The Open Web I gave this presentation for the Mozilla Drumbeat Challenge at Neoteny Singapore Camp 1 about a week ago. The presentation was for this: Category 2. The Ultimate Open Web Presentation We’re looking for the ultimate presentation that explains the open web and why it matters. You’ve got 5 minutes — describe the open web in a way that will excite and illuminate. My presentation lasted less than 5 minutes, but it took me many hours to prepare – coming up with different ideas, weighing the different ideas, testing out ideas with different people, and finally sitting down and working on the slides. I decided to take a somewhat poetic approach (someone called it an “ode”) to resonate with the emotions more than the intellect. It was a risk, since I would be presenting to a primarily geek audience. But I took it anyway. And it paid off, since the judges liked it, and declared mine the “best presentation”. Lucian Teo also did a really nice presentation on the Open Web. The other category of talks (for concrete project ideas to make the web better) was won by Preetam Rai, who presented on a Hat-Tip System for Free Content. A big thank you to those who gave me feedback on my ideas before they were fully formed, including Lucian and Preetam! Bernard Leong too, for encouraging me to present, and Mark Surman for organizing this. And finally my colleagues at Digital Boomerang for their support, including letting me present to them so I could record the audio for the slideshare presentation. Design Thinking and finding True Love My second presentation at Barcamp today was entitled “Design Thinking and finding True Love”. It was really just an introduction to Design Thinking, but I added the “finding true love” part just to make things a little more fun. Here are the slides: My slides don’t give very much information, so I hope to add in more explanation to this post another time. If there’s enough demand For smart geeks: How to explain difficult concepts to lesser beings I did a talk at Barcamp this morning entitled “For smart geeks: How to explain difficult concepts to lesser beings”. It was quite well-received, and here are the promised slides. As with my usual presentations, my slides don’t say very much, but if I get the time, I’ll add in more details to this post. 3 levels of blogger engagement strategy As part of their marketing and PR strategy, many companies and their PR agencies have been courting bloggers. The basic objective is essentially the same – more publicity for the company or product. Level 1: what’s in it for us (the company) Whether it’s more publicity hopefully leading to more sales, or just gaining community goodwill, it’s taken for granted that the company should have something to gain through the blogger engagement. However, if the company is working on this level alone, it can never be effective in it’s blogger engagement strategy. It has to move to the next level… Level 2: what’s in it for the blogger The savvier companies are strong in this mindset. They fully understand that the blogger must have something to gain before they will engage. This could be an event with good food and drinks and great company (other interesting bloggers), it could be a product launch where the blogger gets to be the first to try out the product that they’re interested in, or it could be some competition where the blogger has a good chance of winning fabulous prizes. If the company’s offer is sufficiently valuable to the blogger, then there’s a good chance that the blogger will blog about it. If this seems a little risky (“what if the blogger doesn’t blog about it?”), you can always get the blogger to agree to blog… Agreeing to blog Advertorials or sponsored posts come under this category, where the blogger agrees to blog about the company/product for a payment. A good and reputable blogger will always disclose to their readers if a post is sponsored, so don’t bother asking bloggers to hide the fact. Competitions or challenges also work, where blogging about the company/product is part of the competition, e.g. the funniest post on this brand of potato chips wins. Of recent days, we’ve also seen competitions where the contestants are a few selected bloggers agree to take part in it. Examples include the Soyjoy GI Challenge and the Blogathon. While many of these blogger engagement attempts have been quite interesting and successful, some bloggers, particularly the most reputable ones, tend to be resistant to anything that puts them in a position where they have to agree to blog. To reach these bloggers, companies have to think about moving on to the next level… Level 3: what’s in it for the blogger’s readers What companies need to be thinking a lot harder about is how they can help the blogger give more value to their readers. Popular bloggers understand implicitly that they must provide value to their readers every time they hit the “post” button – be it informational value (wow I didn’t know that!) or entertainment value (LOL!) etc. They’ve built up their large following only because of the value they’ve been giving to their readers. Many successful blogger engagement activities actually do give bloggers the opportunity to bring value to their readers, but these are often incidental, e.g. inviting the blogger to an exclusive unveiling of a new phone – the readers benefit by being among the first to learn about the phone. The easiest and most obvious way to benefit the bloggers’ readers is to give out gifts or prizes through the blogger. The Soyjoy GI Challenge and Blogathon (mentioned earlier) have components of this. The Soyjoy one, for instance, had a challenge where the blogger-contestants’ readers could ask for free Soyjoy bars to be delivered to their workplaces. Another way is to make it easier for the blogger to blog about the company/product. I’m reminded of this Canon digital camera event for bloggers, where they gave every blogger an SD card to keep. The bloggers could freely test out the cameras, saving the photos they captured in those SD cards (see this short post by Claudia.sg “Finally Someone Got It!“). I’m sure there are many other ways that companies can think of that will not only benefit themselves, the bloggers, but also the bloggers’ readers. And that’s really why I’m writing this – I hope this will spur more companies into paying more attention to this aspect of blogger engagement. Do let me know if you have some ideas in this. The wilder the better Special thanks to my deep-thinking colleagues at Digital Boomerang who gave me this idea. 3 levels of blogger engagement strategy As part of their marketing and PR strategy, many companies and their PR agencies have been courting bloggers. The basic objective is essentially the same – more publicity for the company or product. Level 1: what’s in it for us (the company) Whether it’s more publicity hopefully leading to more sales, or just gaining community goodwill, it’s taken for granted that the company should have something to gain through the blogger engagement. However, if the company is working on this level alone, it can never be effective in it’s blogger engagement strategy. It has to move to the next level… Level 2: what’s in it for the blogger The savvier companies are strong in this mindset. They fully understand that the blogger must have something to gain before they will engage. This could be an event with good food and drinks and great company (other interesting bloggers), it could be a product launch where the blogger gets to be the first to try out the product that they’re interested in, or it could be some competition where the blogger has a good chance of winning fabulous prizes. If the company’s offer is sufficiently valuable to the blogger, then there’s a good chance that the blogger will blog about it. If this seems a little risky (“what if the blogger doesn’t blog about it?”), you can always get the blogger to agree to blog… Agreeing to blog Advertorials or sponsored posts come under this category, where the blogger agrees to blog about the company/product for a payment. A good and reputable blogger will always disclose to their readers if a post is sponsored, so don’t bother asking bloggers to hide the fact. Competitions or challenges also work, where blogging about the company/product is part of the competition, e.g. the funniest post on this brand of potato chips wins. Of recent days, we’ve also seen competitions where the contestants are a few selected bloggers agree to take part in it. Examples include the Soyjoy GI Challenge and the Blogathon. While many of these blogger engagement attempts have been quite interesting and successful, some bloggers, particularly the most reputable ones, tend to be resistant to anything that puts them in a position where they have to agree to blog. To reach these bloggers, companies have to think about moving on to the next level… Level 3: what’s in it for the blogger’s readers What companies need to be thinking a lot harder about is how they can help the blogger give more value to their readers. Popular bloggers understand implicitly that they must provide value to their readers every time they hit the “post” button – be it informational value (wow I didn’t know that!) or entertainment value (LOL!) etc. They’ve built up their large following only because of the value they’ve been giving to their readers. Many successful blogger engagement activities actually do give bloggers the opportunity to bring value to their readers, but these are often incidental, e.g. inviting the blogger to an exclusive unveiling of a new phone – the readers benefit by being among the first to learn about the phone. The easiest and most obvious way to benefit the bloggers’ readers is to give out gifts or prizes through the blogger. The Soyjoy GI Challenge and Blogathon (mentioned earlier) have components of this. The Soyjoy one, for instance, had a challenge where the blogger-contestants’ readers could ask for free Soyjoy bars to be delivered to their workplaces. Another way is to make it easier for the blogger to blog about the company/product. I’m reminded of this Canon digital camera event for bloggers, where they gave every blogger an SD card to keep. The bloggers could freely test out the cameras, saving the photos they captured in those SD cards (see this short post by Claudia.sg “Finally Someone Got It!