July 31, 2008

Cuil? A search engine that’s just as odd as its name

In the blogs that I read, email newsletters I subscribe to, and info that comes across my desk, the new search engine Cuil (pronounced like “cool”) seems to have been mentioned quite a few times times. So in typical fashion, I did a vanity search for my own name (and my company’s primary product name for that matter) to see what results it would come up with compared to other searches in Google or Yahoo.

What I found, is Cuil seems to have liked my LinkedIn page best. So I did a search for my friend, and illustrator Jonathan Hull (who continually competes for search engine attention from an author with the same name.) The author guy (that “other” Jonathan Hull) seemed to control the first three pages, and then… well then… nothing else (Nope, no more results at all). So the first thing I found is the fact that Jonathan Hull’s website is named www.jonathan-hull.com or my website is www.bradmccall.com seemed to have no effect on its relevancy for the same terms searched for in Cuil. In fact, even 10 pages into Cuil’s results and I didn’t find bradmccall.com listed as any part of its results when searching for “Brad McCall”.

So I followed up with my typical rounds of search to see what showed up by typing Brad McCall Utah and while links showed up from other sites that directed to mine, the direct link didn’t show up until page 5. Seems odd, right?

So I tried another brand company. Glaceau (They make the Vitamin Water that I’ve been drinking of late – so it was a quick grab.) and voila! Their brand name appears first thing. (glaceau.com) Okay, so they got that right. So I tried “Dell”, and the search engine errored out. A search engine erroring out? More oddness. (I tried this again later and whatever didn’t work was fixed)

So at last, I tried Omniture, the company that has garnered my full-time employ, and a random bunch of links came up, many of which were a part of the Omniture website, but its corporate website was nowhere to be found in the results. If you ARE patient enough to wait, you will notice on an “Omniture” search will create a menu that has some awesome links to the corporate site as well as product links – pages that ARE MISSING from the search results.

Does anyone get how this works? What gives? And is this REALLY supposed to compete with Google?

March 11, 2008

Omniture Is looking for UI designer

The Omniture UI team is growing continually, and we’re always looking to get some talented people on-board. It seems the UI designer is one of the most difficult to find. Someone who is not only talented in the aesthetic realm (our highly graphic applications depends on creativity and innovation), but who is also adept at creating easy-to-use interfaces for a highly technical and complex web-based software. And someone who’s willing to work in Orem, Utah. (Utah rocks!)

Here’s the latest job description we’re getting out there for a new hire. If you’ve got questions about the position or what it’s like to work at Omniture, drop me a line.

Read the rest of this entry »

January 30, 2008

It’s going to be a hot birthday. (I read it in the news)

2008 is one of the first years in a long time that I’m not taking a trip to celebrate my arrival to this world on January 31st. For those of you who know me well, you’ve already been asking, “where are you going for your birthday?” This year I decided to stick around town and enjoy this snow we’ve been having instead of lying on a sandy beach somewhere. Years past have been gloomy, gray and cold and it has been nice to escape to Florida, Cancun, Acapulco, Hawaii (all trips in years past). But while this year we’ve had plenty of the cold, in contrast to years past, we’ve also received plenty of the white stuff. I mean lots! It’s a nice change – I love the snow!

So to take advantage of the white stuff, I’m going snowboarding. Yup, hitting the slopes this weekend. I typically head to Brighton, but I’ve also talked about trying somewhere new this time. (Any suggestions?) In pulling up to check the weather for my birthday and the day after on KSL.com, I was surprised to find it was going to be a toasty day (and for the low none-the-less!):

So other than the oceans boiling and every living thing cooking in their skin, I think it just might be a good day to hit the slopes. I’ll be sure to grab my SPF 10,000 – wish me luck!

January 18, 2008

Back at Omniture full time

For those of you who know me, you’ve probably seen that I haven’t updated my blog in a while. You’ve also probably noticed that my Linkedin profile shows me back at Omniture. Or if perhaps you haven’t noticed any of that, yes, I’m back at Omniture. After working nearly 5 years and being a one man show designer, I took a job at Cymphonix, a job that was converted into a contract position after a year. I started contracting with Omniture in March of 2007, and was hired on in August.

Things have changed significantly since I worked for the green machine by way of employee count, their public status, their client base, their product line, and much more. It’s like working for a completely different company – other than the fact I still get to see my brand influence all over the office. My title is “Senior UX Designer”, and since I’ve never been one on throwing titles around, I think it works just fine.

Speaking of user experience (which I’ve blogged about before), I found a recent user experience pretty comical. I opened up my MSN Messenger to find an ad at the bottom showing none other than Alyssa Milano. Tell me what “user experience” you think is broken in this one:

Here’s a clue: How beautiful is THAT picture of Alyssa?!?

October 28, 2006

Does a Website’s Appearance Instill Corporate Confidence?

