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Superfreakonomics Book Review

Andrea Hill — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:36:06 +0000

Before learning about mavens in The Tipping Point, the magic 10,000 Hours in Outliers or the fact that the biggest trends are actually the smallest from Microtrends, my appetite for social sciences books and the examination of societal patterns and trends was whet with Freakonomics. So when publisher Harper Collins contacted me to review SuperFreakonomics, I jumped at the chance.

In product development and marketing, being first to market brings huge gains, and I’ve often wondered if it was the novelty factor that caused me to continually revere Freakonomics as the best of the social sciences books I’ve read. But I hadn’t even made it through the introduction to be pleasantly convinced that Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner are the real deal. Not only are their discoveries and insights intriguing, the presentation thereof is entertaining and humorous.

In the 24 hours of first starting to read the book, I enthusiastically shared with others some of the fascinating tidbits of information I’d gained, including

how your banking habits can belie your propensity to terrorism
the perils of walking drunk
how we could prevent hurricanes
the suspicion that ice cream caused childhood polio
that “big-ass volcanoes” may be a key to climate change

What is so interesting about the Ste(ph/v)ens is that they not only share discrete random facts to be pulled out at cocktail parties, they leave the readers with some fodder for debate at said parties. Most notably, the chapter on climate change introduces what is seemingly a plausible solution to some of our woes. If this information is introduced to and accepted by a widespread audience, can we generate the support to put some plans into action?

With this book, we are introducing a whole new collection of facts with which to explore how people respond to incentives in interesting and unexpected ways. Just as stories recounted in the original Freakonomics challenged our individual beliefs and entered our societal body of knowledge, so too will the insights in this book. You may as well read it, as you’ll be talking about it in the future anyway.

Designing the Moment Book Review

Andrea Hill — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:20:23 +0000

In his first book, Designing the Obvious, Robert Hoekman, Jr. described seven core tenets of great Web application design:

Build only what’s necessary
Quickly turn beginning users into intermediates
Prevent errors whenever possible and handle the errors we cannot prevent gracefully
Reduce and refine interactions and task flows until even the most complicated applications are clear and understandable
Design to support a specific activity
Make constant, incremental improvements to our processes and applications
Ignore the demands of users and stick to a vision

In his latest book, Designing the Moment: Web Interface Design Concepts in Action, he focuses on the individual moments, the smaller interactions that must also take place to create an optimal user experience.

Reading the book is in itself an enjoyable experience: Hoekman’s writing style is conversational and interesting. This is not a dry manual of best practices or standards, but rather a series of short, easily-digestible case studies. Each chapter (after the first chapter, they are never longer than 10 pages each) covers a specific “moment” or interaction on a site. In almost every case, Hoekman shares a story of a specific project he worked on and why his design evolved as it did.

Not long ago I was speaking to someone about detail, and mentioned the discussions we’d have at LexisNexis about the placement of the Cancel button. I felt I’d found a kindred spirit in Hoekman, with his sections on “Avoid Login syndrome” (page 31), “Perfecting OK/Cancel” (with subsections ‘Primary and secondary actions’ and ‘it matters’ (page 101)).

Hoekman’s style is open and accessible: he speaks as from one designer to another, sharing his experience and suggestions. Most notably in Chapter 5, Getting Your Head out of the Tag Cloud, Hoekman starts off the paragraph admitting he doesn’t have all the answers:

I’d like to expand on that story a bit, because I’ve learned a few things since writing Designing the Obvious that have changed my perspective.

The entire book becomes a joy to read, because the reader is invited to form his own thoughts and opinions – indeed, this is explained right in the introduction. Yet despite the encouragement to read the book with a critical eye, I found myself understanding Hoekman’s perspective and appreciating his solutions throughout.

“Section 4: Diving In” was one of the most useful of the book, as it dealt with some more complicated features: playback controls, form design, and inline validation. These are all challenging aspects of interaction, and at the very least Hoekman’s justified recommendations can serve as a starting point for designers. I also appreciated the chapter on “Making Social Connections,” which focused more on why to add social features rather than how.

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in web or interaction design or development. Both new and experienced practitioners will glean some valuable insights from this enjoyable read.

Designing for the Social Web Contest Winners

Andrea Hill — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:44:43 +0000

A hearty congratulations to Cristhian and Peter Kaizer – they are the winners of my first book giveaway!

I compiled a list of all comments and tweets related to this giveaway (although I rendered the author himself ineligible), and then ran two random number generator scripts. It just so happened that it was one tweet and one comment that won; there was no bias on my behalf.

Thanks again for those who took the time to comment and help raise awareness of the contest! There will be more in the future, best of luck!

