Slade Sherman

Epic Mix Leading The Way with Ubiquitous Check-in

admin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 04:39:10 +0000

Last year Vail Ski Resorts through ‘Epic Mix‘ trialled a program that used RFID technology in the ski pass to help skiers track and share their ski activity on the mountain. The video below explains how this works:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn0sfJPUH0c

The app is a great example of what I refer to as the ‘ubiquitous check-in’. By placing connected objects on the person or in the environment, the activity of that person can be monitored and then provided back to that person in a meaningful way. With Epic Mix, skiers never stop doing what they are doing but they get access to stats on their ski performance, photos and easy to use apps that help relive the excitement of their ski trip. Now compare the value of Epic Mix with a better known Check-in app, Foursquare:

Every person on the mountain with Epic Mix is automatically checked-in 100% of the time. The Foursquare picture is less complete with comparatively few users and infrequent check-in activity.
Epic Mix badges and awards are based on what you have done, rather than where you say you have been.
The value of ski performance stats, pictures and being able to share your story is much greater with Epic Mix.

Many have asked how leading check-in applications like Foursquare and Gowalla can evolve and become more relevant? Epic Mix, using smart UX, data, social graph integration and game design around a Ubiquitous Check-in, provides a good answer to this question.

Technorati Tags: Check In, Connected Products, Ubiquitous Check-in

Buy Now With Interactive Ads on The iPad

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:26:18 +0000

In my previous post on tablets, I made reference to interactivity on tablet computers and ‘interactive ads‘ is one area where the magazine or newspaper experience is being transformed.

With printed magazines you see an ad for that cool new product and you are interested. You finish reading the magazine and then… you may forget about the product; if you remember, you need to work out who sells it; you need to get in your car or hop onto the web to buy the product, arrange delivery etc etc.

Wired Mag on the iPad includes a product review section each month and readers have the opportunity to buy. You see the product, you like it, you tap ‘buy now’ and you are then directed to the store to make your purchase. No needing to remember, no running around, easy in app purchasing!

Below is a screenshot with a page featuring connected TV’s.

Tapping on the third TV opens up a ‘lightbox’ with product info and a ‘buy now’ option.

Clicking on ‘buy now’ takes you to a store (in this case Amazon) and you can purchase the product with one click shopping.

This interactive experience of purchasing is the future. If your ad is interesting and readers need to know more or want to buy…why shouldn’t they?

Technorati Tags: eCommerce, iPad, Online Strategies

Tablet Activity – Online Publishing Worth Paying For

admin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:24:30 +0000

I came across an interesting study by Pew Research on the adoption of tablet usage and daily activity. Of 1159 tablet users surveyed, the report claims that 11% of Americans have purchased tablet devices since the launch of the iPad in March 2010. So what are they doing?

Some other interesting findings for tablet owners:

77% use their tablet every day.
14% have paid for news services on their tablet devices.
Over half tablet owners share the device in their family.
Only 23% reported preferring reading books vs. reading on the tablet.
Apple dominates with over 81% surveyed owning an iPad.

Is news worth paying for on a tablet device?

Yes and no. If publishers just churn out the same garbage that can be read on a web browser then there is no added value and attempts at charging a fee will fall flat resulting in poor customer lifetime value.

But if done well, the magazine reading experience far outperforms the experience of reading a magazine the traditional way. I love, and pay for, the experience Wired and Popular Science provide based on their use of integrated animation (see this month’s cover of Popular Science as an example), videos (for ad content or features), more intuitive layouts (that do not have the restrictions of traditional print) and interactivity (tap for more content). Publishers who think about the user experience in their niche and develop new ways to interact around the tablet device will be the winners as more and more people engage with tablet devices.

Technorati Tags: iPad, Mobile Apps, Mobile Mesh, Tablets

Internet Trends 2011 – MobileWeb

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:14:47 +0000

One of the dramatic internet trends in 2011 is the growth of Mobile Web. As of Q2, 2011, the number of 3G mobile subscribers globally is 936MM with 35% Y/Y growth. This still represents just 17% of mobile phones out there!

Smart phones are now outselling regular mobile phones in the US and Europe. In coming years the number of smart phones will continue to increase as a % of the total handsets sold and by 2015 over 50% of web usage will be via the mobile.

Already, applications like Pandora, Twitter and Facebook have a high percentage of their traffic coming from mobile web and apps (as the chart below indicates) and Google search on mobiles has increased four fold in the last 12 months.

