Category: Blog

Humility, a writer’s necessary value—that has a good ring to it. What about sincerity, an business manager’s necessary value? Or a surgeon’s? Or a teacher’s? They all good wonderful. When humility is our guiding light, the course is usually available for fulfillment, development, relation, and commitment. In this section, we’re going to discuss about why.

That said, this is a guide for developers, and to that conclusion, I’d like to begin with a story—well, a voyage, actually. Along the way, I’m going to render myself a little vulnerable. I call it:

The Tale of Justin’s Preposterous Pate

When I was coming out of arts school, a long-haired, goateed novice, write was a known quantity to me, design on the web, however, was riddled with complexities to understand and learn, a problem to be solved. Though I had been fully trained in graphic design, font, and design, what fascinated me was how these classic skills may be applied to a budding online landscape. This style would eventually determine the direction of my job.

So I devoured HTML and JavaScript novels into the wee hours of the morning and self-taught myself how to code during my freshman year rather than student and go into print like many of my companions. I needed to understand the main ramifications of what my style choices may ultimately result in when rendered in a website.

The later ‘ 90s and early 2000s were the so-called” Wild West” of website design. The modern landscape was being studied by designers at the time as they attempted to incorporate design and visual communication. What were the laws? How may we break them and also engage, entertain, and present information? At a more micro level, how was my values, inclusive of modesty, admiration, and link, coincide in combination with that? I was eager to learn more.

Those are amazing factors between non-career relationships and the world of style, even though I’m talking about a different time. What are your main passions, or ideals, that elevate medium? The main themes are the same, basically the same as what we previously discussed on the primary parallels between what fulfills you, independent of the physical or digital realms.

First within tables, animated GIFs, Flash, then with Web Standards, divs, and CSS, there was personality, raw unbridled creativity, and unique means of presentment that often defied any semblance of a visible grid. Splash screens and “browser requirement” pages aplenty. Usability and accessibility were typically victims of such a creation, but such paramount facets of any digital design were largely (and, in hindsight, unfairly) disregarded at the expense of experimentation.

For example, this iteration of my personal portfolio site (” the pseudoroom” ) from that era was experimental, if not a bit heavy- handed, in the visual communication of the concept of a living sketchbook. Very skeuomorphic. This one involved sketching and then passing a Photoshop file back and forth to experiment with various user interactions with fellow designer and dear friend Marc Clancy, who is now a co-founder of the creative project organizing app Milanote. Then, I’d break it down and code it into a digital layout.

Along with design folio pieces, the site also offered free downloads for Mac OS customizations: desktop wallpapers that were effectively design experimentation, custom-designed typefaces, and desktop icons.

From around the same time, GUI Galaxy was a design, pixel art, and Mac-centric news portal some graphic designer friends and I conceived, designed, developed, and deployed.

Design news portals were incredibly popular during this period, featuring ( what would now be considered ) Tweet-size, small-format snippets of pertinent news from the categories I previously mentioned. If you took Twitter, curated it to a few categories, and wrapped it in a custom-branded experience, you’d have a design news portal from the late 90s / early 2000s.

We as designers had evolved and created a bandwidth-sensitive, web standards award-winning, much more accessibility-conscious website. Still ripe with experimentation, yet more mindful of equitable engagement. You can see a couple of content panes here, noting general news (tech, design ) and Mac-centric news below. We also provided many of the custom downloads I mentioned earlier as accessible on my folio site with a GUI Galaxy theme and branding.

The site’s backbone was a homegrown CMS, with the presentation layer consisting of global design + illustration + news author collaboration. And the collaboration effort here, in addition to experimentation on a’ brand’ and content delivery, was hitting my core. We were creating something bigger than just one of us and establishing a global audience.

Collaboration and connection transcend media in their impact, which have been extremely satisfying for me as a designer.

Now, why am I taking you on this trip through design memory lane? Two reasons.

First, there’s a reason for the nostalgia for that design era ( the” Wild West” era, as I called it earlier ): the inherent exploration, personality, and creativity that saturated many design portals and personal portfolio sites. Ultra-finely detailed pixel art UI, custom illustration, bespoke vector graphics, all underpinned by a strong design community.

Today’s web design has been in a period of stagnation. There’s a good chance you’ve seen a website with a hero image or banner with text overlay ( possibly with a lovely rotating carousel of images ), a call to action, and three columns of sub-content directly beneath. Perhaps an icon library is used with selections that only vaguely relate to their respective content is used.

Design, as it’s applied to the digital landscape, is in dire need of thoughtful layout, typography, and visual engagement that goes hand-in-hand with all the modern considerations we now know are paramount: usability. Accessibility. Load times and bandwidth- sensitive content delivery. A user-friendly presentation that connects with people wherever they are. We must be mindful of, and respectful toward, those concerns—but not at the expense of creativity of visual communication or via replicating cookie-cutter layouts.

Pixel Problems

Websites built during this time period were frequently built using Macs with OS and desktops that resembled this. This is Mac OS 7.5, but 8 and 9 weren’t that different.

Desktop icons fascinated me: how could any single one, at any given point, stand out to get my attention? In this example, the user’s desktop is tidy, but think of a more realistic example with icon pandemonium. Or, say an icon was part of a larger system grouping ( fonts, extensions, control panels ) —how did it also maintain cohesion amongst a group?

These were 32 x 32 pixel creations, utilizing a 256-color palette, designed pixel-by-pixel as mini mosaics. Under such absurd constraints, this seemed to me to be the embodiment of digital visual communication. And frequently, ridiculous restrictions lead to concept and theme purification.

So I began to research and do my homework. I was a student of this new medium, hungry to dissect, process, discover, and make it my own.

Expanding upon the notion of exploration, I wanted to see how I could push the limits of a 32×32 pixel grid with that 256-color palette. I found a clarity of concept and presentation incredibly appealing due to those ridiculous constraints. I was thrust into the digital gauntlet because of it. And so, in my dorm room into the wee hours of the morning, I toiled away, bringing conceptual sketches into mini mosaic fruition.

These are some of my creations that I made using ResEdit, the only program I had at the time, to create icons. ResEdit was a clumsy, built-in Mac OS utility that wasn’t really designed for what we were using it for. At the core of all of this work: Research. Challenge. Problem- solving. Again, these core connection-based values are agnostic of medium.

One more design portal that I want to mention also serves as the second reason for my story to connect this all.

This is K10k, short for Kaliber 1000. Michael Schmidt and Toke Nygaard founded K10k in 1998, which was the design news website during that time. With its pixel art-fueled presentation, ultra-focused care given to every facet and detail, and with many of the more influential designers of the time who were invited to be news authors on the site, well… it was the place to be, my friend. The concept of GUI Galaxy was inspired by what these people were doing, respect where respect is due.

For my part, the combination of my pixel art and web design work started to gain me some notoriety in the design world. K10k eventually figured out and added me as one of their very limited group of news writers to add content to the website.

Amongst my personal work and side projects —and now with this inclusion—in the design community, this put me on the map. My design work has also begun to appear on other design news portals, as well as in publications abroad and domestically as well as in various printed collections. With that degree of success while in my early twenties, something else happened:

I evolved—devolved, really—into a colossal asshole ( and in just about a year out of art school, no less ). What satisfied me was the praise and the press, which went on to completely alter my mind. They inflated my ego. I actually felt a little better than my fellow designers.

The casualties? My design stagnated. Its evolution—my evolution — stagnated.

I effectively stopped researching and discovering because I was so confident in my abilities. When my first instinct was to sketch concepts or iterate ideas in lead, I instead leaped right into Photoshop. I drew my inspiration from the tiniest of sources ( and with no discernible bias ). Any criticism of my work from my fellow students was frequently vehemently dissented. The most tragic loss: I had lost touch with my values.

My ego almost destroyed some of my friendships and blossoming professional relationships. I was toxic in talking about design and in collaboration. But thankfully, those same friends gave me a priceless gift: candor. They called me out on my unhealthy behavior.

Although it was something I initially rejected, I eventually had a chance to reflect on it in depth. I was soon able to accept, and process, and course correct. The realization laid me low, but the re-awakening was essential. I let go of the “reward” of admiration and focused instead on what ignited the fire in my art school. Most importantly: I got back to my core values.

Always Students

Following that short-term regression, I was able to push forward in my personal design and career. And I was able to reflect on myself as I grew to support further development and course correction as needed.

As an example, let’s talk about the Large Hadron Collider. The LHC was created” to assist in answering some of the fundamental open questions in physics, which concern the fundamental laws governing the interactions and forces between the elementary objects, the deep structure of space and time, and in particular the interrelation between general relativity and quantum mechanics.” Thanks, Wikipedia.

In one of my earlier professional roles, I created the interface for the application that produced the LHC’s particle collision diagrams about fifteen years ago. These diagrams are the depiction of what is actually happening inside the Collider during any given particle collision event and are frequently regarded as works of art by themselves.

