We did it again: this time for Tepilo. The company that we started last year with TV's Sarah Beeny has been ranked as a top start-up business by Smarta.

A judging panel that included Dragons Den's Deborah Meaden and the Founder of Bebo, Michael Birch, has ranked our property selling website as one of its top 100 in their inaugural awards.

According to the blurb:

"The Smarta 100 is the ultimate business accolade, recognizing the UK’s smartest small businesses. Smarta.com has uncovered remarkable companies who have gone the extra mile to differentiate themselves from the market or found clever ways to compete, from their marketing plan to their ethical stance. The result is a fascinating insight into the unique business ideas that are thriving in the current economic climate. The finalists proved to the judges that they have what it takes to run a successful venture, from spotting a new opportunity to making it a reality."

Tepilo really has gone from strength to strength since we launched it in the summer of 2009 and we've got some great initiatives that will be revealed this year. Not just a pretty face...

In recent weeks I seem to be getting more and more briefs landing on my desk, requesting "web 2.0" graphics or a "Glassy effect". I find it interesting that this language has seeped into to the mainstream, however, this is a prime example of clients jumping allowing their personal preference to get in the way of their audience's preference. This way of thinking relegates the design process to simply applying a style and colouring in-between the lines and doesn't consider the design as communication.

Design should never be a style or a fashion rolled out and applied to a wireframe. Design is about relevant effective communication with your target market. It is often forgotten that the design is the first experience a user will have with your website. Before the user has read a word, they have already scanned over the page, taken in the visual language and made an instant decision on whether or not this is the right sort of site to be able to find what they are looking for. This is where good design will stand out and help guide the user through the page, without them even knowing. For the best design does not announce itself to its audience but is accepted and engaged with without them even realising.

Here at codegent, once we have identified the audience we want to communicate with and the key message which we want to leave them with we begin intensive research into that audience. We look at competitors and then look at other brands which our target audience engage in. I have written before about the crucial nature of knowing your audience but I can't stress this enough. You need to know everything about your audience, you need to know where they go online, whether they use social media, whether they access their email through a blackberry, the kind of visual language are they used to, what sort of symbols they associate with value. By getting to know your audience, you can learn the best visual language to communicate to them with .

Once we have collected this information we sit down and analyse the visual language. In the simplest terms this is identifying themes in typographic styles, colours used, style of photography and how these graphic elements are brought together. Once this visual language has been deconstructed and the meaning of all of these symbols has been identified, we can use this visual syntax to be able to create the right message for the right audience. This can then be used to guide the audience through the website, getting them to take the path we want them to follow .

This semiotic approach is at the heart of all good design. By taking this approach all design decisions become quantifiable and it removes personal preference. As much as the client's wife may want to make it "glassy", if the researched visual language doesn't support this, then it is the wrong decision to make.

We have just launched a lightweight mobile and smart phone friendly version of our website.

codegent.com/mobile

This is a classic WAP style site that has been designed to work across the broadest range of mobile devices that still dominate the marketplace. Our focus here has been on keeping the code limited and easy to navigate with minimal images to download.

codegent.com/iphone

We have also produced a sexier version that is optimised for the iPhone or any Smartphone running Android (such as the new Nexus) that leverages Webkit and CSS3. Check out the funky finger swiping scroll on our about page and portfolio and if you ever need to find us on your way to a meeting fear not, its all integrated with Google Maps at the touch of a button.

Just go to www.codegent.com on your device and we will automatically take you to the most applicable site.

I was reading Vikki Chowney’s blog on Reputation Online about the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and she made a really good point. She was speaking specifically about how all the shouting going on at this event makes it hard to find the best information.

And MWC isn’t, of course, the only event going on where people are launching new products and ideas. Chowney asks, “Is there anyone doing anything interesting with digital that doesn’t rely solely on attendees reporting on the announcements in one way or another?”

There’s not a day goes by when I’m not invited to an event. Either a conference, a networking event, a seminar, a business dinner, a panel debate… in fact I found myself speaking at one earlier this month. Every one of these events seems to attract the most remarkable, recognised and respected industry luminaries, according to the organisers. Even I was described as an ‘expert’ at the panel debate.

It got me thinking about events more generally. The best I have ever been to aren’t where everyone is trying to sell their wares to everyone else; it’s where I’ve met people who have a similar set of challenges to me. We found our creative director that way. We changed the way we bill our work that way. We got advice about late payers that way. And I’ve even made some great friends along the way. But we’ve never sold a website that way.

A decade ago, I was part of a team that raised £15m in seed funding and a further £45m on AIM. We used this money to invest in agencies and dotcoms. Like many of us at the time, we went to First Tuesday: an event where investors, entrepreneurs and journalists all came together to talk about, and do deals. Maybe some actually did deals. But did I want to hear someone, stinking of red wine, bark their dotcom start-up innovation down my ear? No. I just wanted to meet up with some of my friends.

