Results for articles with tag 'ted' (3 total)
10/15/2010 01:27:06 PM 
There's nothing that makes people in marketing more nervous than handing over control to the consumer. The idea is that they (consumers) are supposed to listen obediently to everything they are told and like good "puppies" act only on that information. Of course, this is complete fantasy, but the mythology and illusion still perpetuate the mind of many a CMO, marketing dept and creative team.
When it comes to the interactive world, this attitude is the kiss of death. If you ask a people in user testing to just sit, watch and obey- they will either ask to see the "skip" button, or leave the room.
It's great to have good content, it's the thing that really matters, but you've got to let users into the sandbox to play and get out of that content exactly what they want. This defines a good user experiences vs. a "non" user experience.
A fantastic example of a great experience comes from conference maestros TED and their freshly minted iPad application. The app allows users to select one of TED's awesome talks based on duration and/or theme, also it can even organize playlists for based on big ideas.
You instantly can see that this solves the convenience and practicality problem right away and also has a nice level of play potential.
TED could have easily just put its videos up on a site
It shows how fat TED has moved from being an aloof, expensive gathering for millionaires to an opinion leading think tank, that provides inspiration for all and this iPad app proves it.
Now all we need is for all those marketing types to give up their fear of handing over control and great user experiences will abound.
Posted by Ed Cotton
08/25/2010 08:56:57 AM
Poole is attracting interest from investors, TED conference organizers and Facebook employees who flocked to a recent talk he gave on their campus.
"Visited mostly by young men in their late teens and early 20s, 4chan is loosely organized by topics of interest--music, games, TV, animation (Japanese and otherwise). But nearly half its messages are posted in a single random-topics section known as /b/, and /b/'s anarchy sets the tone for the site in general. It's out of /b/ that swarms of gleeful online troublemakers--trolls, in Internet parlance--occasionally issue forth to prank, hack, harass, and otherwise digitally provoke other online communities and users. From /b/, as well, the Internet at large absorbs a steady stream of catchphrases and sight gags--LOLcats, rickrolling, and other ubiquitous Internet memes that seep up from the endless, dizzying churn of /b/'s vast reservoir of inside jokes. Often intended to shock, shot through with racism, misogyny, and other qualities deliberately chosen from beyond the contemporary pale, the words and images of /b/ have become an online spectacle: "Lunatic, juvenile ... brilliant, ridiculous and alarming," the Guardian newspaper's website once called it. "The id of the Internet,"...."
I guess a trip inside the world of 4chan is a journey that has to be made by any planner serious about understanding the mind of young males today.
Posted by Ed Cotton
04/12/2024 07:49:47 AM (3)
(3) Meaning, do they allow themselves to be easily adapted and changed for new uses?
This is basically hacking.
The Wii is one of the more interesting ones of the moment because of its cultural presence and the interesting infa red and motion sensing technology that it has.
Here Johnny Lee shows a stunned audience at this year's TED conference, a couple of very cool hacks.
I think his comment about spreading the hacks through YouTube is especially relevant.
Brands could create whole ecosystems with communities of users who play, develop and share ideas in this way.
Perhaps, it's no longer about a closed box, but something that's open and can be constantly played with and its limits tested and explored.
Posted by Ed Cotton
Articles for tag ted (3 total).