I had a fascinating experience designing the interface for this application because I collaborated with Fermilab physicists to understand both how the application was intended to use it and how the physicists themselves would use it. To that end, in this role,

Working with the Fermilab team to iterate and make improvements to the interface, I cut my teeth on usability testing. To me, how they spoke and what they talked about was like an alien tongue. And by making myself humble and operating under the impression that I was just a student, I made myself available to them in order to form that crucial bond.

I also had my first ethnographic observational experience, where I observed how the physicists used the tool in their own environments, on their own terminals. One takeaway was that the data columns ended up using white text on a dark gray background rather than black text-on-white because of the level of ambient light-driven contrast in the facility. This made it easier for them to pore over a lot of data during the day and lessen their strain on their eyes. Additionally, since Fermilab and CERN are government entities with strict accessibility standards, my knowledge in that field increased. The barrier-free design was another essential form of connection.

So to those core drivers of my visual problem-solving soul and ultimate fulfillment: discovery, exposure to new media, observation, human connection, and evolution. Before I entered those values, I checked my ego before entering the door.

An evergreen willingness to listen, learn, understand, grow, evolve, and connect yields our best work. In particular, I want to focus on the words’ grow’ and ‘ evolve’ in that statement. If we are constantly improving our craft, we are also continuously making ourselves available for improvement. Yes, we have years of practical design experience under our belt. Or the focused lab training from a bootcamp for UX. Or the monogrammed portfolio of our work. Or, ultimately, decades of a career behind us.

But all that said: experience does not equal “expert”.

The designer we are is our final form as soon as we close our minds through an inner monologue of “knowing it all” or branding ourselves a” #thoughtleader” on social media. There will never be a designer like us.

As a UX skilled in today’s data-driven landscape, it’s extremely likely that you’ve been asked to design a personal digital experience, whether it’s a common website, user portal, or local application. Despite there still be a lot of advertising hype surrounding personalization platforms, there are still very some standardized methods for implementing personalized UX.

That’s where we come in. We set ourselves the challenge of developing a systematic personalization platform tailored to UX practitioners after finishing dozens of personalization tasks over the past few years. The Personalization Pyramid is a designer-centric model for standing up human-centered personalisation programs, spanning information, classification, content delivery, and general goals. By using this strategy, you will be able to understand the core components of a modern, UX-driven personalization system ( or at the very least understand enough to get started ).

Getting Started

For the sake of this article, we’ll suppose you’re already familiar with the basics of online personalization. A nice guide can be found these: Website Personalization Planning. Although Graphic tasks in this field can take a variety of forms, they frequently start from the same place.

Popular circumstances for launching a personalization project:

• Your business or client made a purchase to personalize their content management system ( CMS ), marketing automation platform ( MAP ), or other related technology.
• The CMO, CDO, or CIO has identified personalisation as a target
• User data is disjointed or confusing
• You are conducting some sporadic targeting or A/B assessment.
• On personalization method, partners disagree.
• Mandate of customer privacy rules ( e. g. GDPR ) requires revisiting existing user targeting practices

A powerful personalization plan will need the same fundamental building blocks regardless of where you begin. We’ve captured these as the “levels” on the tower. Whether you are a UX artist, scholar, or planner, understanding the core components may help make your contribution effective.

From top to bottom, the rates include:

North Star: What larger corporate goal is driving the personalization system?
1. Objectives: What are the specific, tangible benefits of the system?
2. Touchpoints: Where will the personalized experience become served?
3. Contexts and Campaigns: What personalization information does the person view?
4. User Divisions: What constitutes a special, suitable market?
5. Actionable Data: What trustworthy and credible information is collected by our specialized software to improve personalization?
6. Natural Data: What wider set of data is potentially available ( now in our environment ) allowing you to optimize?

We’ll go through each of these amounts sequentially. To make this more bearable, we created a deck of cards that accompany it to show specific instances from each stage. We’ve found them useful in brainstorming about customisation, so we’ll provide cases for you here.

Starting at the top

The tower has the following elements:

North Star

Ultimately, you want a North Star in your personalization plan, whether big or small. The North Star identifies the (one ) overall goal of the personalization program. What do you wish to perform? North Stars cast a ghost. The bigger the sun, the bigger the darkness. Example of North Starts may include:

Function: Personalize based on basic customer input. Examples:” Raw” messages, basic search effects, system user settings and settings options, general flexibility, basic improvements
1. Feature: Self-contained personalisation componentry. Examples:” Cooked” notifications, advanced optimizations ( geolocation ), basic dynamic messaging, customized modules, automations, recommenders
2. Experience: Personal user experiences across numerous interactions and consumer flows. Examples: Email campaigns, landing pages, advanced messaging ( i. e. C2C chat ) or conversational interfaces, larger user flows and content-intensive optimizations ( localization ).
3. Solution: Highly differentiating customized product experiences. Example: Standalone, branded encounters with personalization at their base, like the “algotorial” songs by Spotify quite as Discover Weekly.

Goals

As in any great UX style, personalization may help promote designing with client intentions. Objectives are the military and measurable indicators that will show the success of the overall program. Start with your existing analytics and calculation system, as well as indicators you can benchmark against. In some cases, fresh targets may be ideal. The most important thing to keep in mind is that personalisation is never a desired outcome. Popular targets include:

• Conversion
• Time on work
• Net promoter score ( NPS)
• Consumer pleasure

Touchpoints

Touchpoints are where personalisation takes place. As a UX artist, this will be one of your largest areas of responsibility. The touchpoints you have will depend on how your personalization and the related technologies are configured, and they should be based on enhancing a person’s encounter at a specific point in the journey. Touchpoints can be multi-device ( mobile, in-store, website ) but also more granular ( web banner, web pop-up etc. ). Here are some examples:

Channel-level Touchpoints

• Email: Role
• Email: Period of empty
• In-store display ( JSON endpoint )
• Native game
• Search

Wireframe-level Touchpoints

• Web overlay
• Web call club
• Web symbol
• Web content wall
• Web restaurant

If you’re designing for online interface, for instance, you will likely need to include personal “zones” in your wireframes. Based on our next action, settings, and campaigns, the articles for these can be presented dynamically in touchpoints.

Contexts and Campaigns

After you’ve outlined some touchpoints, you may consider the actual personal information a user may acquire. Many personalization tools will refer to these as” campaigns” ( so, for example, a campaign on a web banner for new visitors to the website ). These will be displayed automatically to specific customer sections, as defined by consumer data. At this stage, we find it helpful to contemplate two distinct concepts: a framework design and a willing design. The environment helps you consider whether a consumer is engaging with the personalization process at the moment, such as when they are simply browsing the web or engaging in a deep dive. Think of it in conditions of activities for data recovery. The content model can then guide you in deciding which personalization to use in terms of the context ( for instance, an” Enrich” campaign that features related articles might be a good substitute for extant content ).

Personalization Context Model:

1. Browse
2. Skim
3. Nudge
4. Feast

Personalization Content Model:

1. Alert
2. Create Easier
3. Cross-Sell
4. Enrich

If you’d like to learn more about each of these designs, check out Colin’s Personalization Content Model and Jeff’s Personalization Context Model.

User Divisions

User segments can be created based on user research, either prescriptively or adaptively ( e .g., through rules and logic tied to set user behaviors or through A/B testing ). You will need to think about how to treat the unidentified or first-time visitor, the guest or returning visitor for whom you may have a stateful cookie ( or an equivalent post-cookie identifier ), or the logged-in visitor who is authenticated. The personalisation tower has some of the following cases:

• Unknown
• Guest
• Authenticated
• Default
• Referred
• Role
• Cohort
• Unique ID

Actionable Data

Every business has access to data, regardless of its online existence. It’s important to inquire about how to use the data you can ethically collect on users, its inherent reliability and value, and how to use it ( sometimes referred to as “data activation” ). Fortunately, the tide is turning to first-party information: a recent study by Twilio estimates some 80 % of firms are using at least some type of first-party information to personalize the customer experience.

First-party information represents multiple benefits on the UX before, including being relatively simple to acquire, more likely to be accurate, and less susceptible to the” creep issue” of third-party information. Therefore, determining which method of data collection is best for your audiences should be a crucial component of your UX strategy. Here are some examples:

When it comes to recognizing and making decisions about various audiences and their signals, there is a trend of profiling. As user data volume and time and confidence increase, it varies more granularly to more precise constructs about ever-smaller cohorts of users.

Although some combination of implicit and explicit data is typically required for any implementation ( more commonly known as first party and third-party data ), ML efforts are typically not cost-effective right away. This is because optimization requires a strong content repository and data backbone. These approaches, however, should be taken into account as part of the overall plan and may in fact help to speed up the organization’s progress overall. You’ll typically work together to create a profiling model with key stakeholders and product owners. The profiling model includes a defined process for setting up profiles, profile keys, profile cards, and pattern cards. A multi-faceted approach to profiling which makes it scalable.

Pulling it Together

The cards serve as the foundation for an inventory of sorts ( we provide blanks for you to tailor your own ), a set of potential levers and motivations for the kind of personalization activities you aspire to deliver, but they are more valuable when grouped together.

One can begin to chart the entire course of a card’s “hand” from leadership focus to a tactical and tactical execution. It serves as the foundation for the workshops that both co-authors have conducted to build a program backlog, which would make a good article topic.

