Cullmann Design Blog

I like to learn something everyday. It needn’t be an epiphany or the secret to life, but I really like the idea that every evening comes to an end with some fact or bit of knowledge that I hadn’t had that morning. I have to admit that I get a tremendous amount of these daily facts or learning from the internet. Never has such a wide variety of subjects or shear amount of information been so easily accessible to so many and so easily.

Enter iTunes U

iTunes U is a hosted resource offered by apple through iTunes. It’s a basic and very cool framework for anyone to create a comprehensive course or online learning experience to be distributed via the iTunes network. Although I am leery of closed infrastructures like iTunes, the scale of audience you can reach and the dominance of Apple’s consumer media devices makes this a fantastic new playground for educators and organizations. Content creators can apply to enter the iTunes U store, upload and create a custom page for their institution. The content can be arranged (and once published searched) by subject, topic or institution. There is space for an institution summary, class syllabus and individual class description. Classes can be distributed as audio or video. Content creators can also control the distribution and allow access by parties via controlled or free distribution. The classes can be updated real-time like a regular semester class or cumulatively as a retrospective.

Apple’s iPad has been out for a few months and there is still quite a bit of excitement as publications begin to experiment with this new platform. Both Popular Mechanics and WIRED had been quick to release 2 very impressive “App” versions of their publication. Both of these pieces are very engaging and mirror content found in their print publication. The interactive versions include some dynamic enhancements including video content, interactive 3D models and social media integration. Of course, there are also video-based ads and dramatically animated advertisements. These pieces, and a number of other publications that have been released in the AppStore, are showcases for what can be implemented on these platforms.

Despite how impressive these applications are, they are not the future of publishing. In fact, these publications offer none of the benefits of what an “App” can offer at all. The WIRED application as well as PM and many other newly launched periodicals available in the AppStore are merely screenshots of the print publications they are replacing. There is interactivity and user engagement not found in the pulp-versions, but there is no evidence of what is really driving people to online media: Real-time, always on information. One of the most attractive qualities of the web is the ability to retrieve information as it becomes available: RSS, cross-linking, related posts, comments. These are all data-points flowing into one another as a real-time conversation. The “new publication” model utilizes few, if any of these differentiators.

What I am especially discouraged by is how closely the new “publication as app” model resembles the CD-ROM boom of the early 90′s. Very much like the iPad publication hype, CD-ROMs where supposed to change the way that media was distributed. CD-ROMs fell from popularity because they where proprietary, not easily shared, difficult to update and did little to further user engagement beyond what was already being offered in the market. I don’t want to come across as an Apple hater or someone who doesn’t think the iPad is a paradigm shift. My issue is with publishers who believe that porting their print materials to a screen and accompanying a few interactive elements is going to save or reinvent their industry.

Equally as offensive to the “interactive” arrangement of JPG and PNG files is the cost model that is being provided for subscribers. Although the cover price is similar to what is found on the traditional newsstand, the development costs don’t seem to warrant the $4.99 app costs that need to be paid every-month for an issue. One hope I had for the new publication model is that without the cost for printing and shipping, that the hyper-engaged advertising opportunity would provide a reduced subscription cost. Instead, users are downloading 400, 500 and even 600MB+ files into their devices to deliver advertising (a issue still pending is how metered bandwidth will affect this model as over-the-air download of these applications is not available via AT&T). Even with the proliferation of broadband, the “web” as a rule is still very lean and content can be provided over a range of bandwidths while maintaining a decent user experience.

The iPad offers so many opportunities for developers and content creators. The massive selection of useful applications is a testament to that. Taking the WIRED and PM samples to task, the solution that should have been implemented is one that provides a subscription “stub” on the device with a framework for the publisher to populate daily or over the course of the month as opposed to a traditional release cycle. This would provide a benefit beyond traditional content delivery and make user engagement more meaningful. This would also lessen the storage footprint and make the application more serviceable to those who have purchased devices with smaller amounts of memory. Advertising would be downloaded on a cycle so that the ad-model itself would apply as it does now. Interactive ads could pull “on-demand” with smaller portions of the ads cached and delivered under a “no-charge” bandwidth model-perhaps the Apple iAd service. I think an offering like this is more valuable and more inline with what the iPad’s benefit is to it’s users: Always-on content delivery that is up-to-the minute.