In my experience, the networking “roll up, roll up, get your lovely tickets here first-come-first-served” type events are mainly full of 20-somethings telling you they are famous on Twitter (no offence @jlcoassin). Let’s not pretend it’s anything other than a social. But events like Robert Loch’s YesAndClub are different because it feels like it has a reason beyond getting drunk. For a start, you have to be invited: which means that you have to know someone, which in turn means that the people there have probably actually done something interesting in the first place. Secondly, the concept is more about having an idea, running with it and seeing what happens. You don’t meet potential clients, but you do meet people who are like you. And what you share are nuggets of advice, support and reassurance – all the things that we all need as we direct our careers or new business ideas forward.

Anyway – back to Vikki’s blog. Mark is on Digital Mission’s trip to SXSWi where we are due to “launch” a new app. It’s a pretty big deal and we don’t want to blow it by relying solely on attendees Tweeting about it. We have identified different groups: some will be resellers, some collaborators, some end-users and some will just think it’s cool. We need to work out a way of getting people to share what they have seen not just because we exist, but because we are giving people something to improve their lives.

This is just a small step in terms of launch and gaining a name in the marketplace. As with Tepilo, we will have to make a constant level of noise in the press, on TV, email, Twitter and by leveraging existing users to gain critical mass. The advantage of launching at an event though, is that you get to see how a user reacts to your product first hand.

Digital platforms may be measurable, but they can also be fairly blind.

"Build software for yourself

A great way to build software is to start out by solving your own problems. You'll be the target audience and you'll know what's important and what's not. That gives you a great head start on delivering a breakout product.” Excerpt from Getting Real by 37 Signals

It’s not exactly a tough concept to get your head around but the best businesses are usually born from a problem rather than a brainstorm on “What the World needs now” (is love sweet love?)

At Codegent we have worked with a lot of start-up companies and without fail their first task is to setup email services (we use Google Apps like everyone with a sane mind should), a holding webpage with sign-up form, Blog, Twitter account, Facebook page etc. so that the client can start pimping their hot new idea. Gary Vaynerchuk discusses the need for this in his fantastic book Crush It! 

Recently I had done this work for Tepilo & BIMA and I was moaning to Luke, our technical director, that it takes me ages to do, is a bit fiddly and that surely there should be a faster way of doing it? With all the DNS tweaks, server config & testing it can easily be a day and a half before we are all sorted.

Fast forward a few 4am-ers later and Luke invented DASH – Steamlined Online Business Setup.

What is DASH then?

DASH is a Web Application that facilitates the registration, setup and integration of all the online services you would typically want when launching a new venture. Of course you can choose to use as much or as little of it as you want – one size certainly does not fit all. The process ends with the generation of a basic but fully integrated website (Gallery powered by Flickr, Videos courtesy of YouTube, Subscriptions via Mail Chimp etc.) that you can content manage and manipulate as much as you like.

How long does it take? 10 minutes

Cost? $90

Here is a handy list of (some) initial features in DASH

• Domain Registration (or configuration of existing domain)
• Google Apps Core Services – Email, Calendar, Docs
• Social Media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
• Rich Media – Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo
• Content Managed Website & Blog – Wordpress, Tumblr, Posterous
• Email Subscription & Mailshots – Mail Chimp, Camapaign Monitor
• Monitoring & Optimisation – Google Analytics, Alerts, Twilert, Feedburner

I could go on telling you about storage, backup, surveys, e-commerce, event management, accounting… but I hope you get the picture.

If you want to be one of the first users to use DASH (we will be giving away some free accounts) then please sign up on getdash.com. I will be launching the product as part of the Digital Mission to SXSWi in Texas this March. Email me if you want to hook up for a coffee, chat and sneak preview.

“When you solve your own problem, you create a tool that you're passionate about. And passion is key. Passion means you'll truly use it and care about it. And that's the best way to get others to feel passionate about it too.” (another one from Getting Real by 37 Signals)

Your registration process is a make or break interaction with your audience.

I am very excited to announce a new business venture for codegent in 2010. We have partitioned the agency, focusing a small team of developers in our Bangkok office on building web applications.

Our ambition is to launch around four apps this year with a target audience of Entrepreneurs, Digital Marketers and fellow Developers. You can find out more on why we are doing this and what our initial ideas, such as DASH, are on codegent.com/apps. I will also be blogging and twittering frequently as things begin to take shape in the next few months so do keep an eye out for more.

STOP PRESS!

The apps business has already received a major helping hand in its quest for world domination by being chosen to represent the best of the UK Digital Community as part of the Digital Mission to South by South West Interactive in Austin, Texas. To quote the Press Release:

"39 of the UK’s leading digital companies have been selected for the second annual Digital Mission to South by South West interactive (SXSWi), taking place in Austin, Texas from 11-17th March 2010. [...] The successful companies were chosen from over 120 submissions by an advisory board of industry experts drawn from the UK community including: VC’s, export specialists, journalists and industry pundits to take part in the Digital Mission to SXSWi."

