Checkbackeachmonthin2016andbeyond,formoreresources!
ThispostfeaturestheirartworkforJanuary2016.Eachwallpaperisavailablewithandwithoutacalendarandcanbedownloadedforfree.Thankstoeveryonewhocontributedtheirdesigns!Andahappy2016toall!
Ofcourse,itiscompletelyokaytoofferanadditional,lessexpensiveproduct.Butthemajorityofyourworkshouldreflecttheareayouwantyourselftobein.
Createanetworkofpartnersthatcandoadditionalwork.Thatallowsyoutoofferbiggercommissionsorcompletesolutions.
Youneedtolearntobeafantasticcommunicator.Creativepeopleoftenhideintheiragenciesandonlyworkontheircoretaskswithpassion.Butintheeconomy,thereareotherthingsthatcount.Almosteverybusiness-relatedproblemcanbesolvedthroughsimplecommunication.WillyourprojectbedelayedGetyourtelephoneandtalkaboutitwithyourcustomer.DoYouneednewcommissionsGetyourtelephone,callpotentialclientsandsellyourservices.EverythinggoesasplannedInformyourclient.Maybeyoualreadyhavefirstresults.Yourcustomerwillbemorethanpleasedtoreceivealinkfromyou.
(dpe)
Digitalsignageisthetermforthedisplaysyouseeincoffeeshops,gyms,hospitals,schools,banks,andprettymuchanyotherbusinessororganizationwithaphysicalpresence.Digitalsignagehasawidevarietyofusessuchasprovidinginformation,generatingsales,recognizingdonors,etc.Itusedtobelimitedtolargebusinessesbecauseofthehighcostsofinstalling,managing,andcreatingcontent;butinthepast5yearsorso,theindustryhasseenaninfluxoflow-costmediaplayers(thecomputersthatpowerthedisplays)andcontentmanagementsystems(thesoftwarethatputsthecontentonthedisplays).
Digitalsignageis…forecastedtogrowtobea20billiondollarindustryby2020
Manywebdesignersenteredthefieldbecausetheywantedtotrysomethingnew.Morethanlikely,youwantedtocreateinterestingandengagingonlineexperiences.Digitalsignagehasopenedanewchallengeforyou.Youhavetheskillsandabilitynowtocreatestunningdigitalsignageexperiences.
Responsivewebdesignandconsistentuserexperiencearesomebuzzwordsthathavebeenaroundforawhilenow.WealreadydesignforeverythingfromphonestolargeHDdesktops;whynotexpandtolargeformatdisplaysaswellAusershouldexperiencethesamegreatwebcontentandbrandingastheymovefromtheircomputer,totheirphone,andintoaphysicallocation.
Digitalsignageisuniquethough;andjustpoppingawebsiteonadisplayisnotaveryeffectivewayofbuildingagreatexperience.Digitalsignagecontentisdynamic.Inmanycasesitneedstochangebasedonlocation,time,season,etc.BuildingseparateHTMLpagesthatyoucanscheduledependingonthosevariablesistheeasiestwayofdoingit.
Forexample,thinkofarestaurantchainwiththreelocations,inthreetimezones,eachwiththreedisplays.Twoofthedisplaysineachstorearemenuboards,andtheotheroneshowsagreetingmessage.Whentherestaurantcloses,thedisplaysshowemployeecommunications,suchascalendars,companyevents,andimportantannouncements.ThemenuboardsneedthreedifferentHTMLpagesforbreakfast,lunchanddinner,andthegreetingscreensallneedcontent.Theemployeecommunicationswillalsoneedtheirowncontentdesignedandbuilt.Lastly,eachstorewillneedindividualizedcontent.
Thiscontentcouldbepassive,meaningitslidesthroughonitsown,oryoucancreateinteractivecontentusingtouchscreens.Incorporatingsocialmediacampaigns,canalsobeagoodwaytoengageviewerswithpassivecontent.Andinteractivecontentcanbeaveryinterestingwayofcreatingcooldigitalsignageexperiences.
Tobeginbringingyourwebdesignskillsintotheworldofdigitalsignage,startbysigningupforadigitalsignageplatform,tofamiliarizeyourselfwiththesoftwarethatsendsHTMLcontenttodisplayscreens.Thereareopensourceplatforms,paidplatforms,freeplatforms,andproprietaryones.Manyofthemallowyoutousealltheknowledgeofwebdesignthatyoualreadyhaveandstartbuilding.
Ifyouhaveanyexistingclientswithbrickandmortarlocations,theyareprimecandidatesforyourdisplaydesignservices.Ifnot,youcanadddigitalsignageasaservicethatyoucanprovidetonewclients.Pickinganichecanalsobeahelpfulwaytogrowclients:forexample,betheexpertoncreatingsignageforrestaurants,ordentists,oranyotherspecificprofessionorindustry.
