Groupon-Like Functionality for Facebook

If you're in the business of selling a product or service online in large quantities, according to Mashable there's a new Facebook application coming online that allows brands to attach Groupon-like promotions to their page. These promotions allow brands to offer a discounted product or service, but only if the amount of people that sign up for the deal hits a critical mass.

The app, Group Deals, was created by Wildfire Interactive, and allows users to set the value of the deal, define the threshold needed to activate it and link it to their e-commerce system through their own pre-defined discount codes. It also allows brands to define deal terms and conditions and customize the appearance of the page using CSS. I haven't seen it in action, but it looks amazing in theory and concept.

Apps tied in to Facebook automatically have a massive, well defined user base of 500,000,000, and the connectivity via the Facebook Open Graph allows for relatively effortless viral promotions. It's the first really legitimate shot at widespread sales via social media. There's also a really great opportunity to see some creative campaigns from major brands that are focused on promoting sales directly through these Group Buys.

Image courtesy of Mashable

by Garret Ohm

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Augmented Reality Ice Cream

As a company with a vested interest in mobile application development, we're always taking time to stay up on current technology trends in this area. One we've been following closely is the burgeoning area of augmented reality. To date, there have been a few really incredible uses of augmented reality in mobile apps, most notably augmented reality browsers such as Layar. Layar's a really cool application that uses the viewfinder from your phone's camera and your phone's GPS capabilities to show you on-screen descriptions of what's nearby.

Here's one that we just stumbled upon, and while I'm not sure I'd classify this as a mobile application nor a USEFUL deployment of augmented reality, it certainly qualifies as incredibly cool. Enjoy:

by Garret Ohm

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Latest Work: Tandberg

We are very excited to announce that we recently launched an engaging new web-based training course for Tandberg, the leading global provider of telepresence, high-definition video conferencing and mobile video products and services. As the final touches of their acquisition by Cisco were put in place, they came to The Sutter Group seeking a solution for one of the core challenges of the acquisition: Quickly getting Cisco employees up to speed on Tandberg's products and technologies.

Given a turnaround time of just a few short weeks, The Sutter Group created a sophisticated and engaging web-based training course titled "Tandberg Product Expert, which consists of 8 individual learning modules representing the Tandberg products and underlying technologies. Working with the Tandberg project team, we first identified all functionality requirements and helped them solidify the overall architecture, outlining all content departments and the flow of the course from start to finish. The wireframes that resulted were used as a guide throughout the development and implementation of the course.

Next, taking cues from Tandberg's existing brand guidelines, we developed the design for the user interface, striving for a look and feel that would complement the high tech nature of the course content without drawing the user's attention away from the content itself. The selected design, which you can see in the screen captures we've provided, was used as a blueprint for the development of the entire Tandberg Product Expert course.

more...

by Garret Ohm

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The Coolest iPad App Yet

Not long ago, we wrote a blog post about the future of publishing, based on a Sports Illustrated concept for a tablet-based magazine. Since then, the iPad has arrived, and technology-forward companies are working hard to develop applications that utilize these technologies and devices. Here's one from the folks at Wired Magazine. It's so much more than just a digital version of the print magazine. It includes embedded video, linking to the web and more. I can't wait to see this thing in real life! We really think this is going to be a game changer in magazine publishing.

What do you think? Are you ready?

by Garret Ohm

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User Experience and Corporate Decision Making

As @c2austin pointed out yesterday, Fast Company's Twitter stream recently rehashed an ongoing debate about website user experience design in large corporations and the potential havoc having too many departments involved in the design process can have. The Fast Company article, which you can read in its entirety here, describes how a peeved designer wrote an open letter to American Airlines blasting such a high-profile company for having a website that is incredibly difficult from a usability standpoint. He wrote:

If I was running a company with the distinction and history of American Airlines, I would be embarrassed--no ashamed--to have a Web site with a customer experience as terrible as the one you have now...Your Web site is abusive to your customers, it is limiting your revenue possibilities, and it is permanently destroying the brand and image of your company in the mind of every visitor.

To prove his point, he even donated some time and offered up a solution, seen here as compared to the original:

His open letter actually received a response from a member of the user experience team at American Airlines explaining that, unfortunately, it's not their lack of abilities, but rather the sheer size of the company and numerous corporate layers and that inhibit them from delivering a positive user experience.

Sad. But true. It highlights a problem that we wrestle with often when clients come to us to deliver a new interactive experience for their business: Too many cooks in the kitchen. While at times we understand the need for more than one party within a company to be responsible for making design decisions, we also feel strongly that the best designs come from a clear, singular vision. This vision, combined with a solid understanding of user wants/needs, and an interactive design team adept at creating the best possible solution will always result in a stronger end product than anything that comes from design by committee.

by Garret Ohm

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