So I blogged about Donuts the other day on my Tweet Sweet blog. Heaven knows that I love donuts. Thank goodness for a fellow employee that brings them into my work every-other Friday (You rock Joe!).

In the blog post, I mentioned Glazies, a donut location paired with several Hogi Yogi/Teriyaki Stix food locations. The eating locations (Hogi Yogi is all about Sandwiches and Yogurt, Teriyaki Stix serves rice bowls) are franchised by Hyats, LLC. To become a franchisee, the cost is about 300K which is pretty typical for a shop like this. The Hogi Yogi headquarters are located in the Riverwood’s area of Provo, Utah located in a nice brick building above a large Hogi Yogi/Teriyaki Stix location. When trying to find a link for Glazies (which doesn’t exist) I headed over to their home page at HogiYogi.com and found a page that has not been updated since 2002, uses terrible outdated design and frames. (Does anyone use frames anymore?) At first I thought I had landed on the wrong page, and tried doing other searches. But THIS IS their corporate page. Here’s a company that is obviously not taking advantage of the power of the web, or doesn’t think that their online presence has much to do with their offline business.

Take a look at another franchise in the area – Cold Stone Creamery. If you visit their website, you’re greeted by an attractive site with a red background reminiscent of the wallpaper in their stores, and pictures of their yummy desserts. Not only does their website give the history of the company and franchise information, customers can also buy gift cards, sign up for their birthday club, and view tastefully photographed pictures of their desserts (notice the reflection effect that I blogged about the other day on their ice cream page).

How does your company’s website fit into your overall image, your brand? A well-designed website can:

  • Share Information About Your Company (Who we are, what we sell, what locations are out there)
  • Increase Public Interest (show not only potential customers, but also potential franchisees what your offering is)
  • Obtain New Business (Catering opportunities, enhance sales with gift certificate options, etc.)
  • Improve Customer Service (Provide menus, contact information, feedback opportunities)
  • Sell Products or Services (if you can’t carry food products online, carry coupons to buy the food)
  • Increase Time In Front of a Customer (customer loyalty programs such as the birthday option offered by Cold Stone)
  • Offer 24-Hour Access to Information About Your Company
  • Answer Frequently Asked Questions
  • Provide Changing Information Quickly (new locations coming?)
  • Test a Market or Product (“Coming soon”, online coupons?)
  • Put You on Equal Footing with Competitors Already Excelling on the Web
  • Network Your Company with other Businesses or Organizations that Provide Complimentary Services
  • And most of all, instill confidence in visitors that your company is professional and well-managed
    • October 21, 2006

    Is This a Broken User Experience?

    So in my blog the other day I mentioned thisisbroken.com – Mark Hurst’s blog showing broken user experiences sent in by readers of his goodexperience.com newsletter. So today I ran across my own broken experience, something that made me say, hu? In response to my submission to the thisisbroken website, I got an automated email that said “I get 40 to 50 entries per week and only have time to post 5 to 7 entries a week. This means that your post may not make it on the site.” Sounds like the site is a victim of it’s own popularity it seems. That’s okay. So I decided I would post it here. What do you think? Do you think he should post it on his site?

    Let PR work for you
    I always take a chance during the day to read the most popular news on Yahoo News, and found an article that had an interesting thing in it that seemed “broken” from a PR point-of-view. A WISCONSIN man visiting a state park took home the ultimate souvenir: a 5.47-carat canary diamond from Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, ARKANSAS.

    After reading the article, I clicked on the image, which showed the actual diamond next to a US Quarter for size comparison.

    (AP Photo)

    Notice that the quarter was the Wisconsin state version (where the man was from), rather than Arkansas version where the stone was found. After seeing the image, I thought to myself, “now where was that state park?” and had to check the article again for the answer – Arkansas.

    So I thought, maybe Arkansas doesn’t have its quarter out yet, so I checked, and what do you know? In the center of the Arkansas quarter released in 2003 is prominently pictured a diamond. The United State’s Mint says “Visitors to Arkansas can search Crater of Diamonds State Park for precious gems including, of course, diamonds.” in talking about its choice for this diamond illustration on the quarter.

    So in fact, the picture seemed a bit confusing. Don’t you think?

    October 19, 2006

    Are Designers Allowed to Hate Junk Direct Mail?

    So I come home tonight and visit my mailbox. What do I find under my 1 letter, and 1 bill? That’s right, a stack of junk mail. “Have you seen me?” shows a face of a missing child on one side of the card, sponsored by a happy steam cleaner pictured on the back. Attention Ladies! Yells a bright pink flyer that calls me Contours Express to get my thighs whipped into shape. Lower in the stack is typical fare from Capital One with a big stamped “CONFIRMED OFFER” on the front. (I guess better than their most recent ones which told me “DO NOT DISCARD” in giant letters) And what’s next? You got it, my weekly supply of newspaper-based ads that I never read, that should come in the newspaper I don’t wish to describe to. (Including pizza offers I get when I call, and deals I’ll get if I decided to come in the store).

