The study of how people interact with websites has several branches. The inventor of one branch, called “usability,” is Jacob Nielsen. I’ve been reading his column since the mid-nineties. In general, his advice is the same as any first-year journalism class, only intensified for the internet attention-span. To condense more than a dozen years of […]
Digital Writing: Jacob Nielsen on Usable Writing Read More »
“Saying you have more than two priorities is like saying you have more than two arms. You still only have two, but now you’re also crazy.”
“Saying You Have More Than Two Priorities Is Like…” Read More »
Even if you have followed this guide to setting up your Facebook privacy controls, you still should stick to the following “Don’t Post” list: DON’T POST 1. Addresses Not your email address, your home address or the address of anyone you know 2. Birth date Name, birth date and birthplace are often enough to allow
5 Things To Never Post on Facebook Read More »
What you do has to be worth more than the cost of paying you to do it. A lot more. This is crystal clear in most industries, but gets muddied a bit in publishing. The combination of producing art, work that is in the public interest, and that which supports a healthy bottom line sometimes
Read or Dead: Is What You Write Worth It? Read More »
Smashing Magazine calls it “The Ultimate Guide,” which is a bit of an overstatement, however they have published a first-rate introduction to creating simple experiments to improve email subject lines and more. The secret is to create rigorously structured tests by showing random groups of users different content and watching how they respond — one
An Introduction to A/B Testing for Email and More Read More »
Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of “Good Boss, Bad Boss,” offers these 12 beliefs that every manager should embrace. Not sure if I agree with all of them, but they’re worth a review. 12 Things Good Bosses Believe I have a flawed and incomplete understanding of what it feels like to work for me.
“Good Boss, Bad Boss” author Bob Sutton’s 12 Things Good Bosses Believe Read More »
In “The Lake View: This World and the Universe” Steven Weinberg uses military history to show how elites become enraptured with the most dramatic technology, not necessarily the best. From the knight on horseback, who frequently lost to peasant archers and foot soldiers; to the dreadnought battleship, to the long-range bomber, to intercontinental missile defense systems,
Beware the “Game-Changer” Technology Read More »
While “going viral” isn’t quite the industry buzzword that it once was, the goal still is first on most sites’ wish-lists — somehow getting a piece of content to grab the public’s attention and deliver a waterfall page views. There is an ongoing conversation in media about the costs and compromises one must make in
Buzzfeed’s Jonah Perretti: How to Go Viral Read More »
When attempting to get funding for new equipment, site redesigns, apps, or new staff, editors sometimes need to think like a CFO. CFOs are always concerned about costs, but the tax ramifications of any expenditure is very important as well. Many, many times, I’ve been asked, “Is this CapEx or OpEx?” It’s a bit tricky,
Writing the first article on a new site is simple. Explain what you are doing. For example, here, via archive.org, is the first thing published on November 11, 1998: Welcome to Google Google Search Engine Prototype Might-work-some-of-the-time-prototype that is much more up to date. Here is something from the Huffington Post on May 9, 2005
In Media Res, Focusing Equally on Media and Res Read More »