Okay, maybe communication never truly left … but our awareness of it has grown keen as we shape effective customer experiences in interactive media. Recently, Donovan (Director of User Experience) gave a presentation about web 2.0’s impact on the landscape of user (customer) experience.  He convincingly described how web 2.0 capabilities evolved as a response to user needs and allow the web to become, among other things, the communication medium people envisioned 10 years ago.

In this changed landscape of customer experience, what is communication exactly?  How do we ensure customers not only get our messages but also find them relevant and convincing?  How do we coordinate messages across multiple channels to deepen our relationships with customers?

As a start toward answering such questions, I just published “Rediscovering Communication“ for the online magazine UXmatters.  Please add your insights as we journey through this exciting landscape together.

I read this on Slashdot this morning because I don’t read the NY Times …

“The NYTimes is running a story about an iPhone flaw that has been found and documented by researchers from Independent Security Evaluators. Attackers were able to gain full control of the iPhone either through WiFi or by visiting a website with malicious code. The exploit will be demonstrated at BlackHat on Aug. 2nd at 4:45pm. Until then, ‘details on the vulnerability, but not a step-by-step guide to hacking the phone, can be found at www.exploitingiphone.com, which the researchers said would be unveiled today.’”

Anyone hacked an iPhone lately? If so, what did you do with it? I would spam people with SMS and call my friend in Thailand for free.

Design and usability are to many “form and function” - the chocolate and peanut butter, and also the difference between an amazing product and a soon to be forgotten one.

I would like this blog post to be Round 1 of the debate over the design interface, the overall product design and its usability among the public. What this is not is a place to complain about Apples’ battery life issues from previous technologies or how Apple will be creating yet another design movement that will effect everything from toasters to toilets. (see iMac)

(Enter and exit Ring Girls and the sound of the bell)

iPhone Advertisement (use in action)

Product Shots:

On SMS Text News yesterday I saw a post about Pepsi’s new Bluetooth campaign run by Qwikker.   The concept is that several bus shelters and pay phones in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Denver, Orange County, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will give consumers with a Bluetooth device the ability to download free video clips.  It’s considered the largest Bluetooth marketing campaign to date.

Very cool and all the press I read about it agrees.  But I’m confused.  Having been talking about the power of virtual worlds for the better part of six months now, the main objection that marketers have is the reach (or the perceived lack thereof).  In Second Life in particular, with only 40,000 to 50,000 people “in-world” at any given time, it’s hard to get the reach that you would get from most other interactive marketing campaigns.

How is this Bluetooth campaign by Pepsi any different?  How many people can they really expect on a daily basis to a) stop at one of these few locations, b) have a Bluetooth device, c) know how to use it properly and d) want to download a Pepsi video?  And knowing there’s very little chance this campaign is less expensive or time consuming to create than a Second Life presence, I doubt the ROI is going to be any better.

And the second thing I hear most about Second Life’s downside is that you can’t really have more than 30 to 40 people in any given area without experiencing serious lag and decreased productivity.  Last time I checked, there weren’t a lot of phone booth’s that could hold that many people (though try as they may).

Am I missing something or should the same people that chastise Second Life also be chastising this Pepsi campaign?

Staying Customer-Focused in Customer Support
In our ever-changing, high-tech marketplace, companies face more challenges than ever in communicating effectively to customers.  Many large companies are tasked with developing and managing communications that:

• Address the customer lifecycle, from winning new customers to providing customer support to deepening customer relationships.
• Encourage and support use of automation and self-service channels, such as the web and IVR, to save costs.
• Preserve consistent messaging across communication channels and yet are optimized for different channel formats.

In trying to accomplish this huge task, good old-fashioned communication can get lost.  That’s because most companies approach this task only from a technical or system perspective of content management, not communication.    Analysts at Forrester and KnowledgeStorm have noted the problem, saying companies need to focus on how content is used so that it’s effective, not just how to “manage and search” for content.  

However you describe it, the problem comes down to whether the content communicates.  This blog series will describe a few simple examples and some solutions.

Customer Support Example: Voicemail Instructions
Let’s say you’re a wireless customer and want to know how to change your personal greeting.  You tried on your own with no success, so you check your wireless service provider’s website hoping for some quick help. (If you can’t get help quickly, you’re going to call the company.) You get to a voicemail page under a section called “Support.” Unfortunately, most of the page defines voicemail (You already know what voicemail is, you’re trying to use it!) and explains its benefits (Again, you already know! You’d like instructions on how to use the benefits.).  Not the communication you need! Eventually, you find a link for voicemail instructions that opens this, only larger.