“). I’m sure there are many other ways that companies can think of that will not only benefit themselves, the bloggers, but also the bloggers’ readers. And that’s really why I’m writing this – I hope this will spur more companies into paying more attention to this aspect of blogger engagement. Do let me know if you have some ideas in this. The wilder the better Special thanks to my deep-thinking colleagues at Digital Boomerang who gave me this idea. Joining Digital Boomerang I’ve recently joined Digital Boomerang (Singapore) as a Web Consultant. My name card says “Web Shaman” – I guess that’s the guy you go to when you have some web problems you can’t solve, and a bit of magic might help. The company got onto my radar screen over 2 years ago, when they sent one of their new staff to Russ Weakley’s CSS Workshop, something very few small web companies would do. After a bit of further research, I put them on my mental possibly-good-web-company list. My more recent research revealed that they’re not just a good web company. Everyone I’ve spoken to who has dealt with them only had good things to say about them. Which is no surprise, because they really set out to make their clients love them. Some of their ex-clients even mentioned that they wouldn’t mind joining the company if they could. Which is no surprise if you knew their culture and values. We all know and probably have worked in companies that claim that “our people are our most important resource”, but few companies actually act like they really believe in it. As far as I can tell, Digital Boomerang truly believes in this and works hard at proving it. I’m honored to be part of the Digital Boomerang gang. Hope to work some magic soon. Joining Digital Boomerang I’ve recently joined Digital Boomerang (Singapore) as a Web Consultant. My name card says “Web Shaman” – I guess that’s the guy you go to when you have some web problems you can’t solve, and a bit of magic might help. The company got onto my radar screen over 2 years ago, when they sent one of their new staff to Russ Weakley’s CSS Workshop, something very few small web companies would do. After a bit of further research, I put them on my mental possibly-good-web-company list. My more recent research revealed that they’re not just a good web company. Everyone I’ve spoken to who has dealt with them only had good things to say about them. Which is no surprise, because they really set out to make their clients love them. Some of their ex-clients even mentioned that they wouldn’t mind joining the company if they could. Which is no surprise if you knew their culture and values. We all know and probably have worked in companies that claim that “our people are our most important resource”, but few companies actually act like they really believe in it. As far as I can tell, Digital Boomerang truly believes in this and works hard at proving it. I’m honored to be part of the Digital Boomerang gang. Hope to work some magic soon. Accessibility on Singapore Government websites The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has a reply on today’s Straits Times forum (“More accessibility soon for e-govt sites“) recognizing the need for more accessibility on government websites. This is a small but positive development for me, as I’ve been advocating website accessibility for years, particularly for government websites. What is website accessibility For those who are not familiar with web accessibility, it’s simply about making a website accessible or usable or “viewable” by different web browsers and devices, and thus accessible by the widest possible audience, including those with disabilities. For instance, an accessible website would be usable by a screen reader, a special software that reads aloud what’s on the screen and browser, thus enabling a blind person to access that website. Website accessibility is thus often associated with making a website accessible to users with disabilities, particularly the blind. Conversely, if a blind user cannot access certain information on a website using a screen reader, that website is considered not accessible. Web accessibility is also about access by devices like mobile phone browsers, or even browsers other than Internet Explorer like Firefox, Safari, or Opera. The accessibility of Singapore Government websites When you surf around Singapore Government websites on a non-Internet Explorer browser, you sometimes encounter a message telling you that you can’t continue unless you’re using Internet Explorer. That’s not an accessible website. Whole populations of Singaporeans are being excluded from such online government services simply because they use a Mac instead of a PC, or because they don’t wish to use (the technically inferior) Internet Explorer. And we’re not even talking about access by small screen devices like mobile phones, or access by disabled users. The situation is far worse for them. There are a number of causes for the general lack of accessibility of Singapore Government websites, which I shall explore in the following sections. People don’t know about web accessibility The basic problem is that there’s simply a general lack of awareness of website accessibility, not just in the general population of web users, but among people who should know better. More on this below. Singapore’s horrific web education My use of “horrific” is not hyperbole. Almost all the web design courses I’ve encountered on web design has little or no coverage on web accessibility, even though it is one of the core issues in web development. It’s like studying to be a doctor without learning about the skeletal system, or learning to drive without learning the road signs. Put simply, you’re not a competent web person if you don’t know web accessibility. This situation began because we hired teachers who were not web competent in the first place. Guess what? Their students turn out incompetent too. We now have a whole ecosystem of incompetent web people. But we don’t know it because nobody dies from an incompetent web developer, unlike doctors or drivers. It’s not a Singapore Government-wide requirement As mentioned in the forum reply, IDA introduced the Web interface standards (WIS) in 2004 for government wide implementation. In the WIS (I’m quite familiar with it), IDA does recommend that government websites be accessible, but does not require it. In reality, these recommendations are usually ignored. Including those on web accessibility. Government agencies don’t demand it Almost all Singapore Government websites are built by external web vendors, not in-house by the government agency themselves. When a government agency wants a new website, they would lay down the specifications for the vendor to follow. One of the usual specs would be to follow the WIS. But since accessibility isn’t a requirement in the WIS, the vendors generally don’t pay attention to it. Of course, the agency can always make accessibility a requirement for their website. But that rarely happens. Largely due to the lack of awareness and poor web education. Web vendors and developers don’t do it (well) Even if a government agency does ask for their website to be accessible, many web vendors don’t do it properly. Quite simply, many web developers in Singapore are simply not competent. While the horrific web education is to blame, the ultimate responsibility lies with the web developers themselves. As web professionals, web developers should know that the field has moved on since they’ve finished school, so they need to keep themselves abreast of developments. But most have not done so, resulting in incompetent web developers and vendors. I’ve even seen vendors that claim to be able to make a website accessible, or even claim to specialize in it. Most of them don’t live up to their claims. Unfortunately because of the widespread incompetence, most agencies aren’t able to properly evaluate the work of the vendors, so they don’t know how (in)accessible the sites really are. The exceptions – competent web vendors and developers There are exceptions, thankfully. I’ve met many web developers who love their craft, keep themselves updated, and of course are completely competent. A good place to find them is through the Web Standards Group Singapore. I’ve also encountered web vendors that are competent and believe in web accessibility. These are vendors that will make a website accessible for their client whether the client asks for it or not. It’s just the right thing to do. Moving forward Unfortunately, exceptions are still exceptions. The average web vendor will not care about web accessibility unless they have to, since it’s a lot more effort for them given their incompetence. (However it’s not much more effort for the competent web professional.) Government-wide web accessibility can only be achieved if it’s mandatory. Thus I hope that the next review of the WIS will make accessibility a requirement, not just a toothless recommendation. From the non-committal tone of IDA’s forum reply, I’m pessimistic that this would happen, but I’d love to be proven wrong. Accessible government websites are already a legal requirement in most developed countries for years. Singapore is way, way behind in this. It’s time to boldly step forward. * * * Here’s a copy of IDA’s reply on the Straits Times forum, published June 30, 2009 Tuesday: More accessibility soon for e-govt sites I REFER to Ms Chia Woon Yee’s letter last Wednesday, ‘Ensure e-govt websites are disabled-friendly’. Since 2004, the Government has introduced a set of Web interface standards (WIS) to make government websites easier to use and provide a more consistent experience of