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Get Off The Speed. That Dog Is Not Your Child!

Ego Morphing

"The Marlboro Man. The ads caused consumers to switch brands because it was suggested they'd take on similar rugged traits."

Source: http://twitter.com/DrewEricWhitman

Are people now marketing within CAPTCHA codes?

Below is a snapshot of a recent CAPTCHA code that came up.



I'm unsure exactly what the '3' is for, but you get the idea.

This does however highlight the potential of using CAPTCHA codes for advertising or branding. eg. 'TrustRAA' could be one for the South Australian based users (a local advertising strap line for the Royal Automobile Association line of insurance products). Or 'VisitMelbourne' for the international 'visitmelbourne.com' campaign, for example. Or even 'BrinksterFreeHosting', to let people know about Brinkster's free web hosting (with no ads).

Disclaimer: There may need to be other random characters inserted within the CAPTCHA to ensure bots do not guess potential popular phrases (and thus defeat the original purpose of the CAPTCHA code verification).

Realtime comments on websites

Wow, was just on a retail website, and expected to be able to realtime comment on it (ala Twitter style*). LOL

The website was http://www.three.com.au/INQ and I just wanted to make the note that;
1. Twitter is where it's at now, and
2. The technology provided on the Three INQ is not that special, considering websites such as friendfeed.com and iPhone applications such as Fex that do the same thing. But, always good to be able to market a cool application that is simple to use.

*Meaning that I felt like I should be able to respond as if I were having a (Twitter) conversation with them. And for all users to be able to view other's comments.

Cool fashion blog

Am loving this cool fashion blog right now.

http://friendinfashion.blogspot.com/

Are you more likely to spend more when purchasing online?

Does anyone else find that they may spend more online than in a physical store?

I noticed I have just done this recently - when placing an order for books online. Amazon.com and other sites (such as BookDepository.co.uk) provide books for a lot cheaper than retail, so this makes it easier for a start.

But is it only the cost-effectiveness? Or can it also be contributed to the use of non-physical (electronic) money?

I know in poker the use of poker 'chips' is used, as opposed to 'physical' money. One reason for this is that users are less attached to chips than wads of cash. And thus more likely to gamble more.

I am fascinated by this concept.

Take a look at books online for 'Why We Buy' (Amazon.com)

---
My scenario: I spent a lot more than I would have in a physical book store, and also purchased a sole book from a separate site, for roughly what I may have over here in a physical store, when including postage (although not available over here in physical store). Perhaps it is also that I have been engaged with the site for some time - with my goal being to purchase these books from this site - and then human behaviour dictates that I follow through with my goal. Another factor could also be that when purchasing books online (and especially from overseas, for Australian users) is that one may purchase more items in one bulk order, to make postage costs work out effectively lower per item.

Another similar example is how making things easy for customers can increase sales substantially. Take for example Apple's app store. Customers have pre-entered their credit card details, so only have to use a simple once click process to make these small app purchases (plus enter their password in a popup window - a seemingly 'nothing' thing). If users had to enter their full contact and credit card details each time, sales would be overwhelmingly lower. Of note, is that Apple has created a model for this to be used, however this may not be applicable for all businesses.

Billboard

Good design has this effect

"He said overseas research suggested iPhone users conducted 50 times more Google searches than other phone users."

www.theage.com.au/news/technology/debt-fears-for-users-of-webphones/2008/08/14/1218307070117.html

USING ALL CAPS reduces legibility by about 10%

www.useit.com/alertbox/navigation-menu-alignment.html

Windscreen wiper cooling techniques

Butchers paper to keep the steering wheel cool. Parking ticket for the windscreen wiper.

Diversification of a fitness store

A sign on a fitness store.

That appears appreciative of dropping off sick people.

Semantics of color in different cultures

'Surya is considered an expert on the semantics of color in different cultures.'

Love it!

http://www.microsoft.com/design/People/Detail.aspx?key=surya

Traductions

'Yes, the meat pie of meat of meat pie of pizza pie will be ordered.'

The text after translation from English to French and back again several times, from the original, 'Yes, pizza will be ordered.'

Courtesy of babelfish.