Central Perk

luni, 20 ianuarie 2014

Life Above and Beyond the Fold

Posted: 19 Jan 2014 03:13 PM PST

Posted by tallen1985

For many years we used content above the fold as a gateway for users to access pretty much anywhere on our sites. We would fill these 600 or so pixels of valuable space with all the important sections of our site we wanted our users to know about (we were particularly guilty of this on homepages, as Rand discussed in this Whiteboard Friday).

However, the arrival of smartphones and tablets has forever changed the way people consume information and navigate around the web. Smartphones taught users how to scroll and swipe, and as such have reinvented the way webpages are designed. So, what about the fold? How has this changed in this multi-screen world?

Space above the fold is still hugely important, but instead of just sharing everything there, the fear centers around the idea that users may not want to scroll. Instead, we now need to narrow down our focus, using space above the fold to share our main ideas that will make people want to read the rest of the page.

History of the fold

The term "above the fold" originates from the world of newspapers; papers are generally shown to customers folded in half, therefore only the top half of the page is visible. Editors would use this space to grab attention using important stories, powerful headlines and strong imagery to encourage users to buy the paper.

On a webpage, the fold is the area of a page displayed to the user without them having to scroll. Based on a 1366x768 pixel screen resolution (a little more on this choice later), the area highlighted in red is generally how content is presented to users on a landing page (i.e. above the fold)

Is space above the fold still valuable in 2014?

At the end of 2013, Peep Laja spoke at SearchLove about the Principles of Persuasive Web Design. He had observed that despite it being 2013 (now 2014) and us living in a much more scroll-oriented world, content placed above the fold was still grabbing 80% of our attention.

Image source

This continues to make above-the-fold space highly valuable to capture a user's attention. The main difference today is that users no longer have the patience they once had. This is due to the high volume of content users have access to, making earning their attention increasingly competitive.

Therefore, this space should no longer be filled with clutter and overwhelming amounts of information. Instead, above the fold content needs to contain a strong value proposition that explains to the user exactly what the page can offer.

With so many devices, how can you possibly design for above the fold?

The multi-screen world we now live in has changed the face of above-the-fold space. With such a range of devices and responsive designs the fold will appear in different places dependent upon numerous factors (such as screen resolution, thickness of the user's toolbar, and whether the page is zoomed).

How do we design for this? There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem, but what we can do is ensure our important content is towards the top of the page and is optimised to serve the majority of our users.

To find out which screen resolutions the majority of your users use on your site, complete the following steps:

1.Open Google Analytics

2.In the "Audience" tab, view "Technology" and select "Browser & OS"

3.Choose "Screen Resolution"

How to view your site in different resolutions

To see where the fold is for various screen dimensions, use the "Inspect Element" feature in Chrome to override your own screen resolution.

1. Right-click anywhere on the page in Chrome, and select "Inspect Element"

2. Click on the settings gear in the bottom-right corner of the screen

3. Select "Overrides" and check the "Enable" box. Check "Device metrics" and input the screen resolution you would like to view the site at. Note that closing the override window will return your browser to its default resolution.

Designing for beyond the fold

Okay, so we know that space above the fold is still incredibly important for engaging user attention. What about the rest of our beautifully created content? A study by Clicktale shows that if a page has a scroll bar it will be used by 76% of users to at least some extent. 22% will scroll to the bottom of the page. So, as pointed out by Usability Expert Jakob Nielsen, space above the fold still grabs the majority of attention and people do scroll, but we should make sure that we are designing to encourage that scrolling.

While mobile devices have developed scrolling as natural user behavior we have to ensure that our page layouts are designed to showcase all our content. So what should the fold line look like? Ideally, we want to make content on the fold line draw the users eyes down the page.

Three ways in which we can encourage scrolling

1. Staggered content columns

By making content different lengths in each column we prevent the issue of having empty space across the width of the page, making it seem like the page has ended. One paragraph or image is always broken by the fold, encouraging the user to scroll down to see more information. This is a style often used by newspaper websites such as the New York Times and the BBC.

