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Recently I worked with Starkey to launch their first e-commerce site for ListenHear, a Starkey brand that sells custom headphone/headset products. The solution was designed using a phased approach to content and functionality with the current implementation representing phase 1.

Using Shopify.com we were able to develop a full functioning e-commerce site within weeks, minimizing Starkey’s initial investment and on going monthly costs. The platform has some limitations, but overall it’s a powerful way to create an online store quickly with full order processing/tracking, configurable tax calculations, and  SEO/SEM features built in.

My contributions to the project included the visual design, info architecture, and implementation. And like always, your feedback and comments are welcome.

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 will be coming to the big MPLS tomorrow (wed 7/10) to see the July MiMA salon “The Future of Search”. It should be a great panel discussion with viewpoints from Google, MSN, and Ask.com.

Moderator:
Chris Boggs, Avenue A ||| Razorfish

Panelists:
Kevin Willer, Google
Saleel Sathe, MSN AdCenter
Michael Wessner, Ask.com

For more info on the event visit www.mima.org Hopefully I will see some of you there.

Next week I will be moving my “office” five hours south of Minneapolis to Iowa City. But it really shouldn’t change much for my clients. If anything, I think it will make projects more efficient. Why? because it makes everyone think about the best way to communicate:

• Do we really need to meet in person or can we review things over the phone?
• Do we even need to meet? or can it just be posted to basecamp and discussed there. (when everyone has time)
• Should I verbal explain it or visual show it?
• Are we focused on the right thing?

(more…)

And this is not it (and this is not me!). I mean seriously man…is this the time and the place to be sporting your Bose Triport Headphones and MP3 player while taking a picture of your kids on your cell phone? I mean the glasses are necklace are sweet but loose the rest. If I see you again next year, I will shove you in.

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.

Yesterday I went to see Sun’s latest innovation Project Blackbox on it’s tour stop in Minneapolis. This innovative new product challenges our current notion of data centers and offers new possibilities. One aspect that I think is simple, but very powerful, is the ability to centrally configure and test multiple Blackbox data centers then ship them around the world, connect (power, internet) and turn on! Predictive and Reproducible.

Beyond the physical tour (which was impressive) the event included a presentation by Dave Douglas from Sun, focused on Eco-Responsibility. It was interesting to learn about challenges of current data centers including the rising energy usage costs and how that is effecting organizational decision making — CIOs are needing to manage and calculate ROIs now based on energy consumption. I was amazed to learn about the amount of energy lost in the transfer for the power plant to the actual server — at every connection or conversion point energy is lost — resulting in only 52% of the energy reaching the devices in one Sun data center example. So it’s cheaper to place a data center near a good or even green power source and run long fiber connections that don’t have the same loss problems as electricity.

Overall it’s inspiring innovation that I think will change the way people buy and implement high-performance computing like the iPod + iTunes did for buying and listening to music. Whether it’s used as a permanent solution or as a versatile tool for transitions and reactionary needs — Project Blackbox will enable companies to think in new and more eco-friendly ways.