navigating across different government websites. Under the WIS, government agencies are required to adopt a set of mandatory standards and recommended guidelines for designing their websites and online services. The guidelines include catering to the needs of the disabled by adopting World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0). We recognise the importance of ensuring universal access and will review our WIS against the recently released WCAG 2.0. We also note Ms Chia’s feedback on the e-government services website. We are in the midst of updating both the www.gov.sg and eCitizen portals. As part of the update, we will look into incorporating more Web accessibility features in these portals. We thank Ms Chia for her feedback. Ng Sook Fun (Ms) Director, Corporate and Marketing Communication Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore Accessibility on Singapore Government websites The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has a reply on today’s Straits Times forum (“More accessibility soon for e-govt sites“) recognizing the need for more accessibility on government websites. This is a small but positive development for me, as I’ve been advocating website accessibility for years, particularly for government websites. What is website accessibility For those who are not familiar with web accessibility, it’s simply about making a website accessible or usable or “viewable” by different web browsers and devices, and thus accessible by the widest possible audience, including those with disabilities. For instance, an accessible website would be usable by a screen reader, a special software that reads aloud what’s on the screen and browser, thus enabling a blind person to access that website. Website accessibility is thus often associated with making a website accessible to users with disabilities, particularly the blind. Conversely, if a blind user cannot access certain information on a website using a screen reader, that website is considered not accessible. Web accessibility is also about access by devices like mobile phone browsers, or even browsers other than Internet Explorer like Firefox, Safari, or Opera. The accessibility of Singapore Government websites When you surf around Singapore Government websites on a non-Internet Explorer browser, you sometimes encounter a message telling you that you can’t continue unless you’re using Internet Explorer. That’s not an accessible website. Whole populations of Singaporeans are being excluded from such online government services simply because they use a Mac instead of a PC, or because they don’t wish to use (the technically inferior) Internet Explorer. And we’re not even talking about access by small screen devices like mobile phones, or access by disabled users. The situation is far worse for them. There are a number of causes for the general lack of accessibility of Singapore Government websites, which I shall explore in the following sections. People don’t know about web accessibility The basic problem is that there’s simply a general lack of awareness of website accessibility, not just in the general population of web users, but among people who should know better. More on this below. Singapore’s horrific web education My use of “horrific” is not hyperbole. Almost all the web design courses I’ve encountered on web design has little or no coverage on web accessibility, even though it is one of the core issues in web development. It’s like studying to be a doctor without learning about the skeletal system, or learning to drive without learning the road signs. Put simply, you’re not a competent web person if you don’t know web accessibility. This situation began because we hired teachers who were not web competent in the first place. Guess what? Their students turn out incompetent too. We now have a whole ecosystem of incompetent web people. But we don’t know it because nobody dies from an incompetent web developer, unlike doctors or drivers. It’s not a Singapore Government-wide requirement As mentioned in the forum reply, IDA introduced the Web interface standards (WIS) in 2004 for government wide implementation. In the WIS (I’m quite familiar with it), IDA does recommend that government websites be accessible, but does not require it. In reality, these recommendations are usually ignored. Including those on web accessibility. Government agencies don’t demand it Almost all Singapore Government websites are built by external web vendors, not in-house by the government agency themselves. When a government agency wants a new website, they would lay down the specifications for the vendor to follow. One of the usual specs would be to follow the WIS. But since accessibility isn’t a requirement in the WIS, the vendors generally don’t pay attention to it. Of course, the agency can always make accessibility a requirement for their website. But that rarely happens. Largely due to the lack of awareness and poor web education. Web vendors and developers don’t do it (well) Even if a government agency does ask for their website to be accessible, many web vendors don’t do it properly. Quite simply, many web developers in Singapore are simply not competent. While the horrific web education is to blame, the ultimate responsibility lies with the web developers themselves. As web professionals, web developers should know that the field has moved on since they’ve finished school, so they need to keep themselves abreast of developments. But most have not done so, resulting in incompetent web developers and vendors. I’ve even seen vendors that claim to be able to make a website accessible, or even claim to specialize in it. Most of them don’t live up to their claims. Unfortunately because of the widespread incompetence, most agencies aren’t able to properly evaluate the work of the vendors, so they don’t know how (in)accessible the sites really are. The exceptions – competent web vendors and developers There are exceptions, thankfully. I’ve met many web developers who love their craft, keep themselves updated, and of course are completely competent. A good place to find them is through the Web Standards Group Singapore. I’ve also encountered web vendors that are competent and believe in web accessibility. These are vendors that will make a website accessible for their client whether the client asks for it or not. It’s just the right thing to do. Moving forward Unfortunately, exceptions are still exceptions. The average web vendor will not care about web accessibility unless they have to, since it’s a lot more effort for them given their incompetence. (However it’s not much more effort for the competent web professional.) Government-wide web accessibility can only be achieved if it’s mandatory. Thus I hope that the next review of the WIS will make accessibility a requirement, not just a toothless recommendation. From the non-committal tone of IDA’s forum reply, I’m pessimistic that this would happen, but I’d love to be proven wrong. Accessible government websites are already a legal requirement in most developed countries for years. Singapore is way, way behind in this. It’s time to boldly step forward. * * * Here’s a copy of IDA’s reply on the Straits Times forum, published June 30, 2009 Tuesday: More accessibility soon for e-govt sites I REFER to Ms Chia Woon Yee’s letter last Wednesday, ‘Ensure e-govt websites are disabled-friendly’. Since 2004, the Government has introduced a set of Web interface standards (WIS) to make government websites easier to use and provide a more consistent experience of navigating across different government websites. Under the WIS, government agencies are required to adopt a set of mandatory standards and recommended guidelines for designing their websites and online services. The guidelines include catering to the needs of the disabled by adopting World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0). We recognise the importance of ensuring universal access and will review our WIS against the recently released WCAG 2.0. We also note Ms Chia’s feedback on the e-government services website. We are in the midst of updating both the www.gov.sg and eCitizen portals. As part of the update, we will look into incorporating more Web accessibility features in these portals. We thank Ms Chia for her feedback. Ng Sook Fun (Ms) Director, Corporate and Marketing Communication Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore Moving on… After over 2 years at PebbleRoad, it’s time for me to move on. My ride there as a Design Consultant has been nothing short of incredible. The challenging projects and problems, the stimulating debates and conversations – these have added up to become an intensive learning experience and journey. For a small company, PebbleRoad’s achievements are disproportionate to their size (the rather unbelievable client list should give some indication of their abilities). I highly recommend their services (no, I’m not getting an extra bonus for saying this!). What next? I’m pretty fortunate as I’ve already been approached by a few people and companies interested in working with me, despite the current economic situation. As of now, I’m keeping my options wide open and exploring whatever opportunities that are coming along. So if you know of any opportunities that I should be considering, do drop me a note at colemanyee at gmail dot com. P.S. now that I have a bit more time, my blogging frequency should increase! Moving on… After over 2 years at PebbleRoad, it’s time for me to move on. My ride there as a Design Consultant has been nothing short of incredible. The challenging projects and problems, the stimulating debates and conversations – these have added up to become an intensive learning experience and journey. For a small company, PebbleRoad’s achievements are disproportionate to their size (the rather unbelievable client list should give some indication of their abilities). I highly recommend their services (no, I’m not getting an extra bonus for saying