First, let’s give points for trying to make the instructions visual.  Unfortunately, you get a crick in your neck from turning your head to the left and trying to read the blue headers.  And as you try to follow the flow chart, the zig-zag lines combined with the scattered boxes give you a slight headache.Formatting aside, these instructions suffer two other communication problems: 

System Focus Instead of Customer Focus
These instructions are system-focused, not customer-focused, so they include the wrong information type.  These “instructions” are actually a diagram of the voicemail system structure.  This may work for the rare customer with some technical understanding of voicemail or IVR systems, but not most customers.  And if you find the personal greeting option in this diagram, then you have to trace your path back to the main menu to figure out which options you have to select and in what order.  A customer focus would lead you to include not structure but process, ideally concise step-by-step instructions written from the customer’s point of view and formatted so they’re easy to read.

Information Overload
The other communication problem is information overload—too much information is presented at once. You’re using these instructions just to find out how to change a personal greeting, not how to do everything in the voicemail system.  You have to sort through much irrelevant information to find the personal greeting option.  What would help?  Breaking the information down into small, manageable units.

At this point, dialing the phone seems much quicker than understanding these instructions.  So you call your wireless service provider for help, adding to their costs for maintaining call centers.  You tell your friends about your experience, damaging the provider’s reputation.  And all this could have been prevented with some good, old-fashioned communication.

We at Spunlogic are deeply saddened by the events that unfolded at Virginia Tech on Monday. Now, days later, we have all had time to reflect on the events that shook our nation, and how new media has changed the landscape of tragedy.

Minutes after the mass murder, my coworkers and I were alerted to the breaking news. One coworker was sent an alert on his PDA, while it was sent to another coworker via RSS. I came across the story after opening a new browser to find the headline on my Yahoo! homepage. As each piece of information was released, we verbally shared the updates along with our distress. Despite the horrific details, we were comforted by the information – with each update, we were less in the dark.

Later in the day, Amy, a fellow Project Manager, received a call of relief from a friend in a student exchange program at Virginia Tech. He was going down his cell phone’s address book letting friends and family know he was not hurt. Amy was surprised to find out that her friend, Martin, had actually been outside the classroom building when the SWAT team arrived. Originally thinking he was witnessing some type of drill, Martin caught the following 15 minutes on film from an adjacent building. His call to Amy was short, but she soon got the full story when he wrote a blog post about his experience. Martin’s video and story would later become international news, even being broadcasted on CNN.

News spread quickly as a result of new and interactive media. Television networks and newspapers scurried to use search engine marketing to secure Google, Yahoo!, and MSN keywords related to the killings. Meanwhile, students and their loved ones traded phone calls, text messages, instant messages, emails, and social networking posts. An “I’m ok at VT” group was established on the social networking site Facebook to allow students to communicate their safety to friends. In turn, the site quickly became a bulletin board for students to find out the whereabouts of their friends. Social networking sites soon became the source for breaking, but unsubstantiated, stories, as well as a resource for reporters looking for details on the victims.

As in most cases, when things are done faster, they typically lose quality. As reported by InfoWorld, bloggers wrote of the presumed identity of the killer, linking to the Facebook profile of a Virginia Tech student who was pictured with an extensive gun collection. Many claimed the student even posted a blog implying he was the shooter. The rumors were, for the most part, silenced when the student made a post claiming he couldn’t be the shooter, as the real shooter committed suicide.  On Wednesday the world became intimately acquainted with the actual killer, Cho Seung-Hui, as NBC News aired video and pictures that Cho mailed to their studios.

Misinformation is not the only negative impact new media will play in this and future adversities. The amount of detailed information (and users’ exposure to it) may prove to be a dangerous byproduct of the times. On Wednesday’s edition of Anderson Cooper 360, Anderson interviewed former FBI profiler, Gregg McCrary, who warned of the potential for copy cats due to the extensive coverage of the tragedy.  McCrary explained that “[his] concern is by repeatedly playing these videos and showing these photos over and over again, we’re energizing some other killer out there, somebody who is on the edge, who is on the verge, and sees this as a way to go. Just as [the Virginia Tech killer] identified with the Columbine shooters, somebody’s going to identify with this guy. [McCrary believes] the responsible thing to do is to back off on showing these videos and these pictures. [The news] can certainly report the story and that needs to be done, but [McCrary believes] the danger here is that we’re energizing some other killer and that we may have some other events that follow in the wake of this.”

