Wednesday, 8 October 2014
In CoP3, OUGD601
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OUGD601: Context of Practice 3 - Most Popular Uses of the Web

1. Web surfing

The web is considered to be a mine house of knowledge. Using the search engines like Google, you can literally find out information on almost everything that exists. While most knowledge base websites offer information free of cost, a few might require a fee to provide them.

2. Email and chatting

All the popular internet giants like Google, Yahoo, and Bing offer free email and chat services. With email you can simply reach someone in the other end of the world with a click. Live chat can enable you to have real-time experience with your loved ones living in a far away land.

3. Social Networking

Websites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Orkut enable users to connect with friends and fans. Today social networking is very popular among businesses and individuals.

4. Videos

Video websites such as YouTube and Megavideo that offer free video hosting are one of the most visited places in the web. They are used for both promotional and entertainment purposes.

5. Online Business

Websites like eBay and Amazon have literally everything on sale. While these are giants, you can find countless online stores selling all that you can imagine right form web-based products like web 2.0 web templates, modern design for brochures, to other products ranging from electronics to vegetables and fruits. They also offer customposter design templates on demand. Web development companies even offer free website templates as promotional measure.

6. Job Sites

Websites like CareerBuilder and Monster are also visited by professionals and business. You can find both job seekers and employers under one roof.

7. News and Information

There are a number of websites that act as online encyclopedias, Wikipedia is an apt example. Media is yet another one that uses internet to the full. You can literally find all of the news channels live streaming their content in the web.

8. Classified Ads

Now it is possible for the common man to buy or sell almost anything websites such as craigslist provide classified ad service for free.

9. Blogs

Blogging has become the trend of the day. Blogger, WordPress and lot more service providers offer it for free. You can just vent out your feelings, display your skills, or even gossip without restrictions.

10. Downloads

There are several websites that allow free downloads of software, computer updates, music, mobile phone back grounds, movies, and other mobile applications. Membership sites often are simply amazing with their value for money products.

11. Online payments

Websites like PayPal and Moneybookers have become a great boon to people who transact purchase products using different currencies of the world. Even small businesses have become greatly dependent on these services for eCommerce.

12. Online Banking

Almost all the reputed banks provide with the option of online banking. You need not visit your branch to check balance, or transfer funds and paying bills. All of the transactions can be made in a jiffy.

13. File sharing

Websites like 4shared, megaupload, and media fire provide file sharing facilities that are very convenient to use.

14. Online games

Gaming sites are one other most used websites in the web. They offer both online entertainment as well as gambling.

15. Online Dating

Online Dating sites too are much visited ones. It enables you to pick your right pair from millions of profiles available online. If you are one above caste creed and culture, online dating sites can server you better.

Web has a lot more uses than you can ever imagine, if you are bit creative you can even generate good online money from the web without having to own a business.

Source

Top 15 Most Popular Websites | October 2014

Here are the top 15 Most Popular Sites (Eng.) as derived from our eBizMBA Rank which is a continually updated average of each website's Alexa Global Traffic Rank, and U.S. Traffic Rank from both Compete and Quantcast."*#*" Denotes an estimate for sites with limited data.

Source

1) Email: By using internet now we can communicate in a fraction of seconds with a person who is sitting in the other part of the world. Today for better communication, we can avail the facilities of Email. We can chat for hours with our loved ones. There are plenty messenger services and email services offering this service for free. With help of such services, it has become very easy to establish a kind of global friendship where you can share your thoughts, can explore other cultures of different ethnicity.

2) Information: The biggest advantage that internet offering is information. The internet and the World Wide Web has made it easy for anyone to access information and it can be of any type, as the internet is flooded with information. The internet and the World Wide Web has made it easy for anyone to access information and it can be of any type. Any kind of information on any topic is available on the Internet.

3) Business: World trade has seen a big boom with the help of the internet, as it has become easier for buyers and sellers to communicate and also to advertise their sites. Now a days most of the people are using online classified sites to buy or sell or advertising their products or services. Classified sites saves you lot of money and time so this is chosen as medium by most of people to advertise their products. We have many classified sites on the web like craigslist, Adsglobe.com, Kijiji etc.