this!). What next? I’m pretty fortunate as I’ve already been approached by a few people and companies interested in working with me, despite the current economic situation. As of now, I’m keeping my options wide open and exploring whatever opportunities that are coming along. So if you know of any opportunities that I should be considering, do drop me a note at colemanyee at gmail dot com. P.S. now that I have a bit more time, my blogging frequency should increase! Barcamp Singapore 3 Despite my heavy schedule these few weeks, I had to attend and speak at Barcamp Singapore 3 because it was held at my previous workplace – the Teaching & Learning Centre at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. My presentation was entitled “How to bluff your way through an interview on Information Architecture”, which was really just to introduce what IA is, why it’s important and what kind of value it adds, and a little on how an information architect goes about doing their work. The slides are on slideshare – make sure that you’re viewing the Notes tab below the slides, otherwise it won’t make much sense. Slideshare: How to bluff your way through an interview on Information Architecture Brian Koh liveblogged my session, and had a very nice comment at the end: That’s it! From the people next to me. “That’s the most educational talk i’ve heard at Barcamp.” “IA is awesome!” All I hoped for was for more people to know about IA, because I believe it’s important – I never expected anyone to think that IA is awesome. It was also great that quite a number of people came up to me to thank me after the presentation. These were all really nice. Later on towards the evening, I decided to do another presentation, since there was a free slot. It was an old presentation I used to do on the use of Powerpoint, entitled “The Princess, the Witch, and the Powerpoint“. That one never fails to entertain. Updates: Chin Yong has a great summary of my session. He also mentioned: The presentation style of Coleman was entertaining and educational. I give him a two thumbs up. And of course, he already given himself 2 thumbs up pointing at himself everytime he mention “Good Information Architect” The pointing at myself part was just me trying to be funny. At sgentrepreneurs, Ian Timothy had some very generous comments: This was, perhaps, the most educational session I ever experienced at any of such events. Coleman isn’t just knowledgeable, he is charming and a great presenter with the right amount of humor. If there was a way to attach an affiliate link to the polar bear book and for the audience to purchase the book on the spot, Coleman would have cleared a fair amount of commission that day. Yes, he was that good. Like I said, he was very generous. Just in case you can’t find the notes on slideshare. The notes start from slide 2. Make sure you view the notes! Just starting my IA presentation – my first slide (photo by sgentrepreneurs): IA presentation Me showing a content inventory during the IA presentation (photo by Claudia Lim): IA presentation My audience at my IA presentation (photo by Lagoona Loire): IA presentation audience Barcamp Singapore 3 Despite my heavy schedule these few weeks, I had to attend and speak at Barcamp Singapore 3 because it was held at my previous workplace – the Teaching & Learning Centre at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. My presentation was entitled “How to bluff your way through an interview on Information Architecture”, which was really just to introduce what IA is, why it’s important and what kind of value it adds, and a little on how an information architect goes about doing their work. The slides are on slideshare – make sure that you’re viewing the Notes tab below the slides, otherwise it won’t make much sense. Slideshare: How to bluff your way through an interview on Information Architecture Brian Koh liveblogged my session, and had a very nice comment at the end: That’s it! From the people next to me. “That’s the most educational talk i’ve heard at Barcamp.” “IA is awesome!” All I hoped for was for more people to know about IA, because I believe it’s important – I never expected anyone to think that IA is awesome. It was also great that quite a number of people came up to me to thank me after the presentation. These were all really nice. Later on towards the evening, I decided to do another presentation, since there was a free slot. It was an old presentation I used to do on the use of Powerpoint, entitled “The Princess, the Witch, and the Powerpoint“. That one never fails to entertain. Updates: Chin Yong has a great summary of my session. He also mentioned: The presentation style of Coleman was entertaining and educational. I give him a two thumbs up. And of course, he already given himself 2 thumbs up pointing at himself everytime he mention “Good Information Architect” The pointing at myself part was just me trying to be funny. At sgentrepreneurs, Ian Timothy had some very generous comments: This was, perhaps, the most educational session I ever experienced at any of such events. Coleman isn’t just knowledgeable, he is charming and a great presenter with the right amount of humor. If there was a way to attach an affiliate link to the polar bear book and for the audience to purchase the book on the spot, Coleman would have cleared a fair amount of commission that day. Yes, he was that good. Like I said, he was very generous. Just in case you can’t find the notes on slideshare. The notes start from slide 2. Make sure you view the notes! Just starting my IA presentation – my first slide (photo by sgentrepreneurs): IA presentation Me showing a content inventory during the IA presentation (photo by Claudia Lim): IA presentation My audience at my IA presentation (photo by Lagoona Loire): IA presentation audience What makes a sustainable social networking site Over the past couple of years, the successes of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have captured the imagination of many. Maybe too many. In the past year or so, I’ve met quite a number of people building or working on social networking sites. Most of those sites aren’t too compelling, even if some of them are enjoying moderate success now. If I were an investor, most of them wouldn’t get a single cent from me. Maybe just two cents – in the form of advice. So, which types of social networking site would I invest in? To put it another way, what kinds social networking sites are truly sustainable? Sustainable #1: All-Inclusive Social Network These are the social networks that try to cater to the largest and widest audience, to include anyone and everyone, and they probably hope to have everyone in the world on their site. Like Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, and many others. If I were to invest in a social network, I would consider investing in an All -Inclusive Social Network. But it had better be good. Really good. In fact, before users will consider flocking over to it, that new social network has to be at least an order of magnitude better than Facebook, like how Facebook is better than Friendster, with Facebook’s far superior usability and extensibility (where developers can create Facebook apps to extend its functionality). If it’s hard to imagine a social network that’s an order of magnitude better than Facebook, it’s even harder to build one, not to mention terribly risky as well. We thus might want to consider more palatable alternatives, like Exclusive Social Networks. Sustainable #2: Exclusive Social Network I’m using “exclusive” for lack of a better word (I almost wanted to use “repellent”). An Exclusive Social Network is one where members or insiders don’t want to mix with non-members or outsiders, or don’t want outsiders to know who they are. Exclusive Social Networks would include those for the rich, famous and powerful, like aSmallWorld, where the members don’t really want to many mere mortals like us to be bothering them with friend requests; or the US spy social network (A-Space). A child porn network would be a good example too (although I don’t know of any), as are social networks for other kinds of secret societies. Closely related and somewhat overlapping with the Exclusive Social Network is the Alternate Persona Social Network. Sustainable #3: Alternate Persona Social Network Again, “alternate persona” is not ideal, but will have to suffice for now. An Alternate Persona Social Network is one where the member takes on a persona that is different or even incompatible with their persona used in the All-Inclusive Social Network. Examples include: LinkedIn, where members display their professional personas, versus their drunken party Facebook personas. SecondLife, where members use their fantasy personas (hardly anyone there is short, fat, or balding). Ridemakerz, where members become custom toy cars (for kids) – fantasy personas as well. Dating sites, where members may project a different side of their personalities. Dating sites could also fall under the previous (“exclusive”) category, if they don’t want friends to know they are trawling the internet for more “friends”… Unsustainable: Niche Social Network This is really the flamebait part of my post, as those people working on Niche Social Networks probably won’t like my ideas here. Niche Social Networks are social networks that cater to a certain niche, but don’t fall into any of the sustainable categories mentioned above. They may have special features, or cater to specific audiences or activities, like social networks that center around photos (like Flickr) videos (like Seesmic) mobile phone access books sports etc. Take Flickr for example. While not considered a social networking site by everyone, it is certainly one of the most popular photo sharing sites around. Except that Facebook has already overtaken it in terms of photos uploaded. That’s despite Flickr having more useful photo features, like hi-res photos, more powerful tagging, and so on. If Facebook implements some of