Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Badges

Mozilla's Open Badges offers a way to certify the kind of skills we all gather outside of formal environments. Maybe you've picked up a skill, but can't honestly say you used it as part of your job -- or maybe you have, but it's not strictly in your job description. This isn't a liability in a small company, but if you work for a large organization you might find it difficult to claim that skill when you look for your next position.

Enter the badge: Earn a badge, and you can show certification of your skill. "Level up at work" - I like that phrase.

More on this here: hackeducation.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Ambitious promises

Your ambitions outstripping your abilities is not necessarily a bad situation. It offers you an incentive to stretch.

When your promises outstrip your abilities.... that's not so good. You don't want to disappoint people.

So be careful.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Who Do You Think You're Talking To?

It's an important thing to know.

Not only in terms of your style, but in terms of your UI choices.

Let's say you're expecting users to access your content with a phone.

If your target audience includes people over 40, small print (like the login agreement you see when you use free wifi at Starbucks) will create a minor roadblock.

Let's say a fair percentage of your audience may be over 60. If they're logging in with an iPhone, the finger-spread gesture to expand the login so they can read it and tap the button may present a greater roadblock.

Present enough roadblocks, and they'll go somewhere else.

Try walking in their shoes, sure. But also try seeing through their eyes and multitouching with their fingers.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

"Losing Interest in Social Media..."

There is no there there.
Interesting take on growing tired, impatient, disaffected, with social media. From Elearnspace. A lot of value in the comments.