There are things every business large and small can do to prepare for the mobile web:

Make sure your business or service is searchable from your smartphone. Try a Google search!
Check if your website is mobile web friendly.
Optimise your paid search advertising for mobile. The mobile experience is different!
Think about a mobile app for your business.
Mobile is personal, think social!

Technorati Tags: Mobile Mesh, Web2.0 Weapons

Internet Trends 2011 – Globality

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:08:25 +0000

One of the dominant internet trends this year is Globality and the increase in the number of global web users of the web. 81% of internet users on top 10 global web properties are outside the US.

The above chart shows that more of the top web companies are now coming from outside the US with countries like China and Russia climbing the list of top online companies. These trends mean that online businesses need to look at other markets around the world and think about what needs to be done to get into those markets. China alone has almost double the amount of internet users compared with the US and countries like India, Nigeria, Russia and Japan are all adding more users compared with the US.

Technorati Tags: Online Strategies, Web2.0

Internet Trends in 2011

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:44:22 +0000

I watched a talk by Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins and she provides a great summary of Internet trends for 2011 and beyond. If you have time watch the video and in my next few posts I will provide a summary of her main points along with my view on what this could mean for your business or development project.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g9vmtG7r7c

Technorati Tags: Online Strategies, Web2.0

Getting Connected in 2020

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:40:55 +0000

According to Kirk Skaugen from Intel, there are 4 billion connected devices in 2011 and by 2020 the projected number of connected devices will be 50 billion.

So what do 4 billion devices look like?

My connected devices include computers at home and work, an iPad, an iPhone, an iPod and my Garman running watch. That’s seven devices. If you look at my household we have 4 people and around 12 connected devices. Averaging out at 4 devices per person.

Now what does 50 billion devices look like?

It’s true that more people will be connected but the number of connected devices per person will escalate with most powered devices being connected as well. More than 12 times the number of connected devices would mean an average family with 12 connected devices in 2011 may interact with well over 100 devices by 2020.

The personality traits of data.

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:39:06 +0000

I have been catching up on the great talks published by Web2.0 Summit that was on in San Francisco this week. Developments in mobile web, the cloud and social media over the last 18 months have lead to data being captured on a scale never before seen…It was asserted that more data has been captured and stored over the last 12 months than in the history of the web. Accordingly the theme of the summit this year was on ‘how companies leverage data’.

One talk worth sharing because in the difference in perspective is by anthropologist Genevieve Bell from Intel Corporation. As opposed to viewing data as something that is gathered and stored in a data farm, Genevieve asks ‘who is data and if it was a person who would it be like?’ to better understand the personality traits of data.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvn_l_Vh3hw

There are eight traits of data according to Bell:

Data resists being ‘digital’ and represents real things.
Data loves a good relationship and is social.
Data has a country – location / context is important.
Data is feral – privacy, security, beyond control.
Data has responsibilities – telling story comes with responsibility to tell it with the right spirit.
Data likes to look good – people lie about themselves to make them look best to others (100% of people lie in US online dating profiles).
Data does not last forever – ramifications on design.
There will always be new data.
What if we design for data the way we design for people?

The points listed provide a summary but you’ll get most value watching the video.

Technorati Tags: Data, Mobile Mesh, Web2.0

Mobile Web Usage

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:22:16 +0000

Here are some stats that were sent to me by AboutUs.org on web usage via the mobile phone:

Mobile Internet usage nearly tripled in 2010, for the third year in a row.
5% of worldwide web traffic and 8% of U.S. web traffic comes from mobile devices.
At least 40% of people in the U.S. have a smartphone, like an iPhone or Android.
Experts predict that within 5 years, more people will be browsing the Internet on mobile devices than on computers.

The Open Graph Just got a Lot More Interesting

admin — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 00:19:30 +0000

I had a look at the f8 presentation earlier and it’s a must see for anyone interested in the Open Graph and how social data will continue to transform our lives over the next year.

The two main announcements of the day included a cool new “Timeline” feature to Facebook, and the addition of “Open Graph” enhancements. Timeline will enable you to effectively scrap-book all your experiences within Facebook and your activity will be stored.

The new open graph information is the really interesting part. Till now Facebook has allowed you to ‘like’ people or things:

In 2004 Facebook was about You connecting and liking Friends
In 2010, Facebook introduced the ability for you to ‘like’ objects, media, groups and web content via the social graph.

The new changes will enable you to not only ‘like’ but to do. If you are listening to music, integration with your music player will allow your friends to know what music you are listening to. If you are training for a fun run, you will be able to share your runs through running apps. The same goes for movies, television, food, fashion or any other activity you may be involved with. Social issues aside, there are some exciting new applications now available to developers.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Social Media