FALL09PB692 | Electronic Publishing Overview

"New PC to Encourage Older Users" from the BBC.

A new computer is available for older users in Britain. It aims to simplify the experience for new users by creating a very basic desktop, called SimplicITy. When the computer is turned on, the "Square One" screen comes on with no log-ins needed. On the main screen there are large buttons directing users to: e-mail, Internet, chat, a user profile, and files (for word docs and photos). In addition to not having a log-in screen, there are no drop-down menus. Older users can also get help on learning how to use their computers from the 17 video tutorials that come on the computer.

A government survey in England found that 6.4 million people over the age of 65 had never used the Internet. I think this is a great opportunity to make computers more usable for the elderly, but I'm a little turned off that this new computer is a collaboration of Wessex Computers and discount-age (which is an online membership site for over-50s). It is also run by the woman who stars in the video tutorials. Smart for her to come up with a new way to reach her market, but I hope that the material with the computer and the content included in the videos doesn't trick users into using her web site.

The 80-yr-old woman in the video is adorable and doesn't want to get left behind with her friends and family or miss out on shopping opportunities. Worth a watch!

A friend of mine who works at O'Reilly was nice enough to put me in touch with their VP of Digital Initiatives, Andrew Savikas, so I could ask him a few questions. The company is forward thinking in their attitudes toward digital publishing: O'Reilly has a DRM-free policy, and Savikas writes for O'Reilly's Tools of Change for Publishing blog, which is devoted to "connecting publishers with the people and companies that can help them understand and adapt to a digital future." He sent me the link to one of the entries, wherein I came across a most welcome line in which he notes that: "You don't get an "A" for effort just by spending time and money creating content (and you are not entitled to your business model--you have to earn that money every day by doing something that people find worth paying for--and they decide it's worth paying for, not you)."  The post also refers, in several places, to the conceptual, heady ideas of Kevin Kelly, whose piece "Better than Free" offers a way forward for the digital media business.

 Given all this, I expected my subject to have some rather dramatic responses to my inquiries about the future of publishing and bookselling. What he actually said, though, was that if you consider a publisher's main function not as selling copies, but as aggregating authors and audiences, the fundamental role of the publisher isn't really changing. Curating and filtering remain the core of the publisher's work, and helping people find good and interesting things is still at the essence of (e)bookselling. 

Many people have a lot of investment, both emotional and financial, in books, and as the medium evolves, and distribution changes, all this Google Books litigation and DRM mania seems to be an indication that a large portion of the industry feels that they've lost their way. It was good to be reminded of the constants in the book business.

In reading Dr. Nielsen's article on Usability 101, the five qualities of usability (Learnability, Efficiency, Memorability, Errors, and Satisfaction) seem to be perfectly natural to us. But how do they hold up with the symbol that we have all come to know and love, The Amazon Shopping Cart?

We spoke briefly about the shopping cart and the over all design of Amazon.com in our last class. In an article that I found entitled, Hidden Secrets of the Amazon Shopping Cart, writer Bryan Eisenberg looks at the evolution of the online shopping experience of Amazon and how it affects the site's usability as a whole.

For Amazon, success comes from a continuous cycle of optimization (measure, refine, test). Compare this rigorous approach to the fact that over 75% of online retailers don't to any optimization testing, and you'll begin to see why Amazon remains the envy of e-commerce marketers. (Eisenberg)

Eisenberg tells us that in the beginning, there was the cart. With that cart came constant assurance that any one decision was not final and that online purchases were indeed safe. Then came the cart and one-click purchasing, sign-in names, and the deletion of the wording "Ready to buy?" It merely became unnecessary because the online shopper evolved and understood the cart's purpose.

Eisenberg wrote the article in February of 2008. Amazon has since changed its method of checking out. If you go to the site, you have almost too many options for purchasing.

1. The ever-popular "Add to Shopping Cart."
2.  "Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering." This process (if you follow Eisenberg's examples) seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Also, if one has to sign-in, it no longer becomes a 1-click process.
3. "Add to cart with FREE Two-Day Shipping" which also has the shopping cart symbol and a chance to sign up for "Amazon Prime."
4.  "Add to Wishlist" has a drop-down menu allowing you to create a wish list while another wish list button allows for you to search through baby shower and wedding registries.
5. "Express Checkout with PayPhrase" is essentially the new 1-click. It has the security of using a phrase such as "Weekend Warrior" and a PIN to purchase something online without having to give your credit card number on different computers. The phrase is also used at other sites like Patagonia, DKNY, and Jockey.
6. "More Buying Choices" includes buying used and finally selling/trading in your own junk.

Now, I'm an experienced buyer and Amazon is certainly an experienced seller. But where there was once the simplicity of the cart symbol, has Amazon overcomplicated the process with too many simplistic options? Is their usability off the tracks or do we as buyers disregard the options foreign to us? 

It's like looking at the rows of shopping carts as soon as you walk into a Stop & Shop. You want one with a cup holder and a working baby seat buckle. No, wait, this wheel is squeaky. Let's find a new one. These decisions have to be made, I haven't even bothered worrying over my actual purchases yet. In short, "Amazon, which button do I press to buy my nephew this Tickle-Me-Elmo for Christmas?"  

