Developed by Sensory Minds, this is the world’s biggest multi-touch wall situated at Nürburgring, one of Germany’s most known race tracks.
More than 80 users can simultaneously interact with the 425 square meter (4,574 square feet) total surface.
This week, Apple launched their App store inside Facebook. It’s a nifty little system enabling Facebook users to see top apps and to search the vast app database.
But does this really provide utility for consumers? Would you prefer to search for apps within Facebook, rather than on apple.com or directly via iTunes? Personally, I would use iTunes, but is this indicative of a larger movement? Is Apple spearheading a new paradigm for commerce? Will more brands adopt Facebook as a channel to drive sales?
Below are two other examples of brands that have dabbled with Facebook as an e-commerce platform.
1-800-Flowers
Their novel Flash based system is basically a condensed version of their own website. I haven’t gone through purchasing a product, but giving it a cursory run-through, it’s pretty straightforward, although the Flash interface can be rather clunky at times. A frustrating aspect, however, is that you have to be a “fan” to be able to use the system. Why add that as a hurdle?
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut has an ordering application, which lets you place a pizza order within Facebook. Though, before you can actually order, you first have to install the Facebook application and also create an account. That said, I think this could be the perfect application for those Facebook users who habitually get lost in time browsing friends’ profiles and wind up craving a late night pizza.
I admire these examples. These brands are testing the waters. However, if I was a brand manager, I would be cautious before jumping on the good old bandwagon. There are a few problem areas with Facebook as a sales platform, namely:
It’s limited
One is inherently confined within the Facebook framework, which limits screen real estate, design and technology.
It’s a third party
If Facebook changes their code base, some of your functionality might go down.
There is a potential trust issue
Do users really trust completing a transaction within Facebook? With identity and credit card theft at epidemic levels, will they trust Facebook security?
This month Facebook topped Google as the #1 trafficked site in the US. In other words, it is beyond question that Facebook is a great platform for brands, but is it the perfect place to drive sales? Not at this point. Facebook is not currently set up to be an e-commerce platform. If Facebook starts tailoring their framework more for commerce, and if consumers start trusting Facebook as a reliable and user-friendly platform, there will be a seismic channel shift, but now, it’s too early to tell.
“I define simplicity as the means to achieving clarity, transparency, and empathy. Building humanity into communications.”
That quote is by Alan Siegel from a Ted presentation where he tackles the design of legal documents.
We all know how much frustration credit card statements, tax documents and contracts cause, and Alan shows how it is possible to make these documents easy to understand, by just focusing on simplicity.
[via PSFK]
This demonstration was done by Penguin’s CEO John Makinson showing the endless possibilities publishers are given with the iPad framework. It’s just jaw-dropping to see how Apple, yet again, can transform media consumption.
Genres in electronic music are interconnected. Techno influenced trance, hip hop influenced breakbeat, disco influenced house music and so on. A Brazilian project, Sync/Lost, visualize these connections and lets participants interact with the installation using Wii remotes. Brilliant.
Learn more about their process.
Some pretty mind-blowing statistics compiled by Jesse Thomas. Enjoy.
A couple of months back CNN launched a new site design, which has turned out to be quite a game changer for news sites. The site got a much-needed facelift with emphasis on video content and imagery and a new distinctive red header was introduced among other things. However, the section that stands out the most is News Pulse, where you can instantly find out what stories have the most buzz, in real time. Digg, Reddit and other sites use a similar structure, but this is the first time I have seen a traditional media outlet embrace such technology. Well done.
There is an art to designing forms. Forms are one of the most central parts to an online business. You only have the users’ attention for some seconds and in that time you need to engage them to start the process. Usually the step process paradigm is used to explain that there are only a few steps that need to be taken. However, I have sometimes seen that showing the steps can be quite daunting to certain types of users.
To stir things up, Apple has yet again reinvented the check out process with their new redesign. It scraps the steps pattern and instead uses an accordion style structure with a lot of neat innovations in terms of input functionality.
I suggest you read Luke Wroblewski’s, Yahoo!’s Chief Design Architect’s, detailed post about the redesign.
Do you think this will reinvent how e-commerce sites handle their check out processes?
Bonnier’s R&D department caused quite a stir on the web last week when launching a video of their new magazine prototype. Will this be how we read news in the future?
Working at a web agency, one thing is for certain, there will always be a constant battle about ”the fold” between clients, account staff, designers and developers. People use the word ”the fold” as something specific, but it’s quite arbitrary and can lead to a lot of confusion. I have personally been in countless situations where clients and managers have complained about not seeing all the elements on their 1024 x 768 screen, with two toolbars in IE 6. Now, thanks to the kind folks at Google, we can use the Browser Size tool to avoid these situations of irritation. Thank you!
Twitter / mcastenfors