News
BIWA announced for 2011
Wednesday 30 November 2011
The results of the Wired Best Investor Awards (BIWA) for 2011 have been released, with the top ranked site belonging to Fletcher Building.
The BIWA analyse and rank how effectively NZX 50 listed companies communicate with their investors online.
The ground shakes
27 July 2011
Like everyone else in Canterbury we've had a pretty rough time this year. The Boxing Day quake red-stickered the Old Weekly Press Building in Cashel Mall where we had been for 15 years, so we moved to 123 Victoria Street. This is where we were on the 22 February for the next quake.
We were all fine apart, from a few bruises but that building also eventually became red-stickered meaning we had to move again. Now we are in a house at 56 Carlton Mill Road, which had some damage, but it's green stickered. It has mostly survived the aftershocks (the hot water cylinder did spring a leak on 13 June and we had a waterfall in the lobby but that's fixed now), and otherwise it's very comfortable.
All our staff and families came through relatively unscathed, although the same cannot be said of our homes; several of us had severe damage and two staff who lived in the hill suburbs had to move.
Now that we've had lots of experience working from home the big snow on Monday didn't seriously inconvenience us but we did have a fun snow fight in the backyard.
Australian usability expert on the benefits to business
16 September 2010
One of our favourite usability speakers was in New Zealand recently talking about the benefits of usable websites.
"Firms shouldn't under estimate the benefits of a well-designed website...Well designed sites improve a firm's bottom-line because satisfied customers return more often and spend more."
Gerry Gaffney from Information & Design in Melbourne has been finding web users are well over the "wow-factor" so often pushed by the web and advertising industry in the past. They now expect websites to help them get something done, not push marketing messages down their throat.
He pointed to the iPhone and iPad as opening peoples' eyes to the benefits of a well-designed interface and lifting everyone's expectations for usability on the web. "...user experience is becoming a higher priority for companies. Customer experience is now a major differentiator in the increasingly homogenised markets of today."
Users have moved on from "I'm worried I'll break the computer" to "why can't they make this easy for me?". Experienced users have a very low tolerance for poor design and won't return to a site that forces them to work hard.
You can listen to the interview from here http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/business/bus-mnr-20100916-0648-Morning_Business_for_16_September_2010-048.mp3
Scroll through to about 7.00 mins for Gerry's spot, which is only a minute or two long.
Wired book released into the world
16 July 2010
We've set one of our books free into the world and registered it with BookCrossing. You can follow it's travels here: http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/WiredInternet/
Wired launches user experience book
1 July 2010
It started as a little idea, then it grew. Before we knew what had happened we were making a whole book. Preparing for Take-off is, as it says on the cover, 'A practical guide to getting a return on your online investment'.
Thanks to the amusing and intellegent writing style of Bruce Russell, and the quirky photos we chose to illustrate it, it's a light and entertaining read that will help you through the thickets of getting your website right.
For a beautifully printed hardcopy please contact Greg Comfort or Mike Baddeley on +64-3-377 8460.
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