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

Step 1: My name is Luke and I’m a tweetaholic (averaging about 10-20 tweets a day).

I signed up for the micro blogging service back when it was still in its infancy. Initially I didn’t use it much as hardly anyone I knew was using it. That changed when we organized the first BarCamp in Bangkok and every name tag had a place for people to put their twitter name. Being a small community, once a few people start using something it spreads like wild fire. Since then Twitter has been a major catalyst for the growth of both the tech and expat communities here in Thailand.

Twitter proved its worth during the recent political turmoils that battered this country. It was the only place where you could hear the opinions of both sides and follow unfolding events in real time. I recall when tanks were rolling down the streets, we knew exactly where they were and what direction they were headed thanks to friends tweeting (and retweeting) updates. When the “red shirt” gangs took over the streets in protests there was a constant stream of photos and videos from the ground. People were concerned but at the same time there was a good community feeling of bonding. We made jokes about what was going on, debated possible outcomes, and prayed they wouldn’t shut Twitter down.

On TV the political problems playing out on the streets of Bangkok made @breakingnews on both CNN and BBC. Unfortunately they reported the same dumbed down “edited” version of the story that failed to convey an accurate picture. This made me realise that if you are following the right set of sources on Twitter you can get a broader spectrum of news than you get by taking as gospel what old media decides to spoon feed you.

Nothing travels faster on Twitter than news of an earthquake. Back in 2009 there was a 8.7 earthquake off the cost of New Zealand. My mom lives in New Plymouth, so it immediately grabbed my attention. Seeing there was risk of a tsunami “expected to hit the cost in about 15 minutes” I called my mom on Skype right away...

“Hi mom, sorry I haven’t called in a while. I don’t want to cause alarm but there might be a tsunami heading your way... Perhaps you should turn on the telly.”

The online simulation showed the tsunami was unlikely to reach the north island. So the purpose of the call was really about breaking news rather than delivering a warning to run for the hills. But nether the less it makes one wonder, had Twitter been around when the 2004 Asian tsunami struck, how many lives could have been saved?

I think its clear twitter has real value. Over the past year I’ve made good friends, connected with the industry, recruited staff, and kept abreast on the latest breaking news. There is no disputing Twitter is changing how we do business and how we interact with customers online. By all accounts the trend will only accelerate, 2010 is poised to be the year the “real time” wave breaks. Armed with this information, I’ve decided to head for the hills.

Last night while coding I listened to Jason Fried’s talk on the negative effect of distractions on your workflow.

He suggested “spending Thursday without talking to anyone in the office”, the less distractions, the more work you will get done. This along with the enduring voice of Gary Vaynerchuk in my head made me stop and think: I’ve got the passion, I’ve got the skills, really all I need is enough time “in the zone” (coders will know what I mean) to deliver on the vision. Life has thrown me a bone, an opportunity to “crush it”, in order to make the most of that opportunity its time to make some sacrifices. Here is my New Year's resolution.

I’m going cold turkey on Twitter, restricting Skype to a certain time per day, and reducing the torrent of news to a trickle. Unless there's a tsunami headed for Bangkok, I don’t need to know. If there are tanks on the street, and I happen to leave the office, I’m sure I will notice.

How long do I intend to keep this up? I’ve set a target of 64 days before I come up for air. Hopefully when I surface we will surprise the world with our rocking new app.

You can wish me luck on Twitter (@lukeinth) but come 00:00 GMT+8 on 01/01/2010 don’t expect any @repiles

Cold Turkey three weeks on – the update:

Three weeks on and how am I holding up? The first couple of days without twitter were ‘odd’. I kept coming across things that I wanted to rant or rave about but there was no outlet available. Like anyone who gives up something they have become reliant on, you have those moments when you feel a relapse coming on. And I have to admit that I have had one so far, tweeting to tell the world about a Thai ISP which I discovered had been hacked to host Russian malware. Nobody seemed to care and so I quickly deleted the tweet. Generally it’s been OK, there was life before twitter and there is life after it.

If I'm not feeling productive, rather than tweet or read news sites, now I try to either get away from the computer and do some exercise.

Work on our new app is going well, nothing to show the world yet, but if you are interested you can sign-up for updates on the website. http://www.getdash.com