these features, Flickr’s position will be further threatened. Same with the other Niche Social Networks – much of their success depends on Facebook’s deficiencies – which puts them in a rather precarious position. The unfortunate thing is, most of the social networks that I see people working on now belong to this category. Some of them have pretty decent products with great features backed by great technology. I wouldn’t bet on them. Which reminds me of someone I know who developed a really nice book-centered social networking site, BookJetty. I was a happy user of it, until I added a book sharing app on Facebook, which was when I stopped using BookJetty. This is despite the fact that that Facebook app is far inferior in terms of features and usability. If you can’t beat em… There’s still hope for the Niche Social Network. One way to survive or even thrive is just to develop a Facebook app to complement or replace the Niche Social Network. For instance, if Flickr had a well-integrated Flickr Facebook app that is as fast and as easy to use as Facebook’s native photo features, but with the additional Flickr features, I’d use it. And because Flickr is focused on photo features, it won’t be hard for them to stay a step ahead of Facebook’s native photo features. Or if my BookJetty friend started a Facebook app early on (and how I wish that he did), I would have stuck with it. If he were to do it now, I would switch only if it could easily import all my books from the current book app I’m now using, and if my reading friends would switch along with me. With Facebook’s growing popularity, it won’t be a surprise to anyone when it eventually becomes the top social networking site in the world, making it quite sensible to ride on its extensive reach, as it marches towards world domination. Except that it world domination is harder than it looks… Why there won’t be an Super All-Inclusive Social Network The reality is that we live in a culturally uneven world, and this will likely be the case for a very long time to come, so it will be difficult for Facebook or any other All-Inclusive Social Network to dominate every country in the world. Which is why All-Inclusive Social Networks like Facebook and MySpace are making little headway into places like China, Japan and South Korea, which already have their own native social networks. Conclusion One soon realizes that the business of social networks isn’t an easy one. If you build it, they may not come. To create an All-Inclusive Social Network that can outdo Facebook will take a lot of inspiration and genius. And that’s just to get started. Alternate-Persona Social Networks aren’t easy as well. Besides starting with a compelling idea, it’ll likely require custom technology that probably isn’t easily available (like SecondLife) Probably the easiest to succeed are the Exclusive Social Networks – just identify the right audience (cannibals?), and have a good strategy to reach that audience. The technology is mostly already there. Just don’t fall into the trap of doing a Niche Social Network. Or if you read this too late, turn it into a Facebook app first thing tomorrow morning. * * * Thanks to Bernard Leong on whom I tested these ideas over coffee one afternoon. What makes a sustainable social networking site Over the past couple of years, the successes of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have captured the imagination of many. Maybe too many. In the past year or so, I’ve met quite a number of people building or working on social networking sites. Most of those sites aren’t too compelling, even if some of them are enjoying moderate success now. If I were an investor, most of them wouldn’t get a single cent from me. Maybe just two cents – in the form of advice. So, which types of social networking site would I invest in? To put it another way, what kinds social networking sites are truly sustainable? Sustainable #1: All-Inclusive Social Network These are the social networks that try to cater to the largest and widest audience, to include anyone and everyone, and they probably hope to have everyone in the world on their site. Like Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, and many others. If I were to invest in a social network, I would consider investing in an All -Inclusive Social Network. But it had better be good. Really good. In fact, before users will consider flocking over to it, that new social network has to be at least an order of magnitude better than Facebook, like how Facebook is better than Friendster, with Facebook’s far superior usability and extensibility (where developers can create Facebook apps to extend its functionality). If it’s hard to imagine a social network that’s an order of magnitude better than Facebook, it’s even harder to build one, not to mention terribly risky as well. We thus might want to consider more palatable alternatives, like Exclusive Social Networks. Sustainable #2: Exclusive Social Network I’m using “exclusive” for lack of a better word (I almost wanted to use “repellent”). An Exclusive Social Network is one where members or insiders don’t want to mix with non-members or outsiders, or don’t want outsiders to know who they are. Exclusive Social Networks would include those for the rich, famous and powerful, like aSmallWorld, where the members don’t really want to many mere mortals like us to be bothering them with friend requests; or the US spy social network (A-Space). A child porn network would be a good example too (although I don’t know of any), as are social networks for other kinds of secret societies. Closely related and somewhat overlapping with the Exclusive Social Network is the Alternate Persona Social Network. Sustainable #3: Alternate Persona Social Network Again, “alternate persona” is not ideal, but will have to suffice for now. An Alternate Persona Social Network is one where the member takes on a persona that is different or even incompatible with their persona used in the All-Inclusive Social Network. Examples include: LinkedIn, where members display their professional personas, versus their drunken party Facebook personas. SecondLife, where members use their fantasy personas (hardly anyone there is short, fat, or balding). Ridemakerz, where members become custom toy cars (for kids) – fantasy personas as well. Dating sites, where members may project a different side of their personalities. Dating sites could also fall under the previous (“exclusive”) category, if they don’t want friends to know they are trawling the internet for more “friends”… Unsustainable: Niche Social Network This is really the flamebait part of my post, as those people working on Niche Social Networks probably won’t like my ideas here. Niche Social Networks are social networks that cater to a certain niche, but don’t fall into any of the sustainable categories mentioned above. They may have special features, or cater to specific audiences or activities, like social networks that center around photos (like Flickr) videos (like Seesmic) mobile phone access books sports etc. Take Flickr for example. While not considered a social networking site by everyone, it is certainly one of the most popular photo sharing sites around. Except that Facebook has already overtaken it in terms of photos uploaded. That’s despite Flickr having more useful photo features, like hi-res photos, more powerful tagging, and so on. If Facebook implements some of these features, Flickr’s position will be further threatened. Same with the other Niche Social Networks – much of their success depends on Facebook’s deficiencies – which puts them in a rather precarious position. The unfortunate thing is, most of the social networks that I see people working on now belong to this category. Some of them have pretty decent products with great features backed by great technology. I wouldn’t bet on them. Which reminds me of someone I know who developed a really nice book-centered social networking site, BookJetty. I was a happy user of it, until I added a book sharing app on Facebook, which was when I stopped using BookJetty. This is despite the fact that that Facebook app is far inferior in terms of features and usability. If you can’t beat em… There’s still hope for the Niche Social Network. One way to survive or even thrive is just to develop a Facebook app to complement or replace the Niche Social Network. For instance, if Flickr had a well-integrated Flickr Facebook app that is as fast and as easy to use as Facebook’s native photo features, but with the additional Flickr features, I’d use it. And because Flickr is focused on photo features, it won’t be hard for them to stay a step ahead of Facebook’s native photo features. Or if my BookJetty friend started a Facebook app early on (and how I wish that he did), I would have stuck with it. If he were to do it now, I would switch only if it could easily import all my books from the current book app I’m now using, and if my reading friends would switch along with me. With Facebook’s growing popularity, it won’t be a surprise to anyone when it eventually becomes the top social networking site in the world, making it quite sensible to ride on its extensive reach, as it marches towards world domination. Except that it world domination is harder than it looks… Why there won’t be an Super All-Inclusive Social Network The reality is that we live in a culturally uneven world, and this will likely be the case for a very long time to come, so it will be difficult for Facebook or any other All-Inclusive Social Network to dominate every country in the world. Which is why All-Inclusive Social Networks like Facebook and MySpace are making little headway into places like China, Japan and South Korea, which already have their own native social networks. Conclusion One soon realizes that the business of social networks isn’t an easy one. If you build it, they may not come. To create an All-Inclusive Social Network that can outdo Facebook will take a lot of inspiration and genius. And that’s