article also references a section that will be updated whenever they change the algorithm. The last few paragraphs provide simple guidelines for creating content that performs well and gains greater reach to help achieve business goals.

The best tactics for appearing prominently in the News Feed end up being quite straight-forward: share things that are interesting, authentic, and resonate with your audience. That typically means visually compelling media, funny or emotional content, and important news that’s fascinating to a wide audience … [People] just want to be stimulated. Do that, and Facebook will share what you have to say.

Read full article: http://tcrn.ch/2cfw5B3

Dark Patterns

Have you ever been victimized by deceptive marketing? Once someone has your credit card, there are many ways you can be tricked into agreeing to unwanted auto-shipments, subscriptions, additional purchases, and many other things — all to separate you from your money. These are behavioral hacks that typically depend on users not reading terms of service, overlooking pre-checked boxes on order forms, giving up on reaching customer service, or being forced to complete ridiculously long refund processes.

This also includes burdensome privacy settings, such as social media sites with important features that are difficult to find or use. Unfortunately, these tactics, known as “Dark Patterns,” are becoming standard practice in many businesses. This article provides insight to help consumers recognize these deceitful but common tricks: http://bit.ly/2aMIwSE

More on Dark Patterns

dark patterns are short-sighted, says Hoa Loranger, vice president of the prestigious UX consulting firm Nielsen Norman Group. “Any short-term gains a company gets from a dark pattern is lost in the long term,” she says.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3060553/why-dark-patterns-wont-go-away

Dark Patterns Website

A currated collection of dark pattern techniques discovered on real websites.
http://darkpatterns.org

NPR Axes User Comments, Shines Light on User Behavior

NPR’s axing of comments on its articles provides a few take-aways:

  • Readers are commenting on articles less and less and preferring to participate in discussions on social media more and more.
  • Commenters are becoming more vile and difficult to police.
  • Commenting systems are expensive to maintain, which becomes more of a problem with decreasing numbers.
  • The news world, and the web in general, continues to observe and adjust as people utilize technologies in new or unexpected ways.

As has been said, ‘there’s no there there,’ and this applies to the internet as well. There are few online absolutes. Behaviors, patterns, and standards are all subject to change in today’s high-speed tech society. That’s why modern business must be lean, agile, and quick to make changes.

Read full article: http://n.pr/2bzBC3n

Type, and Digital Design

Designing for digital requires efficiency, consistency, and clarity to make it easier for people to do things. Consider that digital interfaces need to work at the ‘speed of thought.’ That’s why people prefer clicking to scrolling. It’s also why movie cuts work since cuts mimic eye movements. Designers should create digital interfaces that allow people to glance, scan, feel for hierarchy, and find things in expected ways. It’s what we mean when we say a digital experience is ‘intuitive.’

Typography is a big part of visual communication. And an essential aspect of typography is ‘letter case,’ which uses capital and small letters to convey meaning. This article looks at Title Case vs. Sentence Case and provides some insights on the use of each.

Read full article: http://bit.ly/2aGLV4b

Graphic Design Insights

Graphic design. Almost everyone wants to do it. And with a laptop and a design program, almost anyone can. But is that good? The fact is, design is an integral part of nearly everything we do, from planning your day to hosting an event to writing software. Designers will tell you that design is about solving problems. Good design results from careful consideration of purposes, audiences, tools, and constraints.

Here’s a thoughtful interview with someone who’s designed hundreds of movie titles that provides insight and reveals some of the craft’s subtleties.

Full article with video: http://bit.ly/2aja4xn

Want Better Google Rankings? Make Your Site Faster

Website load time is part of Google’s criteria for ranking sites and one of the things within your control to help you gain visibility in search engines. A few others are responsive (mobile friendly) design, publishing ongoing, helpful content, and optimizing pages with the right keywords. Let’s look at some things you can do to speed up your site.

Read full article: http://bit.ly/29TPAzf