ConnectFive/////

I was viewing a web based photo album this morning and it had a link saying “CoolIris can be used on this Gallery ” So I clicked it and found a pretty cool firefox plug-in that turns image, video galleries and even search results into an interactive visual wall.

Overall the interface and interactions are a continued expansion of the itunes tile interface Apple introduced a while a go. But the shift in perspective to give a users an idea of the length of the results is visually “cool” but more importantly it has purpose for the user. Time will tell if I will actually use the “discover” and “shop” functionality provided by the plug-in but I am interested in exploring the use of their “embed wall” flash version (shown below with their sample images)

I also might try and use it when searching for inspirational material for design projects.

Just a quick note to share a few useful sys admin sites. I’ve had some email/dns issues with my domain because of the dns servers my domain was using. I was introduced to dnsstuff.com and ran a report that highlghted the issues. I then subscribed to dnsmadeeasy.com and now host my dns with them for a small monthly fee. Now I am migrating all my domain names there so they are centralized. I also learned about SPF files and implemented one on my domain to prevent spam fraud, you can learn more here http://www.openspf.org/

I think the email issues is solved now but time will tell.

I just returned home from my first business trip to Minneapolis now that I live in Iowa City. The drive is 5 hrs long each way, so before I left I loaded up my iPod with some podcasts hoping I could use that “downtime” as inspiration time. And it worked thanks to Gerry Gaffney and UXpod.com

I listened to 20 of his podcast interviews and enjoyed just about everyone of them. Gerry does an excellent job interviewing a range of UX practioners from around the world, which helps me think beyond the US bubble I live in.

I really enjoyed the following:

Web Teams - an Interview with Jesse James Garrett

Customer Support - an Interview with Joel Spolsky

Intel Outside - an Interview with Genevieve Bell

Personas and Outrageous Software - an Interview with Alan Cooper

Market Research - an Interview with John Berenyi

Card Sorting with Donna Maurer

Voice User Interfaces - an Interview with Erin Smith

Web Accessibility Guidelines - an Interview with Gian Sampson-Wild

Like I said, I enjoyed a lot of them.

The only complaint I have is that the audio quality (compression) and volume vary greatly between files making the listening experience a bit challenging. I would encourage Gerry to standardize his format and error on the side of good audio quality, since if it’s not enjoyable then people won’t listen.

I will be posting some comments on his site as well for each podcast and would encourage anyone and everyone to do the same. Keep up the good work Gerry, I will be traveling again in a month so if you could get another 20 or so done by then — that would be greeeaaat.

I’ve always been suspect of third party “Click-Stream Panels” like Alexa, hitwise, etc. but I’m building confidence in Compete.com Basically, they have the largest pool of participants (2,000,000+) and they also pull data from major ISPs/ASPs, opt-in panels and people using their Compete Toolbar (see their comparison). This service is free and it gives you a unique ability to learn about traffic to other sites (like your competitors that you compete with, thus the witty name). It serves as a “public record” of sorts that people can view contrast and compare. Here’s a snapshot chart I created to compare some major online shopping sites. Notice the holiday surge and how Amazon’s pattern is different:

What you can learn and not…
You can see user traffic volume and patterns over time but like most metrics you should not get hung up on exact numbers. You should focus on relationships and percentages. All the numbers are coming from the same large pool, so even if they the exact numbers are not quite accurate they will still be proportionally accurate. You can easily compare and contrast sites like the chart above to see who has the most traffic, who is showing a trend of growth, what seasonal patterns exist or what spikes maybe occurring due to ad campaigns, product launches, bad pr, etc. Bottom line, you can see who is using their sites effectively and who is not.

They also have a nice blog that offers some insights and observations around trends and topics. Here are a few interesting ones:
Google and the rest of the usual suspects continue to dominate video
UFC: 6th Most Popular Sport in U.S.?
And with the first Pick in the NFL Draft…

So give it a try! If you install their Compete Toolbar you get some added value about the “trust” of sites you search and visit as well as their popularity ranking and deals that are offered. And the more of us that use it, the more accurate it will become.