I never really thought about the possibility of losing all the links I've shortened, but it's nice to know the thought has occurred to someone with the ability to prevent such a disaster. The Internet Archive is now preserving shortened links in case the services that provide them fail. See here for more information.

Even though link-shortening services are convenient to use, maybe it would be better to focus on long-term accessibility, especially if the information being shared is worthwhile enough to warrant looking at again in a few months or years (and hopefully it's not being posted if it doesn't fit that description). I'm always worried that great online content will be forever lost due to changing locations and URLs, but short of saving every valuable page as a file on my computer, it's difficult to know what will and will not be around when I want to reference it later. Even though print publications are quickly outdated in many cases, that sense of permanence paper gives information is more valuable than it gets credit for in this electronic age.

Here's another job for those interested:


Summary:
Manages, develops and executes web-based marketing initiatives and campaigns, working with the ELT marketing teams, to support marketing campaigns for, and increase sales of, key products.

Responsibilities:

• Maintains the company web presence, including creating and modifying web pages.
•  Maintains and coordinates marketing systems and databases in support of the sales and marketing department.
• Oversees the population and maintenance of the Orca product marketing database.
• Creates and distributes reports and metrics for the different web-based marketing systems, with the objective of improving our marketing capabilities.
• Assists with territory updates and sales crediting issues for ESL sales force.
• Acts as liaison between marketing and other teams for special web-based and e-marketing initiatives and projects.

Job Specifications:

• HTML programming experience required and Flash programming experience preferred.
• Four year computer related degree with 3-5 years of experience in the Educational Publishing Industry in a Marketing Environment preferred.
• Three years experience with databases, Excel and some Access, or equivalent training.
• JD Edwards, ORCA, Crystal reporting, and CRMS experience required.
• Some travel required.

Cengage Learning is an equal opportunity employer, committed to attracting and retaining a talented and diverse workforce. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age or veteran status.

If interested, please contact Tom.Kneafsey@cengage.com

Or write to:
Cengage Learning
20 Channel Center Street
Boston MA 02210

To apply online, please go to:
http://tbe.taleo.net/NA1/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=LEARNING&cws=1&rid=2966

I just received notification on two job postings for Bedford/ St. Martin's. If interested, send me an e-mail and I'll get you in touch with the contact.

This post is not an article about an article, but an article about a website's design:

www.charmingwall.com

Spend some time clicking on the links and watch the website come to life. Each page has a unique animation: trees grow from vines; flowers bloom from letters; lines move to form maps.

The navigation animations of this site are unlike any I've seen. I was initially charmed as I oohed and aahed my way through all the pages. But, that was the first time. The fourth and fifth times I visited the website, I was still charmed but a teeny bit annoyed.

Are these innovative navigation techniques worthwhile as marketing tools?

My mother sent me this link knowing I would like it. She said "love the way it moves from one section to the other" (mom's email). My mother was introduced to the site by a coworker who found it featured in one of her fashion magazines. After I received the link, I instantly shared it with my coworkers, my friends, and my students. Is the buzz created by the navigation worth the potential user aggravation?

 
Do the navigation movements speak to the website's intended audience?

Maybe. Mom loved it. I loved it. The fashion magazine loved it. My coworkers loved it. Do you?

Should usability ALWAYS trump Coolability*?

Charmingwall's website seems to suit the content perfectly. Presumably, it also reflects the creative whimsy of the intended user. And, as mentioned just above, the novelty of the website's design creates for it a healthy dose of word-of-mouth buzz. But, have they gone overboard? I cannot decide.  

* Coolability: A silly word I made up.

For those of you who are interested in the world of content management systems, the US gov has given up Drupal (open source) for Microsoft's SharePoint. You can read a critique of this change here.

My research for my interview with Travis Alber, co-founder and chief creative officer of the reading and social-networking site Book Glutton, led me to the UTNE article "The Art of Digital Storytelling." The piece features several online literary publications like Cell Stories (which posts one short, iPhone-friendly length story each day, plus a preview of the next morning's story), Featherproof Books (which produces short shorts of no more than 333 words each, that is, three iPhone screen lengths) and Idiot's Books (creators of the "one-page wonder," a story that prints on both sides of the page and, with a little cutting and folding, produces myriad alternative plot paths and conclusions). 

I'm sure many of you have at some point come across a website that offers a sleek, interesting design at the expense of readability.  The background is too dark, the font too light.  You know there is a link in there somewhere, but you won't be able to find it until you roll your mouse over just the right word.

Gerry McGovern of CMSWire discusses this issue of hyperlinks, lamenting that most designers are opposed to using the old underlined blue text approach.  He also suggests that, after some substantial testing research, the geography of your hyperlink is imperative.  Linking within a sentence is the worst way to get someone to actually click on it (as I have done above). 

What do you think is the best approach to hyperlinking, and how important is it for a link to look traditional, blue and underlined?  Is this worth sacrificing for the sake of design?