Persona

Posted at: 2:40 PM by Marianna

Some days ago Google released a beta version of their new browser called "Google Chrome". The browser is still in an early stage of development but as Google states they will constantly updating the browser following users' reviews. With this browser Google team believes that they will "add value for users and help drive innovation on the web".

My first observation is that Chrome is a modern browser managing to introduce a new minimalistic design, leaving behind old design concepts. The first innovation you notice is the usage of tabs at the top of the page instead of being under the address bar and toolbar. This layout eases the way users manipulate tabs. They can easily add or remove them and each tab can be dragged independently out of the browser window opening a new Google Chrome browser improving the speed that users handle different tabs.

The Google team has also created a user-friendly help page where you can find all the information you need for various topics, either using the help search engine or clicking a link from one of the group links (getting started, troubleshooting, using Google chrome, and popular articles or help resources). From this help page a user can change the language settings too.

The browser's homepage is another newbie. It is called the "Most visited" page and so far it displays icons with links to the most frequently visited pages. It also has an internal search engine where you can search among those pages, together with a box of recent bookmarks and a link to a full history list. This page can save a lot of time to the user eliminating the number of clicks he has to make in order to view his bookmarks and navigate to the most popular pages.

Picture 1: Google Chrome Homepage

The combination of the address bar and search engine into one (known as the "omnibox") is another plus point of Chrome. Many times in the past I got frustrated by Mozilla Firefox's browser when I typed a word in the address bar but a "failed to connect" message appeared. Then I realised I was not typing on the search engine box! I am sure I was not the only one! This feature makes the design more simplistic and saves more space on the tools area too.

An additional feature that Google launches for the first time is the "incognito window "where you can view pages without appearing in your browser history or search history, and they will not leave cookies, on your computer.

Picture 2: "Incognito window" feature

Enough with all the appraisals! Google Chrome received a lot of bad reviews too; though it has become the 4th browser used already. Google has released a list with known issues for Google Chrome that grows bigger day by day. Among them are plug-in issues such as "Scrolling is delayed on pages with a lot of plug-ins" and display issues such as "Google Chrome's fixed width font is tiny on some sites". There are also claims that Chrome is not a secure browser at the moment but this is probably expected as it is a beta. In terms of user experience a negative issue indicated by the usability blog is that Google chose for the browser to use Windows Vista icons that are not allowing any customisations made by the user. As a result users with poor eyesight, tend to increase the size of these controls so they can easily minimise windows without accidentally closing them.

Google has still a lot to change in Chrome, especially things that they see as important, and it'll be interesting to see how it will evolve.

What do you think about Google Chrome? A good User Interface or not?

Labels: browsers, chrome, experience, google, usability, web

Posted at: 2:56 PM by Lewis

I often try to keep up-to-date with the latest developments at the W3C, and in particular with CSS. There are many useful and promising features outlined for CSS3 (the next spec for CSS standards, which are in development as I speak) that have already got me excited probably more than is really necessary. One of the more obviously inspiring advancements though, will be with web fonts.

For years web designers have been mostly stuck in a rut with web typography; restricted to a only a handful of fonts because developers such as myself have to keep a tight reign on what's possible, knowing that fonts on one particular computer will not be the same on another's. Although the solution to these restrictions has traditionally been to create imagery to represent such fonts, this and other methods present their own set of problems and required work-arounds for developers, and in general we remain restricted - stuck in the past. It's amazing how little progress (though some would say obvious given the circumstances) has been made with web typography over the years, despite the capabilities being there for some time.

CSS3's font selector should eradicate all of that. With it, it will be possible for developers to specify not just another boring old font, but actual TrueType fonts. How? By simply referencing the location of the font file itself in a CSS, so if the user has the font installed on their machine or not, it won't matter because the CSS can pull them in accordingly and render them on the page (providing they are using a web browser which supports CSS3, of course.)

Currently, only the latest version of Apple's Safari browser has implemented the spec - but it's there, and it works. Both Opera and Firefox plan to include the selector in upcoming versions of their browsers.

Problems? As always, Microsoft (in their own non-standard ways) are unlikely to be keen on such a method, and instead propose a font format of their own. Although they are beginning to demonstrate better understanding and willingness to comply to standards with their upcoming Internet Explorer 8, only time will tell if the specs are properly implemented. Hey, we can hope, right?