In the meantime, it is important to note that each colored class of cards is helpful in understanding the range of options that you might have, as well as making informed choices about who, where, when, and how, will be made these choices.

Lay Down Your Cards

Any sustainable personalization strategy must consider near, mid and long-term goals. There is simply no “easy button” where a personalization program can be stood up and immediately see meaningful results, even with the leading CMS platforms like Sitecore and Adobe or the most exciting composable CMS DXP out there. That said, there is a common grammar to all personalization activities, just like every sentence has nouns and verbs. These cards attempt to map that territory.

I am a artistic. What I do is alchemy. It is a secret. I prefer to let it be done through me rather than through me.

I am a artistic. Not all aspiring artists approve of this tag. Not all people see themselves in this manner. Some innovative people incorporate technology into their work. That is their reality, and I respect it. Sometimes I even envy them, a minor. But my approach is different—my becoming is unique.

Apologizing and qualifying in progress is a diversion. That’s what my head does to destroy me. I’ll leave it alone for today. I may come back later to make amends and define. After I’ve said what I originally said. Which is challenging enough.

Except when it flows like a beverage valley and is simple.

Sometimes it does. Maybe I have to create something right away. When I say something at that moment, I’ve learned not to say it because people often don’t work hard enough to acknowledge that the idea is the best idea even when you know it’s the best idea.

Sometimes I just keep working until the thought strikes me. It occasionally arrives right away, but I don’t remind people for three weeks. Maybe I get so excited about something that just happened that I blurt it out and didn’t stop myself. like a child who discovered a reward in a box of Cracker Jacks. I occasionally manage to get away with this. Maybe other people agree: yes, that is the best plan. Most times they don’t and I regret having given way to passion.

Passion should only be saved for the meet, when it matters. not the informal gathering that two different gatherings precede that appointment. Anyone knows why we have all these discussions. We keep saying we’re getting rid of them, but we keep discovering new ways to get them. They occasionally yet excel. But occasionally they detract from the actual job. The percentages between when conferences are important, and when they are a sad distraction, vary, depending on what you do and where you do it. And who you are and how you go about doing it. Once I digress. I am a innovative. That is the topic.

Often, a lot of diligent and individual work ends up with something that is barely useful. Often I have to accept that and move on to the next task.

Don’t question about approach. I am a innovative.

I am a artistic. I don’t handle my desires. And I don’t handle my best tips.

I can nail aside, surround myself with information or photos, and maybe that works. I can go for a walk, and occasionally that functions. There is a Eureka that has nothing to do with sizzling crude and flowing pots. I may be making dinner. I frequently have a plan for action when I wake up. The idea that may have saved me disappears almost as frequently as I become aware and a part of the world once more as a senseless wind of oblivion. For imagination, I believe, comes from that other planet. The one we enter in aspirations, and possibly, before conception and after death. But that’s for authors to know, and I am not a writer. I am a artistic. Theologians should circulate mass armies throughout their artistic globe, which they claim to be true. But that is another diversion. And a miserable one. Possibly on a much bigger issue than whether or not I am creative. But this is still a departure from what I said when I came around.

Often the process is mitigation. And hardship. You know the cliché about the tortured actor? It’s true, even when the artist ( and let’s put that noun in quotes ) is trying to write a soft drink jingle, a callback in a tired sitcom, a budget request.

Some individuals who detest the idea of being called artistic perhaps been closeted artists, but that’s between them and their gods. No offence meant. Your reality is correct, too. But I should take care of me.

Creatives identify artists.

Disadvantages are aware of cons, just like queers are aware of queers, just like real rappers are aware of actual rappers. Creatives feel enormous regard for creatives. We love, respect, emulate, and nearly deify the excellent ones. To idolize any man is, of course, a dreadful mistake. We have been warned. We know much. We know people are simply people. They dispute, they are depressed, they regret their most critical decisions, they are weak and thirsty, they can be cruel, they can be just as terrible as we can, if, like us, they are clay. But. But. However, they produce this incredible issue. They give birth to something that may not occur before them and couldn’t exist without. They are the inspirations ‘ mother. And I suppose, since it’s only lying it, I have to put that they are the mother of technology. Ba ho backside! Okay, that’s done. Continue.

Creatives disparage our personal small successes, because we compare them to those of the wonderful people. Wonderful video! Also, I‘m no Miyazaki. Now THAT is brilliance. That is glory straight out of the mouth of God. This half-starved small item that I made? It essentially fell off the back of the pumpkin vehicle. And the carrots weren’t actually new.

Creatives knows that, at best, they are Salieri. Also Mozart’s original artists believe that.

I am a artistic. I haven’t worked in advertising in 30 years, but in my hallucinations, it’s my previous artistic managers who judge me. And they are correct to do so. I am very lazy, overly simplistic, and when it actually counts, my mind goes blank. There is no supplement for artistic function.

I am a innovative. Every experience I create has the potential to make Indiana Jones look older while snoring in a deck head. The more I pursue creativity, the faster I can finish my work, and the longer I brood and circle and gaze aimlessly before I can finish that work.

I can move ten times more quickly than those who aren’t creative, those who have just been creative for a short while, and those who have only been creative for a short time in their careers. Simply that I work twice as quickly as they do, putting the work out, just before I do it, When I put my mind to it, I am so confident in my ability to do a fantastic task. I am that attached to the excitement rush of delay. I’m still so scared of jumping.

I am not an actor.

I am a artistic. No an actor. Though I dreamed, as a boy, of eventually being that. Some of us criticize our abilities and fear our own accomplishments because we are not Michelangelos and Warhols. That is narcissism—but at least we aren’t in elections.

I am a innovative. Though I believe in reason and science, I decide by intelligence and desire. And sit with what follows—the calamities as well as the successes.

I am a innovative. Every term I’ve said these may offend another artists, who see things differently. Ask two artists a problem, get three ideas. Our dispute, our love about it, and our responsibility to our own reality are, at least to me, the facts that we are artists, no matter how we may think about it.

I am a artistic. I lament my lack of taste in the areas of human knowledge that I know quite small, that is to say about everything. And I trust my preference above all other items in the regions closest to my soul, or perhaps, more precisely, to my passions. Without my passions, I had probably have to spend time staring living in the eye, which almost none of us can do for very long. No seriously. No really. Because many in existence, if you really look at it, is terrible.

I am a innovative. I believe, as a family believes, that when I am gone, some little good part of me will take on in the head of at least one other people.

Working frees me from worrying about my job.

I am a artistic. I fear that my little product will disappear.

I am a artistic. I’m too busy making the next thing to devote too much time to it, especially since practically everything I create did achieve the level of success I conceive of.

I am a artistic. I think method is the most amazing mystery. I think I have to consider it so strongly that I actually made the foolish decision to publish an essay I wrote without having to go through or edit. I didn’t do this generally, I promise. But I did it right away because I was even more scared of forgetting what I was saying because I was as scared as I might be of you seeing through my sad gestures toward the gorgeous.

There. I think I’ve said it.

How to Draw Your Ideal Customers to Your Ideal Customers by John Jantsch ( PDF) Read more at Duct Tape Marketing.

The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with Jane McCarthy In this instance of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, Sara Nay actions in as host to meeting Jane McCarthy, a trained product strategist and creator of The Goddess Guide to Branding. Jane has a focus on helping women entrepreneurs create powerful company identities using the power of the princess […]…

How to Draw Your Ideal Customers to Your Ideal Customers by John Jantsch ( PDF) Read more at Duct Tape Marketing.

Jane McCarthy from The Duct Tape Marketing Radio

In this instance of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, Sara Nay actions in as number to meeting Jane McCarthy, a trained product strategist and author of The Goddess Guide to Branding. Through the power of queen archetypes, Jane specializes in helping sexual entrepreneurs create real, compelling brand identities. Drawing from Carl Jung themes, she has created a brand framework that enables companies to link emotionally with their market while maintaining a strong product placement.

Jane explained how businesses can utilize archetypes to create a compelling company storytelling strategy, making sure their messaging resonates with their best customers during the conversation. She highlighted the importance of personal branding, aligning a business’s key identification with the needs and desires of its visitors. Businesses can create a unique and relevant business identity that fosters trust and loyalty by adopting female branding techniques.

Sara’s conversation with Jane McCarthy provides valuable insights into product development by blending company brand with strong storytelling. Businesses can place their product more efficiently, attract their perfect audience, and walk out in the marketplace by identifying the proper archetype.

