CMS ROI

Method Engine clients often require a content management system (CMS). These systems allow companies to keep a web site up-to-date with current information such as news, new products, etc...

We've implemented a variety of these systems. They can vary from small custom interfaces that allow a client to add limited information following a rigid template to robust custom systems supporting a variety of new information including the management of user-generated content, to off-the-shelf CMS systems ranging from Drupal to SharePoint.

Essentially, all of these systems do the same thing. They allow companies to keep their web site up-to-date. It is a natural reaction to want the ability to do this internally, however, it is important to first have a realistic assessment of the frequency and type of updates that will be needed. Building custom CMS tools can be costly and using proprietary tools can limit the types of user experiences that can be created.

It is often the case that outsourcing these updates is less expensive than creating the content management tools to do so internally.

There is a need, of course, for companies to engage in ongoing dialogues with their customers. Another way to handle this is to shift the burden of the management of this communication to social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter. These tools are simple to use and the content can be pulled into a corporate web site to keep it fresh.

SEO vs. UX

At Method Engine we often find ourselves in a position of balancing the need to create a compelling user experience (UX) with the need to create an interactive experience that is highly findable by search engines (Search Engine Optimization). Determining the proper balance is important as it drives the design process and the budgeting process (allocating resources to one or both of these areas).

I'm sure you've come across example web sites that fall into both extremes. You've seen sites that are so laden with "keywords" that they have a cheap, untrustworthy look to them. And other great sites (you love them as soon as you see them - the UX is that compelling) that you would have never found on your own - you only saw the site because a friend sent you a link or you saw the URL on a TV spot or in a magazine.

You may have also found yourself trying to decide between allocating resources to SEO or spending these resources instead on updating an aging or flawed user-experience.

Every Method Engine engagement begins with a Strategy Phase. The only way to deal with this issue effectively is to have a good understanding of the customer, including their touch points with your brand and their use of technology.

Other key factors to consider are: What are the goals of the site? Will other marketing (or sales) initiatives take on the work of bringing people to the site or will this be accomplished primarily through search? What other customer touch points are there in the digital experience with the brand and how is this relevant to the new initiative?

These are just a few of the questions that should be addressed to come to a final strategy for deploying UX and SEO in a way that maximizes your marketing dollars.

What we can learn from Chatroulette

Kate Moss is addicted to it. Devo says it is more Devo than Devo. I came across an estimate last week that over 1.5 million people use chatroulette.com every day.

The question is: What can we learn from it? Here are a couple of things that were reinforced for me by the success of the site.

1. The site and its rapid growth demonstrates the power of social networks and blogs to turn a modest site into a global phenomenon.

2. As average bandwidth increases, the ability of more users to have a good experience with interactive full-motion video also increases. As the tipping point is reached, more and more sites based on full-motion video will proliferate the web.

3. The power of a well executed, simple idea. Chatroulette is based on a simple idea and fulfills a singular human need. It's neither over engineered nor bogged down in gratuitous fluff. It's a nice example of user-centered design.

4. The power of a platforms. Many of the most successful sites: Ebay, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Craigslist are just a few sites that are successful because they offer users a platform to create and distribute their own content. We can now add Chatroulette to this list.

Lastly, there is surly a lot that Chatroulette can also teach us about the human condition and human nature, but I will leave that to the philosophers among us.

The Uncanny Valley

I recently came across a term used in robotics that I found both fascinating and highly relevant to the field of digital effects.

The Uncanny Valley is a term and a hypothesis which states that when robots and other digital likenesses of humans look and act too much like actual humans, but not exactly, it causes a response of revulsion in human observers. The "Valley" is the actual dip in the graph charting human reactions to these likenesses.

When a digital likeness is created that is far from human (think a doll or a Saturday morning cartoon character) it is far enough from an actual likeness of a person that viewers react positively. Get closer and closer to an actual likeness and before you arrive at a likeness indistinguishable from a real person, you fall into a valley where your creation looks kind of like a person, just wrong. And the reaction of viewers is visceral fear.

This theory is good for anyone developing avatars, animated characters or even just photo editing to keep in mind. Straying far from reality is okay and sticking to reality is okay too, but slight deviations from what is real can be a dangerous place to play.