just to get started. Alternate-Persona Social Networks aren’t easy as well. Besides starting with a compelling idea, it’ll likely require custom technology that probably isn’t easily available (like SecondLife) Probably the easiest to succeed are the Exclusive Social Networks – just identify the right audience (cannibals?), and have a good strategy to reach that audience. The technology is mostly already there. Just don’t fall into the trap of doing a Niche Social Network. Or if you read this too late, turn it into a Facebook app first thing tomorrow morning. * * * Thanks to Bernard Leong on whom I tested these ideas over coffee one afternoon. Sisyphus revisited Sisyphus revisited This cartoon by Tom Fishburne will no doubt resonate with anyone who’s done a large project for a large client. I’m thankful that my company hasn’t experienced anything extreme like in the cartoon, mostly because we defend our work pretty well (at least that’s what I’d like to think), and that mostly because our work is usually based on research and evidence and a lot of thinking. The cartoon first appeared in Fishburne’s blog post, sisyphus revisited, but I first came across it in his highly-entertaining book, This One Time, at Brand Camp. Every page has a cartoon, on the dysfunctional side of the marketing/branding industry. Hilarious stuff, but it would have been funnier if the stuff in there weren’t true. Then again, it’s funny precisely because it’s also true. Sad but true. Sisyphus revisited Sisyphus revisited This cartoon by Tom Fishburne will no doubt resonate with anyone who’s done a large project for a large client. I’m thankful that my company hasn’t experienced anything extreme like in the cartoon, mostly because we defend our work pretty well (at least that’s what I’d like to think), and that mostly because our work is usually based on research and evidence and a lot of thinking. The cartoon first appeared in Fishburne’s blog post, sisyphus revisited, but I first came across it in his highly-entertaining book, This One Time, at Brand Camp. Every page has a cartoon, on the dysfunctional side of the marketing/branding industry. Hilarious stuff, but it would have been funnier if the stuff in there weren’t true. Then again, it’s funny precisely because it’s also true. Sad but true. Our response to the AIMS report Update – press coverage: Tap civil servants’ views on policy: Panel (Straits Times, 3rd Dec 2008) – Lee Siew Hua mentions us and quotes me in her report. * * * The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS) has released the AIMS report earlier today. They didn’t announce this over the AIMS blog so I didn’t know about it until someone from the media called to ask for my comments. I was asked for comments because a few of us sent in some feedback to the AIMS committee some time ago. Since then, some of us have been flooded with calls and requests for comments. Since many of us are not available to be interviewed, I’m putting a response on behalf of the group, in a Q&A format. What group is this? In the report, we’re referred to as a “group of academics and government employees”. We normally call ourselves the “media socialists”. See our previous FAQ for a further explanation (no we’re not political). What are your comments on the AIMS report? We appreciate that AIMS has taken our feedback and added it to their recommendations. Our feedback is available here: Beyond the Govt / Citizen Dichotomy: Our Response to AIMS. How far do you think the government will go in implementing the recommendations of the report? We prefer not to speculate. Any other comments? Not really. Most of what we have to say is already in our feedback itself (Beyond the Govt / Citizen Dichotomy: Our Response to AIMS) and in the FAQ (Social media “activists” response to AIMS – frequently asked questions). Our response to the AIMS report Update – press coverage: Tap civil servants’ views on policy: Panel (Straits Times, 3rd Dec 2008) – Lee Siew Hua mentions us and quotes me in her report. * * * The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS) has released the AIMS report earlier today. They didn’t announce this over the AIMS blog so I didn’t know about it until someone from the media called to ask for my comments. I was asked for comments because a few of us sent in some feedback to the AIMS committee some time ago. Since then, some of us have been flooded with calls and requests for comments. Since many of us are not available to be interviewed, I’m putting a response on behalf of the group, in a Q&A format. What group is this? In the report, we’re referred to as a “group of academics and government employees”. We normally call ourselves the “media socialists”. See our previous FAQ for a further explanation (no we’re not political). What are your comments on the AIMS report? We appreciate that AIMS has taken our feedback and added it to their recommendations. Our feedback is available here: Beyond the Govt / Citizen Dichotomy: Our Response to AIMS. How far do you think the government will go in implementing the recommendations of the report? We prefer not to speculate. Any other comments? Not really. Most of what we have to say is already in our feedback itself (Beyond the Govt / Citizen Dichotomy: Our Response to AIMS) and in the FAQ (Social media “activists” response to AIMS – frequently asked questions). A different PowerPoint format In my last post “Blogging, Podcasting, or Youtube? Choosing the right medium” – Podcamp Singapore, I talked about my experience as a speaker at Podcamp Singapore. For a long time, I wanted to try out a different way of using PowerPoint – using both the whiteboard and PowerPoint concurrently without having to move the projection screen up and down – and Podcamp was a great opportunity to do that. Presenting at Podcamp Notice that I was only using the top third of the screen for the PowerPoint slide. Which meant that I could use both the whiteboard and my PowerPoint slides at the same time. How I did it I used a black background on my PowerPoint slide, so that the projection wouldn’t interfere with the whiteboard. The text (in white) occupied only the top quarter of the slide. I could have used a lighter background for the top part of the slide, but black was easiest. My original plan was to pull the projection screen a third down, but the technology was too smart – the screen could only go all the way up (and the projector would turn off automatically), or all the way down. Thankfully I could slide the projection screen behind the whiteboard, resulting in a sloping screen, but it turned out fine. Here’s a shot of another slide. Presenting at Podcamp - another slide Thanks to the Podcamp Singapore organisers for these shots. A different PowerPoint format In my last post “Blogging, Podcasting, or Youtube? Choosing the right medium” – Podcamp Singapore, I talked about my experience as a speaker at Podcamp Singapore. For a long time, I wanted to try out a different way of using PowerPoint – using both the whiteboard and PowerPoint concurrently without having to move the projection screen up and down – and Podcamp was a great opportunity to do that. Presenting at Podcamp Notice that I was only using the top third of the screen for the PowerPoint slide. Which meant that I could use both the whiteboard and my PowerPoint slides at the same time. How I did it I used a black background on my PowerPoint slide, so that the projection wouldn’t interfere with the whiteboard. The text (in white) occupied only the top quarter of the slide. I could have used a lighter background for the top part of the slide, but black was easiest. My original plan was to pull the projection screen a third down, but the technology was too smart – the screen could only go all the way up (and the projector would turn off automatically), or all the way down. Thankfully I could slide the projection screen behind the whiteboard, resulting in a sloping screen, but it turned out fine. Here’s a shot of another slide. Presenting at Podcamp - another slide Thanks to the Podcamp Singapore organisers for these shots. “Blogging, Podcasting, or Youtube? Choosing the right medium” – Podcamp Singapore Podcamp Singapore turned out to be quite fun, with some interesting conversations that I hope to blog about soon. This post is about my thoughts as one of the speakers. My session I titled my session “Blogging, Podcasting, or Youtube? Choosing the right medium”. A more accurate title would have been “Text, audio, or video? Issues to consider in choosing the online medium”, but I would have gotten only half the audience. I chose this topic because I’ve seen too many people and organizations create a podcast or a video blog without understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the medium. They may have started a podcast simply because it’s the cool thing to do, not realizing that there are a lot more subtleties involved in creating a good podcast. It was these subtleties that I wanted to explore during the session. The format I was actually a facilitator rather than a speaker. I called the format a “virtual wiki” (a wiki is online, so a virtual wiki is offline) – where the audience gave their input and ideas while I tried to distill their thoughts onto the virtual wiki page (the whiteboard). The content was audience-constructed, with virtually no contributions from me (although I did lead the discussions in certain directions). This meant that there were some points that I had in mind that weren’t raised by the audience, but it didn’t matter. What I wanted more was to guide the audience through this thinking process and experience, and I think I was successful in that. The actual content Since the actual content wasn’t from me, I don’t have a copy of it. Thankfully some of the audience were busy blogging during the session. Derrick Kwa covered the session live while Claudia covered my session as well as the other sessions live. Unfortunately they didn’t contribute to the discussion because they