Chapters:

]00: 09 ] Introducing Jane McCarthy
• What are Goddess Archetypes, exactly? [00: 44]
• ]05: 37] Identifying your Brand&#8217, s Goddess Archetype
• [08: 56] Using your Archetype to Find the Right Talent
• ]12: 05 ] Brands That Embody Goddess Archetypes
• How to Approach Goddess Archetypes [16: 34]
• ]18: 44] Figuring out the Spirit of your Product

More About Jane McCarthy

Check out Jane McCarthy &#8217, s Website

Connect with Jane McCarthy on LinkedIn

This season of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by

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I’ve been fascinated by movies since I was a child. I loved the heroes and the excitement—but most of all the stories. I aspired to be an artist. And I backed up the idea that I would get to do the things Indiana Jones did and have interesting activities. I also dreamed up suggestions for videos that my friends and I could create and sun in. But they never advanced. However, I did end up working in user experience ( UI). Today, I realize that there’s an element of drama to UX— I hadn’t actually considered it before, but consumer analysis is story. And to get the most out of customer studies, you must tell a compelling story that involves stakeholders, including the product team and decision-makers, and piques their interest in learning more.

Consider your preferred video. More than likely it follows a three-act construction that’s frequently seen in story: the layout, the fight, and the quality. The second act provides an overview of the current events and allows you to understand the characters, their difficulties, and problems. The issue begins in Act 2, which introduces the issue. Here, difficulties grow or get worse. And the solution is the third and final work. The issues are resolved in this area, and the figures grow and change. I believe that this architecture is also a great way to think about customer study, and I think that it can be particularly helpful in explaining person exploration to others.

Use story as a framework for conducting research

It’s unfortunate to say that many people now view studies as being unprofitable. If finances or timelines are small, analysis tends to be one of the first points to go. Some goods managers rely on developers or, worse, their own mind to make the “right” decisions for customers based on their experience or accepted best practices rather than investing in research. That might lead to some clubs getting in the way, but it’s too easy to overlook the real issues facing users. To be user-centered, this is something we really avoid. Design is enhanced by consumer research. It keeps it on track by pointing out issues and options. Being aware of the issues with your goods and reacting to them can help you stay ahead of your competition.

Each action in the three-act construction corresponds to a specific stage of the process, and each stage is crucial to delivering the full narrative. Let’s take a look at the various functions and how they relate to consumer study.

Act one: layout

The fundamental research comes in handy because the layout is all about understanding the background. Basic research ( also known as conceptual, discovery, or preliminary research ) aids in understanding users and identifying their issues. You’re learning about what exists now, the obstacles people have, and how the problems affect them—just like in the videos. You can conduct contextual inquiries or diary studies ( or both! ) to conduct foundational research. ), which can assist you in identifying both prospects and problems. It doesn’t need to get a great investment in time or money.

What is the least practical ethnography that Erika Hall can do is spend fifteen minutes with a consumer and say,” Walk me through your day yesterday. That is it. Current that one ask. Opened up and spend fifteen minutes listening. Do everything in your power to protect both your objectives and yourself. Bam, you’re doing ethnography”. According to Hall, “[This ] will likely prove quite fascinating. In the unlikely event that you don’t learn anything valuable or fresh, you can move forward with greater self-assurance.

This makes total sense to me. And I adore how customer study is made so simple. You don’t need to make a lot of paperwork; you can only attract people and do it! This can offer a wealth of knowledge about your customers, and it’ll help you better understand them and what’s going on in their life. That’s what work one is really all about: understanding where people are coming from.

Jared Spool discusses the significance of basic research and how it does make up the majority of your study. If you can pick from any further user data that you can get your hands on, such as surveys or analytics, that can complement what you’ve heard in the fundamental studies or even time to areas that need more research. All of this information along provides a more in-depth understanding of the state of issues and all of its flaws. And that’s the start of a gripping tale. It’s the place in the story where you realize that the principal characters—or the people in this case—are facing issues that they need to conquer. This is where you begin to develop compassion for the characters and support their success, much like in films. And hoped that participants are now doing the same. Their love may be with their company, which could be losing funds because people didn’t complete certain tasks. Or perhaps they have empathy for people ‘ problems. In any case, work one serves as your main strategy to pique the interest and interest of the participants.

When stakeholders begin to understand the value of basic research, that is open doors to more opportunities that involve users in the decision-making approach. And that can help product teams become more user-centric. Everyone benefits from this, including the product, users, and stakeholders. It’s like winning an Oscar in movie terms—it often leads to your product being well received and successful. And this might serve as a motivator for stakeholders to carry this out with other goods. The secret to this process is storytelling, and knowing how to tell a compelling story is the only way to entice stakeholders to do more research.

This brings us to act two, where you iteratively evaluate a design or concept to see whether it addresses the issues.

Act two: conflict

Act two is all about approving the issues you raised in act one. This usually involves directional research, such as usability tests, where you assess a potential solution ( such as a design ) to see whether it addresses the issues that you found. Unmet needs or issues with a flow or process that are making users uncomfortable could be the causes. More problems will come up in the process, much like in the second act of a film. It’s here that you learn more about the characters as they grow and develop through this act.

According to Jakob Nielsen, five users should be typically in usability tests, which means that this number of users can typically identify the majority of the issues:” As you add more and more users, you learn less and less because you will keep seeing the same things again and again… After the fifth user, you are wasting your time by observing the same findings repeatedly but not learning much new.”

The plot may become lost if you try to tell a story with too many characters, which is similar to storytelling in this case. Having fewer participants means that each user’s struggles will be more memorable and easier to relay to other stakeholders when talking about the research. This can help to convey the problems that need to be addressed while also highlighting the significance of conducting initial research.

Usability tests have been conducted in person for decades, but you can also conduct them remotely using software like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or other teleconferencing software. This approach has become increasingly popular since the beginning of the pandemic, and it works well. You might interpret in-person usability tests as a form of theater watching as opposed to remote testing. Each has advantages and disadvantages. In-person usability research is a much richer experience. The sessions can be had by stakeholders with other stakeholders. You also get real-time feedback on what they’re seeing, including surprises, disagreements, and discussions about them. Much like going to a play, where audiences get to take in the stage, the costumes, the lighting, and the actors ‘ interactions, in-person research lets you see users up close, including their body language, how they interact with the moderator, and how the scene is set up.

If conducting usability testing in the field is like watching a play that is staged and controlled, where any two sessions may be very different from one another. You can conduct usability testing in real life by creating a replica of the product’s user interface and conducting research there. Or you can go out to meet users at their location to do your research. With either option, you can see how things work in context, how things develop in ways that wouldn’t have in a lab setting, and how conversion can occur in completely different ways. You have less control over how these sessions end as researchers, but this can occasionally help you understand users even better. Meeting users where they are can provide clues to the external forces that could be affecting how they use your product. In-person usability tests add a level of detail that remote usability tests frequently lack.

That doesn’t mean that “movies” —remote sessions—aren’t a good option. Remote sessions can reach a wider audience. They make it possible for much more people to participate in the research and to observe what is happening. And they make access to a much wider range of users in their own country. But with any remote session there is the potential of time wasted if participants can’t log in or get their microphone working.

You can ask real users questions to understand their thoughts and understanding of the solution as a result of usability testing, whether it is done remotely or in person. This can assist you in both identifying issues and understanding why they were initially issues. Furthermore, you can test hypotheses and gauge whether your thinking is correct. By the end of the sessions, you’ll be able to see for yourself whether the designs are useful and effective. Act two is where the excitement is at the heart of the narrative, but there are also potential surprises. This is equally true of usability tests. Sometimes, participants will say unexpected things that alter the way you look at them, which can lead to unexpected turns in the story.

Unfortunately, user research can occasionally be viewed as unreliable. And too often usability testing is the only research process that some stakeholders think that they ever need. In fact, if the designs you’re evaluating in the usability test aren’t grounded in a thorough understanding of your users ( foundational research ), there isn’t much to be gained by conducting usability testing in the first place. Because you’re narrowing the scope of what you’re receiving feedback on without understanding the needs of the users. As a result, there’s no way of knowing whether the designs might solve a problem that users have. In the context of a usability test, it’s just feedback on a particular design.

On the other hand, if you only do foundational research, you won’t know whether the thing you’re building will actually solve that problem, despite the fact that you might have set out to solve the right problem. This illustrates the importance of doing both foundational and directional research.

In act two, stakeholders will hopefully be able to observe the story develop in the user sessions, which reveal the conflict and tension in the current design’s highs and lows. And in turn, this can encourage stakeholders to take action on the issues raised.

Act three: resolution

The third act is about resolving the issues from the first two acts, whereas the first two acts are about understanding the context and the tensions that can compel stakeholders to act. While the first two acts require an audience, the final act requires that they remain engaged throughout. That means the whole product team, including developers, UX practitioners, business analysts, delivery managers, product managers, and any other stakeholders that have a say in the next steps. It allows the entire team to discuss what is possible within the project’s constraints while also hearing feedback from users. Additionally, it enables the UX design and research teams to clarify, suggest alternatives, or provide more context for their decisions. So you can get everyone on the same page and get agreement on the way forward.

Voiceover narration of this act is typically used with audience input. The researcher serves as the narrator, who depicts the issues and what the product’s potential future might look like given what the team has learned. They give the stakeholders their recommendations and their guidance on creating this vision.

In the Harvard Business Review, Nancy Duarte describes a method for structuring presentations that follow a persuasive narrative. The most effective presenters employ the same methods as great storytellers: they create a conflict that needs to be settled by reminding people of the status quo and then revealing a better way, according to Duarte. ” That tension helps them persuade the audience to adopt a new mindset or behave differently”.