Thegreatthingaboutdigitalsignageisthatcontentneedstobeupdatedregularly,whichgeneratesrecurringrevenue.Withsomeplatforms,youcaneasilytrainyourclientstoscheduleandmanagetheirownpresentations.Alternatively,youcanprovidecontentupdatesasanadditionalservice.
Thedigitalsignageindustryisgrowingrapidly.Gonearethedaysofproprietary,expensivesoftware.HTML5hasknockeddownthedoor,soyoucannowcreate,manage,anddisplayamazingsigncontentfromtheweb.Thisisanamazingopportunityforwebdesignerstoexpandtheirofferinganddifferentiatethemselves.
Acompanyprovesthatithasastrongcreativeprocessbydevelopingsuccessfulproductsrepeatedly.WeseethisincompanieslikeApple,BMWandGoogle.FounderssuchasSteveJobsformedacorporateculturewithanintensefocusoncreativityanddesign.Thisculturehighlightstwocoreelementsinthecreativeprocess:theideasandtheteam.
Thecreativeprocesscanbedescribedinonesentence:Ideasbeginwithasmallteamofcreativepeopleattheheartofthecompanywhocommunicateeasilywitheachother.
Areaderwritesin:
Peopledotendtorolltheireyesatoldfashion.
Asurprisetome,atleast.
Remember,theyhiredyou.
Thisistheelephantintheroom.
Doyouhaveaperformancebudget,suchthatthevideocantriggersacrificeselsewhere,eveningpageweightoutabitSeemslikeafairapproach.Andacommonone,asthetrendseemstopointtoverysimplepageswithsimplecallstoactiontotakeyouelsewhere.
Inmyexperience,usingavideohostingservicelikeYouTubeorVimeosolvesaboatloadofpainpoints,likebandwidthfeesandcross-browserinteroperability.
CanyoudesigntheplayersuchthatitworksforthedesignOrdoyouneedmorefullcontrol
CSSiswhatyouneedtopositionthevideointhebackgroundandsizeit.
DudleyStoreyhasapproacheditthisway:
video.fullscreen{position:fixed;top:50%;left:50%;min-width:100%;min-height:100%;width:auto;height:auto;z-index:-100;transform:translate(-50%,-50%);}Andhisdemoevenhassomebonusfeatureslikepausing:
Inthisarticle,wewillexplainindetail,whatconsistencyinwebdesignmeans,whyitisimportanttoachieve,andwhatitmeanstobringitinlinewithuserexpectations.
AsafeandpredictableUIleadstosmoothoperationofthefinalproduct–agoodconsistency.Incontrast,whenauserinterfaceisinconsistent,ithinderstheprocess,provokesfrustrationandcausesabaduserexperience.Theuserwillnotvisitthewebsiteagain.
Ofcourse,consistencyisnotrestrictedtothesiteyoucreated.Theuserwillspendmostofhistimesurfingotherwebsites.Thatwayhewillgainexperienceindealingwithawebsite.Regardingyoursite,thisexperiencewilltheneitherbepositiveornegative,dependingonhowmucheffortyouputintotheuserguidanceandoperability.Basically,consistencymeansthateverythingfitstogetherperfectlyandworkshomogeneously.
Externalconsistencyincludesthecomparabilitywithsimilarproducts.Yourwebsitegetscomparedtomultipleotherwebsiteseveryday.Tosummarise,youcansaythatexternalconsistencymeansmeetinguserexpectations.Tocreateadesignthatdoesthat,youneedtolookatyourdesignandtheworkofotherdesignersfromtheperspectiveoftheuser.Whenyouareabletooperateawebsiteperfectly,youcanapplytheachievedexternalconsistencytoyourowndesign.
Aclearuserguidance.Theuserinstantlyknowshiswaysaround
ExamplesforUIPatterns
ProbablyallofushaveusedMicrosoftWordoruseitstill.Itstypeofmenuoptionshasetcheditselfintothemindsofusersthatoftenusetexteditors.Thus,itfeelsnaturaltofindtheminotherapplications.Evenatthismoment,writingthisarticle,IhavethistypeofuserguidanceinfrontofmebecausetheWordPressTinyMCEeditorusesthesamedesignelements.
However,theonlywayofunderstandingthisnewlabellingistoreadthetextabovetheform.Neverunderestimatethelazinessofyourusers.Backthen,thevisitorsofAvishavefilledintheformliketheywereusedtoandwereangryandconfusedaboutwhatthepurposeofthisnewkindofuserguidancewas.Thisnewdesignforcedtheuserstoreadformsagain.Thishasnothingtodowithuserfriendliness.Avisquicklynoticedthemistakeandreoffersastandardformtoday.
But–perhapsmoreimportantly–italogisticalnightmareforyou.
Sayyourclientneedsawebsiteredesign.Yourinitialconversationrevealsthatthisnewdesignhasthepotentialtoincreasetheiryearlyprofitby$100,000.