WebWord

ClickZ — “After weeding out companies that were delisted during that period, the Design Council discovered 166 “design-lead” companies that outperformed the market by 200 percent during the study’s span. Even 2000-2003’s bear market, companies that emphasized design (and won design awards) performed better than those that didn’t. They lost less value when times were […]

I will be in Bangalore (India) from 6-Aug through 12-Aug, if you want to try meet up with me. I’ll be pretty busy but I can probably find time for you! ;-) Drop me a line … john@webword.com

“The work, typically performed for free, most often focuses on front-end improvements to key top-level pages. Such makeovers form a roadmap for turning a confusing or inaccessible or bloated site into a more usable, accessible, and streamlined one. Yet rarely do potential corporate benefactors take advantage of the free work done on their behalf — […]

“Customer is KING. And I mean it. Being in Japan even for a week will spoil you. No matter how small the business is, the service is impeccable at all times.”
I love any information I can get about usability, human factors, and customer experience in other countries.
Read the posting…

Digital Web Magazine — “What do companies like Nordstrom, Jet Blue, Amazon and Dell have in common? They have built their brand value on providing a positive experience for their customers on- and offline. Successful companies match business objectives with customer needs.”
Good article, but does it cover anything new? I do like the attempt to […]

“Almost every top site has a monthly (or weekly, or even daily!) newsletter that you can subscribe to. Online stores use their newsletters to advertise products and announce sales. Content providers send out previews of their articles in the hope that you’ll log in to read the rest. And most sites are careful to reassure […]

“Mind mapping software can be a powerful tool for managing your projects, your goals and even your to-do lists. Mind maps are very visually oriented, and enable you to gather, manage and share a large variety of information and resources quickly and easily — making them an ideal tool for managing projects.”
Read the article…

As of 10:58 PM EST on Thursday, 22-July-2004 it’s official.
Yes my friends, I’m a usability consultant.
Visit Oristus to learn more…

“Grocery operators hope the big investments in technology will help them better withstand competition from big-box discounters that are making food a mainstay of their product mix.

Supervalu Inc. of Eden Prairie said it’s close to testing a system that allows customers to pay for groceries by placing their finger on a scanner. Other chains such […]

Techdirt — “It turns out that a new SAP powered computer system at two offices of (of all things) the Federal Technology Service (the GSA’s info tech procurement group), has slowed things down to a crawl. They’re blaming the training procedure, but it says people were trained… but apparently they were trained without actually seeing […]

On a recent trip, I rented a car through Alamo. In the agreement, there was a line that said something like, if the gas tank isn’t full, we’ll charge you $5.52 per gallon to fill it. Well, I used the car for about 5 days and my trip was over. I left the hotel, filled […]

“While some consumers express concerns about carrying phones that contain electronic money and personal information or having their purchases monitored, J.P. Morgan’s Katsuma said it was no different than carrying a wallet or credit card.”
Mobile phones as wallets. This article is a good little introduction.
Read more…