In the mean time, we can all declare support for features like this by supporting, using and actively promoting the use of standards-based browsers such as Firefox and Safari, which do take the time to follow these exciting proposals, and in turn send out a clear message to those who don't. Because in the end, designers, developers and the general public want feature-rich functions like this, making the web just that little bit more engaging to use in the process.

Labels: css, css3, safari, technical, web, web typography

Posted at: 8:35 AM by Hammad

Digital marketing rocks! Or at least we think so anyway. A cost effective channel, with quick turn around times, the ability to track success criteria and a constantly hungry and growing audience of consumers - what's not to love?

Well, it appears as though not everybody agrees. There are still organisations out there (big and small) who simply haven't got with the program. Maybe they are scared, maybe they have been burnt in the past or maybe they just don't fully understand the potential. One thing is for sure, it's a brave new world out there in cyberspace (and the blogosphere of course) and just like the universe itself, it seems to only get b bigger.

We're asked about digital marketing opportunities so much, that we've put together a quick refresher list some of the best and most effective ways of getting the most from it.

1. Optimise your web pages for better performance and ranking by the three major search engines, Google, MSN and Yahoo (Also known as GYM). Remember to create a good balance between writing for a search engine and writing for a real person! Copywriting is a skill in it's own right and web copy writing is even more specialised. Persona Creative can do both and we can also teach you to do some of it yourself (but you need talk to us first of course).
2. Create a web gadget for the Windows Vista sidebar, or Internet Explorer 7. They have been around for a while, but with the arrival of Microsoft's new software, millions of people will be accessing them every time they start their computer or browse online. Do you want to be in front of them? Well then start thinking about web gadgets (or come and talk to us and we'll explain it all to you and give you some inspiration too).
3. Take advantage of online PR. For every credible trade publication, there are a hundred credible web sites and even more less credible ones. All are another avenue to post your publicity material to and also use to boost your search engine indexing. Remember that the people managing a professional web site are the same level of professional than in a printed magazine; treat the media with respect and as your friend (Luckily we're really good at building media networks for you and also getting your stories in front of the right people and places).
4. Providing an RSS Feed of your latest company/product/service news
   1. Customer version
   2. Media version
5. Creating business blogs for anybody who can add value to customers (along with an RSS feed of the posts of course). This could include:
   1. Management / Strategy
   2. Technical / Research
   3. Service / Delivery
6. Having a Podcast / Vodcast (Audio or Video Web Log) of musings, opinions, news and insights from your organisation.
7. Making your web site comply with UK laws and best practice guidelines
   1. Accessibility
   2. Data Protection and Privacy
   3. HTML and CSS development standards
8. Make your web site more interactive and not just an online version of your brochure. Let visitors contact you, find where you're based, manage their accounts and experience your brand values.
9. Create a new mini-web site that works on mobile devices (3G Phones, Blackberrys and Windows PDAs etc). Make the content useful on the move, rather than brochure-info.
10. Design, Develop and Deliver a high quality email newsletter on a regular basis
1. Comply with best practice standards
2. Don't spam people
3. Build a good data list (it takes time, so get on with it!)
4. Think about how it looks/reads on a mobile device (lots of us sync our mail to our phone now remember)
11. Produce some interactive and fun stuff to promote your brand values and get some word-of-mouse going (also known as online viral marketing).
    1. Games
    2. Video shorts
    3. Ad campaigns
12. Buy some advertising space on a web site that is popular with your customers, rather than taking our a printed advert in your local rag. Maybe even sponsor a section or their newsletter.
13. Do some pay-per-click search engine marketing (PPC SEM) and only buy keywords and links for your high-margin, niche products and services so you don't blow your money on wasted web traffic.
14. Do some online networking. Post your advice and expertise on popular forums and blogs and encourage traffic to visit you for more information. Remember to play nice and not abuse other peoples space (Online etiquette; or Netiquette).
15. Learn a bit of simple HTML. The whole web is based on it, you need it to manage / understand your web site and email campaigns and a little time spent picking up a new skill could save you a lot of money on simple tasks. If nothing else, you'll be able to work with your web designers to better understand the limitations and opportunities available to you.

Labels: advice, digital, feature, web