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Valeriy Gooz - New feature specialist and selective wordsmith
Pavel Malychev - Web master and rocker of hard core metal
Anton Zykin -Icon creator and member of the Silent Dead
Artem Korzhavin - Carpenter of the MC3 framework and model of stylish dresses
As I sat in the waiting area to be called for my haircut yesterday it occurred to me that the owners and certainly NOT the stylists came up with the idea that kid's haircuts are cheaper than adults.
One poor stylists had a real winner in her seat for about 30 minutes. She was kicked 3 times in the stomach while the mother passively corrected him. So instead of the stylist being compensated at her normal rate, she had to give this charm of a child a 30% discount.
The kid has just as much hair as an adult. The task is much harder. The seat is occupied for longer. But the stylist makes less money.
What are some other examples where a policy may have made sense in theory ("kids are smaller; their haircut should be cheaper"), but in practice it certainly is not to the long-term benefit of anyone?
On one hand, you have my generation that will pay $2 for a plain cup of coffee... with a credit card to boot!
On the other, you have my grandmother-in-law who I witnessed save approximately 1 1/2 cups of leftover coffee out of the pot to microwave tomorrow morning!
I currently had the aggravating experience in telling XO Communications to Unsubscribe me from their newsletter. What should be a natural two click process ended up being a four step process with me having to wait on a return email before I could finish the process. This is ridiculous.
1. Received a newsletter from XO. No big deal, we send out newsletters so I understand. I am just not interested so I would like Unsubscribe.
2. Click on Unsubscribe. Ok, it asks me to enter my email address. This is fine although you should have known that since you just sent me an email.
3. What's this! You just sent me another email so I can once again 'confirm' I really don't want your newsletter?!?!?
4. I now am waiting for you to send me an email ......
Real customer care is providing real service to prospects (like me) and to your paying customers. By doing the little things (and yes, this is just a small example) right helps present your organization that you really care about working with people and you are constantly looking to make interacting with your company a more pleasant experience.
My son and I went this weekend to see Horton Hears a Who. I felt like Blue Sky Studios did a great job bringing Dr. Seuss' much shorter story to a feature length film.
But what if it wasn't what Dr. Seuss had in mind? To take it a step further, what if it was exactly what he did NOT want it to be?
How do your customers translate your products and services. There's no doubt that they have more questions that you are able to answer (or questions that they are not asking). How is the spec of information you are giving them being translated? What would their feature length film be?
The best we can do is honestly answer any questions that clients have. One step further would be to share the questions from other clients (and our answers to them) to the entire community. This would serve as a stronger outline for your clients' movie than the limited amount of information they receive directly.
Let's make sure when Horton tries to tell your story to others, he is given as full of a picture as possible.
More information about Dr. Seuss can be found below. It's also interesting to see the different interpretations of Horton through the years.
As far as companies providing helpdesk applications today, we may as well come to grips with the reality that we are as small as the spec where Whoville exists.
This entry is by guest author, Anton Zykin (personal bio coming soon)
It’s common knowledge now that the iPhone is the best mobile device for combining excellent design and cutting-edge user-focused technologies. The army of iPhone fans is growing daily.
And, of course, people want customization! Tons of themes, wallpapers, and icons for the iPhone can be found. As icon design professionals, we are always looking for new icon sets. Today, we are going to share some of the best with you. Here are the TOP 15 FREE Icon Sets for the iPhone. Enjoy!
Neat and quite simple; Very appealing
http://macthemes2.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16783459
Uncommon icons: Soft colors with an old-fashion touch
http://macthemes2.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16783456
Unique texture using photographic background
http://www.mezzoblue.com/icons/chalkwork/iphone/
Hand-drawn style; inspired in Apple’s own iPhone icons
http://fasticon.com/freeware/?p=79
Large icon set; Web 2.0 style with reflections
http://forums.ipodhacks.com/showthread.php?t=19619
Comic style; good use of depth
http://fasticon.com/comic_iphone.html
Excellent iPhone replacement icons! Sleek, elegant, and richly colored. This is a must-have!
http://ruizdesign.deviantart.com/art/CMT-iPhone-icons-69567377
Blueprint styling; true to original set
http://sometoast.deviantart.com/art/iPhone-theme-Blueprint-65406791
Black and purple theme; interesting use of actual photos
http://sometoast.deviantart.com/art/iPhone-theme-Blueprint-65406791
Great green theme; Natural color scheme and softer shapes
http://rawmade.deviantart.com/art/iFoley-Summerboard-Springtime-79284200
Unique and professional; This is also a must-have.
http://pimpmyiphone.deviantart.com/art/iPhone-Space-Theme-v1-1-65747334
Retro styling similar to stickers; Impressive
Beautiful art that could only be created for an Apple product; Say Hello to Leonardo Da Vinci. Louie Mantia rocks!
http://www.iphoneskinning.com/2007/12/iphone-theme-of-day-renaissance-by.html
Gorgeous REALIZE icon set seems to be a new trend in icon design for iPhone.
http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum/iphone-modifications/theme-shiizun-s-realize-16705.html
Minimalist and early computer era
http://www.iphoneskinning.com/2007/12/prado-iphone-theme-of-day.html
Vladimir 'M.O.M ' Gooz - Lead Developer and connoisseur of 'liquid bread'
Andrey 'Who needs sleep' Magazinov - System Architect and collector of spoons
Dmitriy 'a.k.a The Rookie' Chernenko - Gifted in the art of ASP and adventure of the Ukrainian outdoors
Alexey 'Always Time for Tea' Gavrilov - big project specialist and devotee to fine tobacco
Stay tuned for more bigWebApps team members.....
bigWebDesk, our web helpdesk software, has a historical retention rate of 97% year over year for the last 8 years. But what about that 3%. Our primary focus as a company has always been to provide "ultimate client fulfillment" during our relationship. A key factor here is that when that 3% does decide to move away from your product, the relationship is still alive.