This kind of structure is in line with research findings, particularly those from usability tests. It provides evidence for “what is “—the problems that you’ve identified. And your suggestions for how to deal with them are “what could be.” And so forth.

You can reinforce your recommendations with examples of things that competitors are doing that could address these issues or with examples where competitors are gaining an edge. Or they can be visual, like quick sketches of how a new design could look that solves a problem. These can help create momentum and conversation. And this continues until the end of the session when you’ve wrapped everything up in the conclusion by summarizing the main issues and suggesting a way forward. This is the section where you make the most of the main themes or issues and what they mean for the finished product, or the story’s denial. The stakeholders will now have the opportunity to take the next steps, and hopefully the will-power to do so!

While we are nearly at the end of this story, let’s reflect on the idea that user research is storytelling. The three-act structure of user research contains all the components of a good story:

Act one: You encounter the protagonists ( the users ) and the antagonists ( the issues affecting users ). This is the beginning of the plot. Researchers might use techniques in act one, including contextual inquiry, ethnography, diary studies, surveys, and analytics. These techniques can produce personas, empathy maps, user journeys, and analytics dashboards.

Act two: Next, there’s character development. The protagonists face problems and difficulties, which they must overcome, and there is conflict and tension. Researchers might employ heuristics evaluation, competitive benchmarking, and usability testing in act two. The output of these can include usability findings reports, UX strategy documents, usability guidelines, and best practices.

Act three: The protagonists win, and you can see what a better future might look like. Researchers may use techniques like storytelling, presentation decks, and digital media in act three. The output of these can be: presentation decks, video clips, audio clips, and pictures.

The researcher plays a variety of roles, including producer, director, and storyteller. Although the participants are only a small part in the study, they are significant characters. And the stakeholders are the audience. However, the most crucial thing is to get the narrative straight and to use storytelling to research users ‘ stories. By the end, the parties should have a goal and a desire to solve the product’s flaws.

So the next time that you’re planning research with clients or you’re speaking to stakeholders about research that you’ve done, think about how you can weave in some storytelling. In the end, user research is beneficial to everyone, and all parties must be interested in the conclusion.

The personalization gap is real, between the dream of getting it right and the worry of it going wrong ( like when we encounter “persofails” similar to a company’s constant plea to regular people to purchase additional bathroom seats ). It’s an particularly confusing place to be a modern professional without a map, a map, or a strategy.

There are no Lonely Planet and some tour guides for those of you who want to personalize because powerful customisation is so dependent on each group’s talent, technology, and market position.

However, you can make sure your team has properly packed its carriers.

There’s a DIY method to increase your chances for victory. You’ll at least at least disarm your boss ‘ irrational exuberance. You’ll need to properly plan before the celebration.

We call it prepersonalization.

Behind the song

Take into account the DJ have on Spotify, which was introduced last month.

We’re used to seeing the polished final outcome of a personalization function. A personal have had to be developed, budgeted, and given priority before the year-end prize, the making-of-backstory, or the behind-the-scenes success chest. A delay of thought-provoking tips to enhance customer experiences is present before any personalization function is implemented in your product or service.

So how do you understand where to position your personalization bet? How can you create regular interactions that hasn’t irritate users or worse, breed trust? We’ve discovered that several budgeted programs foremost needed one or more workshops to join key stakeholders and domestic customers of the technology to justify their continuing investments. Create it count.

We’ve closely monitored the same evolution with our consumers, from major software to young companies. How successfully these prepersonalization actions work out, based on our experience working on small and large customisation initiatives, and how successful these programs are.

Time and again, we’ve seen successful workshops individual coming success stories from fruitless efforts, saving many time, resources, and social well-being in the process.

A yearlong project involving tests and feature development is a customisation practice. It’s never a technical load switch-flip. It’s ideal managed as a queue that usually evolves through three actions:

1. customer experience optimization ( CXO, also known as A/B testing or experimentation )
2. always-on chatbots, whether they are machine-generated or rules-based.
3. mature features or standalone product development ( such as Spotify’s DJ experience )

We think there is a basic language, a set of “nouns and verbs” that your business can use to create experiences that are personalized, personalized, or automated, which is why we created our democratic personalization platform and why we’re field-testing an following deck of cards. These accounts are not necessary for you. But we highly recommend that you create something similar, whether that might be online or real.

Set the timer for the house.

How much does a prepersonalization factory take to prepare? The surrounding assessment activities that we recommend including can ( and often do ) span weeks. We suggest aiming for two to three days for the primary workshop. Here’s a summary of our more general view as well as information on the crucial first-day actions.

The whole episode of the wider studio is twofold:

Kickstart: This specifies the terms of relationship as you concentrate on both the potential and the team’s and leadership’s readiness and generate.
1. Plan your function: This is where the card-based factory activities take place, giving you a plan of attack and the scope of work.
2. Work your plan: This stage is all about creating a competitive environment for staff participants to singularly pitch their personal pilots that each contain a proof-of-concept task, its business situation, and its operating model.

Give yourself at least a day, divided into two long time blocks, to work through a concentrated version of those initial two phases.

Kickstart: Apt your appetite

We call the first lesson the “landscape of connected experience“. It looks at the possibilities for personalization at your company. Any UX that necessitates the orchestration of multiple systems of record on the backend is a connected experience, in our opinion. This could be a content-management system combined with a marketing-automation platform. It might be a customer-data platform combined with a digital asset manager.

Create a conversation by mentioning consumer and business-to-business examples of connected experience interactions that you admire, find familiar, or even dislike. This should cover a representative range of personalization patterns, including automated app-based interactions ( such as onboarding sequences or wizards ), notifications, and recommenders. We have a list of these in the cards. To jog your mind, here is a list of 142 different interactions.

This is all about setting the table. What are the potential paths the practice could take in your organization? Here’s a long-form primer and a strategic framework for a broad perspective.

Assess each example that you discuss for its complexity and the level of effort that you estimate that it would take for your team to deliver that feature ( or something similar ). We categorize connected experiences in our cards according to their functions, features, experiences, complete products, and portfolios. Here, you can size your own build. This will help to focus the conversation on the merits of ongoing investment as well as the gap between what you deliver today and what you want to deliver in the future.

The following 2 2 grid, which lists the four enduring justifications for a personalized experience, should be used as the starting point for each idea. This is crucial because it emphasizes how personalization can affect your own methods of working as well as your external customers. It’s also a reminder ( which is why we used the word argument earlier ) of the broader effort beyond these tactical interventions.

Each team member should vote on where they see your product or service putting its emphasis. Naturally, you can’t give them all a prioritization. Here, the goal is to show how various departments may view their own benefits from the effort, which can vary from one department to the next. Documenting your desired outcomes lets you know how the team internally aligns across representatives from different departments or functional areas.

The third and final kickstart activity is about filling in the personalization gap. How well documented is your customer journey? Will data and privacy compliance be too big of a challenge? Do you have to address any issues with content metadata? It’s just a matter of acknowledging the magnitude of that need and finding a solution ( we’re fairly certain that you do ). In our cards, we’ve noted a number of program risks, including common team dispositions. For instance, our Detractor card lists six protracted behavior that is harmful to the development of our country.

It is crucial to your success to effectively coexist and manage expectations. Consider the potential barriers to your future progress. Ask the participants to list specific actions you can take to help your organization overcome or reduce those obstacles. According to research, personalization initiatives face a number of common obstacles.

You should have, at this point, discussed sample interactions, emphasized a significant benefit, and identified significant gaps. Good—you’re ready to continue.

Hit the test kitchen

Next, let’s take a look at what you’ll need to create personalization recipes. Personalization engines, which are robust software suites for automating and expressing dynamic content, can intimidate new customers. They give you a variety of options for how your organization can conduct its activities because of their broad and potent capabilities. When creating a connected experience, where do you start?

What’s important here is to avoid treating the installed software like it were a dream kitchen from some fantasy remodeling project ( as one of our client executives memorably put it ). Your team can begin creating, testing, and improving the snacks and meals that will be included on your personalizedization program’s regularly evolving menu by using these software engines.

Over the course of the workshop, the ultimate menu of the prioritized backlog will come together. And by creating “dishes,” you can expect individual team members to create personalized interactions that either serve their or others ‘ needs.

The dishes will come from recipes, and those recipes have set ingredients.

Verify your ingredients

You’ll ensure that you have everything you need to create your desired interaction ( or that you can determine what needs to be added to your pantry like a good product manager ) and that you have validated with the right stakeholders present. These elements include the audience you’re targeting, the content and design elements, the interaction’s context, and your overall ensemble.

This isn’t just about discovering requirements. The team can: Describe your personalizations as a series of if-then statements by documenting them as follows:

1. compare findings to a unified approach for developing features, similar to how artists paint with the same color palette,
2. specify a consistent set of interactions that users find uniform or familiar,
3. and establish parity among performance indicators and key performance indicators as well.

As a result, you can deliver a common palette of the main themes of your personalized or automated experience while reducing the number of technical efforts required.

