See Change Happen

Form following (online) function

The redesign of Business Week is great, with the exception of the cover, which seems really bland compared to the rest. But, what's most interesting about the new look is how elements of the design seem to mimic what is happening with online design and makes me wonder whether we have reached the point where digital is informing print?

Hanging around with the User Experience team at work has taught me to recognize some of the patterns of online consumption: it's rarely linear and a very common behavior is called "digital snacking" - jumping around between short pieces of content, visuals and sites, aggregating the information as you go.

The redesign of Business Week, whether intentional or not, feels designed for this kind of "snacking." The editorial is frequently broken up by boxes with statistics, graphs or other bits of information that inform the story. As I read, my eye jumps around the page, synthesizing the different elements without even realizing I'm doing it.

Web specific language is also used - the boxes of content at the bottom of some stories are called "links"  which is funny considering they don't actually link anywhere.

The "end of print" seems closer than ever but for now, I'm happy to have this new, very user friendly version of Business Week to enjoy on the train.

Where have all the domain names gone?

I've been doing some consulting work for startups, helping them to figure out branding strategies, and am regularly running into a pretty interesting predicament: naming.

Many startups complain about the lack of new domain names. The one word names were gone long ago. The trends such as putting a color in front of your name, RedEnvelope, or a number, 43things, or beginning with an "e" or "i" is even more passe. Misspellings are now common, Flickr being the most obvious example, as are multiple word domains like mybloglog. Some companies even combine a bunch of different trends into one name: del.icio.us.

I had some conversations with the founders of Xoopit (pronounced zoopit) about the naming process. Can you expect a consumer to remember that "x" is pronounced like "z" or create buzz around a word that has never been heard before? Probably.

Because technology and the way we consume is changing every day. We are constantly inventing new words to describe things that didn't previously exist or are of particular relevance, like meme or wiki or even MILF. And it is amazing how quickly these invented words embed themselves in our cultural lexicon and become legitimate tools of expression.

The biggest thing with a name is, it's permanent. Avoid anything too complicated or too long and if the name is slightly confusing, well, then you've probably figured out an angle for your first marketing campaign.

 

Fuzzwich is cool

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to attend the D-Day event for Paul Graham's YCombinator . If you haven't heard of it, YCombinator is an amazing program that provides seed funding for startups. It's absolutely incredible what can be built by small groups of entrepreneurs over a 3-month period. Which definitely led to some thoughts about my own efficiencies...

But anyway, I was introduced to many great ideas but one I particularly loved was a company called Fuzzwich. It's a really simple application that allows users to make "minivids," a short, animated video created by choosing from a variety of pre-loaded backgrounds, characters and music.

The user creates a custom animated short by picking characters, determining where the way the characters move within the scene and adding text bubbles. It's incredibly easy to create and share a minivid and I think Fuzzwich is a perfect example of an app that requires minimal time investment yet provides very entertaining results.

What is also cool is that there are a couple of ways Fuzzwich can monetize their business model. Most obviously, by partnering with brands and creating product placements within the videos. But another more interesting thought would be to partner with advertising agencies so they can create content together. The result could be a very interactive and entertaining viral media idea.

Click on the image to see the custom minivid these guys made for me. Awesome.