creative briefing

Two quick and helpful micro-insights I’ve come across in the last 24 hours since launching UX Digest:

Brands

Firstly, it seems that marketing a brand name (i.e. ‘UX Digest’) is much easier than marketing just a name on its own (i.e. ‘Verne Ho’). With a name, there is no meaning or favourable associations attached to it (initially). A brand name (for the most part) has at least 1-3 words that help give meaning to your entity. This makes it easier for strangers to your brand to accept and acknowledge what you’re all about.

Information

People love information. This thing we call Web 2.0 is all about information sharing and distritution. What this means is that if you have valuable content that is worth someone’s attention, it will catch on. Content definitely is king.

That’s it. Two thoughts that randomly came to me before passing out last night. Take it for what it’s worth!

Onwards with your day. :)

I’m happy to announce this morning that after a weekend of writing, designing and WordPressing, I’ve launched UX Digest! UX Digest is a microblog that shares “the best user experience tips, tricks and resources from across the web” – a go-to site for individuals looking to become experts in delivering wicked user experiences.

This site was built with the intention of creating a one-stop-shop for UX best practices – a reference guide for web designers, developers and producers alike.

Head over to http://uxdige.st to catch all the action, subscribe to the RSS feed, and follow us on Twitter (@uxdigest). We’re also looking for more great UX articles and sites to share, so if you come across any, swing by and suggest it.

If you have any feedback or spot anything weird, feel free to leave a comment here or on the launch post. Your support is appreciated! Spread the word! :)

I’m usually not into writing best-of posts, but it’s hard not to get wrapped up in self-reflection and resolutions this time of year. It is the last day of 2008 after all, and seeing as how one of my 2009 resolutions is to bring this blog back to life with more frequent posts, I thought I would start by looking back at 2008.

On a sidenote, this blog was recently listed as one of 160+ RSS Feeds For Web Designers and Developers. As a result, my RSS subscription count has risen from the comfy ~380 range it was sitting at for so long, to a healthier 522 (as of writing this post). It’s not often that I’m privileged with so many new sets of eyeballs, so I wanted to welcome all my new readers! Grab a coffee and a bean bag – hope you enjoy your stay!

Okay, back on track. Here’s a skimmable (because nobody wants to read on New Year’s Eve) list of my best posts of 2008.

Read the rest of this entry >

I’ve been quietly and busily geeking out for the past little while. Rest assured, I’m alive. A lot of exciting stuff going on at Daily Challenge, but that’s a whole other post. This post, on the other hand, is a simple announcement that I finally squeezed a few hours out of my weekend and released my first free Sweetcron theme: teh blog ar (not) dead.

Description

teh blog ar (not) dead is a Sweetcron theme that keeps your blog posts front and center so that they don’t get drowned out by your other geeky internet activities.

Features

• Dedicated area for blog items
• Expandable/collapsible profile section
• Activity items link directly to original source
• Clean customizable single column layout
• Recently included in the list of 25 of the best Sweetcron-powered Lifestreams

Discussion & Download

Discuss: Sweetcron Discussion Group (teh blog ar (not) dead thread)

Download: teh blog are (not) dead

Live Demo: Satish Kanwar / Technology Marketer

What is Sweetcron?

Learn more here: Sweetcron: WordPress for Lifestreamers

Enjoy!

Many People x Small Acts of Kindness = Big Change.

Being Blog Action Day today, this simple equation seems to be a fitting foundation for today’s theme of eliminating poverty through the simple act of blogging. This equation also represents my contribution to improving the world on not only Blog Action Day, but every single day of the year.

Here’s the scoop: I recently joined a great team of people to develop an initiative called Daily Challenge. If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen my announcement of it going into public beta last Friday. The concept is simple: every day, everybody performs a simple act of kindness in hopes of producing positive change in our world. Challenges are submitted by users in the community (like you and me) and by celebrities and public figures supporting the cause. Accept a challenge every day. Perform your act of kindness. Check it off, sit back and enjoy the feeling of being a Do Gooder. It’s that simple.

So what does this have to do with Blog Action Day and poverty? Well, for starters, today’s challenge asks you to help those living in poverty by challenging 2 (or more) friends to a trivia play-off at www.freerice.com. Free Rice is a great initiative that promises to donate 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Programme for every trivia question you answer correctly. How many can you get? Post your scores in the comments!

Secondly, Daily Challenge offers you a great way to fight poverty (or any cause) any day of the year. Not only that, but by submitting and sharing your own challenges, you’re helping to spread awareness and also helping your friends, family and other members in the community make a real impact on the world.

You shouldn’t need Blog Action Day to get started on fighting poverty, but if you’re going to start, today’s the day. Accept the challenge by visiting www.dailychallenge.org and registering to make a difference!