How to Win an Election (with 48 million votes)
The New York Times has an article on how much is your vote worth. It’s a very interesting take on the electoral college system. There was a very nice accompanying map. After looking at this a while I couldn’t help but wonder which of these states would be the ones you would need to win to be elected in such an efficient way (you could get elected by fewer than 48 million people). So I got out my excel spreadsheet and plugged in the numbers. the winning states are…
WY, DC, VT, ND, AK, RI, SD, DE, HI, MT, NH, NE, ME, ID, NM, WV, IA, KS, NV, AR, LA, CT, MS, UT, OK, MN, AL, MA, CO, MD, OR, NJ, MO, KY, CA, SC
Then I decided to map them…
If anyone wants to do something more interesting with the data, I’ve shared the data on Google Docs
Thanks to John Adamson for the Map Making Utility
King of the Sheep - Saudi style
Father Ted fans among you may remember the king of the sheep competition. If you’ve never seen this, imagine the Rose of Tralee for livestock.
So when I saw that there was a competition for the Most Beautiful Goat in Damascus, Saudi Arabia I couldn’t help but smile.
Upon further investigation this doesn’t seem to be an isolated competition:
6 Tips for Building a Great Microsoft Surface Application
So since Microsoft have released the Surface SDK at their Professional Developers Conference. At Conchango where I work we’ve got some developer units in the U.S. and have had the SDK for a while now. I thought I should offer some thoughts on building surface applications having looked at quite a few recently.
- It’s not just multi-touch it’s multi-user too. The surface is something that you get people together standing around. With traditional computing you detach from the world around you and immerse yourself in the terminal. The surface is part of the world, so think about the fact that even when one person is using the device there are probably going to be other people watching them (the surface has a gravitational pull that draws people in to watch). The best applications consider and even take advantage of that social element and the possibilities for collaboration as many people interact at the same time.
- Drop the dropdowns. There is a subtle shift going on at the moment. It’s probably not unfair to say the iPhone was the butterfly flapping its wings that initiated it (albeit that the iPhone launch was a pretty huge butterfly). This is the change from the GUI (Graphical User Interface) to what is being dubbed by some the NUI (Natural User Interface). This has the potential to be a change on the scale as the change from punch cards to the command line or from the command line to the GUI. This means we need to think beyond the traditional componants we used to make up our interfaces. Where we might have classified an item into a group before by using a drop down control or a radio button, now we’re moving the item (or some representation of that item) into a space which represents the group.
- Go beyond the interface. I said before that the surface is part of the world in a way that a computer screen, mouse and keyboard is not. The great thing about surface is that you can really take advantage of that. By using domino tags (these are stickers which you can put on an object to let the surface identify it, like a barcode but smaller and looking slightly like a domino) the surface can identify objects that are placed on it. This could be you’re work ID card which you pop on the table so the surface knows that it’s “you” who’s using it. Maybe it then switches to your personal settings or knows where to save the output of your session. Or you could put them on the bottom of your salt and pepper shakers and your ketchup bottle to record those football tactics you came up with over dinner come to life.
- Come at it from every direction. At a monitor there is a very definite up, down, left and right. Some phones and laptops do some clever things with accelerometers but they always need to know which way they are facing. The surface doesn’t need to know which way it’s facing cause it’s facing in every way (that said I don’t recommend putting a surface in the ceiling even if you want to spice up your love life). People should not have to be stand on a certain side of the surface to use your app. The best applications use the surface technology to work out where people are and if there is text or controls it spins the text, images or video to face them.
- Make it feel right. This is one of the most important aspects and at the same time one of the hardest to explain in words. But you know it when you see it or interact with it. Some things feel good to use (Donald Norman calls it the visceral aspect of design); it could be the satisfying click of a marker pen when you put the lid on, or how the shape, weight and handle on your favourite mug feel just right. Nature tends to be really good at this. What makes up good visceral design? The harmonious combination of interaction and feedback. When I hit the bottom of the menu on my iPod Touch it bounces softly. If I flick the menu so it’s moving faster when it hits the bottom it bounces higher than if i slowly scroll down. It feels right.
- Think BIG. This is a paradigm shift and there are no rules. My tips here are observations from seeing what’s been done so far and looking at what works and what doesn’t. But this is something genuinely novel to most people so you have the opportunity to create something really great and ground-breaking that’s never been done before. Take that opportunity.
Update: Bonus Point (thanks to my colleague Christian)
- Look and Listen. Don’t just restrict yourself to thinking visually, suond design is a hugely important feature in creating engaging experiences. Part making it feel right is making it sound right too. Remember how the old iPods had a light clicking sound as you spun the wheel, or the example of the click when the lid goes on the marker. Auditory feedback can be just as important as visual.
e-Service that’s badly in need of energising
So I’ve been looking at the web offerings in the utilities sector lately and I’ve been amazed at how bad their e-service is.
You have to wonder why when the benefits of providing good customer service online are so huge
- When people self serve (i.e. solve their own problems) they feel a sense of accomplishment. You get happy customers.
- When people self serve they don’t call up your call centre. You get fewer calls to your call centre. You have to hire fewer people to answer calls (particularly the more trivial ones). You reduce costs. Is there any company in the world right now that doesn’t want to reduce costs?
- When you allow customers to access their accounts online you don’t have to send out thousands millions of bills out every month.
