Saturday, February 04, 2012

Whenever I feel I’m at a loss for topics to write about or am struggling with examples to peel apart and examine, from time to time, opportunities seem to just fall into my lap.  I ordered a small on-board camera to use with my new hobby and was quite happy when it arrived in the mail this week.  I’ve been looking into what camera setups people have been using with their R/C cars and decided to check out a less-costly alternative to GoPro to get my feet wet.  You know the old saying, “You get what you pay for”.  It’s true and entertaining.

(Too) easy to share.
After the camera arrived on my desk, I quickly opened up the package and checked it all out.  In a state of joy, I snapped a picture of the camera box and tweeted it to Chris Sherman.  We’ve been discussing the R/C hobby for a while and on-board cameras has become a recent topic of interest for us.  After a while I glanced down at the box in which the camera was packaged.  There was a phrase toward the bottom of the box that I hadn’t noticed before.  I slowly read it, each word causing my eyes to widen and my pulse to quicken.  It wasn’t an blatantly bad message, but it was suggestive. Very suggestive.  Hilarity then ensued.

A friend of mine had also seen the picture and made a comment about the wording on the box and we exchanged messages about it and it’s strange phrasing.  I was asked, by more than a few people, where I bought the camera from.  It was purchased from hobbypartz.com, not some x-rated website as the wording on box would tend to suggest.  My guess is the wording was a poor translation to English from another language. This thought was reaffirmed when I opened the instruction manual. 

Broken phrases and broken confidence.
Aside from the amusing “marketing” copy that adorned the front of the camera box, I was was stuck with one glaring issue.  I had no idea how to turn the camera on.  I saw the power button but there wasn’t a clear indication of whether or not the camera was on (note: I was charging the camera at the time, so every light on the unit was lit up, blinking, and communicating with the mother-ship).  I turned to the manual for help, only to find frustration and more amusement.

The manual for this camera reads like nothing I’ve ever encountered before. It’s broken, in more ways than one.  Does it serve the purpose that it was intended?  It tries, but it’s (and again, I’m guessing here) translation is so disjointed and off-balance that I became lost and had to re-read many of the sections more than twice to try to comprehend what the manufacture was trying to say.  Here are some samples from the manual for your entertainment (and possible bewilderment).

After numerous attempts to understand what the manual was trying to say, I gave up on reading it and unplugged the camera from the charger.  I was quickly able to figure out which way to slide the power switch in order to turn the device on.  Problem solved. Now on to recording video.  After a few sideways glances at the instruction manual (in hopes it had been re-written while I wasn’t looking) I was able to piece together a basic idea of what buttons to press.  From the looks of it, I was able to figure things out.  What a rough ride to get there.

Mixed messages.
Trying this back to a “teachable moment”, I pose this question to those of you that are in the business of educating and training customers which, by my last count, includes everyone that runs a business.  Are you sending mixed messages to your customers?  Is the information that you’re creating for your products and in support of your products clear and understandable?  It’s clear to me that the company behind this camera is not based in the United States and they’ve taken a stab at translating their wording, both for marketing and support purposes, into English, but they miss the mark in both message and assistance.  As for their cover phrase…I have no clue what they’re trying to accomplish.  To be honest, that wording was nowhere to be seen on the hobby site or in the description (not that I expected it to be there).  If the name of the camera manufacturer would be clearly written anywhere on the box, I’d go as far as saying I wouldn’t purchase another product made by them in the future.  Both for the semi-inappropriate packaging language and the incomprehensible instructions. 

Posted on 02/04/12 at 10:06 PM by Tim - Categories: Marketing

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Never before have I been so interested in an announcement aimed at the education-sector as I was with last week’s announcements from Apple.  Having children has changed that, just as they’ve changed many aspects of my life.  When the iPad was first announced in 2010, I put together a short list of areas in which it could be affective, and education was one of those.  With the launch of iBooks Author, the iTunes U app, and the updated iBooks 2 app, that opportunity has been cemented.  However, the educational benefits of the iPad have shown their face long before this announcement.

I read a post earlier this month questioning why adults are amazed when children, even as young as 2 years old can pick up an iPad and use it with ease.  Surely these are superior children that possess Mensa-quality intellect and will be running the country by the time they’re 7!  As much as I’d like to think that, again speaking as a parent, I no longer believe that’s the case.  That’s not to say I don’t think my children aren’t intelligent (or even above average). The truth is, the iPad is easy to use.  Period.  As I’ve written before, I’ve seen both of my kids use the device, navigate through the screens of apps, find their favorites and use them with ease.  So simple, so elegant, so…what’s next.

The announcements from Apple, iBooks 2, iBooks Author, and the refined and retuned iTunes U (making it’s app debut) are all amazing elements when you look at them on their own merit.  But it’s when you lump them all together that a truly-inspired vision of what the future of education could be.  While the approach from Apple locks schools into one platform and one device, it’s an approach that I’ve not seen rolled out on such a promising scale.  These items aside, I’ve seen my own children use the iPad as more than just a gaming device, but rather an educational tool.  My youngest son has two favorite apps, AlphaTots and TallyTots and after using them he’s now able to easily recite the alphabet and count to 20.  What’s the draw to these apps?  They’re engaging, they’re entertaining, and they’re able to present lessons in an easy-to-understand format.  Who knows what role, if any, the iPad (or similar devices) will play in education, but it appears to off to a good start.