Compose your recipe

What elements are most important to you? Consider the construct “what-what-when-why”

• Who are your key audience segments or groups?
• What content, what design elements, and under what circumstances will you give them?
• And for what business and user advantages?

We first developed these cards and card categories five years ago. We regularly test their compatibility with clients and audience members at conferences. And there are still fresh possibilities. But they all follow an underlying who-what-when-why logic.

In the cards in the accompanying photo below, you can typically follow along with right to left in three examples of subscription-based reading apps.

1. When a visitor or an unidentified visitor interacts with a product title, a banner or alert bar appears that makes it simpler for them to read a related title, saving them time.
2. Welcome automation: When there’s a newly registered user, an email is generated to call out the breadth of the content catalog and to make them a happier subscriber.
3. A user receives an email requesting a promotional offer to suggest they reconsider renewing or to remind them to renew before their subscription expires or after a recent failed renewal.

We’ve also found that cocreating the recipes themselves can sometimes be the most effective way to start brainstorming about what these cards might be for your organization. Start with a set of blank cards, and begin labeling and grouping them through the design process, eventually distilling them to a refined subset of highly useful candidate cards.

The later stages of the workshop could be characterized as moving from focusing on a cookbook to a more nuanced customer-journey mapping. Individual” cooks” will pitch their recipes to the team using a standard jobs-to-be-done format, which will allow for measurement and outcomes, and from there, the resulting collection will be prioritized for finished design and production delivery.

Better kitchens require better architecture

For those who are inside delivering it, simplifying a customer experience is a challenging task. Avoid those who make up their mind. With that being said,” Complicated problems can be hard to solve, but they are addressable with rules and recipes“.

A team overfitting: they aren’t designing with their best data, is what causes personalization to become a laugh line. Every organization has metadata debt to go along with its technical debt, which contributes to a drag on the effectiveness of personalization, much like a sparse pantry. Your AI’s output quality, for example, is indeed limited by your IA. Before they acquired a seemingly modest metadata startup that now powers its underlying information architecture, Spotify’s poster-child prowess today was unfathomable.

You can’t stand the heat, in fact…

Personalization technology opens a doorway into a confounding ocean of possible designs. Only a disciplined and highly collaborative approach will produce the necessary concentration and intention for success. Banish the ideal kitchen in all its glory. Instead, hit the test kitchen to save time, preserve job satisfaction and security, and safely dispense with the fanciful ideas that originate upstairs of the doers in your organization. There are mouths to feed and meals to be served.

You have a better chance of lasting success and sound beginnings with this workshop framework. Wiring up your information layer isn’t an overnight affair. However, if you use the same cookbook and the same recipes, you’ll have solid ground for success. We created these activities to ensure that your organization’s needs are clear and concise before the risks start to accumulate.

While there are associated costs toward investing in this kind of technology and product design, your ability to size up and confront your unique situation and your digital capabilities is time well spent. Don’t waste it. The pudding is the proof, as they say.

The same holds true for those of us who are currently employed in design and development. Having worked on the web for about three years at this point, I’ve seen the typical wax and wane of concepts, strategies, and systems. Every day we as developers and designers re-enter a routine pattern, a brand-new concept or technology emerges to shake things up and completely alter our world.

How we got below

I built my first website in the mid-’90s. Design and development on the web back then was a free-for-all, with few established norms. For any layout aside from a single column, we used table elements, often with empty cells containing a single pixel spacer GIF to add empty space. We styled text with numerous font tags, nesting the tags every time we wanted to vary the font style. And we had only three or four typefaces to choose from: Arial, Courier, or Times New Roman. When Verdana and Georgia came out in 1996, we rejoiced because our options had nearly doubled. The only safe colors to choose from were the 216 “web safe” colors known to work across platforms. The few interactive elements (like contact forms, guest books, and counters) were mostly powered by CGI scripts (predominantly written in Perl at the time). Achieving any kind of unique look involved a pile of hacks all the way down. Interaction was often limited to specific pages in a site.

The beginning of website standards

At the turn of the century, a new cycle started. Crufty code littered with table layouts and font tags waned, and a push for web standards waxed. Newer technologies like CSS got more widespread adoption by browsers makers, developers, and designers. This shift toward standards didn’t happen accidentally or overnight. It took active engagement between the W3C and browser vendors and heavy evangelism from folks like the Web Standards Project to build standards. A List Apart and books like Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman played key roles in teaching developers and designers why standards are important, how to implement them, and how to sell them to their organizations. And approaches like progressive enhancement introduced the idea that content should be available for all browsers—with additional enhancements available for more advanced browsers. Meanwhile, sites like the CSS Zen Garden showcased just how powerful and versatile CSS can be when combined with a solid semantic HTML structure.

Server-side language like PHP, Java, and.NET took Perl as the primary back-end computers, and the cgi-bin was tossed in the garbage bin. With these better server-side instruments came the first time of online applications, starting with content-management systems ( especially in the blog space with tools like Blogger, Grey Matter, Movable Type, and WordPress ). AJAX opened the door for synchronous connection between the front end and back end in the middle of the 2000s. Immediately, websites may update their information without needing to refresh. Developers created a crop of trusted client-side interactions across browsers with wildly varying standards aid, such as Prototype, YUI, and jQuery. Techniques like photo replacement enable skilled manufacturers and developers to show fonts of their choosing. And technology like Flash made it possible to include movies, sports, and even more engagement.

These new technology, standards, and approaches reinvigorated the market in many ways. As manufacturers and designers explored more diversified designs and layouts, website design flourished. However, we also depend on numerous tricks. When it came to basic layout and text styling, early CSS was a significant improvement over table-based layouts, but its limitations at the time meant that designers and developers still rely heavily on images for complex shapes ( such as rounded or angled corners ) and tiled backgrounds (among other hacks ) for the appearance of full-length columns. All kinds of nested floats or absolute positioning were required for complicated layouts ( or both ). The use of flash and photo replacement for specialty fonts was a great first step in the direction of the big five typefaces, but both hacks caused accessibility and performance issues. Additionally, JavaScript libraries made it simple to add a dash of conversation to pages without having to spend the money to double or even quadruple the get size for basic websites.

The internet as application platform

The balance between the front end and the back end continued to improve, leading to the development of the latest web application time. Between expanded server-side programming languages ( which kept growing to include Ruby, Python, Go, and others ) and newer front-end tools like React, Vue, and Angular, we could build fully capable software on the web. Alongside these equipment came others, including creative type control, build technology, and shared bundle libraries. What was once mainly used for linked files turned into a world with limitless possibilities.

At the same time, wireless equipment became more ready, and they gave us online access in our wallets. Reliable architecture and mobile apps opened up possibilities for fresh relationships anytime.

This fusion of potent portable devices and potent development resources contributed to the growth of social media and various consolidated tools for user interaction and consumption. As it became easier and more popular to interact with others immediately on Twitter, Facebook, and yet Slack, the need for held private websites waned. Social media provided relationships on a global level, with both positive and negative outcomes.

Want to learn more about how we came to be where we are today, along with some other suggestions for improvement? ” Of Time and the Web” was written by Jeremy Keith. Or check out the” Web Design History Timeline” at the Web Design Museum. Additionally, Neal Agarwal takes a fascinating journey of” Internet Artifacts.”

Where we are now

In the last couple of years, it’s felt like we’ve begun to achieve another big tone place. As social-media programs bone and fade, there’s been a growing interest in owning our personal information again. There are many different ways to create a website, from the tried-and-true classic of hosting plain HTML files to static site generators to content management systems of all varieties. We lose essential infrastructure for discovery and connection because of social media’s fracture, which also comes with a price. Webmentions, RSS, ActivityPub, and other tools of the IndieWeb can help with this, but they’re still relatively underimplemented and hard to use for the less nerdy. Without discovery and connection, it can feel as though we could be shouting into the void when we can create incredible personal websites and continually update them.

Browser support for CSS, JavaScript, and other standards like web components has accelerated, especially through efforts like Interop. In a fraction of the time that they once did, new technologies receive universal support. When I first learn about a new feature, I frequently discover that its coverage is already over 80 % when I check the browser support. Browser support is frequently the only obstacle to using newer techniques today, rather than the time it takes to train and adopt new techniques.

Today, with a few commands and a couple of lines of code, we can prototype almost any idea. With all the tools we currently have, it is simpler than ever to launch a new venture. However, the upfront cost these frameworks may save in initial delivery eventually comes down as the maintenance and upgrading they become a part of our technical debt.

Adopting new standards can sometimes take longer if we rely on third-party frameworks because we might have to wait for those frameworks to adopt them. These frameworks—which used to let us adopt new techniques sooner—have now become hindrances instead. Users must wait for scripts to load before they can read or interact with pages, as these same frameworks frequently come with performance costs as well. And when scripts fail ( whether through poor code, network issues, or other environmental factors ), there’s often no alternative, leaving users with blank or broken pages.

Where do we go from here?

Today’s hacks help to shape tomorrow’s standards. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with embracing hacks —for now—to move the present forward. Problems only arise when we refuse to acknowledge that they are hacks or when we choose not to replace them. What can we do to create the web’s future that we want?