The design of web interfaces are based on the mouse and keyboard model of user interaction. That model is based on the presumption that a user is engaged with your content primarily with the use of a keyboard for text input and a mouse (or similar pointing device) controlling an ever-present on-screen cursor. With a touch-enabled interface, the user interaction model is different. Designers need to define exactly what a “click” will yield without the act of discovery that is part of some modern website designs. Equally important is the directive copy. No longer can the user rely on a “tool-tip” or similar device to nudge users along an interactive path to engage their content.

In the past few weeks, there has been a tremendous amount written about touch-interface and specifically Flash. Flash is not the culprit in this evolution, but it is a primary offender. In Steve Job’s public denouncement of Abobe Flash, he points towards it’s reliance on mouse driven interaction. This is not so much a Flash issue (although many Flash sites rely on rollover as a primary state of user interaction) as it’s a design issue that carries over from the popular operating systems including Mac OS X (the hidden doc and spring-loaded folders for instance). There are many instances of non-flash interfaces taking advantage of rollovers to expose content, change state or even reveal entirely new content areas. As a general rule, this is probably a bad design decision. If your design lacks a concise call to action for exposing content or leading the user to commit to an action, then there is a chance that the user may not discover that content (rollover or not).

How do designers and content creators fix this? The marketer’s tool: Call To Action. Anything that requires the user to interact with for content or to discover something should clearly announce “I am what you are looking for! Click on me”. In some cases the button should be this obvious, in other cases, subtlety may be in order. Either way, assume that a use must be committed enough to retrieving content that they click and commit to the action. This is good user interface design AND works for any and all methods for user input.

One cans make a case that AJAX and hidden content on a page can provide a good and responsive user interface. I agree. I myself make use of some content that is hidden for the user when they first visit my site. What is important, and the intent for my post, is to provide a good user experience regardless of the user’s device or if it supports a mouse, a touch-screen or even javascript. This is good for the user and also good for the designer/developer. Adhering to these practices future-proofs your designs regardless of what emerges in the market-place.

Nothing feels better than being able to help someone who’s really in need. This can mean a lot of things from donating money or possessions or to serving in your local community or church. Many people forget that the skills they have as marketers, designers, developers, writers can be a huge benefit to organizations in your local community or abroad.

For professionals—or students just getting started—your training, expertise and experience can help an organization that is struggling to get off the ground or reinvent themselves. As marketers and designers, we understand how much branding can mean for branding and communicating a message that can yield results. For many non-profits and community organizations, the costs associated with quality communication and marketing services can be overwhelming. This is an excellent chance for writers, designers, developers and anyone with an understanding of marketing to make a big contribution with a little of their free-time.

Were to start? If you’re interested in making a difference for a charity, you can reach-out directly to an organization that you know needs help or that you have an interest in. If that organization can’t use your help right away, they’ll likely add you to their volunteer list or be able to recommend an affiliate that can use your help. You can also go online to one of the many websites created to unite marketing do-gooders like yourself with organizations in need. Grassroots.org is a large and popular site. There are also many niche volunteer organizations who cater to special interests. Creativepaw.org is an example of a site that aligns creative professionals with groups who support and care for the interests of animals.

Before you begin you should think about what kind of services you’d like to help provide. Like any opportunity, knowing how to present yourself and your capabilities will help you and the organization you’d like to help figure out how best to apply your expertise.

You may also use this as a chance to self educate and broaden your capability. Unlike a traditional client, non-profits are happy to have support. This is an excellent opportunity for you to apply some new techniques to your craft or experiment with new skills. Although it’s best to communicate your plans with the organization that you are helping, most are open to trying new things and open to new solutions. There are few better ways to broaden your portfolio or create a case-study for your new marketing idea than to have a real-world example with non-profit.

Although donating your time is a great way to help the community and feel good about your contribution, you don’t have to be completely altruistic. Ask the organization you are working with for a contributor’s credit, a letter of reference or a link in their website footer. This will give some referral traffic to you or your website and may eventually lead to a new opportunity.

The most important thing to remember when donating your time, as a marketing professional or otherwise, is to enjoy yourself and know that your effort can make a big difference to any organization or charity effort.