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We recently had the pleasure of working with HookUP Media to help produce the Web site for “March for California’s Future,” an online companion to an event going on right now in the Golden State. Organizers say that the 250 mile march, sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers and its diverse allies from labor, the faith community, and other civic supporters, is designed to draw attention to the underlying causes of the state’s woes as well as gather signatures for a majority budget initiative.

Devastation. Tragedy. Hopeless. Those were the words used to describe the recent earthquakes that struck the island of Haiti on January 12 near Port-au-Prince. To a nation that that was already struggling with poverty and trying to meet the basic needs of its people, the earthquake magnified the crisis for the world to see. Like many companies in Nashville, CentreSource matched its employees’ donations to give $500 to the UNICEF organization to help with relief efforts.

When was the last time you had a really enjoyable experience with a product or service? Do you remember how it made you feel? Do you remember what about it made you feel that way? What about your experience stuck out most in your mind? If you are like me, some of these questions can be fairly difficult to answer, while others may be incredibly obvious. On top of this, the answers may seem clearer in one case than they do in another. Welcome to the world of experience design. This post is primarily taken from the first part of a presentation I made a BarCamp Nashville in 2009, entitled “Whoa! Creating Engaging User Experiences“.

Slide from Whoa! Creating Engaging User Experiences

We recently launched a new site for Nashville Center for Laser and Facial Surgery. The practice is lead by Dr. Brian S. Biesman, a world-renowned authority on cosmetic, reconstructive, and laser surgery. For the site, the goal was not only to tell about Dr. Biesman’s practice, but to serve as a repository for helpful resources on a wide range of industry topics, including his own “Face Facts” resources. It was a lot of content — nearly 150 articles on research, services and treatments — and our goal was to make it user-friendly and easy to navigate. Think Wikipedia.

Even in the design community, there’s confusion and sometimes arguments over what minimalism really is. Everyone has their own opinion on where you draw the line, but common indications include liberal use of white space and limited decoration. Wikipedia describes minimalist design as a something “reduced to its necessary elements.”

Which elements are necessary and which are fluff is itself a gray area as design is often concerned with creating an experience. Only a seasoned designer with a good grasp on a project can say whether a light sheen or gradient helps cater to the experience or is needless noise.

For anyone (like myself) who has been religiously following Google and the amazing things that they have done to improve people’s experience on the web, you would have noticed a pattern in December 2009 of “speed.” The reasons for their speed obsession are clearly justified; a user’s experience on the web is made or broken by the speed at which they are able to browse, including the initial page load, the responsiveness of the interactive components, and the number of clicks to get to retrieve their desired information.

As such, Google has been busy releasing various tools to help with user’s experiences on the web:

You have likely already seen this video. Google interviews a number of people in Times Square to see if they can answer the basic question: What is a Browser? Less than eight percent guessed correctly, and you can be reasonably sure that figure translates well into the general public. When it comes to the Internet, one of the single most integral pieces of the experience often gets overlooked.

When a leader in global supply chain solutions contacted us about overhauling their Web site, our top priority was to make sure that we delivered on their expectations. That is why we are proud to announce the launch of the new OHL.com, OHL Excellence and the OHL Media Center.

Ozburn-Hessey Logistics (OHL) specializes in third party logistics (3PL) services, meaning that they partner with other businesses to meet their supply chain demands on a rapidly scalable platform. Our goal for the site was to communicate nearly 60 years of experience in a way that appeals to logistics decision makers. One of the ways that we achieved this is by producing a video that you can view right on their home page. The video features two people representing very different businesses, but one shared need — a partner for their global distribution network.

We just wrapped up work on a site that we did for Ocean Futures Society, a non-profit marine conservation and education organization. The group’s chairman and spokesman is Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau. OFS serves as a “Voice for the Ocean” by communicating in all media the critical bond between people and the sea and the importance of wise environmental policy.

From time to time, we like to share what we have found interesting on the Web. Take a look at these and let us know what you think — Good? Bad? Useful? Found something better? Let us know in the comments section!

fontcapture
http://www.fontcapture.com/
Create a font from your own handwriting. No software required. All you need is a printer and a scanner – and it’s free!

Gliffy
http://www.gliffy.com
With Gliffy online diagram software, you can easily create professional-quality flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, technical drawings, wireframes, and more.