Designing for the Social Web – Book Review and Giveaway

Andrea Hill — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:03:38 +0000

I have been a fan of Joshua Porter and his writings over at the Bokardo Blog for quite awhile. When he announced that he’d written a book, Designing for the Social Web, I knew I wanted to read it. It’s taken me a year since its release, but I finally was able to read it, and I also have two copies of the book to give away!

Porter has a well-developed philosophy on design. In his own words:

Five principles guide [his] design philosophy:

The Experience belongs to the user.

Technology serves humans.

Design is not Art

Great design is invisible

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

This shines through in both the topics discussed as well as the overall presentation of the book itself. Designing for the Social Web comprises 8 chapters:

The Rise of the Social Web
A Framework for Social Web Design
Authentic Conversations
Design for Sign-up
Design for Ongoing Participation
Design for Collective Intelligence
Design for Sharing
The Funnel Analysis

Officially my background is in web development, but working in the User Experience and Interactive Marketing fields has allowed me to cultivate an appreciation for design as well. I was actually recently involved in a Twitter exchange with Taj Moore (@tajmo) about design:

Independently both stated that Design is not art, with which I heartily agree. I have known of agencies where an Interaction Designer must be good at Flash; but that should not be to say that someone who knows Flash (or is “an Artist”) is therefore an Interaction Designer.

The book “examines the series of design problems to correspond to increasing involvement–the Usage Lifecycle–and the strategies social web design can offer.” This refers to the transition of users from ‘unaware’ to ‘interested’ to ‘first-time users’ to ‘regular users’ to ‘passionate users’ of software. This is an incredibly simple concept, yet one that is too often not considered when a project is conceptualized. We want to build a site/make sales/increase conversions, but we don’t always focus on the relationship we need to establish with our visitors to ultimately lead to those tangible objectives.

Designing for the Social Web walks the reader through the changing online landscape, and introduces the idea of the social web. It then introduces the AOF method for making design decisions (Activities, Objects, Features). This chapter resonated with me for a number of reasons. The focus is really on, well, focus. What is the primary activity? What are the objects with which people will interact during this activity? What are the core features? It is easy to dream big, but my personal preference is to refine and simplify and work out the tiny details. If something on an interface doesn’t support the primary action, why include it? Why distract a site visitor from achieving what they want to achieve?

This idea of starting with a core feature set and then enhancing it moving forward is a difference between the ‘old web’ and the new web. A website is not a static thing that is built once to exist in perpetuity. Rather, it should be expected that it will be developed and enhanced as time goes on (to the point where we now consider some sites to be in perpetual beta. There is no need to shove in all the features you may possibly want at the beginning, on the off chance you may need them later.)

The entire Usage Lifecycle is about lowering barriers and making it easy for people to progress through different stages, and simplifying the interface is one way to do this. This is particularly well-explained in the chapter “Design for Sign-up”. Don’t scare users away with daunting forms that collect more information than is needed. Perhaps you’re interested in knowing the income level of your visitors are, but if site visitors are not invested and don’t see the benefits in sharing this information, you risk their abandoning the page and losing them completely.

Beyond the quality of information, the book itself is a joy to read from an aesthetic standpoint. Every page contains illustrations or examples of the points being made, and helps to drive home the fact that this is a book on effective design.

So now – if you’re interested in receiving a copy of this book, you just need to do one of two things (or both, for double the chance to win!). Either leave a (meaningful) comment to this post, or tweet a link to this post. That’s it! Next week I will collect a list of everyone who’s either commented or tweeted, and I’ll announce the winners!

The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited – Book Review

Andrea Hill — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:20:22 +0000

When Emanuel Rosen wrote “The Anatomy of Buzz” a decade ago, he could only speculate on the extent to which the Internet would change word of mouth marketing. In the latest version of his book “The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited: Real-life lessons in Word-of-Mouth Marketing“, Rosen has returned with a “completely updated and revised edition with over two-thirds new material”.

Yet, it’s the same book. And why? Because the core of what makes something buzz-worthy has not changed, even as we introduce new channels through which buzz may spread.

The basic building block of buzz is a comment.

These days, I think most of us associate the term “comment” with blogs, but a comment can happen at the water cooler, on the bus, waiting in line at the grocery store. We like to engage in conversation, and being buzz-worthy is about being worthy of commentary.

Rosen’s book is not simply a series of lightly examined anecdotes: the chapters examine such topics as identifying and activating “hubs”, how various companies are measuring buzz, the relationship between WOM and advertising, and how social networking affects buzz. The table of contents includes a brief synopsis of each chapter to make the information more easily explored and explained.

Rosen is a master of his craft; as I read this book I eagerly shared the anecdotes and insights I gained with friends and colleagues. “The Anatomy of Buzz” has obvious implications for the business world, but it also offers insights into our own personal motivation and behavior. I recognized many of my own actions, having responded to such tactics and contributing to the buzz myself.