4) Social Networking: Today social networking sites have become an important part of the online community. Almost all users are members use it for personal and business purposes. Its an awesome place to network with many entrepreneurs who come here to begin building their own personal and business brand.

5) Shopping: In today's busy life most of us are interested to shop online. Now a days almost anything can be bought with the use of the internet. In countries like USA most of consumers prefer to shop from home. We have many shopping sites on internet like amazon.com, Dealsglobe.com etc. People also use the internet to auction goods. There are many auction sites online, where anything can be sold.

6) Entertainment: On internet we can find all forms of entertainment from watching films to playing games online. Almost anyone from any age group can find the right kind of entertainment for themselves. When people surf the Web, there are numerous things that can be found. Music, hobbies, news and more can be found and shared on the Internet. There are numerous games that may be downloaded from the Internet for free.

7) E-Commerce: E-commerce is the concept used for any type of commercial maneuvering, or business deals that involves the transfer of information across the globe via internet. It has become a phenomenon associated with any kind of shopping, almost anything. It has got a real amazing and range of products from household needs, technology to entertainment.

8) Services: Many services are now provided on the internet such as online banking, job seeking, purchasing tickets for your favorite movies, and guidance services on array of topics in the every aspect of life, and hotel reservations and bills paying. Often these services are not available off-line and can cost you more.

9) Job Search: Internet makes life easy for both employers and job seekers as there are plenty of job sites which connects employers and job seekers.

10) Dating/Personals: People are connecting with others though internet and finding their life partners. Internet not only helps to find the right person but also to continue the relationship.

Source

Tuesday, 7 October 2014
In CoP3, OUGD601, UX and UI
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OUGD601: CoP Practicals - Initial Ideas

Now that I have focused my written element down I am able to come up with some interesting practical ideas that will work hand-in-hand with my written element. Richard told us that we should spend the summer doing relevant research and also coming up with some practical research and experiments that support our practical element.

In CoP3, OUGD601, UX and UI
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OUGD601: All 4 - Channel 4 re-designs 4OD

Channel 4 has announced that its 4oD service is to be replaced with a new brand, All 4, from next year. Envisaged as a single destination for all of the broadcaster's linear channels and digital content, the new identity reworks the original Channel 4 logo designed by Lambie-Nairn...

The studio's 1982 "puzzle" identity remains an important part of the Channel 4 branding. While the new All 4 identity aims to emphasise that the reorganised services are born out of a single channel (and echoes the "pathwork" nature of the original design), it uses the various colours of Channel 4's existing brands (below) within the new look.

The static logo was created in a collaboration between Magpie, We Are Seventeen and Channel 4's award-winning in-house creative agency 4Creative (the overall brand identity was designed by 4Creative and We Are Seventeen).

"It's an important moment in Channel 4's history as this new identity links our digital future to our creative roots," says Dan Brooke, chief marketing and communications officer at Channel 4, "with the use of the much-loved multi-coloured logo, re-imagined for the multi-media 21st Century."

According to the broadcaster, the new All 4 user interface and functionality will launch initially on PC and iOS devices and will be extended to other digital platforms across 2015. The new interface will be structured around three "temporal states" – On Demand (past), Now (present) and On Soon (future).

4Creative:

Executive Creative Directors:
Chris Bovill & John Allison

Creative Directors:
Alice Tonge & Chris Wood

Business Director:
Nik Windsor

Senior Producer:
Nicola Brown

Senior Designer:
Kevin Price

Digital Producer:
Christos Savvides

Brand identity: 4Creative / Magpie / We Are Seventeen

Source

In CoP3, OUGD601, UX and UI
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OUGD601: User Expectations Online - Great Expectations

I found this article on the Innovation Insights blog and found it gave some interesting stats and information. I have highlighted some of the points that interested me and some that I want to look into in more detail.

Key:

Interesting

Look into in more detail

Got a sec? Not if you’re a mobile app.

