It’s brain candy, but we can’t resist clicking on it. Whether it’s “The Top 10 Hottest Selfies” or “One Super Food That Burns Fat Like A Furnace,” at some point we’ve been drawn to those sketchy headline links at the bottom of most web pages. The stories often appear under a banner “Recommended For You,” […]
By Jon Cook — Mar 19 '14
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A year ago Foursquare shocked users by announcing it would phase out awarding points and badges on its popular check-in app. The move appeared to signal the death knell for gamification. But the concept endures, and has found new traction among the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies who are using it as a tool to […]
By Jon Cook — Feb 4 '14
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The birth of “citizen journalism” is associated with the advent of the Internet, but the roots of it extend to the first printing presses, ham radio operators and hand-held video cameras. The modern movement was launched in some ways in 1962 when non-journalist Abraham Zapruder inadvertently filmed the assassination of U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy […]
By Jon Cook — Jan 23 '14
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It’s hard to go anywhere these days where there isn’t a projected image enhancing our experience. That’s good news for Marc Bender’s Hamilton, Ont.-based business, Superposition Displays. The name comes from a phenomenon in quantum physics – superposition – where two images “can play off each other so they can both be improved,” Bender says. […]
By Jon Cook — Jan 9 '14
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For most of us, there’s zero fun in dealing with financial issues, and banks aren’t synonymous with the latest must-have mobile apps. That, however, hasn’t stopped people from banking on their mobile devices. A recent BMO survey showed 70 percent of Canadian smartphone owners use banking apps. The trend is increasing too, with two-thirds of users […]
By Jon Cook — Dec 20 '13
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Wowing your customers with a 20-foot video wall, hostess hologram, virtual koi pond and jump-the-line digital payment terminals means nothing if you can’t deliver the goods. “If the food doesn’t taste great, the technology doesn’t really matter,” insists Josh Sigel, chief information officer for Richtree Natural Market Restaurants, an organic fast-food chain that recently implemented […]
By Jon Cook — Dec 6 '13
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With his oversized tuque and Frank Zappa-esque look he could pass for a hacker, but Cornelius Rachieru Jr. applies his design chops as the UX lead for the Medical Council of Canada, an Ottawa-based not-for-profit organization that evaluates, licenses and registers physicians practicing in Canada. Asked whether the significant Federal Gov’t presence in Ottawa/Gatineau translates […]
By Jon Cook — Oct 30 '13
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All this fuss over a pine bookshelf and leather calendar? Fanboy angst over outdated icons was not the main reason Apple chose to reboot its mobile operating system, but it was a significant factor. Throw in a 30-per cent drop in share price and fierce competition from Google’s Android, and the virtual bookcase was out […]
By Jon Cook — Sep 20 '13
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At one point we have all tried to push open a door marked “PULL” and experienced that same dumb moment. Tammy teWinkel, a user experience expert who has worked for BlackBerry, uses the door analogy to illustrate the challenges to creating a great user experience. “Given from a systems perspective it’s quite rudimentary and still […]
By Jon Cook — Aug 30 '13
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The crowdfunding firm’s creative director joins Stephen Anderson for a Google Hangout discussing the opportunities and challenges of putting game play into design
By Jon Cook — Aug 21 '13
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