Web 2.0 means different things to different people. Marketing teams view Web 2.0 as a viable way to localize sales efforts while video/audio artists view Web 2.0 as an efficient vehicle for delivering their works to viewers/listeners. Alternatively, many people see Web 2.0 as a meaningless buzz phrase, primarily because much of the Web technology that enables Web 2.0 has always existed in the Internet/WWW infrastructure.
The common denominator for all Web 2.0 definitions is the Web as a platform. The vast permutations of Web 2.0 can be traced back to what type of platform is being implemented:
- personal opinion (blogs)
- personal networking (LinkedIn or Facebook)
- video (YouTube or Hulu)
- photography (FlickR)
Web 2.0 transforms the Web from a one-way "pull" technology to a two-way "push and pull" platform. In the early days of the Web, information was maintained on Web servers and "pulled" by Web browsers for viewer consumption. Web users were consumers for the majority of content on the Web.
With Web 2.0, viewers can still pull information from Web servers, but can also "push" personalized information onto the Web (i.e. with Web 2.0, users are information consumers and information producers). This subtle difference opens up a broad range of collaborative, personalized and localized possibilities, including applications/services that are Web-based instead of hard drive-based.
However, some problems accompany the Web 2.0 movement towards collaboration and user-generated content. Attention must be paid to copyright/intellectual property laws and security loopholes, especially when personal information moves online.
Microblogging is a primary example of Web 2.0's highly personal "push and pull" technology. Specifically, the microblogging capabilities available at www.twitter.com. Twitter is a free social networking and microblogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.
Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them.
Another hallmark of Web 2.0 collaboration is open APIs, which allow applications to hook into other Web services. The Twitter API is generally available to the development community.
Although some folks may find the mundane everyday tasks of others mind-numbing and dull, Twitter claims to have over 3,200,000 accounts registered as of October 2008.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Social Bookmarking
This post is about social bookmarking, which is typically done via a Web site such as www.delicious.com.
Social bookmarking is a democratic taxonomy that allows the community to peer review the content of the Web. As with all democracies and systems built from the ground up, the system only works when participants cooperate and adhere to an understood set of rules.
For example, the term folksonomy is often used to refer to the tagging that powers social bookmarking/social networking Web sites. As the name suggests, average "folks" are responsible for creating the tags. If done correctly where a spirit of cooperation prevails, content is tagged properly and users can rely on tags to easily navigate and search through online content (photos (as in FlickR or SmugMug), Web sites (as in delicious) or personal content (as in Facebook or MySpace) etc.). If meaningful tags are consistently applied to content, key words can be used to search for relevant content (e.g. I may search FlickR for the "NewJersey" tag to find New Jersey-related photos).
If the content is tagged improperly or certain posters do not follow a set of agreed-upon rules, a certain sense of chaos ensues, where key words or tag classifications often steer users to content that has nothing to do with the search parameters. For example, unscrupulous photo posters, who hope to drive traffic to their Web site or advertise a product, may recognize that New Jersey is a densely populated state and therefore a much-used tag among FlickR users. These unscrupulous posters, who have no direct interest in New Jersey, may violate the agreed-upon rules by improperly applying the "New Jersey" tag to a photo or two of the product they hope to adversite. If this subterfuge and misapplication of tags is done on a large scale, the tagging system and metadata of a social bookmark/networking site lose effectiveness.
My Social Bookmarks
I have created an account on the delicious social bookmarking Web site; here are the specifics for my account:
For my delicious account, I have included a number of Web sites that directly relate either to my day-to-day job responsibilities or my MS-PTC coursework. I have included links to sites about usability, FrameScript, style manuals and technical writing blogs. I check in with these sites several times a week to track technical communication/usability trends and stay informed about cutting edge technical communication concepts. I included a bookmark to an excellent XML tutorial that I hope to complete this year.
Advantages of Social Bookmarking
Much like Wikis, social bookmarking sites are especially helpful for professionals who work in collaborative environments. For example, if I'm part of a particular project development team at work and I'm responsible for developing training or editing technical material, I may develop a list of bookmarks to supplement my training or editing lessons. I can point other team members to my social bookmarking account to help them hone their editing skills and hopefully reduce my workload.
On the other hand, tech-savvy SMEs can develop social bookmarking sites that provide links to technical concepts that may help me write documentation. For example, instead of having an SME take valuable time to explain Python or Pearl programming concepts to me, the SME could point me to a social bookmarking site that contains links to useful Web sites about Pearl or Python. This would reduce the burden on the SMEs.
Social bookmarking is a democratic taxonomy that allows the community to peer review the content of the Web. As with all democracies and systems built from the ground up, the system only works when participants cooperate and adhere to an understood set of rules.
For example, the term folksonomy is often used to refer to the tagging that powers social bookmarking/social networking Web sites. As the name suggests, average "folks" are responsible for creating the tags. If done correctly where a spirit of cooperation prevails, content is tagged properly and users can rely on tags to easily navigate and search through online content (photos (as in FlickR or SmugMug), Web sites (as in delicious) or personal content (as in Facebook or MySpace) etc.). If meaningful tags are consistently applied to content, key words can be used to search for relevant content (e.g. I may search FlickR for the "NewJersey" tag to find New Jersey-related photos).
