A Dragon in Sheep’s Clothing

I’ve discovered several items online today that I want to highlight instead of just including as del.icio.us links. They all deal with the state of the Internet — some in relation to user experience, some in the bigger world/cultural picture. Lots of food for thought for a designer like me.

Clive Thompson on Human Memory and the Outboard Brain (Wired)
“According to recent research, we’re remembering fewer and fewer basic facts these days. ….Almost without noticing it, we’ve outsourced important peripheral brain functions to the silicon around us.”

“Fast Forward: Designing for Constant Change” Study (Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog)
The study’s report consists of thirteen essays and research that explore how consumers’ digital media habits affect the ways that companies should design user experiences and digital brands. Two key findings, according to this blog:
1) Marketers need to stop thinking of creating online ads or websites in isolation, and
2) Marketers should stop thinking of the web as just another channel to express their offline brands.

Intranet design is not about design, stupid (Intranet Blog)
“The look-and-feel or design of your intranet or portal is window dressing – a distraction from what employees need. ….Design helps facilitate the process, but never should be the focus or centerpiece.”

The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business(book)
The authors ask, “are we are the first society with ADD?” The Information Age is over, in the sense that information is now so widely available that people are overwhelmed by it. The new hot commodity is a customer’s attention. While this is most obvious online, the offline world is filled with a plethora of things demanding attention as well. I need to look at this book at Barnes & Noble before I make a judgement about buying it.

The following two books I have purchased:

Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning
“Most discussion about Web design seems to focus on the creative process, yet turning concept into reality requires a strong set of deliverables—the documentation (concept model, site maps, usability reports, and more) that serves as the primary communication tool between designers and customers. Here at last is a guide devoted to just that topic.”

Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge
A “softly totalitarian approach to customer service.” From a cusomter review: “Most people construe branding as merely a matter of naming and promoting, as though the brand name merely reminds you of the quality of the product or service so branded. Dr. Barlow and her colleagues have cleverly reminded us that branding is much more; that it is an active process that translates to living up to a promise.” I want to find out if this can be expanded to online “branded” customer experience.