Build for the long haul. Optimize for performance, for accessibility, and for the user. Weigh the costs of those developer-friendly tools. They may make your job a little easier right now, but how do they affect everything else? What’s the cost to users? To future developers? To standards adoption? Sometimes the convenience may be worth it. Sometimes it’s just a hack that you’ve gotten used to. And occasionally it’s preventing you from choosing better options.

Start from standards. Standards change over time, but browsers have done a remarkably good job of staying current with outdated standards. The same isn’t always true of third-party frameworks. Even the most heinous of HTML from the 1990s still function perfectly today. Even after a few years, the same can’t be said about websites created with frameworks.

Design with care. Whether your craft is code, pixels, or processes, consider the impacts of each decision. Many modern tools have the convenience of making the necessary decisions that have led to its design and not always considering the effects those decisions can have. Use the time saved by modern tools to think more carefully and make decisions with care rather than rushing to “move fast and break things”

Always be learning. If you’re always learning, you’re also growing. Sometimes it may be hard to pinpoint what’s worth learning and what’s just today’s hack. Even if you were to concentrate solely on learning standards, you might end up focusing on something that won’t matter next year. ( Remember XHTML? ) However, ongoing learning opens up new neural connections, and the techniques you learn in one day may be useful for guiding future experiments.

Play, experiment, and be weird! This web that we’ve built is the ultimate experiment. Despite being the largest human endeavor in human history, each of us has the ability to make their own money there. Be courageous and try new things. Build a playground for ideas. In your own bizarre science lab, conduct absurd experiments. Start your own small business. There has never been a more empowering place to be creative, take risks, and explore what we’re capable of.

Share and amplify. As you experiment, play, and learn, share what’s worked for you. Write on your own website, post on whichever social media site you prefer, or shout it from a TikTok. Write something for A List Apart! But take the time to amplify others too: find new voices, learn from them, and share what they’ve taught you.

Go forth and make

As designers and developers for the web ( and beyond ), we’re responsible for building the future every day, whether that may take the shape of personal websites, social media tools used by billions, or anything in between. Let’s imbue our values into the things that we create, and let’s make the web a better place for everyone. Create something that you are only qualified to make for yourself. Then share it, make it better, make it again, or make something new. Learn. Make. Share. Grow. Rinse and repeat. Every time you think that you’ve mastered the web, everything will change.

I’d like you to consider this a “yes … and” piece to complement Joe’s post. I’m not trying to reject any of what he’s saying, but rather to give some context to initiatives and options where AI may produce real, positive impacts on people with disabilities. To be clear, I’m not saying that there aren’t true threats or pressing problems with AI that need to be addressed—there are, and we’ve needed to address them, like, yesterday—but I want to take a little time to talk about what’s possible in hope that we’ll get there one day.

Other words

Joe’s article spends a lot of time examining how computer vision models can create other word. He raises a number of legitimate points about the state of affairs right now. And while computer-vision concepts continue to improve in the quality and complexity of information in their information, their benefits aren’t wonderful. He argues to be accurate that the state of image research is currently very poor, especially for some graphic types, in large part due to the absence of contextual contexts in which to look at images ( as a result of having separate “foundation” models for words analysis and image analysis ). Today’s models aren’t trained to distinguish between images that are contextually relevant ( that should probably have descriptions ) and those that are purely decorative ( which might not need a description ) either. Nonetheless, I still think there’s possible in this area.

As Joe mentions, human-in-the-loop publishing of alt word should definitely be a factor. And if AI can intervene and provide a starting point for alt text, even if the swift reads,” What is this BS?” That’s certainly correct at all … Let me try to offer a starting point— I think that’s a win.

If we can specifically station a design to examine image usage in context, it might help us more quickly determine which images are likely to be elegant and which ones are likely to need a description. That will help clarify which situations require image descriptions, and it will increase authors ‘ effectiveness in making their sites more visible.

The image example provided in the GPT4 announcement provides an interesting opportunity as well, even though complex images like graphs and charts are challenging to describe in any kind of succinct way ( even for humans ). Let’s say you came across a map that was simply the name of the table and the type of visualization it was: Pie table comparing smartphone use to have phone use among US households making under$ 30, 000 annually. ( That would be a pretty bad alt text for a chart because it would frequently leave many unanswered questions about the data, but let’s just assume that that was the description in place. ) Imagine a world where users could ask questions about the graphic if their browser knew that it was a pie chart ( because an onboard model determined this ).

• Do more people use feature phones or smartphones?
• How many more?
• Exists a group of people who don’t fall under either of these categories?
• How many is that?

Setting aside the realities of large language model ( LLM) hallucinations—where a model just makes up plausible-sounding “facts” —for a moment, the opportunity to learn more about images and data in this way could be revolutionary for blind and low-vision folks as well as for people with various forms of color blindness, cognitive disabilities, and so on. It might also be useful in educational settings to assist those who can see these charts as they are able to comprehend the data contained therein.

What if you could ask your browser to make a complicated chart simpler? What if you asked it to separate a single line from a line graph? What if you could ask your browser to transpose the different lines ‘ colors so they match your color blindness better? What if you could ask it to switch colors for patterns? Given these tools ‘ chat-based interfaces and our existing ability to manipulate images in today’s AI tools, that seems like a possibility.

Now imagine a specially designed model that could take the data from that chart and convert it to another format. For example, perhaps it could turn that pie chart ( or better yet, a series of pie charts ) into more accessible ( and useful ) formats, like spreadsheets. That would be amazing!

Matching algorithms

When Safiya Umoja Noble chose to write her book Algorithms of Oppression, she hit the nail on the head. Although her book focused on how search engines can foster racism, I believe it’s equally true that all computer models have the potential to foster conflict, prejudice, and intolerance. We all know that poorly designed and maintained algorithms are incredibly harmful, whether it’s Twitter that keeps bringing you the most recent tweet from a drowsy billionaire, YouTube that keeps us in a q-hole, or Instagram that keeps us guessing what natural bodies look like. Many of these are the result of a lack of diversity in the people who create and build them. When these platforms are built with inclusively baked in, however, there’s real potential for algorithm development to help people with disabilities.

Take Mentra, for example. They serve as a network of employment for people who are neurodivers. They match job seekers with potential employers using an algorithm based on more than 75 data points. On the job-seeker side of things, it considers each candidate’s strengths, their necessary and preferred workplace accommodations, environmental sensitivities, and so on. On the employer side, it considers each work environment, communication factors related to each job, and the like. Mentra made the decision to change the script when it came to traditional employment websites because it was run by neurodivergent people. They lower the emotional and physical labor on the job-seeker side of things by recommending available candidates to companies who can then connect with job seekers that they are interested in.

More people with disabilities can be used to create algorithms, which can lessen the likelihood that they will harm their communities. That’s why diverse teams are so important.

Imagine if a social media company’s recommendation engine was tuned to prioritize follow recommendations for people who discussed topics similar to those that were important but who were different from your current sphere of influence in some fundamental ways. For instance, if you follow a group of white men who are not white or aren’t white and who also discuss AI, it might be wise to follow those who are also disabled or who are not white. If you took its recommendations, perhaps you’d get a more holistic and nuanced understanding of what’s happening in the AI field. These same systems should also use their understanding of biases about particular communities—including, for instance, the disability community—to make sure that they aren’t recommending any of their users follow accounts that perpetuate biases against (or, worse, spewing hate toward ) those groups.

Other ways that AI can helps people with disabilities

If I weren’t attempting to combine this with other tasks, I’m sure I could go on and on, giving various examples of how AI could be used to assist people with disabilities, but I’m going to make this last section into a bit of a lightning round. In no particular order:

Voice preservation. You may have seen the VALL-E paper or Apple’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day announcement or you may be familiar with the voice-preservation offerings from Microsoft, Acapela, or others. It’s possible to train an artificial intelligence model to mimic your voice, which can be incredibly helpful for those who have ALS ( Lou Gehrig’s disease ) or motor-neuron disease or other medical conditions that can make it difficult to talk. This is, of course, the same tech that can also be used to create audio deepfakes, so it’s something that we need to approach responsibly, but the tech has truly transformative potential.
• Voice recognition. Researchers are assisting people with disabilities in the collection of recordings of people with atypical speech, thanks to the assistance of the Speech Accessibility Project. As I type, they are actively recruiting people with Parkinson’s and related conditions, and they have plans to expand this to other conditions as the project progresses. More people with disabilities will be able to use voice assistants, dictation software, and voice-response services as a result of this research, which will result in more inclusive data sets that will enable them to use their computers and other devices more easily and with just their voices.
• Text transformation. The most recent generation of LLMs is capable of altering already-existing text without giving off hallucinations. This is incredibly empowering for those who have cognitive disabilities and who may benefit from text summaries, simplified versions, or even text that has been prepared for Bionic Reading.

the value of various teams and data

We must acknowledge the importance of our differences. The intersections of the identities we exist in have an impact on our lived experiences. These lived experiences—with all their complexities ( and joys and pain ) —are valuable inputs to the software, services, and societies that we shape. Our differences must be reflected in the data we use to develop new models, and those who provide that valuable information must be compensated for doing so. More robust models are produced by inclusive data sets, which promote more justifiable outcomes.