With an ever growing market of mobile applications, user expectations for apps are at all time high right now. Apps are required to perform at very fast speed with high quality in order for the user to keep using those apps. The three main types of application that get used most frequently are e-commerce apps, social media apps, and gaming apps. No surprise there.

E-Commerce

Today, the majority of mobile users have used their phones or tablet to purchase something online. The demographic for retail shopping is quite large, with an age group of 18-54. In this demographic, the user is most concerned with load times. Every second counts, and the longer a page takes to load, the more likely the user will abandon the page. For retailers, this leads to lost sales and higher abandoned cart percentages. Data on how the performance of a shopping application affects shopper's behavior is fascinating:

47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less.
40% abandon websites that take more than 3 seconds to load.
79% of shoppers who are a dissatisfied with website performance are less likely to buy from same site again.
52% of online shoppers state that quick page loading is important to their site loyalty.
As little as 1 second of delay decreases customer satisfaction by about 16% - every second counts.
44% of online shoppers will tell their friends about a bad experience online.
[Source: Kissmetrics]

Social Media

A large number of users use their mobile devices for social media. These are apps that have solidified their place in the daily, sometimes hourly, routine of mobile users. They aren't going away anytime soon. For a new social app competing against the giants of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like, it's really crucial that the app perform at a fast pace without sacrificing quality. For example, users that use chatting apps expect that sending and receiving messages be just as fast as if they were chatting in person.

Here are some recent trends that might make you rethink user experience when it comes to social media:

A surprising trend identified by Fast Company: the fastest growing demographic on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ is, believe it or not, the 55-64 age bracket. Your social app is no longer built for a young, mobile familiar crowd. To keep an older user in mind, the layout must be simple and easy to navigate.

Also, 189 million of Facebook's users are mobile only. This is probably a surprising number to some, but proves that you must consider how content displays on mobile devices. If users are not happy with the look and feel of an app, they will stop using it. Younger audiences, in particular, are not loyal to any one product and will switch to the newest, best, fastest product.

Gaming

Eastlabs gaming says the largest category of apps is games, and the majority of users are casual gamers. They want their game to be very easy to play, not too complicated, with rich graphics.

Casual gaming is the fastest growing category. This is evident if you look at top grossing games in Apple's App Store.

Social is beginning to play a large role in games as users want to play with friends. The majority of the top apps have a social media component. The most popular games are ones that allow you to play against others -- think Words With Friends and Candy Crush. These are easy to play whenever a user has a bit of downtime, and can be played with one finger, on the go.

The success of e-commerce, social, and gaming apps all rely on user experience. If you build an app and ignore these basic principles, you're likely to experience high abandonment rates.

The good thing is that user experience is something that can easily be achieved by spending some time and effort on your testing approach. Speed issues can easily be identified by doing load and performance testing on apps. Testing should also be multi-device, ensuring consistent layout and navigation across all devices.

Remember: it's not enough to just build your app and put it out there. Regular testing of the user expectations outlined above will not only help you create a better quality app, but will help you retain long term, happy users.

Nilesh Patel is QA/Project Lead for KMS Technology.

Source

For retailers, this leads to lost sales and higher abandoned cart percentages.

I find this sentence very interesting as it confirms in my mind that web users can be very lazy and expect things to load and work as quickly as possible. I myself fit into this category as I do not enjoy waiting much longer than 5 seconds for a web page to load.

Blog post from Shopify

These are easy to play whenever a user has a bit of downtime, and can be played with one finger, on the go.

I think this statement will assist me when it comes to designing and developing my practical piece as I need to ensure that whatever I design works across a range of different digital platforms including iPad, tablets, iPhones and smart phones. As laptops and computers are under pressure from other alternatives it is imperative that my brand works across these platforms in order for it to be a success.

The good thing is that user experience is something that can easily be achieved by spending some time and effort on your testing approach.

I know that experiments and tests will be something that I will have to spend alot of my time doing to ensure that my audience fully understand and engage with my product. I also think that it is the best way for me to understand UX and UI and put it into practice.