Our inquisitive and impatient nature has led to the success of social networking, instant messaging, and other Web 2.0 staples; but what are the costs? Will the camera phone recordings, streaming video diaries, victims’ blogs, etc. help the nation heal, fuel copycats, desensitize America’s youth, or all of the above? In the future, perhaps we will use interactive media, such as SMS, to alert those in danger faster.

For years, America has been at the mercy of media gatekeepers, newspaper editors and television producers, but in the user-generated world, it is our responsibility to self-edit. I am the first person to claim my right to any information available to me, but I also feel I am mature enough to make wise decisions about the content I consume. Nevertheless, in the world where anyone can become an internet celebrity, I can’t help but be concerned that the Virginia Tech killer has laid a path for others seeking his twisted yet endless fame. In the end, I do not bless nor condemn the role new media has played in this horrific event; I only question if the world can change as fast as new media.

MySpace is finally mobile!

If you are one of the many that might ask, “Why in the world would someone need to have remote access to a social website like MySpace?” you might be dating yourself. MySpace is far more than a place to host your favorite pics, songs and friends; it is now the town hall, the water cooler and even the Email client of choice.

Plans are made, groups are created and friendships are re-kindled. Cingular understood the importance of connecting its’ users with this powerful social media website to create mobile 2.0 (kidding)… actually maybe 3.0 if you consider how text-based communication changed the mobile industry.

So what will be different? Cingular customers can now update their Blogs remotely, upload new photos via their camera-phone, add new friends that they just met and delete those pesky ones that are “off the list.” Consider this addition the Blackberry for the Generation Y and younger crowds.

So what does the future hold for social media? Expect your content to be delivered faster and friendlier over a broad range of devices and mediums. Now, let’s sit back and watch what happens between Orange and Google. (Google phone anyone…)

It amazes me that in a world where everyone is on the go all the time, technology continues to make it so simple to stay connected and even meet new people and find new businesses or restaurants along the way. CNN reported on some services that are paving the way for the ability to connect individuals via their GPS enabled mobile phones.

One use of this technology includes allowing dating services to send text messages to subscribers informing them of potential matches in the area. While this might be convenient if you’re looking to meet someone, I’m not so sure I would want potential matches to know I’m out and about and close by – what if I’m having a bad hair day? All joking aside, that aspect makes me somewhat uncomfortable. However, I don’t have to subscribe to the service if I’m not interested.

Another GPS enabled service mentioned in the article, which does appeal to me, is called Socialight. Though it’s still under development, they’ve certainly been in the spotlight. When I first heard about the site, I was a little uneasy about my cell phone allowing others to figure out where I am, but after watching their feature on The Discovery Channel I was sold. I’ve lived in Atlanta for a year and a half, and still look for new places to try out every weekend. With Socialight, I could login to my account, allow it to find my location, and it would present user-tagged locations nearby my current position. And if I happen to find a restaurant worth sharing, who am I to keep it to myself? I can create a sticky note, along with a picture, describing the menu and service.

Word of mouth has proven a valuable tool for up and coming businesses and restaurants; we’ve all taken suggestions from friends, family, and co-workers when looking for anything. This being the case, I wonder if services such as Socialight will be used by companies in the future as a semi-viral method of introducing themselves to potential customers, along with YouTube, MySpace, and other user generated sites.

Starbucks just recently launched a very engaging holiday microsite with some great viral capabilities. The site is located at (http://www.itsredagain.com) and lets the user browse through holiday traditions and even submit their own… in hopes that it will be engaging enough to get posted, or even better get produced (see the cook-off video #1).

The “Personalized Greetings” section lets the viewer send a personalized holiday greeting to a friend via text-to-speech or a phone-in message. This “record by phone” technology allows for real-voice recordings sent via email with your greeting. The technology provided by Oddcast makes for an even richer new-media experience.

With viral campaigns being so popular lately, it isn’t surprising that companies are realizing the importance of these microsites and the marketing power of rich-media, Email and SMS.

I hope you enjoy the link, your experience and your warm mocha-lota-no whip-ginger-latte.