We humans are social creatures that thrive on face to face interaction and communication.   Tom Erickson, interaction designer and researcher in the Social Computing Group at IBM’s Watson Labs defines social computing as providing an online place, application or service that have some of that “life” to them. 
His new report provides a though-provoking analysis of what is “social computing,” how does it differ from “social media,” and what is its impact on the way we work, live and play.

Erickson’s report and interview discussions provide insight for digital designers and developers like Manning, but also important ideas for those in online marketing and communications.  He likens digital designers to architects and urban planners who are creating public spaces to encourage people to interact, communicate, and live together.  He suggests that we look at online spaces in terms of the interaction they support and promote.

It’s a compelling analysis well worth the investment of time.

Back in the days of our CEES iPrep app, Apple made it kind of a pain to distribute works outside of the App Store. Businesses that wanted to create internal tools had use ad-hoc builds — a process that’s pretty difficult for even tech-savvy clients.

Someone at Apple woke up and realized that internal business apps needed their own tools. Enter the Apple Developer Enterprise Program.
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There’s a pervasive “Mommy and me” vision of children’s technology – the idea that every time a child uses a device, someone lovingly guides them through each tap or click.

Researchers know this ideal approach is pretty rare. Here’s a more realistic scenario: The parent downloads an app and swipes through. If it looks kosher, they’ll “pass back” the smartphone or tablet to their child and return to their grown-up tasks. If you can’t depend on Mom and Dad’s web-savvy guidance, how do you make an app kid-friendly?

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Meet our newest Project Manager!

We’d like to formally introduce our newest interactive project manager, Laura Nash. Laura joined us mid-September after completing a cross-country move from Seattle, Washington. She’s got years of experience producing digital media from concept development through post-launch strategy. Her production background includes work for Random House, Disney Online, Penguin Books, and Discovery Networks. In her spare time, Laura loves directing and stage managing theater.

As Interactive Project Manager at Manning, Laura will provide leadership on individual projects as well as overall creative vision and direction. She is especially well versed in app development and promotion. Oh, and if you aren’t sold on her yet — Celine Dion once sang her Happy Birthday. You’ve got to admit that’s pretty cool.

At Manning, we believe that good work comes from a very simple formula: hire talent, plan well, work hard.

Good work comes from good planning. Good planning comes from the right questions. Take our current bundle of fun for Project ChimpCARE.

First question: “What do they want?”

The Lincoln Park Zoo wanted to make a piece promoting Project ChimpCARE .

Next question: “No, what do they really want?”

ChimpCARE wanted a piece that illustrated how chimps were mistreated in entertainment, showed why people shouldn’t support chimps in entertainment, and showed how zoos are integral to rehabilitating those chimpanzees.

So we pitched an iPad children’s book.  It was a different way to get to the target audience and achieve all the goals of the project. Even though it wasn’t what they had originally envisioned for this project, the zoo embraced the idea and let us run with it.

That freedom allowed us to throw ourselves into crafting something that both reflected the objectives of ChimpCARE and let us demonstrate what we could really do as a company.

We started pitching story outlines back and forth. Versions and versions later, we had our outline.

We started writing. Seventeen drafts later, we had our story.

We started storyboarding. A hundred chalkboard drawings and digital sketches later, the book was starting to take shape.

We had a solid month of illustrations (24 illustrations in 25 days. Keep an eye out for Natalie’s post about exactly how much work that is.)

Then, after all of that, we can get to work on the iPad. All of the interactive design and development that goes into turning a story into an app is, according to our estimates, about a million hours more.

That’s a lot of work.

Every single step of the process was deliberately planned, everything was approved by the zoo as we went so there were no surprises, and every person on the project knew exactly what was happening and who to ask if they had any questions. Most importantly, we kept the project goals in mind while we worked through each part of the process.

Last question: “Was all that work worth it?”

Absolutely.

For probably the first time in a VERY long time, I have decided to choose my next “main” desktop computer as a Windows machine. While most people update their computers every few years, I usually have bought a new computer every year.