were too busy blogging about it. (Update: Shalabh Pandey blogged about the content as well.) There was also some plurking around in the background by Brian and some others, with one of them wanting to throw cheesecake at me. Thankfully I wrote on the whiteboard before I starting, “NO CAKE-THROWING”. Feedback Knowing that people tend to be reluctant about giving negative feedback, I asked a lot of people “what are the 3 things you liked and 3 things you disliked about the session” (later reduced to 2 things because most people had a hard time coming up with 3). Most enjoyed the discussions. With very smart and knowledgeable individuals in the room, you can never go wrong letting go and giving them the freedom to converse. However, not everyone was used to the lack of structure. During the discussions, there wasn’t always a clear direction, and the discussions often digressed. It was disorienting for some. Furthermore, when the session ended, there were more questions than answers. Not everyone liked the lack of closure. What I would have done differently First, I would have framed the issue more clearly. I had some assumptions which weren’t shared by everyone, so the scope of the discussion went too broad at some points. I should have also prepared the audience better for the lack of structure and closure. Many of us are too used to the comfort of structure and guidance and we want to be given the correct or model answer. While I wanted to raise questions more than to give answers, it would have worked better if the audience was expecting it. Finally Despite all the flaws, I’m generally satisfied with how it turned out. I hope others will also be encouraged to try out a similarly participatory or even constructivistic session in the future. “Blogging, Podcasting, or Youtube? Choosing the right medium” – Podcamp Singapore Podcamp Singapore turned out to be quite fun, with some interesting conversations that I hope to blog about soon. This post is about my thoughts as one of the speakers. My session I titled my session “Blogging, Podcasting, or Youtube? Choosing the right medium”. A more accurate title would have been “Text, audio, or video? Issues to consider in choosing the online medium”, but I would have gotten only half the audience. I chose this topic because I’ve seen too many people and organizations create a podcast or a video blog without understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the medium. They may have started a podcast simply because it’s the cool thing to do, not realizing that there are a lot more subtleties involved in creating a good podcast. It was these subtleties that I wanted to explore during the session. The format I was actually a facilitator rather than a speaker. I called the format a “virtual wiki” (a wiki is online, so a virtual wiki is offline) – where the audience gave their input and ideas while I tried to distill their thoughts onto the virtual wiki page (the whiteboard). The content was audience-constructed, with virtually no contributions from me (although I did lead the discussions in certain directions). This meant that there were some points that I had in mind that weren’t raised by the audience, but it didn’t matter. What I wanted more was to guide the audience through this thinking process and experience, and I think I was successful in that. The actual content Since the actual content wasn’t from me, I don’t have a copy of it. Thankfully some of the audience were busy blogging during the session. Derrick Kwa covered the session live while Claudia covered my session as well as the other sessions live. Unfortunately they didn’t contribute to the discussion because they were too busy blogging about it. (Update: Shalabh Pandey blogged about the content as well.) There was also some plurking around in the background by Brian and some others, with one of them wanting to throw cheesecake at me. Thankfully I wrote on the whiteboard before I starting, “NO CAKE-THROWING”. Feedback Knowing that people tend to be reluctant about giving negative feedback, I asked a lot of people “what are the 3 things you liked and 3 things you disliked about the session” (later reduced to 2 things because most people had a hard time coming up with 3). Most enjoyed the discussions. With very smart and knowledgeable individuals in the room, you can never go wrong letting go and giving them the freedom to converse. However, not everyone was used to the lack of structure. During the discussions, there wasn’t always a clear direction, and the discussions often digressed. It was disorienting for some. Furthermore, when the session ended, there were more questions than answers. Not everyone liked the lack of closure. What I would have done differently First, I would have framed the issue more clearly. I had some assumptions which weren’t shared by everyone, so the scope of the discussion went too broad at some points. I should have also prepared the audience better for the lack of structure and closure. Many of us are too used to the comfort of structure and guidance and we want to be given the correct or model answer. While I wanted to raise questions more than to give answers, it would have worked better if the audience was expecting it. Finally Despite all the flaws, I’m generally satisfied with how it turned out. I hope others will also be encouraged to try out a similarly participatory or even constructivistic session in the future. PebbleRoad is hiring PebbleRoad (where I work) is hiring. If you want to be my colleague, here’s your chance I joined close to 2 years ago, and it’s been an exhilarating experience of learning and creating for me. I’m now doing things I never thought I could do (imagine trying to reorganize a messy website with a few thousand pages into something actually intuitive and easy to use). Here’s the official announcement – we’re hiring – User Experience Lead PebbleRoad is actively looking for a User Experience Lead to join the team in Singapore. PebbleRoad is a design firm specializing in design research and strategy. Projects include intranet redesigns, large corporate websites, web applications and e-learning. The person should be able to: Plan and conduct design research activities Sketch and brainstorm ideas and scenarios Create prototypes and test them out Present design to clients Experience in information architecture and interaction design is definitely a plus. But what is more important is having a passion for problem solving and learning and taking the responsibility to engage the client and deliver a quality service. If you are in Singapore or even in the US or Europe and looking for a fast-paced and exciting stint, send a message to maish-at-pebbleroad.com. Here’s more about Singapore. If you don’t qualify for the above but you have some of those abilities and you’re keen to intern with us, let us know too. User Generated Content and misguided strategies I was at the Singapore Digital Media Festival 2008 pre-event dinner just today, where we had a pretty interesting discussion about user generated content. I won’t go into all that we discussed, but I’ll highlight some interesting points. What’s “user generated content”? They even have an acronym for it – UGC. When we talk about user generated content, we tend to think of content on sites like YouTube. It’s amateurish, it costs little to produce, and it’s produced by some unknown individual (before they get famous). But what if it’s a professional-quality video on YouTube that costs thousands to produce? And produced by some large corporation? Is it still considered user generated? Or what if it’s amateurish, costs little to produce, on YouTube, but created or funded by some large company? Is that video considered user generated content? I’m being a little pedantic about definitions here, but I found that some of the discussion wasn’t too productive because everyone was using the same term but with different definitions in mind. The inability to properly define user generated content may lead to unprofitable discussions; the inability to understand its appeal leads to unprofitable endeavors – which is far more costly. The appeal of amateurism? Ben Koe made the observation during the discussion that user generated content tends to be amateurish, and there is some appeal in that. But many a large media company has made the unfortunate mistake of thinking that producing something amateur-looking would make it appealing the way a funny home video on YouTube is. The funny home video on YouTube appeals not because it’s amateurish, but because it’s authentic. We’re forgiving of the shaky camera handling of the amateur because we know it’s done by someone who can’t do any better. It’s real. But amateurish-looking videos produced by Big media don’t have the same appeal because we see them as professionals pretending to be amateur (I’m thinking of RazorTV). They aren’t authentic. Those that still manage to be successful are successful because they have very good content, or they are good enough for the viewer to suspend judgment, despite being inauthentic. In other words, they still have to be really good. Thus, Big media should do what they’re good at and have the resources to do – produce top-quality content that is beyond the capabilities of grandma. There are too many grandmas and grandpas and moms and dads and everyone else out there producing content – don’t compete with them. Don’t compete with everyone. The cheapening of content? During the discussion, Daniel Goh observed that people are less willing to pay for content, and in many areas, content is expected to be free. I completely agree. People love music, but kids these days don’t believe in paying for them. The same goes for video content, which is why BitTorrent is using up a significant amount of internet bandwidth – people are using it to music and videos for free. While people are paying less for content, they will pay for experience. While kids can download movies over BitTorrent, they still pay to watch