In CoP3, OUGD601, UX and UI
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OUGD601: UX and UI - Personas

During my time at Numiko during the summer break I was introduced to one of the main ways that designers work with UX; personas.

Numiko used personas to identify different users and what they individually wanted to get out of a web page. Using fictional people this allows designers to come up with something that suits a specific audience member.

_________________________________

Article from Shopify

You shouldn’t dive into paid advertising or content marketing without knowing exactly who your buyers are. Knowing and understanding who buys, or will buy your products is imperative to help you maximize your advertising return-on-investment and content effectiveness.

To understand core customer groups, it has become a standard for many companies to create buyer (or customer) personas. Buyer personas are fictional, generalized characters that build a picture of your ideal and largest markets. They usually encompass not only demographic information like age, location and income, but also psychographic information like interests, reasons for buying and concerns.

In this post, we'll learn how to build buyer personas for your online business so you can laser target your ads and create more compelling content that will engage your ideal customers.

Let’s dive in.

Why Are Buyer Personas Important

What was once an exercise generally only practiced by large companies, is becoming increasingly useful for smaller online retailers. There are a few reasons for this. First, as the online space becomes more and more crowded, it’s becoming increasingly important to have ultra targeted ads and communications. Additionally, the tools to target customers has been democratized to the point that everyone can create campaigns to target customers based on a ever-growing list of demographics and psychographics.

Consider this, Facebook's paid advertising now allows for an incredible amount of advanced targeting based on information like location, age, language spoken, education level and interests. For the first time in history, even with a small budget and as a new online store, you have access to very specific audience targeting.

To give you an idea of the level of detail you can use to target your ads on Facebook, take a look below at the parameters you can define:

Personas Will Evolve And Change

It's important to remember that your personas will change as you discover more information about your major types of customers and what motivates them. Especially when you're first starting out and creating personas for a brand new business, much of you customer personas will likely be based on personal thoughts, feelings and hunches. However, as your business progresses and you makes sales, you will start learning a lot more about your core customers.

As you learn more, don't forget to go back and continually re-define your buyer personas to ensure you're targeting your potential customers most effectively.

Broadly Define Your Personas

To begin defining your buyer personas, you'll want to start by being as broad as possible, then drilling down into more specifics. Keep in mind that most businesses will have multiple buyer personas.

As an example, let's use a fictitious online businesses that manufactures and sells bold, colorful socks for men. We will call it Bold Socks.

Because our fictitious sock company manufactures their own socks, it's easy to spot two potential groups of buyers:

End Consumer - These are customers that are purchasing for themselves or as a gift for another person.
Wholesale Accounts - This would include wholesale buyers from other businesses that may want to sell Bold Socks in their own retail and online stores.

Now that we have two very broad buying groups, let's break one of them down further. The first group, End Consumer can definitely be broken down into a few buyer personas so we will use that as our example.

Depending on the type of product you're selling you may dice your personas differently, however, in this particular case, we will divide the end consumer up into two distinct personas:

Men purchasing for themselves.
Women purchasing for their boyfriends/husbands as gifts.

Now that we have all of our initial buyer personas broadly defined, it's time to define some key information about them.

Drilling Down Into Persona Details

So where do you start when it comes to defining your customer personas? There’s a lot of possible information you could research, use and define, however, a great place to start is by looking at what information you can practically use. Facebook is one of the fastest growing ad networks and it’s also one of the easiest to use. Most importantly, it also has a lot of targeting options that go hand in hand with your customer persona. This makes Facebook Ad’s a great place to start to look for customer persona demographics and psychographics to define.

We've listed some of the major elements to define below for each of your personas:

Location - Where do people from this persona live?
Excluding Location - Where do people from this persona not live?
Age - What is the age range of this persona?
Gender - What is the gender of people in this persona?
Interests - What are the interests of people in this persona?
Education Level - What is the education level of this persona?
Job Title - What field of work do your customer work in and what types of job titles do they carry?
Income Level - What is the income range of this buyer persona?
Relationship Status - What is the relationship status of this buyer persona?
Language - What languages do people in this persona speak?
Favorite Websites - Why type of websites do people in this persona frequent?
Buying Motivation - What is this personas reasons for buying your product?
Buying Concerns - What is this personas concerns when buying your product?

