Jul 2nd 10 Posted by Matt Arnold

Online Engagement Is Not About Technology

That headline may seem contradictory. Online engagement involves constituents interacting with our tools and technology, but that technology should not be our primary focus. Instead, we need to focus on the experience that we are trying to provide as we share our institution’s stories and drive prospective students to engage with us. We can engage them through storytelling. What does our site tell... read more

Jun 4th 10 Posted by Matt Arnold

The Post Monitor & Mouse Era

The post monitor and mouse era is upon us. By this I mean we are moving beyond the need or dependency of a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and desktop (or laptop) to define the user experience (UX). For the past few years we have seen hints of these changes with the rapid adoption of smart phones and the beginning of the mobile web. A key breakthrough in smart phones was the iPhone, which incorporates gesture... read more

May 3rd 10 Posted by Matt Arnold

Avoid the HiPPO – Data Is Your Repellent

When engineering and modifying the visitor experience on your site, it is important to avoid the HiPPO. The HiPPO may seem innocuous, but can do quite a bit of damage. I’m not talking about hippopotamus amphibious (but left unattended on campus I’m certain one could do quite a bit of damage.) Instead, I’m referring to HiPPO as the acronym for the highest paid person’s opinion. This HiPPO can... read more

Apr 5th 10 Posted by Matt Arnold

The Five Second Test

In a recent blog post Becky Morehouse wrote about the “Five Second Brand.” On the interactive front, we talk about the Five Second Test when it comes to a website or a particular page. Based upon the innovative and interesting work at Five Second Test, you can start to see how effective, or ineffective, your site may be in getting a visitor’s attention and driving them to action. You can also... read more

Mar 8th 10 Posted by Matt Arnold

Highly Considered Purchases & User Base Expectations

In Search Patterns: Design for Discovery (2010), Peter Morville and Jeffery Callender ask us to “look beyond our own borders” to discover ways to improve the products and services we deliver.  The authors encourage us to look to the periphery and then return focus to the tasks at hand. To that end, I believe that higher education sites could benefit from looking at the experiences and tools provided... read more

Feb 8th 10 Posted by Matt Arnold

Optimization

As we are early into the new decade, I hope the year and the decade find you doing well. The past decade saw tremendous growth, change, and innovation in the interactive space. From the predominance of brochureware sites in the early part of the decade, to the Web 2.0 changes in the mid ’00s, to today, on the cusp of Web2, it’s an exciting, albeit sometimes frustrating time for interactive marketers.... read more