We would like to thank chinwag and UK Trade & Investment (one of our clients!) for making this possible. Personally I can't wait to get out there to start marketing our work to the wider world.

2010 is certainly not the first to be touted as the ‘Year of the Mobile Web’ but with the recent launch of the Nexus One and the likely war that will be waged between Google and Apple, it may be the first to actually go some way towards fulfilling its billing.

Currently, 1 in 7 minutes of media consumed in the UK is via a mobile device of some description. That number is set to rise with the end of the iPhone/O2 exclusivity deal, the addition of the Nexus One to the market and the inevitable clamouring amongst the remaining handset manufacturers to catch up. Mobile specific content is no longer a differentiator for companies; it is fast becoming a necessity as users move away from their PCs.

As we become more proficient at sifting through the mass of information at our fingertips and with the evolving development of the semantic web, we are starting to browse for information less and scan for it more. The ‘Smartphoners’ are the biggest ‘scanners’ of us all as they hunt out that quick hit of data; be it social updates, news, directions or very specific information. More and more user journeys follow the pattern of;

search engine > top listed page > back to search engine > another top listed page

As a result, as smartphone market share increases, bounce rate percentages across the land will inevitably rise as users who aren’t finding what they need quickly head off in search of it elsewhere.

The challenge we will face as designers, developers, UXers and strategists is how to overcome this behaviour and capture a user’s interest before they head off into the virtual sunset. The type of thinking that we need to do as creators of content for the mobile web is no different to that which we need to do for the desktop web; there is just less margin for error.

Think in pixels - Information Architecture needs to reflect the hardware that the audience use and this will increasingly mean a screen resolution of 480 x 320. This means cut down copy, reduce layers of navigation and think about content weighting – what are the most important of all the important things you are trying to say? What about font size? Can you read 10pt Verdana easily on an iPhone? Do those beautiful, detailed icons mean anything to the guy scanning your site on his Palm Pre from a train?

Clarity of message – Keep it short, and to the point.

Take SEM by the balls– It is unlikely that a mobile user will get past the first 1 or 2 pages of Google results so to be in with a chance of getting that click-through you need to be running intelligent PPC campaigns (Google mobile still makes room for sponsored links both on its mobile site and iPhone application), have outstanding SEO or go niche – ideally a combination of the 3. Interestingly, Google's mobile search also has room for a couple of real time results so all the more reason to engage with your audience on the social web.

It’s all in the content – I know we always bang on about this, but it is with good reason. Why are your users coming to your site and how do they generally find you? Look at your analytics; what are they looking for and how can you better deliver this information? Smartphone users are less inclined to browse and if they aren’t quickly seeing what they are looking for you may as well wave them goodbye.

The smartphone world is the antidote to the big budget, FWA world of 27” iMacs and megabytes of Flash. It is all about simplification of your message and real emphasis on what audiences want. It is a world where vanity must make way for clarity of message and ultimately one that requires us as an agency to really earn our fees in the field of usability, audience expertise and successful user conversion.

Here are a few of the current heroes from the world of the mobile web;

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/ - easy to use and the right mix of content. Most importantly it doesn't feel like a stripped back version of the full site and of course there is the iPlayer.
• http://touch.facebook.com/ - Everything from the full site, cut up into bite-sized pieces.
• http://mobile.flightstats.com/go/Mobile/home.do - a simple site that helps you find crucial information when you need it.
• http://onetrip.org/ - more of a web app than a site but worth mentioning as they have consciously gone minimal with no GFX to speed up mobile load time.
• http://m.google.com/ - everything you can do on the Google you can do here from searching to mail.

There is nothing harder than dragging yourself back into work at the beginning of January knowing that even if you had the energy to type an email – you are unlikely to get a response as everyone else will still be on holiday! So what we really needed was a website launch to get us focused and motivated. And thanks to our clients at the Mental Health Foundation this is exactly what we got when we were asked to design and build the Be Mindful website ready for a 06:15 launch on the GMTV sofa on the 5th January (which translates as focused and motivated x10!!)

Be Mindful is the latest campaign from the Mental Health Foundation and is supported by leading doctors and celebrities such as Ruby Wax. It is part of a national campaign to promote Mindfulness - a range of therapies and techniques that can help people suffering from mental and physical problems.

Our aim for the Be Mindful website was 'simplicity of design' and 'clarity of information'. The audience for this campaign falls into two main categories – the public who are looking for information, advice and courses and GPs looking for information for their patients and surgeries. We wanted users to be guided through the site according to who they are and what is relevant to them – ensuring that they interact with all of the key touch points on the site as they navigate their way through. This thinking is evident in the design, layout and architecture of the site - from the clear calls to action on the homepage to the arrow icons on the tab navigation, guiding the user through their journey.