If the content is tagged improperly or certain posters do not follow a set of agreed-upon rules, a certain sense of chaos ensues, where key words or tag classifications often steer users to content that has nothing to do with the search parameters. For example, unscrupulous photo posters, who hope to drive traffic to their Web site or advertise a product, may recognize that New Jersey is a densely populated state and therefore a much-used tag among FlickR users. These unscrupulous posters, who have no direct interest in New Jersey, may violate the agreed-upon rules by improperly applying the "New Jersey" tag to a photo or two of the product they hope to adversite. If this subterfuge and misapplication of tags is done on a large scale, the tagging system and metadata of a social bookmark/networking site lose effectiveness.
My Social Bookmarks
I have created an account on the delicious social bookmarking Web site; here are the specifics for my account:
For my delicious account, I have included a number of Web sites that directly relate either to my day-to-day job responsibilities or my MS-PTC coursework. I have included links to sites about usability, FrameScript, style manuals and technical writing blogs. I check in with these sites several times a week to track technical communication/usability trends and stay informed about cutting edge technical communication concepts. I included a bookmark to an excellent XML tutorial that I hope to complete this year.
Advantages of Social Bookmarking
Much like Wikis, social bookmarking sites are especially helpful for professionals who work in collaborative environments. For example, if I'm part of a particular project development team at work and I'm responsible for developing training or editing technical material, I may develop a list of bookmarks to supplement my training or editing lessons. I can point other team members to my social bookmarking account to help them hone their editing skills and hopefully reduce my workload.
On the other hand, tech-savvy SMEs can develop social bookmarking sites that provide links to technical concepts that may help me write documentation. For example, instead of having an SME take valuable time to explain Python or Pearl programming concepts to me, the SME could point me to a social bookmarking site that contains links to useful Web sites about Pearl or Python. This would reduce the burden on the SMEs.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Data visualization
Here is a rough animation I put together to explain MP3 compression. I originally intended to use Flash, but trial versions are no longer available. Instead, I settled for a series of graphics strung together via SnagIT screen video recording.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Customized typefaces
In today's global marketplace, large companies require a consistent approach to the marketing and branding of their products. This is especially true for large technology companies (computer hardware and software manufacturers) that often have product lines and corporate offices that span multiple continents. The marketing and technical support teams at such large technology companies have a vested interest in ensuring the marketing collateral/technical specifications that the Bangalore office presents to Indian customers is identical to the marketing collateral/technical specifications that the San Jose office presents to American customers. Obviously the technical aspects should be identical, but the look and feel of the information (e.g. typeface, layout and color schemes) should also be identical. Consistent presentation of information to customers is a key aspect of global product branding. This consistency presents a uniform, united face to customers and reassures customers that even though multiple geographic locations may contribute to the development of a product, all locations are working together with a singular vision.
A critical, but often overlooked aspect of brand consistency is typeface. Brand consultants often note that a typeface for customer collateral (advertising, Web page, marketing, technical specifications, user documentation) should nicely complement the product and be rolled out in a consistent manner. For example, Intel migrated all of its online and hardcopy marketing information to the sleek, Web-friendly Verdana typeface in 2006.
In an effort to standout among the millions of products in today's marketplace, an interesting typographic trend is accompanying the branding recommendations described in the previous paragraph: customized typeface design.
Many companies with generous marketing budgets are not satisfied with standard market typefaces, such as Times New Roman, Helvetica or Arial. Instead, they are turning to small-scale designers for custom typefaces. Custom typefaces provide a distinct visual element for a company and its products. Companies work with the design house to develop a unique typeface family. Afterwards, the company rolls out the typeface for all publications, internal reports, office documents, signages and advertisements to complement their corporate identity.
A Google search for 'customized fonts' turns up two popular typeface design companies:
Some examples of customized fonts developed by Ascender and Porchez Typofonderie appear below:
The Lexmark family was developed by Ascender and ties together the wide range of Lexmark products from the web to product packaging:
Mencken Head was exclusively developed by Porchez Typofonderie for the Baltimore Sun Newspaper. The objective was to couple a unique flavor with clarity for headlines and article text: 
A critical, but often overlooked aspect of brand consistency is typeface. Brand consultants often note that a typeface for customer collateral (advertising, Web page, marketing, technical specifications, user documentation) should nicely complement the product and be rolled out in a consistent manner. For example, Intel migrated all of its online and hardcopy marketing information to the sleek, Web-friendly Verdana typeface in 2006.
In an effort to standout among the millions of products in today's marketplace, an interesting typographic trend is accompanying the branding recommendations described in the previous paragraph: customized typeface design.
Many companies with generous marketing budgets are not satisfied with standard market typefaces, such as Times New Roman, Helvetica or Arial. Instead, they are turning to small-scale designers for custom typefaces. Custom typefaces provide a distinct visual element for a company and its products. Companies work with the design house to develop a unique typeface family. Afterwards, the company rolls out the typeface for all publications, internal reports, office documents, signages and advertisements to complement their corporate identity.
A Google search for 'customized fonts' turns up two popular typeface design companies:
- The Ascender Corporation, which has designed custom fonts for Microsoft, Agilent and LexMark
- Porchez Typofonderie, which is a French design studio that has developed custom fonts for a variety of companies.
Some examples of customized fonts developed by Ascender and Porchez Typofonderie appear below:
The Lexmark family was developed by Ascender and ties together the wide range of Lexmark products from the web to product packaging:
Mencken Head was exclusively developed by Porchez Typofonderie for the Baltimore Sun Newspaper. The objective was to couple a unique flavor with clarity for headlines and article text:
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