30. Januar 2015

How, and Why, Apple Overtook Microsoft (James B. Stewart)

When Microsoft stock was at a record high in 1999, and its market capitalization was nearly $620 billion, the notion that Apple Computer would ever be bigger — let alone twice as big — was laughable. Apple was teetering on bankruptcy. And Microsoft’s operating system was so dominant in personal computers, then the center of the technology universe, that the government deemed the company an unlawful monopoly. (nytimes.com)

How Big is Big Enough to Pick On? (Laura Kalbag)

Being able to criticize someone’s work without heaping scorn on them constitutes professionalism. I’ve occasionally been guilty of forgetting that: pumped up by my own sense of self-worth and a compulsion to give good drama to my followers on social networks, I’ve blurted unconstructive criticism into a text field and hit “send. ” (alistapart.com)

Replacing The User Story With The Job Story (Alan Klement)

I’ve written about the problem with user stories before. At the time, I found it better to just have the team talk over proposed changes to the product. This worked great when the team had gelled and the product is very mature; however, now I’m working with a new team and building a product from scratch. In this case, because our canvas is blank, we are having trouble getting on the same page when it comes to customer motivations, events and expectations. But today, things have turned around. I’ve come across a great way to use the jobs to be done philosophy to help define features. I call them Job Stories. (medium.com)

15. Januar 2015

How to Fit User Experience Design into the Development Cycle (Justin Hunter)

Even the most agile of companies struggle with having the time to incorporate changes to their product that are not explicitly bugs or enhancements previously listed on a product roadmap. That being said, the power of user experience design is becoming increasingly obvious. For every $1 spent on user experience, a company can expect to return at least $2 or more. But UX enhancements still get bumped from releases and prioritized far lower than they should. (despreneur.com)

4 Inspirational Sidebar Designs that Invite Viral Traffic (Marie)

A sidebar is one of the most important aspects of your website layout. Visitors get an idea about your blog or website through the sidebar, before they make up their minds to stay or quit. So, making sure your website has a great sidebar is of significant importance; your sidebar must encourage visitors to take a closer look at your website. It should act as a trigger for better user engagement and increase the probability of conversions. (designreviver.com)

8 UX Requirements for Designing a User-Friendly Homepage Carousel (Jamie Appleseed)

Carousels are hugely popular on e-commerce sites. Especially on the homepage. In fact, 52% of the top US e-commerce sites have a carousel on the homepage (of their “desktop” site). While we have yet to finish our benchmark of mobile e-commerce sites, initial benchmarking shows that carousels are popular on mobile sites too. (baymard.com)

13. Januar 2015

Designing the connected everyday (Elisa Giaccardi)

How often have you found yourself interacting online at the dinner table? Our daily routines often incorporate tweeting, facebooking, and the use of other online platforms while in the company of friends. Yet from Silicon Valley to Amsterdam, friends sometimes stack their phones on the table to stop this behavior while dining out. This example of “social norming” speaks of the gap between interactions online and interactions in everyday life. It also speaks of our inability as designers to imagine less intrusive ways in which digital technologies can be integrated into our lives. (acm.org)

5 Ecommerce Stats That Will Make You Change Your Entire Marketing Approach (Neil Patel)

The best information is usually the most straightforward: Cold hard statistics. Even though stats aren’t exactly emotionally scintillating or suspenseful, they are nonetheless very powerful. In this article, I’ve collected some of the most surprising ecommerce stats that I believe have profound implications for the way that we do marketing. These statistics come from the recent report by Visual Website Optimizer in their eCommerce Survey 2014. (kissmetrics.com)

What Is The Future Of Content Marketing And How Can You Prepare? (Arnie Kuenn)

Over the past few years, content marketing has come a long way. The term “content marketing” is becoming a part of the vernacular in marketing departments across the world. It’s no longer thought of as a trend, but as a verifiable opportunity to drive revenue. In fact, businesses spent more than $118 billion on content marketing last year alone. But what is the future of content marketing in 2015 and beyond? (marketingland.com)

How to Become a "Best Place to Work": Lessons From Recent Winners (Melissa Obleada)

Have you ever walked into an office -- your own, a friend’s, or somewhere you were visiting -- and immediately felt like that was precisely where you wanted to be? People are working, going about their business, and they’re happy ... at their day jobs. That, my friends, is an example of excellent company culture. (hubspot.com)

10. Januar 2015

Go Responsive HTML Email! 65% of Email Gets Opened on Mobile Gadgets

65% of all email gets opened first on a mobile device writes Venturebeat. And they continue: Of the 65 percent of email that gets opened on mobile gadgets, smartphones take home the lion’s share of messages. Around 16 percent of messages get opened on tablets — up one percent quarter over quarter.. Marketing Land adds in its own report smartphone email opens peak in the “early morning,” (before working hours) whereas tablet email usage is concentrated in the evening, between 8 pm and 11 pm. However smartphone usage is dominant throughout the day..

Creating a Responsive HTML Email becomes more and more important.

Designing HTML email can be quite challenging, considering the limited capabilities of many email clients (readers). In contrast, most new email readers supports many of the latest trends in web design. What to do?

Enter Responsive HTML Email. This course will show you how to design and construct an HTML email design that will render properly in such email readers and Outlook 2003 and Gmail, all the way through modern Android, Apple, and Windows phones. We will also explore online tools and services that will help you test your campaigns. Learn what is possible with HTML email.
writes Chris Converse. His best-selling online course looks like a great way to deep dive into Responsive HTML Emails.

And while A List Apart asks Can Email Be Responsive? the author Jason Rodriguez provides the answer himself: Love it or hate it, there’s no denying the popularity of HTML emails. And, like the web before it, the inbox has officially gone mobile

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