the movie in a cinema. Many bands are coming to terms with this trend, realizing that they actually make more money through their concerts and events, and not through CD sales. Or more recently in Singapore, people were willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money (in my opinion) to watch the Formula 1 race at the track, having to endure crowds and other hassles and getting their eardrums hurt, when they could have watched it live in the comfort of their own homes. Crazier are those who flew over here from Europe or the US just to experience the race. But the overwhelming reaction from those who were there was that it was worth every cent. Hearing the deafening roar of the race cars blasting away the eardrums was an exhilarating experience, even for those who weren’t F1 fans. What then? Companies are missing out on these trends at their own peril. Many are still clinging on to their content-for-sale model, while others that realize the need for change jump onto the amateurish track instead of the authentic one. I’m planning to attend the Singapore Digital Media Festival (was invited), and I hope to see some enlightened companies there. Napkin from PSFK Conference Asia 2008 Purple psfk napkin on the food table Besides having unique purple napkins during the tea breaks, the PSFK Conference Asia 2008 turned out really great, with many really good speakers – one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended. It helped that the 11 sessions were only half an hour each, meaning that those who weren’t so great didn’t get to take up too much time, and those who were really great left you thirsting for more. Yes, the latter is a good thing as well. There were so many insights and ideas and food for thought but I won’t blog about them now – I still need time to digest so they can help fuel some thoughts and ideas I already have. For now, here’s a nice quote quoted by one of the speakers: “I don’t know what the secret of success is, but I know the secret to failure – it’s trying to please everyone” – Bill Crosby Function over form? I was walking on a back lane of Amoy Street when I spotted this shophouse back. Shophouse dotted with aircon compressors I have no idea what’s going on in the building, but they sure require a lot of air-conditioning. Here’s another view. Another view of shophouse dotted with aircon compressors When a building wall is practically covered with aircon compressors, something is seriously wrong somewhere. PSFK Conference Asia 2008 PSFK, an international consultancy specializing in trends and innovation, is organising the PSFK Conference Asia 2008 for those in the creative business. The full-day event is happening on 10 October 2008. The conference covers topics like youth trends, social media, creativity and innovation, collaboration, digital democracy and the impact of change in China, with speakers from companies including MTV, NASA, Panasonic and agencies including Flamingo International, Mindshare, Profero and Wieden + Kennedy. I did a short interview with PSFK’s CEO Piers Fawkes to find out more about the conference. Coleman: I understand that PSFK started with you and your friend emailing each other trend and idea news, and eventually posting it on PSFK.com. Now, what’s the story behind the PSFK Conference Series? Piers: I had been to too many bad conferences. Some had CEOs talking about what it’s like to be a CEO to an audience of non-CEOs, others had doers who weren’t directed enough. I wanted to create an event with quickfire presentations and talks where the audience could use their learnings the next day back at work. That explains why the PSFK conference can have almost 20 speakers - each one has less than half an hour. Short and sweet. It’s also good to know that I’m not the only one who’s been to too many bad conferences. And here’s someone who’s actually doing something about it. Coleman: You’ve had PSFK conferences in London, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Now it’s coming to Asia, with the first one in Singapore. Why Singapore? Piers: Partly because of the strong heritage Singapore has a heritage as a crossroads of creativity and business; partly because my partner in Asia, Brian Tiong, is there - and partly because we thought it was the perfect place to start our journey into Asia. The PSFK website is quite a well-known site to get insights on trends. The color scheme is purple. The PSFK logo is purple. They also have the Purple List. I had to ask this last question: Coleman: What’s with all that purple? Piers: It’s to do with luxury - or the color of luxury. PSFK in its first iteration as a business was a luxury consultancy. I ran it with Simon King - the SK of PSFK. It wasn’t very successful so I put the company to sleep for a while. When Simon and I started the site, we thought we’d use the URL and the color scheme of the previous company! An interesting event by an interesting company - I’ll definitely be attending (I was invited for it). Event link: PSFK Conference Asia 2008 Social media “activists” response to AIMS - frequently asked questions Update - press coverage: Free public servants to engage online (WEEKEND TODAY, 20th Sept 2008) - Alicia Wong features us in her article. Rules for political films still a hot potato (Straits Times, 20th Sept 2008) - Lynn Lee covers the forum and mentions us. How Should We Expand Political Space on the Web? Public Opinion Split (ZaoBao, 21st Sept 2008) - ZaoBao covers the forum. English translation in the comments. * * * I was in the public forum today discussing the “Consultation Paper by the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS)”. Near the start of the event, the chairman Mr Cheong Yip Seng mentioned that some “social media activists” gave some “thoughtful” and “constructive” feedback 3 days ago to the AIMS committee. He was referring to the response given by 9 bloggers, including myself. I won’t go into the forum itself, but when the forum ended, it turned out that the (mainstream) media and other attendees had many questions regarding our response. Here are some of the frequently asked questions: Are you the Bloggers 13? No, we’re another group of bloggers. Those who contributed to the response include Kevin Lim, Ivan Chew, Lucian Teo, Walter Lim, Kenneth Pinto, Vanessa Tan, Sivasothi N., Jude Yew and myself. Who are you then? The “social media activists”? We call ourselves the “media socialists“, but we normally don’t use that name because it gives people the wrong idea - we’re not socialists. We’re a group of academics, civil servants, consultants and designers who are passionate and actively involved in social media, or what many people call “new media”. This means we’re not quite activists as well. Let us know if you can think of a better name for us. Why did you send this collective response to AIMS? Being passionate about social media, we have regular discussions on the subject, so when the AIMS paper came out, we naturally started discussing it. Eventually, one of us had the idea of compiling our responses together and sending it to AIMS, as it was a good opportunity for us to contribute to our society. Your collective response seems to focus more on e-engagement, as opposed to online political content, protection of minors, and immunity for intermediaries. Why is that? We see a lot more potential in how the government can engage citizens more deeply through social media, potential that we’re currently not harnessing. As for the other areas, we support the recommendations on protecting minors and immunity for online intermediaries, and have nothing much to add there. And none of us are political bloggers, so online political content isn’t really our domain. You had an interesting suggestion to have an online Hong Lim Park. That was wrongly attributed to us.        Brain Rules It’s not everyday that I read a book about the brain that is readable, useful, and actually entertaining. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina falls firmly under this category. It contains 12 “rules” or facts about the brain that scientists are certain about, and how they can be applied in our lives. The first rule, for instance, is that exercise boosts brain power: Researchers found a group of couch potatoes, measured their brain power, exercised them for a period of time, and re-examined their brain power. They consistently found that when couch potatoes are enrolled in an aerobic exercise program, all kinds of mental abilities begin to come back online. Positive results were observed after as little as four months of activity. Medina goes on, It was the same story with school-age children. In one recent study, children jogged for 30 minutes two or three times a week. After 12 weeks, their cognitive performance had improved significantly compared with pre-jogging levels. When the exercise program was withdrawn, the scores plummeted back to their pre-experiment levels. Now, if this doesn’t convince you to get off your seat, I don’t know what would. Anyway, here are all the 12 brain rules: EXERCISE | Rule #1: Exercise boosts brain power. SURVIVAL | Rule #2: The human brain evolved, too. WIRING | Rule #3: Every brain is wired differently. ATTENTION | Rule #4: We don’t pay attention to boring things. SHORT-TERM MEMORY | Rule #5: Repeat to remember. LONG-TERM MEMORY | Rule #6: Remember to repeat. SLEEP | Rule #7: Sleep well, think well. STRESS | Rule #8: Stressed brains don’t learn the same way. SENSORY INTEGRATION | Rule #9: Stimulate more of the senses. VISION | Rule #10: Vision trumps all other senses. GENDER | Rule #11: Male and female brains are different. EXPLORATION | Rule #12: We are powerful and natural explorers. The nice thing about Brain Rules is that the book comes with a DVD with entertaining video presentations on each of the 12 rules - an excellent and painless way to make the ideas in the book stick. Do check out the Brain Rules website as well, which has a couple of the videos. Now, time for me to get some exercise.