Keep in mind that you don't need to answer all of these questions about each of your personas and you may opt to answer different questions altogether. However, the purpose should always be to understand your customers more to be able to communicate more effectively, as well as to be able to target your ads more precisely.

How To Research Your Buyer Personas

To begin gathering information on each of your buyer personas, you'll want to start with some research and fill in the gaps with assumptions and educated guesses.

If You Have An Already Established Business...

If you have an already established online business, there are tools you likely already have set up that can help you better understand who your current customers are. Some of these tools includeFacebook Insights, if you have a Facebook Page set up for your business, as well as Google Analytics Audience Reports, which has some robust information on demographics and some psychographics of your website visitors.

To understand your personas psychographics in depth, your best bet is to talk to your existing customers. The most effective way to do this research is to pick up the phone and call them or by surveying your customers with a tool like Survey Monkey. Since they have purchased from you, they're the type of customer you want more of, so understanding what motivates them to purchase and their biggest concerns can help you more effectively communicate with people similar to them.

If You Don't Have An Already Established Business...

If you don't already have an established online business, a great method to help you fill in the blanks is to look at your biggest competitors. One of the best places to start is by using a service like SimilarWebor Compete to analyze the traffic of your competitors.

You can also try visiting your competitors’ blogs and social media pages. Dive into the people who are commenting and interacting with their posts. You can click through to their profiles and learn a lot about them.

Bring It All Together

Utilizing the tools mentioned in the previous section and some educated guesses we completed our example persona for Bold Socks. Here's what we came up with:

Locations: Canada, United States
Age: 25 - 40
Gender: Male
Interests: Fitness and Wellness, Shopping and Fashion, Sports and Outdoors or Technology
Education Level: College Graduate
Job Title: Finance, Financial Advisor, Financial Analyst or Financial Adviser
Relationship Status: Single
Interested In: Women
Language: English
Buying Motivation: Wants to stand out in a boring workplace.
Buying Concerns: Price conscious.

The last thing to do is to make the persona come alive and humanize it. This is typically done by giving the persona a name and photo. You can use an online name generator and use images on LinkedIn or Google Images as long as your personas are for internal use only.

Below, we've completed our persona for Alex, a key persona for our fictitious company, Bold Socks.

How To Use Buyer Personas

With all of your buyer personas defined, you should now have a much better idea of who, how, and where you should be marketing to achieve the greatest level of success. The demographic information of each persona will help you target your ads more effectively, and the psychographic information can help you write more engaging copy for each particular persona.

For example, we know from creating our persona above that advertising a sale or discount to Alex will likely be more effective than trying to advertise quality since we know Alex is price conscious.

Conclusion

As mentioned previously, your buyer personas will likely change as you learn new information and you may even discover entirely new buyer personas altogether as your business grows.

With defined buyer personas your ad targeting and communication stands a much better chance. From increased engagement on your social media channels to a greater ROI for your online ads, taking the time upfront to define your buyer personas can help your online business succeed by better knowing and understanding your core customers.

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OUGD601: Context of Practice 3 - Most Popular Uses of the Web

1. Web surfing

2. Email and chatting

3. Social Networking

4. Videos

5. Online Business

6. Job Sites

7. News and Information

8. Classified Ads

9. Blogs

10. Downloads

11. Online payments

12. Online Banking

13. File sharing

14. Online games

15. Online Dating

Top 15 Most Popular Websites | October 2014

OUGD601: CoP Practicals - Initial Ideas

OUGD601: All 4 - Channel 4 re-designs 4OD

OUGD601: User Expectations Online - Great Expectations

OUGD601: UX and UI - Personas

Why Are Buyer Personas Important

Personas Will Evolve And Change

Broadly Define Your Personas

Drilling Down Into Persona Details

How To Research Your Buyer Personas

If You Have An Already Established Business...

If You Don't Have An Already Established Business...

Bring It All Together

How To Use Buyer Personas

Conclusion

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