- When you invest in technology such as smart meters you don’t have to employ meter readers to go round checking the meter and disturbing people in their homes. Again with the cost reduction. You also stop overcharging people with estimated bills, and give people tools to help cut their energy costs.
BUT yes to allow people to do these things will require some investment. However the potential ROI is huge. Sure it’s not in income but in cost reduction and less obvious aspects like customer satisfaction which will reduce customers switching.
There’s a huge gap in the stagnant UK market for a big retail brand to swoop in and disrupt the marketplace with a very competitive offering. Tesco Energy? Virgin Energy? Companies that specialise in disrupting sectors dominated by monolithic organisations.
In Ireland where the energy sector has only recently been deregulated, ESB the incumbant is hemoraging customers at a rate of 1000 a month to Energia who have come in with a great online service offering on top of simply being cheaper. They’ve used the Resource Kraft product to let people visualise their usage and spending in detail, and while their help section isn’t great (British Gas deserves an honourable mention in this department), they have nice touches like their request a call service.
Time for the big boys to do something about it or just watch their customers drift away in drip and drabs and droves eventually.
Facebook and the Recession
Coincidence?
Sure, the timelines may be different, but it’s pretty eerie. Clearly the only explanation is that in a recession people use widgets less.
Thanks to Stuart King for the inspiration and FTSE image.
Online Video Players
I’ve been doing a bit of research into online video players. Looking into the various controls that are used.
I made some videos of the interactions of these controls which can be viewed on my screencast account. They do take a while to download as the files are quite big.
In terms of features I really like the Div X player from Scene6; I particularly like how the your screen dims except for the video you’re currently viewing.
Another special moment was discovering that the BBC iPlayer volume controls go up to 11.
Sky and Universal Partner for Digital Downlaod Service
Announced to Universal Staff this Morning…
Universal and Sky partner on subscription service
14:00 | Tuesday July 22, 2008
Universal and Sky are throwing their considerable weight behind an innovative subscription plus download music service that will launch later this year.
The new, as-yet-unnamed service will offer consumers in the UK and Ireland unlimited access to streamed music from the Universal catalogue, as well as a fixed number of DRM-free MP3 downloads depending on the level of subscription.
All of Universal’s catalogue will be available at launch and Sky is in discussions with other music companies, both majors and independents, and expects to announce further partners soon.
Universal Music Group chairman and chief executive Lucian Grainge explains that the new service will meet a demand among music fans that is currently unfulfilled. “There is an awful amount of unmet demand in music,” he told reporters at a press conference at Universal’s High Street Kensington headquarters this morning.
“We are convinced there is untapped demand that is why we have come together. This is part of our attack, coupled with our defence. Rather than tell people what they can’t do, we want to remind them what they can do, what the opportunities are, what is sexy and what is good value.”
BSky B chief operating officer Mike Darcey added, “It’s clear that there’s huge demand for online music and companies like Sky and Universal Music are well placed to work together to meet consumers’ needs. We aim to offer an easy and affordable service for all UK music fans, while ensuring that artists are properly rewarded for their creativity.”
However, both men denied that the new service is an attempt to unseat iTunes from its market-leading position in digital music. “It is more about offering flexibility and something for people whose demands aren’t met by the iTunes model,” Darcey said.
“iTunes is not going to go out there and be everything for everybody. There is space for other models.”
The music service will be operated by a new joint venture company, in which Sky will be the majority shareholder.
Further details, including pricing and branding, will be announced at a later date.
It will be interesting to see what the “fixed number” of DRM-free tracks will be. They say they are going to offer flexibility, but if this is still DRM laden, it’s never going to be as flexible as users want it to be. This is especially true for the early adopters who are a key demographic to get on board. The “Short Head” is so hugely dominated by iTunes it’s going to be hard to unseat. Amazon has shown that you can make inroads into that position of power, but offering DRM-free tracks is key to that.
Horribly Good
What does a great TV and film writer like Joss Whedon do during a writers strike?
Write something for internet distribution instead.
I expect this to be a massive viral hit from the writer of Firefly and Buffy. It features Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day, as Dr Horrible a up and coming supervillain makes his way in the world - through song.
Patience IS a virtue
I really love spreadshirt. They’re great in all sorts of ways, and I’ve had nothing but good experiences dealing with them. In fact I’ve had a blog post sitting as a draft describing all the reasons why I like them for some time now, waiting on me to sort out some photos. When my last order was delayed I didn’t mind, and didn’t really think anything of it, I wasn’t in any particular rush. So when I received a mail offering me a £10 voucher I was delighted. A really simple way to reward your customers, and if they use it a chance to show the level of service that they can provide.
Dear customer,
at Spreadshirt, we pride ourselves on our especially short production
process: nearly all orders are sent out within 48 hours, the majority
within 24 hours.Your recent order took longer to produce due to the relocation of our
production department, combined with unusually high order levels.Most of you were able to wait a few extra days, but we know this did
not delight you. As a token of apology, we are offering you a £10
discount on your next order. Please use the following voucher code at
checkout:**********
This code is a personal code and is valid for one order until
31th August 2008. There is no minimum order required.I thank you personally on behalf of Spreadshirt for your patience,
and look forward to serving you again!Kolja Hebenstreit
Business Unit Leader, Direct Retail
Glad I rmembered to blank out the code there.