The chapter on social networking was the most relevant and interesting, as I’m currently working on a research project examining the impact of social recommendation and influence of such sites on offline behavior. Rosen shares 10 principles:

Social networks are invisible

People link with others who are similar to them

People who are similar form clusters

Buzz spreads through common nodes

Information gets trapped in clusters

Network hubs and connectors create shortcuts

We talk to those around us

Weak ties are surprisingly strong

The net nurtures weak ties

Networks go across categories

It may be noted that not all of these principles are constrained to online social networks: in fact, only #9 deals specifically with the implications of digital networks. There is a natural limit as to the number of “close friendships” we can all sustain, but the Internet and particularly social networking sites makes it easier to have some ties with a much broader base of people. Services like the Facebook newsfeed or Twitter make it much easier for messages to spread beyond the natural clusters of our close friendships.

With 27 pages of endnotes and a 4 page bibliography, Rosen has done his homework in preparing this comprehensive book on how to generate genuine buzz in a noisy world. While there may be no guarantees of a best-selling book or a viral video, the insights by dozens of thought leaders, marketing executives and consumers help the reader understand some of what makes a campaign or product buzz-worthy.

Even if I hadn’t received this book for free from the author himself, I’d have purchased it. Read the book. Tell your friends.

Look what the Easter Bunny brought!

Andrea Hill — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:27:08 +0000

A few months ago at Web Directions North, I met a representative from Peachpit Press. He offered me free books, which I of course accepted. As you can see, he was also kind enough to provide me with a number of books to give away:

2 copies of “Designing for the Social Web” by Joshua Porter
2 copies of “SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate” by Joel Postman
2 copies of “Strategic Mobile Design: Creating Engaging Experiences” by Cartman & Ting.

Watch this space for upcoming contests for those books, as well as reviews! (I haven’t decided yet how to give them away)

I’ll also be reviewing “Designing the Moment: Web Interface Designs in Action” by Robert Hoekman, Jr, and “Building Findable Websites” by Aarron Walker.

Obviously, my bookshelf is well-stocked. Which book shall I review first?

Subject to Change Book Review

Andrea Hill — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:15:34 +0000

The Adaptive Path book “Subject to Change” quite literally landed on my desk to review. As a long-time fan of the work of Jesse James Garrett and the folks at Adaptive Path, I was eager to read this book on “creating great products and services for an uncertain world” right away.

Several years ago when I was working in the LexisNexis User Experience Department, we had the folks from Adaptive Path come in for a workshop, and the organization has quite honestly framed my perceptions on design and product development. I eagerly picked up the book as soon as I was able.

Last year, I heard Jesse James Garrett (the President of Adaptive Path), speak at a local gathering. His presentation opened with a discussion of how Kodak fundamentally changed the field of photography. So too did “Subject to Change”.

I suppose it should be no surprise that many of the examples of successful design that Jesse shared then are in the book. I have no doubt that for people who haven’t yet been exposed to the ideas, they will be as intriguing and interesting as they were the first time I was exposed to them. Obviously there was more detail in the book than in the talk, so I did gain a deeper understanding about the ideas being discussed.

As ever, I am impressed with the deliberate nature of the work Adaptive Path does. While it may be simple to believe that great design stems purely from inspiration, the book draws attention to the formal process of product development. I eagerly jotted down notes while reading, hoping to internalize what I view as best practices:

Aiming to be better at an activity that everyone else has mastered isn’t a strategy. Strategy is about tradeoffs – purposely choosing tactics different than your used by your competition. Strategy means saying no to some activities so you can excel at others.

This is the same concept discussed in Made to Stick: determine your core value and align all your activities accordingly. It seems so simple, yet that doesn’t mean that is it is easy to put into practice. I believe as humans we’re naturally competitive, and it can seem like a realistic goal to achieve what someone else has – and then a bit more. But in such a race, there is inevitably someone else right behind you, eager to pass. Great design doesn’t focus on the solutions others have come up with, but rather on the problem to be solved.

One idea that was explored that was novel to me was the idea of looking beyond tasks and goals, and seeking to consider user behavior, motivations and meaning. As interested as I am in user experience and information and interaction design, I am still quite junior at it. The idea of task-driven process flow makes sense to me as a developer. Starting to consider things that are a bit more qualitative makes sense, but it’s not something that occurs to me naturally. While we do resign ourselves to using “unusable” systems if we must, do we not prefer something that is more engaging or in alignment with our preferences? This is a great point that is likely what separates me from “the designers.”

I admire the designers and strategists at Adaptive Path, but I will admit that their approach to technology always leaves me a bit underwhelmed. One of the final chapters in the book is entitled “the Agile Approach” and seeks to explain the agile development process to non-developers. As it turns out, I’ve worked in the User Experience Department at an organization that adopted the agile approach, and I can assure you that things are not quite so ideal as the book makes them out to be. While much of the book educated and excited me, this single chapter brought me back to the reality of budgets, timelines and scoping exercises.

