Persona

Posted at: 11:12 AM by Mark

For a while at Persona we've been bookmarking one website that never fails to inspire us all; designers, developers, and information architects alike. Even the boss can't get enough! Smashing Magazine is a resource that

"delivers useful and innovative information for designers and Web developers with the aim of informing readers about the latest trends and techniques in Web development: clearly, precisely and regularly."

And that it does! Acting as a handbook of all things web dev, the site consists of a collection of professional references and solutions on various topics of interest. With daily postings such as 40 Creative Layouts, CSS Expert Ideas and Usability Nightmares, there really is something for everyone and each post is always thoroughly researched, well presented and right at the forefront of what's going on in the industry. Having this sort of content to hand is a great timesaver and source of inspiration just when the creative juices are starting to dry up.

Download: 1920x1200 • 1680x1050 • 1280x800 • 1024x768

Download: 1920x1200 • 1680x1050 • 1280x800 • 1024x768

Download: 1920x1200 • 1680x1050 • 1280x800 • 1024x768

Each month Smashing Magazine post a collection of themed desktop wallpapers designed and submitted by their readers and we obligingly browse through and download our favourites. So this month we've decided to have a go ourselves and create a November wallpaper that we can submit to the magazine and which you can download here for your viewing pleasure. After all, it's better to give than to receive at this time of year (well, almost). Our effort is based around the magic of bonfire night and features some lovely geometric fireworks intended to provide you with a little warmth and enjoyment as you gaze at your screen; something we all need at the minute, brrr.

In the coming months we hope to create more wallpapers for you all, building up a little resource of our own and you never know, we may get some of them featured on the hallowed pages of Smashing magazine.

Labels: creative, downloads, illustration, persona, web design

Posted at: 11:04 AM by Hammad

Most of us use planes, trains and automobiles all the time, so we're used to things that go bump in the night.

This year, World Usability Day is on November 13th (don't worry, it's not a Friday!) and the topic is Transportation. Visit www.worldusabilityday.org and you'll be amazed at the number of events, webcasts and discussions taking place by some of the best thinkers out there on how the next generation of transport systems will be better for all of us.

Labels: experience, persona, usability, world usabilty day

Posted at: 10:35 AM by David

Hello! My name is David Coveney, welcome to my first post as Online Marketing Executive here at Persona. It's very exciting to join such a young and professional agency; I am privileged to be part of the team.

I have joined Persona after acquiring 5 years experience in web design, development and most importantly online marketing. I've had great success promoting all types of business - from small to large - and public sector organisations.

My aim is to use this knowledge to successfully promote Persona's services as well as optimise our client's sites. Along the way I shall try to help you understand the world of online marketing by regularly posting informative marketing news that aims to help your online business become a success.

Online Advertising is Soaring

Internet advertising has seen phenomenal growth over the last few years. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers an estimated £7.5billion was spent on online advertising last year. This soar in spending has helped hoist Google into the stratosphere making it the market leader in online advertising. Can your business afford to be left behind? Or, is your business paying the price for ineffective marketing?

Although paying for visitors can be an expensive exercise if done incorrectly Persona can provide strategic account management to help maximise your Return on Investment (ROI). I will post more info on pay-per-click, banner advertising, directory listings and other paid for marketing activities.

Invest in SEO so you don't have to pay for visitors

Investing in pay-per-click campaigns are not the only to get more visitors to your site. On the contrary, there are many ways to market your business and get it known to the wider audience. Search Engine Optimisation is one such activity and is the active practise of optimising a web site by improving both on-page and off-page aspects in order to increase organic traffic from the search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.

SEO is a broad subject and can be split into smaller sub categories such as keyword analysis, competition analysis, copywriting, link building and a few others. I intend on writing blog posts on each of these so stay tuned. To find out more about Persona's Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services get in contact with us.

Social Media and Web 2.0

Social media has turned the web upside down in the last few years and has the power to literally make or break your online marketing campaign. Done well a social media campaign can result in increased brand exposure, thousands of new website visitors and natural links to your site. In turn this will increase those all important search engine rankings for your target keywords.

Social marketing is a great way to promote your business and become part of a community. Never before have you had your customers grouped together in such an accessible fashion. I will be posting a lot more information on social media, social bookmarking and social networking sites.

Get in touch

So if you are looking to promote your website and make it work harder for your business I would love to hear from you! Send me a comment or email (david@per-so-na.com).

Labels: marketing, online advertising, ppc, seo, social media

Posted at: 11:44 AM by Hammad

Intercede are one of the world's leading Identity and Credential Management companies. Their services include enabling and managing: secure registration, biometric capture, application vetting and approval through to smart card personalization, issuance and management.