    Thank goodness the city I live in recycles, because my recycle bin fills up very fast nearly entirely with crap direct mail. Where in the world is the spam filter for my mailbox? But that’s not my point. There’s this little voice inside my head that as a graphic designer says, “why are you throwing this away?” What is this voice you say? It’s the voice of someone learning from user experience.

    How many of you have had to design something that you knew was unappealing? How many times have you had to make the logo bigger because the boss said so? I remember one of my first task as an intern for Salt Lake Magazine was to design a postage-paid reply card. You know the one – those pesky little pieces of paper they blow-into every 50th page that fall out when you read them in the airport. I remember laughing to myself when designing it – “I hate these things” I thought. But still, as an intern, I designed the best damn postage-paid reply card possible. It even felt worthy to put in my portfolio at the time.

    I remember at one of the first businesses I started, we sent direct mail to stir up new business. The piece I designed was great fun, and yet it got pretty typical direct response numbers (even with a poor mailing list). And yet, I was proud of the design. When I first launched the Brad McCall, designer brand, I sent direct mail to introduce my new status as a freelancer and to show my new portfolio website. It was wildly successful by direct mail standards, and also a fun experience.

    So we’ve all had to design it, and perhaps we’ll have to design much more. So I guess it’s all up to us to learn from those who try to sell something to us. What makes one piece appealing (Nissan sent me a GREAT one, as well as Infinity), and another trash? Understanding your own user experience with direct mail will help you design those pesky little projects that don’t seem so appealing.

    October 14, 2006

    When Product Placement Goes Bad

    Think about the movies you saw that you’ve seen in the past. Okay so think about Spiderman, Austin Powers, and James Bond for examples, what do they have in common?

    Time’s up.

    Did you know that these movies made millions of dollars even before they were ever released? How you ask? It’s called product placement. It’s when a company pays Hollywood to include their product in a movie. Companies do it all the time! James Bond introduced us to the BMW Z3 Roadster in Goldeneye (there was a huge uprising from the Austin Martin lovers at the time), Spiderman almost got trampled on by a Terminix truck, and let’s not forget the Mini Cooper in Austin Powers Goldmember. Wonder what it cost them to do this? Well, just to give you an idea, Burger King spent $15 million in MIB II just to get their products featured on the screen.

    Sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes it’s subtle, and then other times (as in a recent Wayne’s World rerun I saw on TV lately) they make fun of the fact they’re doing it. Ever seen a floating blur over people on reality shows? I assume that’d be about as opposite as you can get of product placement.

    But what happens when product placement goes wrong? I got a good laugh out of a recent Yahoo news article entitled “Heroes” Lawsuit Down the Drain” where Disposal maker Emerson filed a federal lawsuit Monday (Oct 2) against NBC to prevent the network from re-airing the pilot episode of the new drama Heroes, which featured one of the title characters demonstrating her superhuman healing prowess by sticking her hand down the drain. The drain featured the company’s In-Sink-Erator product in clear view and according to the lawsuit’s claim “casts the disposer in an unsavory light, irreparably tarnishing the product” by suggesting that the appliance “will cause debilitating and severe injuries, including the loss of fingers, in the event consumers were to accidentally insert their hand into one.”

    Oops, better edit that footage.

    October 13, 2006

    User Experience Should be a goodexperience(.com)

    So I use to be religious about reading Mark Hurst’s emailed newsletter about creating good user experiences, but through my last several email changes I lost the link to his site, and forgot what the name of his website was. (You’d think that goodexperience.com would not be a hard one to remember.)

    But looking through some old things today, I found a print-out of a whitepaper he produced years and years ago entitled “White Paper One – Building A Great Customer Experience to Develop Brand, Increase Loyalty and Grow Revenues” under his Creative Good brand. (Creative Good is the industry’s first and oldest customer experience firm according to his website.) Creative Good just consulted with del.icio.us, a popular social bookmarking service, to create a new customer experience strategy. (They have the case study online)

    Creative Good’s business – a user experience firm focuses on results. Their consulting projects have raised key metrics (like revenue, conversion rate, and usage rate) between 40% and 150%. These projects have also improved branding, competitive positioning, and the customer focus of the organization. The difference between one user experience and another can effect the bottom line significantly.

    So I’m back on the newsletter, and so I’ll keep you in touch on that end on what Mark has to say about usability. Another site he’s put together is thisisbroken.com, which is a riot. It shows “broken” user experiences in everyday life as well as the web. One of my favorites is the pencil in the shape of a cactus, such that the eraser becomes completely unusable.