PixelMEDIA

As a teen in the 80’s the Rubiks Cube was more than a puzzle, it was a personal challenge. I had friends that had managed to master it, without help, whereas I never got past the first few stages. The moto at the time was “you can’t do the cube”. Even it’s inventor, Erno Rubik, whom first showed this puzzle at a toy fair, had not figured it out yet. 

Fast forward to today and the Rubik’s Cube is back, and with a new tagline - “You CAN Do the Rubik’s Cube“. This change in approach is a friendlier challenge - one of encouragement. And it’s supported  by a robust campaign to introduce the Rubik’s Cube into schools, summer programs, youth organizations and after-school programs, to start. (more…)

Back in 2002 - MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte had an epiphany. What would happen if every child in the world had access to a internet and network enabled laptop, chock-full of useful educational and productivity tools. Well out of this whimsical and seemingly daunting endeavor came one of the coolest and truly inspirational technology tools I’ve had the pleasure to work with.

I’m not breaking any ‘new news’ so to speak here — the OLPC program is well established, has had a wide-range of press and media coverage throughout it’s short life. However, the program is in it’s infancy… The amazing leadership team obviously has big plans for both the program and the device. From my position the challenges are more socio-political and logistically oriented than technologically.
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Tom recently touched on the larger IT initiatives and green concepts we’re exploring, but we felt there were smaller things we could do as well. Led by our front-desk administrative assistant, Breanne, we’ve started to brainstorm actions we can take without large budgets or extensive building renovations. And our discussions have us thinking more about what motivates participation.

While some may act because they care about the environment and its future, others not motivated by the inconvenient truth alone tend to adopt environmentally-friendly options when they are easy and cost-effective. So beyond having our carbon footprint audited and virtualizing with VMWare, what are we exploring to encourage participation at PixelMEDIA? (more…)

I’ve been working with a client who came to PixelMEDIA looking for an Information Architect to turn an existing desktop application into a browser-based user experience. They invited us to support their in-house programmers and a third-party visual design company. At the initial project kickoff meeting, it became apparent that the three parties at the table had wildly differing ideas on how the application worked and what the vision for the next version of the product should be.

But it also turned out, that the majority of the client stakeholders were puzzled as to what PixelMEDIA was providing. They didn’t understand what Information Architecture was, and hadn’t even thought about the overall user experience for the product. Yet, they had requested an IA. How odd. (more…)

Ah, the dreaded trend word. In the B2B space it’s a scary issue. They come and go before most even get a chance to embrace them. With Gartner and other “influencers” at the helm, tossing new fangled ‘everything’ around, it’s a genuine OMG issue.

I read earlier this year that 2007 was the year of Social, and 2008 is the year of Mobile. Holy crap. Are you serious? What happened to Web 2.0? Or is that now Enterprise 2.0, because anything that finally makes it into the enterprise took so long we needed a new name? I think we can thank Gartner for that - the new names for the stuff that needs some new focus. (more…)

There’s been a lot of chatter around the office, mostly email and hallway talk, about what this really means. I love that we’re talking about it. But what does it all mean? To go green, or be green? To us?

The movement is really quite quiet, with little steps here and there - on the people side it’s items like fewer lights (bulbs in and on), mugs not paper cups, car-pooling, 2-up double sided printing (I love that), less printing, making notebooks from scrap paper (of which there is lots), shutting monitors and desk lighting off, and a company plan for dry cleaning with a “green products” company. Small steps. But steps. Nothing drastic, but sustainable. Not a diet, but a lifestyle change. Very cool.

On the IT side there are some great strides being made as well. What I like to call big impact items. (more…)

In gaming, playtesting and user research are crucial. The interface and the user experience don’t just have to work; they have to be enjoyable and engaging. That’s why game companies invest so much time in prototyping and user testing, and why they collect so much data.

But this doesn’t have to stop at the test lab. With online and networked games becoming more and more popular, game companies have an opportunity to monitor their users remotely. Some companies, like Valve - makers of the hit Half-Life franchise - constantly monitor their players, which yields some interesting statistics.

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For a real long time you would have thought that Youtube was the only game in town. Their web presence was absolutely staggering. But let me ask you this: How many videos of frat boys drinking multiple beers in ten seconds from a giant beer syringe do you really need to see before you feel like you’ve seen them all? Youtube never seemed to be much good for anything but that sort of video. As soon as cable and TV networks started cracking down on clips of their shows popping up on Youtube, the site became a wasteland of teenage camera phone antics and the average Youtube user seemed to be out for that sort of experience. In spite of Wired Magazine declaring Youtube the future of television and Newscorp paying out the nose to buy it, it’s certainly not for everyone, particularly if you’re trying to reach a much more sophisticated audience.

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We published this at about 5 last night. It was a 13 day sprint, and we jammed. We were super focused. It’s late on July Fourth and I just took my first look at the site, the whole thing. Remotely. I like it. I have a page of updates, of course, the d’oh! list. It’s amazing what a day and a new environment can do. I felt like “a user”, just cruising around. Exploring everything.

However… it was not a flawless launch. There was a last minute freak out moment. You know what I mean — you’re ready. You’ve looked at everything ten times, some twenty.

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Exploring the “what ifs…?” of the user experience is the best way to avoid the “if onlys…” once the project is completed. And working with the client to prepare and approve an experience brief is the best opportunity to ask important questions about the fundamental underpinnings of a project, including audience, message, and purpose.

Here’s a quick look at other people’s briefs. No jokes, please.

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