The About Mindfulness section is broken into two distinct areas ‘Experience’ and ‘Evidence’ again helping to simplify the site and sign-post the user according to the information that is relevant to them. Both sections are supported by video, audio and resources which users can view, download and share. We have also integrated an online payment system enabling GPs to order surgery toolkits and for anyone who would like a full copy of the mindfulness report, they can order one here.

One of the main findings that drove the Be Mindful campaign was that Mindfulness courses are few and far between and often hard to find. The find a course section brings these courses together in one place. The course section uses a Google maps mash-up and allows users to search for courses near them by entering their postcode or searching the map. The site also allows practitioners to promote their courses for free.

Finally there is the show your support section, an online petition to make more mindfulness courses available across the UK.

It is early days but Mindfulness is already generating lots of publicity and support. It’s great to be involved in such a positive campaign but we are already saying goodbye to any plans for a quiet February as we get back into the studio to start planning the next phase. Phase two will include a stress diagnostic tool and allow users to take part in Mindfulness courses online. I have also heard a rumour of a cheeky little iPhone app so that you can do your course on the go (well it’s just expected these days isn’t it!)

Check out the website here.
 

2009 was the year of smart phones, real time technology and augmented reality. So what does 2010 have in store? We have compiled a list of 5 web trends we will be seeing more of in 2010, and what they mean for you.

1. There isn’t an app for that
Flash didn’t get an invite to the Apple party. Apple have cited various reasons for not enabling Flash to work on the iPod or iPhone, amongst these reasons are a drain on battery life and not enough expertise in the Flash industry.

Despite this, Adobe have soldiered on and have announced that Creative Suite 5 will allow flash apps to be converted so that they run on iPods and iPhones. This is good news for Flash developers but does the app world really need a 2,000,000 strong influx from the Flash developer community? We’ll find out in 2010.

Join the debate about Flash and Apple

2. Stalkers hit the jackpot
People’s perception of privacy has changed in recent years. Adding vague acquaintances to your chosen social network platform and then keeping them informed about what you’re doing at the weekend and publishing photos of your birthday party to everyone in your network is nothing unusual. But what about letting people see exactly where you are whenever they want? This seems strange to us now but will it become the norm in 2010? With the increasing popularity of technologies such as Loopt, Google Latitude and brightkite which depend on people giving up their geo-location, it won’t be long before the perceived benefits of giving out this information out-weigh the doubts.

So the question is, when this technology hits the mainstream will you be automatically under suspicion if you decide against using it?

See a video demo of Google Latitude

3. Cloud Computing
Programmes and documents will no longer be tied to our desktops, instead they will be stored on servers based elsewhere – these servers are known as ‘The Cloud’.

Much talked about in 2009 but 2010 will see the biggest advances in this area, not least because Windows will be launching free online versions of MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint in Q1 or 2 of 2010 and Google promising the release of Chrome OS in the last half of 2010.

Promoting collaboration and making it easy for people to work together from different locations will have enormous benefits for businesses. The interesting thing will be to see how it will benefit individuals as well.

It’s a complicated subject, find out more about what Cloud Computing will mean for you.

4. Express checkout
The advent of online shopping has made cash transactions seem like a thing of the past. Debit and credit cards are also at risk of becoming obsolete as mobile phone payment looks set to hit the big time in 2010. Transactions will be made in one of four ways; SMS, Direct billing, mobile web payments or using wireless communication technology (also known as NFC - Near Field Communication).
This practice is being adopted at a fast pace by European and Asian markets, and with technological advances afoot, it will soon be the norm to pay for something via your mobile.

Read more about advances in mobile payment technology and download a report on NFC

5. Free content or paywalls?
In 2009, Rupert Murdoch became the poster boy for the anti-free content contingent. He has waged a war against Google and all news aggregators (or “parasites” as he likes to call them) that crawl news sites and deliver this content to people on third party sites such as Google News. As he sees it this is theft and can only be combated by introducing paywalls and blocking third parties from crawling his content.  

2010 will be the decider, what works for news organisations in the 21st Century – paywalls or online advertising? So far this year Rupert Murdoch’s company, News International, has blocked online news aggregator, NewsNow, from displaying any content belonging to the company.  Surprisingly (and despite threats) Google hasn’t been blocked, whether NewsNow is a trial before they decide whether to cut-off Google, a site with considerably more online clout, remains to be seen.

If Google are blocked, only then will we be able to tell if these are the desperate and misguided actions of someone who does not understand the new generation of media consumers or whether it is a revolutionary action that will undermine Google’s ever-expanding empire and prompt others to follow Murdoch’s lead.

See a breakdown of both sides of the story here