Snapchat is targeting users over 35, but it’s not the most intuitive interface for people familiar with platforms like Facebook on a desktop. Now the service is making it easier for users to find one another with the ability to share your user name. Need more of a primer? The Wall Street Journal explains everything you ever …
Friday 5 — 1.22.2016
Messaging is the next big platform, and Facebook gets it. With 800 million Messenger users, Facebook is looking at the rise of messaging globally, and doubling down with new features. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is Google’s solution to slow-loading web pages on mobile devices. AMP goes live in a few weeks, and this post explains how publishers are coming …
Friday 5 — 1.15.2016
Mobile apps versus native web is a false dichotomy, per Luke Wroblewski. Brands need both: the former offers rich experiences, while the latter provides greater reach (including in-app browser views). We have a longstanding, love-hate relationship with email, where gratifying immediacy for the sender often means notification hell for the recipient. The Atlantic explains how we got here, why email …
Friday 5 — 12.11.2015
Uber expands into food delivery as a standalone app with the launch of UberEats. Debuting in Canada, the app will compete with existing services like Seamless and Postmates, and reflect Uber’s trademark simplicity by offering only five meal choices. You may have noticed a few changes this week to your social media feeds. Facebook now serves up relevant stories when …
Friday 5 — 12.4.2015
Nike shoes, Star Wars droids, and hoverboards were among the popular products shopped for on Black Friday. If you were shopping from the comfort of your couch, you were in good company: Smartphone sales nearly doubled year over year, from 9.1% to 15.2 %. Read the full report PDF, and ignore Wired’s snark that Cyber …
Friday 5 — 11.27.2015
It’s been an odd, three-day work week on the interwebs. We had the #SlackDown maelstrom with an impressive social media save, fake Don DeLillo joined Twitter to announce a fake death, and then a real Jeff Bezos joined Twitter to announce a real disposable rocket launch. Go figure. In more substantive news: WordPress has disrupted itself, according to founder Matt Mullenweg. …
Friday 5 — 11.20.2015
Google just made a big improvement to finding in-app content on mobile. On Android devices, Google will now launch the app if you have it installed, or stream the content to you if you don’t. This is an important step forward in a world where 50% of all online time — not just mobile time — is spent in-app. …
Friday 5 — 10.30.2015
In the early 90s, corporate marketing departments produced physical brand books, illustrating dos and don’ts for print, TV, signage, trade shows, etc. Fast forward a couple of decades, and the digital world requires a wide-ranging brand treatment that enables variations in volume, and concepts like stacking. See this gorgeous Netflix brand rollout for a best-in-class example. I’m a longtime …
Friday 5 — 10.16.2015
When you’re in love, you text daily. Or at least our teenagers do 72% of the time, compared with only 39% who talk on the phone daily. And when they break up? 43% untag or delete photos shared online. Read the full report on teens, technology, and romantic relationships. How do you manage product feedback in …
How Budweiser won the Nobel Prize in chemistry
It’s easy to spot the difference between an organization with digital DNA and an organization still making the transition. Here’s an example highlighting different approaches to breaking news. On Monday morning the Nobel Prize in chemistry was announced. The Wall Street Journal was pushing the story via multiple Twitter accounts. So I clicked on one …