Here at Persona we were charged with overhauling their corporate website to provide a more modern look and feel but also to produce a site which was logically, informatively and strategically structured in order to optimise content and create an excellent first impression for visitors to the site.

The project is being developed in a phased approach; phase 1 has just been completed with a flat HTML site, which is now live at www.intercede.com. Phase 2 will see the site expand in terms of the number of pages, whilst at the same time pages being developed into our CMS to allow Intercede staff to manage the content for their website.

The Intercede site does contain a lot of information as is the primary focus for sales based activity. As such we have ensured that the information is clearly presented and does not intimidate the visitor with huge blocks of copy. One of the ways we have sought to achieve this can be seen at http://www.intercede.com/products-techspecs.html - the page contains a lot of copy, however with clever use of an "accordion" tool, the content can be read in easily digestible chunks.

Phase 2 kicks off in the next few weeks, and we'll keep you posted on developments...

Labels: cms, technical, web design, website

Posted at: 2:33 PM by Marianna

CAPTCHA (contrived acronym for: Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) is a program test used in computing to protect websites against web robots by generating and grading tests that humans can pass but current computer programs cannot (captcha.net).

One of the main reasons websites use CAPTCHA is to prevent spambots to create numerous accounts through sign up forms. Other applications of CAPTCHA are:

• Preventing Comment Spam in Blogs
• Protecting E-mail Addresses from Scrapers
• Ensuring the validation of Online Polls results
• Preventing Dictionary Attacks in password systems
• Search Engine Bots
• Preventing E-mail Worms and Spam (source: captcha.net)

Though it is a useful tool for developers not all CAPTCHA are designed to be user friendly or even accessible from users who are blind, have low vision, or have a learning disability such as dyslexia. Example:

Picture 1 : Hard to read the letters due to colorful background (forums.steampowered.com)

Recommended guidelines for any CAPTCHA code:

• Accessibility. CAPTCHA's must be accessible. CAPTCHA's based solely on reading text or other visual-perception tasks prevent visually impaired users from accessing the protected resource. Any implementation of a CAPTCHA should allow blind users to get around the barrier, for example, by permitting users to opt for an audio or sound CAPTCHA.
• Image Security. CAPTCHA images of text should be distorted randomly before being presented to the user. Many implementations of CAPTCHA's use undistorted text, or text with only minor distortions. These implementations are vulnerable to simple automated attacks.
• Script Security. Building a secure CAPTCHA code is not easy. In addition to making the images unreadable by computers, the system should ensure that there are no easy ways around it at the script level.
• Security Even After Wide-Spread Adoption. There are various "CAPTCHAs" that would be insecure if a significant number of sites started using them. An example of such a puzzle is asking text-based questions, such as a mathematical question ("what is 1+1"). Since a parser could easily be written that would allow bots to bypass this test, such "CAPTCHAs" rely on the fact that few sites use them, and thus that a bot author has no incentive to program their bot to solve that challenge. True CAPTCHAs should be secure even after a significant number of websites adopt them. (source: captcha.net)

Good examples of CAPTCHA:

Picture 2: CAPTCHA with audio option (digg register form)

Picture 3: CAPTCHA with not case-sensitive letters and help for disabled (gmail sign-up form)

Picture 4: CAPTCHA with refresh button (my space form)

The CAPTCHA used in the World usability day website complies with all the guidelines mentioned earlier.

Picture 5: The website has audio CAPTCHA option for blind users / ability to refresh the CAPTCHA in case user does not find it easy to read / help section (world usability day account)

However the W3C group published an article in 2005 about the inaccessibility of CAPTCHA considering that they should not be used as there are other ways (spam filtering and/or heuristic checks) to spam control. Among their arguments were:

CAPTCHA using logic puzzles with mathematical equations prevent users with cognitive disabilities to register. Example:

Picture 6: CAPTCHA with logic test (Quantum Random Bit Generator Service: Sign up)

·Users who are deaf-blind, don't have or use a sound card, work in noisy environments, or don't have required sound plugins are likewise left in the lurch. Since this content is auditory in nature, users often have to write down the code before entering it, which is very inconvenient. Worst of all, some implementations of this technique are JavaScript-based, or designed in such a way that some blind users may not be able to access them.

·External projects such as BREAKING, AICAPTCHA and PWNTCHA have shown methodologies and results indicating that many of the systems can be defeated by computers with between 88% and 100% accuracy, using optical character recognition.

CAPTCHA should be used only where is necessary and mainly in large websites. It is advisable smaller websites to use other mechanisms to prevent spam. When used, the developers should make sure they are accessible from different categories of users.

What's your opinion about CAPTCHA? Are there any good or bad examples you came across lately?

Labels: accessibility, CAPTCHA, experience, guidelines