Want a model that doesn’t demean or patronize or objectify people with disabilities? Make sure that you include information about disabilities that is written by people who have a range of disabilities and that is well represented in the training data.

Want a model that doesn’t use ableist language? Before ableist language reaches readers, you might be able to use already-existing data sets to create a filter that can intercept and correct it. That being said, when it comes to sensitivity reading, AI models won’t be replacing human copy editors anytime soon.

Want a copilot for coding that provides recomprehensible recommendations after the jump? Train it on code that you know to be accessible.

I have no doubt that AI can and will harm people … today, tomorrow, and well into the future. But I also believe that we can acknowledge that and, with an eye towards accessibility ( and, more broadly, inclusion ), make thoughtful, considerate, and intentional changes in our approaches to AI that will reduce harm over time as well. Today, tomorrow, and well into the future.

Many thanks to Kartik Sawhney for helping me with the development of this piece, Ashley Bischoff for her invaluable editorial assistance, and, of course, Joe Dolson for the prompt.

American sci-fi TV is a relatively simple subject to be an expert in, at the risk of offending a lot of geniuses. If you’re in your 30s or 40s, your kids perhaps remember when the style started existing. We’ve covered the high points of the genre on this very website, from the the 70s to]… ]

The article Quatermass: The Show That Defined UK Sci-Fi Television appeared first on Den of Geek.

It has been almost a decade since Star Wars: Episode VII &#8211, The Force Awakens debuted in theaters. The movie was a once-in-a-generation success because, after inflation, the private box office was still the highest total in cinematic history. Suffice it to say, the twist was an honest-to-goodness pop culture phenomenon, and with it, came all of the collectible shirts. In fact, fans got their hands on The Force Awakens merchandise a few months ahead of schedule, with their release commemorated by Disney &#8217, s first &#8220, Force Friday &#8221, in early September 2015.

Although every successive Disney Star Wars musical production featured a comparable event, nothing really compares to the first. Fans of all items galaxy-wide, faraway waited outside of retailers to purchase the newest Star Wars merchandise. LEGO was at the frontline of this strategy, of course, dropping an initial flood of seven brand-new models.

The Force Awakens and different Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Trilogy pieces were still being produced by the Danish make, but the demand for them waned after The Rise of Skywalker was released in 2019. LEGO has focused a lot of its work on this era in the decades since, with initiatives focusing on sets for the Disney + shows and Movies. But, the 10th anniversary of The Force Awakens may be about to change that.

LEGO is apparently producing a few interesting new models based on the movie, according to new leaking and gossips about the toymaker’s 2025 plans. Although the influx is only two sets powerful, Den of Geek’s list of reputable LEGO whistleblowers on Instagram and YouTube is undoubtedly a better amount than the lacked Sequel sets to date in the 2020s.

75406: Kylo Ren&#8217, s Bus

Estimated transfer time: May 1, 2025

Estimated amount:$ 69.99&nbsp,

This ain&#8217, t LEGO&#8217, s second dance with Kylo Ren&#8217, s flight. Two separate versions were released in 2015 and 2019, both. The unique, 75104, which coincided with the first Force Friday, is an infamous fixed in the LEGO Star Wars area. This is due in large part to the develop &#8217, s serious mistakes. The complete design is the incorrect colour, and the feathers are unable to slide like the in-universe car. This was most likely due to the concept art LEGO received while creating the collection, and Lucasfilm after modified the presence before The Force Awakens was made.

The second rendition of the set, 75256: Kylo Ren’s Shuttle, fixed these issues, now sporting a universe-accurate black and red color scheme. The latest version should follow suit of the 2019 model but on a smaller scale. Set 75406: Kylo Ren&#8217, s Bus is reportedly a “midi-scale” ship and will be part of the Starship Collection, a line of large vehicles from the Star Wars canon recreated in a smaller (and more affordable) scale. Unfortunately for fans of minifigures, nothing of that sort will be included, but the build will likely be a nice size that’ll snugly fit into any shelf display. 

75415: Kylo Ren&#8217, s Helmet

Estimated transfer time: May 1, 2025

Estimated price:$ 69.99

LEGO released its Helmet Collection in 2020, and the company produces at least two Star Wars helmet sets annually ( aside from a bizarre blip in 2024 ). While Jango Fett’s helmet is rumored to be coming in May and the AT-AT Driver helmet has already been revealed for a March release date, LEGO is reportedly dipping their toes into the Sequel Trilogy for the first time as part of this subtheme. Even the most prominent critics of the highly criticized trilogy can agree that Kylo Ren’s iconic helmet is undeniably cool. Due to Kylo Ren’s unique shaping, which is a very un-LEGO-like sculpt, the LEGO Star Wars designers do not have a very exciting task ahead of them. However, if they are able to knock it out of the park, this could be one of LEGO’s best helmet sets to date.

The first post LEGO Star Wars Set Leaks and Rumors 2025: The New Force Awakens Sets Revealed appeared on Den of Geek.

After the mild victory of 2020’s fairy tale evil Gretel &amp, Hansel and the summer phenomenon that was 2024’s divine serial killer thriller, Longlegs, genre filmmaker Booth Perkins is on a roll. With the funny spray movie, he then takes on the prince of scary himself, Stephen King, in a story that has been released this week.

The first article Bright Bought Oz Perkins ‘ Longlegs After Watching Only One Shot of Nic Cage was originally published on Den of Geek.

It has been almost a century since Star Wars: Episode VII &#8211, The Force Awakens debuted in theaters. The movie was a once-in-a-generation success because, after inflation, the private box office was still the highest total in cinematic history. Suffice it to say, the twist was an honest-to-goodness pop culture phenomenon, and with it, came all of the collectible jerseys. In fact, fans got their hands on The Force Awakens merchandise a few months ahead of schedule, with their release commemorated by Disney &#8217, s first &#8220, Force Friday &#8221, in early September 2015.

Nothing quite compares to the first Disney Star Wars dramatic production, despite the fact that every succeeding one had a similar experience. Fans of all items galaxy far, far away waited outside of businesses to get their hands on the newest Star Wars merchandise. LEGO was at the frontline of this strategy, of course, dropping an initial flood of seven brand-new models.

The Force Awakens and different Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Trilogy pieces were still being produced by the Danish make, but the demand for them waned after The Rise of Skywalker was released in 2019. LEGO has focused a lot of its efforts on this time in the decades since, with initiatives focusing on sets for the Disney + shows and Movies. Nevertheless, the 10th anniversary of The Force Awakens may be about to change that.

LEGO is apparently producing a few interesting new models based on the movie, according to new leaking and gossips about the toymaker’s 2025 plans. Although the influx is only two sets powerful, Den of Geek’s list of reputable LEGO whistleblowers on Instagram and YouTube is undoubtedly a better amount than the total lack of Sequel sets featured so far in the 2020s.

75406: Kylo Ren&#8217, s Bus

Estimated transfer time: May 1, 2025

Estimated value:$ 69.99&nbsp,

This ain&#8217, t LEGO&#8217, s second dance with Kylo Ren&#8217, s orbiter. Two distinct versions were released in 2015 and 2019, both. The unique, 75104, which coincided with the first Force Friday, is an infamous fixed in the LEGO Star Wars area. This is due in large part to the develop &#8217, s serious mistakes. The complete design is the incorrect colour, and the feathers are unable to slide like the in-universe car. This was probably due to the idea craft LEGO had before Lucasfilm changed the appearance before The Force Awakens was released.

The second rendition of the set, 75256: Kylo Ren’s Shuttle, fixed these issues, now sporting a universe-accurate black and red color scheme. The latest version should follow suit of the 2019 model but on a smaller scale. Set 75406: Kylo Ren&#8217, s Bus is reportedly a “midi-scale” ship and will be part of the Starship Collection, a line of large vehicles from the Star Wars canon recreated in a smaller (and more affordable) scale. Unfortunately for fans of minifigures, nothing of that sort will be included, but the build will likely be a nice size that’ll snugly fit into any shelf display. 

75415: Kylo Ren&#8217, s Helmet

Estimated transfer time: May 1, 2025

Estimated price:$ 69.99

LEGO released its Helmet Collection in 2020, and the company produces at least two Star Wars helmet sets annually ( aside from a bizarre blip in 2024 ). While Jango Fett’s helmet is rumored to be coming in May and the AT-AT Driver helmet has already been revealed for a March release date, LEGO is reportedly dipping their toes into the Sequel Trilogy for the first time as part of this subtheme. Even the most prominent critics of the highly criticized trilogy can agree that Kylo Ren’s iconic helmet is undeniably cool. Due to Kylo Ren’s unique shaping being a very un-LEGO-like sculpt, the LEGO Star Wars designers do not have a very exciting task ahead of them. However, if they are able to knock it out of the park, this could be one of LEGO’s best helmet sets to date.

The first postLeaks and Rumors 2025: The New Force Awakens Sets Revealed appeared on Den of Geek.