My last computer was a 3.02GHz Intel Dual Core iMac 27″ which was bought about 2 years ago. Although the computer is still running okay, I cannot stand lag. Although I am a programmer at heart, I also all types of media development and editing (motion graphics, sound editing, etc). So while waiting for a redesign and spec bump in the iMac lineup, I ran into a gaming case, the Thermaltake Level 10 GT. For some strange reason, it just looked really geeky and attractive to my eyes.

Although I really love the way Apple delivers its products, I felt that I really wanted a machine that would let me do all the things I ever wanted to do on a computer with no hassle. And I also felt that I should start building my own things and upgrade things rather than buying and replacing (which has costed me many $$$$ along the years). This is when the idea to build a PC from scratch came about. The last PC I built was probably about 10 years ago, so I knew that there was a lot to learn IF I was going to take this approach. I looked into many forums (particularly Tom’s Hardware forum and Hardforum.com) and was shocked at the builds that PC enthusiasts are using. Although I had an initial budget of $2000 (including a new monitor), after putting all the parts I wanted together the price for my dream PC was around $6000.
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Before illustrators were professional artists working on deadline and caffeine, they were once painstakingly trying to figure out how to make a nose look right, how to make the brush leave the marks they wanted, how to make fur look like fur without drawing every single hair. Though with time and effort their skills will render the nose, the fur, and the paintbrush half the challenges they once were, the question of “how do I draw?” will follow illustrators into their careers, even after many technical aspects of drawing are hardly a problem.

While every illustration presents a unique creative challenge, sometimes a project is also sufficiently outside the illustrator’s usual “alley.” And that’s when things get interesting — an unfamiliar subject means the illustrator cannot rely on many of the well-rehearsed tricks in their bag.

…which is actually primally terrifying. The “bag of tricks” is a parachute in a world in which there is often no time to risk or mess up. But it’s okay — there is nothing illustrators love more than terror, stress, and sleep-deprivation, else we wouldn’t be in the field! Onward!

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I’m not an absolute Apple fanatic (unlike other people at Manning) but we all today should be inspired by Steve Jobs. Char shared with me this article about an inspiring commencement speech Jobs gave at Stanford in 2005 encouraging student to find their passion and set out to do it — and you will never regret it for one day. Words of wisdom we should all continue to follow.

A New interactive  HTML5 app aims to convey personalized messages in the wake of Japan’s nuclear disaster.  Google Japan teamed up with a dance troupe Pilobolous and the band OK Go to create a video dance messenger that works in Chrome.

You should open the link in Chrome, but for your convenience here is a video version:

The programmed  choreography is truly amazing, as is the way the dancers spell out your personal message that your enter when you first launch the application.

I can only imagine the time and creativity that went into creating this. You can read more about the making of All is Not Lost – then try adding your own message to the global forum.

When it comes to building {successful} websites, appealing to a large and diverse audience requires a mastery of the web and expertise in user experience. You need to thoroughly define a strategy that will engage the majority of that large audience – and keep them coming back.  Now… take all of that complexity, and double it! This is the challenge we faced when tasked with creating a website that appealed to both B2B and B2C market segments.

You might be thinking, “Get my red staples button, that’s easy!”   But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Here are a few fundamentals that need to be balanced when creating a website that accommodates both B2C & B2B customers:

Product VS Relationship Driven

Typically, a website meant for engaging B2C customers works at converting the “shoppers” into buyers as quickly and aggressively as possible. When on the web, end consumers want sales information handy and can easily be enticed with incentives.  In many cases only one or two people are making a purchasing decision and not interested in a long-term relationship – just a quick fix to their need or problem.

When it comes to a B2B experience the focus shifts from being completely product driven to one that is based on developing a relationship. In a business scenario, the first point of contact with a website is to gather research. Content is king, and the information available online is used for comparison and discussion among peers. It is critical that you have the information they are looking for, or you may be crossed off the list. At this phase, companies aren’t ready for a hard sell – just pursuing options. Continue Reading →