Overall, however, Subject to Change serves as a fantastic introduction to product design and development in a logical, practical way. Anyone wanting to get into product design and development would do well to pick this book up, and learn from the best.

Buzz-worthy

Andrea Hill — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:35:37 +0000

Emanuel Rosen wrote the book on word-of-mouth marketing. Literally. In the late ’90s, he was the author of the national bestseller “The Anatomy of Buzz.”

I listened to the audiobook, and mentioned it in passing in a blog post from last July. Earlier this week, I received an email that seemed to come from Mr. Rosen himself stating that the book had been revised, and asking if I’d be interested in a copy. Naturally, I said yes, and last night I received “The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited“.

The book came signed, with Mr Rosen’s business card with a short note as well. The personal touch makes a difference, and I’m eager to dive in, read the book and share my thoughts.

Yup, that’s word-of-mouth marketing put into action. The guy knows his stuff.

The Mobile Marketing Handbook – Review

Andrea Hill — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:18:16 +0000

In late November 2008, Kim Dushinski of Mobile Marketing Profits released her book “The Mobile Marketing Handbook.” Having heard Kim speak at the Thin Air Summit earlier that month, I was eager to pick it up.

It’s always difficult for a book on emerging technologies and marketing strategies not to be out-of-date as soon as it is published, but Dushinski has crafted a useful guide of best practices that will remain relevant as this field matures. The handbook also has an accompanying online resource guide to house additional information as it is developed or changes.

The book is divided into two parts: “Mobile Marketing Strategy and Implementation” and “Mobile Marketing Toolbox: Tactics, Campaign Ideas and Resources”.

One of the most refreshing aspects of the book is that it is not sales material. Much information found online related to mobile marketing is published by a vendor and often speaks to the benefits of their particular services. In contrast, Dushinski offers a comprehensive, unbiased view of the current and future landscape.

The Mobile Marketer’s Handbook offers information on all things mobile: calling out opportunities in voice, text messaging and the mobile web, and also includes more advanced topics like promoting and measuring the effectiveness of your campaign. Topics are presented in an easy-to-understand, engaging fashion, but the content is rock-solid.

The Handbook is enough to make anyone even slightly interested in the possibilities of mobile want to dig in and give a campaign a try, and provides the tools and resources to make it possible!

The Paradox of Choice Book Review

Andrea Hill — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:45:45 +0000

Barry Schwartz has written a book called “The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less“.

I’ve read several books on consumer behavior, and also worked on sites for several top retailers while I was at Resource. I was interested to see how Schwartz would explore “the tyranny of choice”.

Schwartz states his goals early on in the prologue:

We would be better off if we embraced certain voluntary constraints on our freedom of choice, instead of rebelling against them.

We would be better off seeking what was “good enough” instead of seeking the best (have you ever heard a parent say, “I only want the ‘good enough’ for my kids”?

We would be better off if we lowered our expectations about the results of decisions.

We would be better off if the decisions we made were nonreversible.

We would be better off if we paid less attention to what others around us were doing.

Even before delving into the book, these five points caused me to pause (and not just over the use of the word “nonreversible” rather than the more typical “irreversible” – although that was part of it). The ideas of being content with ‘good enough’ and lowering expectations are ones I could stand to take to heart. Paying less attention to what others are doing reminded me of the Wisdom of the Crowds, where people unconsciously modified their behaviour based on their assumptions about others. I was eager to learn more about what Schwartz had to say about these points.

The argument that too many choices confuses and overwhelms is one I’ve heard before. As Schwartz states: with choice comes personal responsibility. The electoral system is based on the idea that we select someone to represent us, someone who will be informed on decisions and their impacts. We do this recognizing that we cannot all devote that time and effort to the endeavour. Yet in many other cases, we lay this responsibility on the public, under the guise of it being “freedom of choice” and therefore somehow always a desired thing.

The book had a very academic feel to it, and although the premise was interesting, I found that I could only read it in small doses. The book was organized into four sections: ‘When We Choose’, ‘How We Choose’, ‘Why We Suffer’ and ‘What We Can Do’. In the third section it was easy to see the applicability to business (how offering more than a single item for sale affected individuals’ tendancies to purchase, and not always in the same manner), but most of the book read more as an intellectuals’ self-help tome. I specifically refer to intellectuals, because while the necessary change was discussed, there were no practical advice on how best to make changes for the better.

While the “Paradox of Choice” had a few interesting facts in it, it was by no means a ground-breaking book. Although perhaps I come to that conclusion by virtue of my expectations and the wealth of other books out there… thereby proving the premise!