Within a week, all Slack users will have threaded messaging, an improvement designed to reduce the noise of the non-hierarchical discussions. And they spent a lot of time getting the feature design just right. Only ~3% of apps still have active users 30 days after download. Brian Solis lists 25 ways micro-moments can lead to more useful …
Friday 5 — 12.23.2016
Do you have 49 other people you’d like to video chat with over the holidays? Facebook Messenger can help you out, with up to six people streamed simultaneously, and up to 50 in a carousel-style display. Remember the good old days when digital experience meant only an html webpage? Scott Brinker explains how digital proliferation — from …
Friday 5 — 11.18.2016
A Steam account and an HTC Vive headset will get you free access to Google Earth in virtual reality. Try out the experience on your laptop with locations like the Hoover Dam and Hong Kong Stadium at Google Earth VR. As someone who has stayed up far too late writing marketing copy for an app release, I’ll vouch for …
Friday 5 — 8.19.2016
Google Duo, a clean, simple mobile video calling (and soon, audio calling) app launched this week to take on Facetime. The jury is still out whether its simplicity will carry the day, or it will become the latest failed Google social tool (Buzz, Wave, Plus). Here’s a UX secret that will ruin apps for you: artificial …
Friday 5 — 5.20.2016
Bots won’t replace apps, better apps will. Read the entire post for insights on the limitations of the conversational user interface, including too many taps and lingering skeuomorphism in chat interaction design. 85% of Facebook video is watched without sound, which is why you’ll find savvy organizations posting videos like this, this, or this — all tell a compelling story with the audio …
Friday 5 — 4.8.2016
Live video is becoming more popular from breaking news coverage to ordinary, slice-of-life broadcasts. Try this new Facebook Live map to see real-time videos now playing worldwide. Reddit has launched its first official apps for iOS and Android. Popular subreddit communities like /r/science already drive a fair amount of traffic to news and edu sites; reliable native mobile apps …
Friday 5 — 10.24.2014
Analytics firm Chartbeat has opened up its measurement methodology, limitations and all. By exposing their thinking and technology, they give the service’s users better insight into their reports — and simultaneously ramp up the pressure on the competition to go transparent. Now that we’ve all given up on comments, annotation is on the rise. The Genius …
Friday 5 — 10.10.2014
Google has enhanced its search results with an “In the News” box. These results include blogs and other content sites that are not traditionally indexed as news. This would explain the travesty above, where a Chelsea blog is listed related to a search for Arsenal F.C. Here’s a thoughtful recap and lessons learned from the NYTNow …
Friday 5 — 9.26.2014
Even with the meteoric rise of social media, search remains a significant driver of traffic for most sites. Google released a helpful, scrolling infographic reviewing the basics of how search works. Visual social network Pinterest is a treasure trove for publishers. Not only a resource for trendspotting, Pinterest can in some cases drive more referral traffic …
Friday 5 — 9.5.2014
Wondering why your iPhone app was rejected from the app store? Apple has revealed the top 10 reasons that submitted apps don’t make the cut. Placeholder copy is among the offenders, which provides good fodder for longtime foes of Lorem Ipsum. A common first step toward finding out what your website users value is to …