This is your time to shine if you want to prove yourself as a company truly dedicated to your customer's best interests. The most difficult aspect in a time like this is the uncertain. Will your efforts pay off in the end? Will the customer come back? Do they know just how bad their decision is? :-)
But the important thing to remember is that none of these things should matter. You should continue to provide that ultimate client fulfillment to the very end. This is your bridge to possibly resurrecting the relationship in the future.
Seth discusses this in reference to the current political climate. His ideas, like always, are applicable in many contexts. Should you, as a company, change your demeanor to defend your turf? You should do everything you can to find out what is driving the client's decision, but in the end it is the way you handle what is potentially your last contact with them that will resonate in their mind.
This is a post by guest author, Anton Zykin
A successful icon designer must always be on top of modern trends in the industry. It is the only way to design icons that sell themselves. We are always searching and trying to recognize in real time new examples of appealing design. This helps us identify the basic trends early. Below is a list of 5 examples of current trends in icon design.
#1 Larger screens – larger icons
As screen size and resolution increase every year, operating systems must use larger icons. Otherwise, icons will hardly be noticeable. This leads to the general rule that all user experiences and icons must contain large sizes, such as 256x256 pixels in Windows Vista and even up to 512x512 in Mac OS Leopard.
This example shows two icons on Windows Vista desktop: the old Firefox 2 icon and the new Firefox 3 Beta icon. The new icon is more appealing and noticeable because it is 256x256.
#2 More realistic than a photo?
OS Developers dictate new rules for the icon designers. Windows Vista User Experience Guide says: “Icons are symbolic images—they should look better than photo-realistic!” This demands more professional experience from the icon designer. It is a must that you create high detailed, three dimensional illustrations with correct perspective (NOTE: it’s always a good idea to double check your work a 3D editor) that symbolically represents some application or function.
And it is reasonable that designing large and highly detailed icons costs more money and takes more time in comparison to cartoonish XP style icons. Let’s compare Windows Vista My Computer icon and the same icon from XP. The difference is very clear!
#3 Keep it simple, Silly!
In opposition of point #2 is another approach that can be just as successful. Icons using simple and cognate shapes with few colors can have a big impact. The importance lies in the icons being professionally built with a unique spin. Sometimes symbolic and simple appearance can actually say more than photo.
For example, all of Adobe CS 3’s icons were changed to simple rectangles with drop shadow and product abbreviation on it. With this more simplistic approach Adobe created a unique visual language for the whole product family.
Examples of simple icons with high visual appeal:
#4 Iconic logotypes
Over the last few years we have observed the Web 2.0 sensation. Thousands of new web services, social network startups, and software applications were launched worldwide. Iconic logotype is one of the most common themes in Web 2.0 design. This is when the logo works well as an icon as a compliment. The second advantage of using icon/logo is increased brand recognition. The consistent use of your image increases the chance of your users recognizing your brand more rapidly.
Examples of logos that also work well as icons:
#5 Icons invasion of the web
You now see icons everywhere on the websites: different sizes, styles, colors of the same icon theme perform different functions. The popularity of icons has significantly grown up due to the appearance of high traffic Web 2.0 being so similar to software interface of day’s past.
Of course, every interface requires icons!
Examples of icons widely used in website navigation:
This clever little phrase was coined by our CEO, Patrick Clements, a few years back. What Patrick was eluding is how bigWebApps looks to start a long-term relationship with every prospect/client that we encounter. Many software companies have a model based upon signing a client up and moving on to the next prospect. This can be done very effectively, so this is not an attempt to downgrade that approach. But it's not the right fit for everyone.
Our desire is to be the first thought when one of our clients has a question relating to helpdesk, asset management, and inventory management. Personally, I love it when I can call a client and say, "This is Jason" and they almost immediately know which "Jason" (of the millions) it is. This is not necessarily related to the frequency of conversations that we may have had, but the quality of conversations. If a client asks about my kids by name, I feel I have done my job well.
Then, the next step, is to continue to build upon that relationship throughout the rest of the conversation by helping them with their current problem or answering the question(s) that they have.
The Selling Sherpa has put together a concise list of items that he feels is important to becoming #1 in your marketplace. This list felt so familiar while reading, it was almost eery. Great list from a great blogger if you are looking for any new material for your reading/education pleasure.
So if the "Install and Haul" relationships that you currently have are not fulfilling your needs, give us a call and I'll let you know my kids' names...
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