ItsDevelopmental - content + technology + people

'Interact with people where they are'

And put your content where people are congregating, says Dan Farber, editor in chief CBSnew.com.

It is something we know but I thought it was well put in this video. This interview is one of a series on the future of content, marketing and business put together by Brian Solis. Well worth a look.

Putting science fiction into planning for the future

Just seen this on boingboing . . . interesting to see how Intel 'futurecasts'.

 

Another notebook finished - can I kick the paper habit?

Another work notebook nearly finished - that's it above - and again I am asking myself why on earth I would want to start using another one. I want those notes in electronic form (sketches are less easily transferred) where they are of more value.

But, work laptop is heavy, unwieldy. But maybe it has to be the only option for now. Tablets are expensive but they look so portable. Would like an ipad but just do not have that cash right now. Hmmm, can I wean myself off paper for good? Here is another opportunity to do so . . .

Behaving like ants

Interesting little experiment to see how people act - very ant like, as Scott Berkun says.

 

People Watching Plus from Rune Madsen on Vimeo.

Designing systems for the realities of human nature

And the realities are:

We are lazy - we want to be able to do things as easily as possible. So keep it simple.

We are social - we are pack animals. So, make sure what you design and build leverages that fact.

We are creatures of habit - Don't design against the grain  - go with what we know and have learned about what works well on the web. The most successful sites and services have grown through adaptation.

 

 

Mappiness, motivation and behaviour change

Mappiness looks very interesting in terms of getting people to participate. At a recent conference, Design for Persuasion, persuasive technology guru BJ Fogg talked about the behaviour change equation ie what is required to prompt people to change their behaviour.

This is the equation . . .

Behaviour change = motivation + ability + trigger (all at the same time)

Motivation = is the person motivated to do the 'behaviour' (eg I want to play tennis)
Ability = are they actually able to do the behaviour (eg I have a racket, trainers, kit and balls)
Trigger = the prompt to make the behaviour happen (eg tennis partner comes to collect you on route to court)

Motivation, ability and trigger have to happen at once to spark a behaviour change. If one of these elements is missing, there is no trigger for example, then behaviour change will not occur.

It looks at first glance, and I have not yet used the app, that Mappiness is providing the trigger - my phone will prompt me when I need to make a note of how I am feeling, it is giving me the ability to make a note of how I am feeling by letting me use the phone app to do this and I have the motivation to do this as I am interested in the project.

As an aside, I was triggered to find out more from this link in my Twitter stream.

Will start using Mappiness today so will see how it goes. I think it is important to note the role of mobile in this - without this as a mobile app, the triggers and ability would not be there.

For more on BJ Fogg's behaviour change work check out his behaviour grid.  

Feedback 'in the moment'

This morning I posted a comment on occupational psychologist Sukh Pabial's blog about feedback from training sessions. 

Web Designers vs. Web Developers

via sixrevisions.com

via gercek.typepad.com

via www.roaming-originals.org

Viral video: from Old Spice to Sesame Street to The Sun newspaper

An important lesson when thinking about making a highly shareable video: work out how you can piggy back on what others have done. It happens a lot on Youtube, especially in the form of mash-ups.

Here are two iterations of the hugely successful Old Spice advert - reworked to engage with a different audience. [H/T to @adders]

 

Microsoft Kinect - taking online learning to the next level?

Kinect, Microsoft's gaming innovation looks incredible. To say hands-free is an under-statement -- the system, which hooks up to the Xbox 360 requires no wires or handcontrollers to connect the gamer to the screen.

An infra-red camera 'sees' what movements the players are making - more about that here (and great to see a UK lab come up with the innovation) - allowing the users to interact with the screen.

This development could have a big impact in the online learning arena. Take the business space -- maybe helping people with soft skills such as presentation skills, communication skills etc. And what if it could handle groups?

Certainly would be amusing to see execs in meeting rooms 'interacting' with their plasmas.