Posted on 02/01/12 at 08:59 PM by Tim - Categories: Apple Design Tools

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

I’m not a fan of politics.  I don’t like discussing them and they tend to lead to arguments and destructive consequences.  Sorry, not my cup of tea.  That said, when bills are proposed that threaten to undo the very thing that my livelihood is built on, I stand up and take notice.  I’m not going to write a drawn-out post about why SOPA and PIPA aren’t the answer for stopping Internet piracy.  Others have written amazing, thoughtful, and informative articles on this topic and I deeply encourage you to read some, if not all of them to educate yourself on what these bills are and what they have the potential to do.

I’ll keep my thoughts on this topic short.  These bills are a heavy-handed attempt, born from and old way of thinking, to stifle much of the freedom that we enjoy online.  I agree that online piracy is bad.  Nobody is denying that.  The issue with these two bills is the fact that they overstep boundaries, not by inches or feet, but miles.  Epic, massive miles.  They threaten the openness that is one of the cornerstones of the Internet.  It’s true that the Internet is somewhat like the “Wild West”, but the community has learned to police itself (in most areas).  The what-if’s are too many and too unknown to risk passing a bill that can unseat the foundation of the Internet. Alright, I’m off my soapbox.  Here are some links I hope you’ll check out.

• What is SOPA and how does it work? The Stop Online Piracy Act explained
• End Piracy, Not Liberty
• The Oatmeal’s SOPA message.

Posted on 01/18/12 at 08:45 PM by Tim - Categories:

Thursday, January 12, 2012

2012 has become the year of the personal project.  Along with a list of client projects, I’ve made an all-out effort to nurture a few random ideas that I’ve had rattling around in my head for the past…few years.

One of the projects I’m the most excited about is a new community-based site concept that I’ve had an on-again, off-again relationship with.  Wrestling with the basic questions of “will it work” and “will anyone use it” and the all-too-familiar “will anyone care” has been at the heart of my internal hesitation.  I was about to write this particular project off and had almost forgotten about it until I stumbled across a brand identity that I had started sketching.  The last revision date on these logo sketches was in 2009.  Almost three years this file sat on my computer, half-finished in both concept and reality.  I was ready to delete the files (and all other traces of this project) until something struck me.  The logo concepts weren’t that bad.

When a spark or even a faint glimmer of creativity hits, you need to grab onto it and carry it as far as you can, regardless of the outcome.  After rediscovering this site concept, I poured a fair amount of work back into it and dedicated myself to giving it life.

Without giving too much away, the concept of this project is simple; build a website that will act as a hub for connecting people with similar interests, share information, and discover new places.  On the surface, it sounds like a recipe for a social network.  The truth is, this will be built and thrive on social.  Using tools and networks that have been established and hold a decent user-base is an appealing prospect when you’re looking to make a community-driven site.  We don’t need another social network, we just need to fine-tune and focus those that we have. Hopefully, this project will do that.

Posted on 01/12/12 at 10:23 PM by Tim - Categories: Design Social Media

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

As much as I love QR codes and the potential that they hold, there are barriers that I’ve noticed that can and have prevented people from using and, more importantly, understanding them.

What is that thing?
One good thing about QR codes is their overall shape.  They look like barcodes, for the most part, and most people know what a barcode does and how it works.  The biggest question, apart from what the QR code is is how does one scan it?  I’ve seen an array of barcode-enhanced ads and promotional materials over the past year but some of the instruction and details around the use of the code has been blurry.  Some television ads just pop up the code for a quick second (or two) or have the code positioned in the corner of the screen where it’s hard to identify.  When the viewer realizes what the’re looking at, it’s too late to grab their smartphone, launch their code reader app, and aim it at their tv.

Other forms of traditional media have been used to display QR codes as well, such as billboards, posters, and direct mail pieces.  Depending on where these billboards and posters are placed, their usefulness can suffer from the same setbacks mentioned earlier. 

Implementation and Education
There have been some interesting and unique examples of outdoor and moving-media usage as well, such as the QR code-wrapped vehicles from AmeriSign & Graphics as well as a scannable code on the side of Juan Pablo Montoya’s Target Chevy.  In the retail space, I’ve noticed Best Buy and The Home Depot using QR codes on products to provide additional information to their customers.  I personally found the Home Depot versions useful as they were placed on the tags in their nursery and gave additional details on growing conditions and what types of weather the plant would thrive in.  These provided useful information that helped my wife and I decide what to purchase and plant in our garden.  The implementation and positioning of the code was solid, there was additional information listed on the tag regarding how the code should be used, and the end result provided rich and meaningful information.

The item that I feel is more important than the placement and use of QR codes in marketing and promotional materials is educating the masses about what these odd-looking barcodes are, and more importantly, what they can do.  Going beyond that, once your audience knows what these codes are and how they work, they then need to find (and make easily accessible) a QR code reader program.  Speaking from personal experience, this may be the weakest link in the chain when it comes their use.

Depending on where the QR code is placed on a material, whether it be print or digital, the time that it takes to recognize what it is, grab your mobile device, find the appropriate app, launch that app, and get a clear capture of the code image is of the utmost importance.  When used properly (and not just slapped onto an ad) I feel that QR codes have shown great potential for providing rich content and information.

Then again, there are those that don’t feel QR codes should be used in marketing. Period.

Posted on 01/03/12 at 09:11 PM by Tim - Categories: Marketing