Things are always better when they're fun

A friend and former colleague on the three important aspects of a "delightful user experience":
- Playfulness
- Usability
- Context

As always, nice job Fred.

Socialnomics

Interesting, engaging, and thought provoking promotion for a book. Social media is gaining lots of attention, at the end of the day it's still humans participating in human systems. Technology is enabling more conversations, not necessarily better ones. However, as marketers it's a chance to "fish where the fish are."

Technology is not the drive, it's the enabler. Know what type of interactions and experiences, the types of conversations, you want to enable.

Benjamin Zander's TED Talk

In 2008, through my work with Best Buy, I was introduced to Benjamin Zander.  His TED talk and his book The Art of Possibility are well worth your time, IMHO.  If you're ever stuck or caught up in the existing rules, remember that it's all invented...and you have a rich array of possibilities in front of you.

Where did the summer go?

It has been a crazy summer. My family and I moved to Iowa City, as my wife accepted a tenure track position in the College of Education at the University of Iowa. I’m now the Sr. Interactive Media Consultant at Stamats. So, over the past 8 months, both my wife and I have switched jobs, we’ve sold our house in Minneapolis , bought a house in Iowa City, and enjoyed the addition of our second child. Needless to say, posting on the blog as been a bit light.

 I’m very excited about the new role and look forward to more frequent postings about interactive media, communication trends, and brand experience.

 Best wishes for a great Fall.

Posted via email from Matt's posterous

For Father's Day, Share the Awesomeness

Ernie Bormman Memoriam Page

Last year the communication discipline lost one of its greatest scholars. The U of M now has a nice memoriam page on their site. In some ways, Bormann was like my academic grandfather. Ernie, the creator of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) and other ground-breaking group communication research was the advisor to John Cragan. I studied with John and have worked with John and Don Shields on furthering SCT. I was lucky enough to meet Bormann a few times. Ernie was also a University of Iowa Ph.D. At Iowa, Ernie roomed with Sam Becker, another giant in the communication discipline, and one of my favorite professors.

Rest in peace, Ernie.

Tropicana Design Mishap

As noted on "Under Consideration," Tropicana is reverting back to its old design...or the one that was recognizable.   The design may have been acceptable for a Web 2.0 site, but is not the right move when consumers, especially those in your tribe, are trying to find your product in the commodity laden refrigerated section.  The iconic logo was easy to spot and differentiated from other OJs. The new (now old) logo looked more like a generic.  

Perhaps the PR team will argue that this is generating buzz, but I don't think it's going to have a long-term positive effect on sales or the brand.  I'm curious to know what, if any, research when in to creating the creative blueprint for this.  I must say that this post makes me want to pour myself a nice glass of of pulp free Minute Maid.

Thanks to Rett for the link.

Sanctioning Agent Welcomes Newest Field Agent

Malcolm W. Arnold is ready for assignment.  Malcolm was born February 18.  Mom and baby are doing fine.