2. Page trails

Using a footpath that walks users through the page is a great way to encourage users to scroll. The fold simply dissects the path, which the user will naturally continue to follow. A great example of this in action is the Guide to Wordpress by Simply Business.

3. Sometimes you just have to tell them

Image source

Sometimes rather than trying to use subtle visual cues to guide users down the page it can be beneficial to simply tell the user there is more content for them to see. This is the approach Put Things Off uses to introduce further features of their mobile app.

Key takeaways

The fold still matters. While space above the fold used to serve as a portal to explore all the sections of a site, its purpose is to now grab attention and introduce the user to your brand/product.
We live in a multi-screen world and scrolling is now habitual. If we are building pages that require scrolling we need to ensure we encourage this behaviour through visual prompts and remind the user there is deeper content below the fold.
Continue to monitor user behaviour particularly in relation to the most commonly used screen resolutions in order to ensure valuable content remains above the fold.

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Seth's Blog : The index and the menu

The index and the menu

Google killed the old-fashioned cookbook.

Why bother searching through a thick, dull cookbook of recipes when all you have to do is type in two or three ingredients and the word 'recipe' online? The index, the now infinite magical index of the web, helps us find whatever we want, better and faster.

On the other hand, a generous, modern cookbook doesn't ask, "what do you want to cook?" Instead, it says, "how about this?" A menu, not an index.

Years ago, I was at a power breakfast in New York, a fancy restaurant jammed with masters of the universe and those that hoped to have a few minutes with one of them. The waiter came over and said, "what do you want?" There was no menu. Just tell him and they'll make it.

Looking around, I realized that just about everyone was eating one of three popular items. With an index but no menu, the room resorted to safe and easy.

And this is the challenge every organization faces in the uber-indexed world we live in. It's not enough to sit with a prospect and ask him what he wants. Once we know what we want, search finds it for us. No, we have to offer a menu, we have to curate choices, we have to dream for people who don't have the guts or time to dream for themselves.

This is frightening, because when you offer a menu, often people will get hung up on their status quo and just say "no." You can't get rejected when all you offer is an index, but getting your menu rejected is one of the symptoms that you're doing the hard work of making an impact.

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duminică, 19 ianuarie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

French Banks Face €285 Bn Capital Shortfall, Germany €199 Bn, Spain €92 Bn; Mish French Fine Update
Bottom 5 States in Fiscal Condition: New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, California
More Christie Allegations: Mayor of Flooded Hoboken Claims "Christie Held City Hostage"

French Banks Face €285 Bn Capital Shortfall, Germany €199 Bn, Spain €92 Bn; Mish French Fine Update

Posted: 19 Jan 2014 11:04 PM PST

At the risk of incurring another nonsensical fine for quoting someone on leverage and capital ratios of French banks, please consider European Banks Face $1 Trillion Gap Before Review.

European banks have a capital shortfall of as much as 767 billion euros ($1 trillion) before the European Central Bank's probe into the financial health of the region's lenders, according to a study.

French banks show the biggest gap of 285 billion euros, followed by German lenders with as much as 199 billion euros, Sascha Steffen of the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin and Viral Acharya at New York University said in their study dated Jan. 15. The figures assume a benchmark capital ratio for other book measures of leverage of 7 percent, they wrote.

"A comprehensive and decisive AQR will most likely reveal a substantial lack of capital in many peripheral and core European banks," the authors wrote, referring to the central bank's Asset Quality Review stage of the Comprehensive Assessment.

Spanish banks have a shortfall of 92 billion euros, while Italian banks lack 45 billion euros, the study showed.

"Our results suggest that with common equity issuance and haircuts on subordinated creditors, it should be possible to deal with many banks' capital needs," the authors wrote. "Some will, however, require public backstops, especially if bail-ins are difficult to implement without imposing losses on bondholders, who may themselves be other banks and systemically important financial institutions."

Particularly the banking sectors in Belgium, Cyprus and Greece "seem likely to require backstops," they said.

Shortfall? What Shortfall?

To ensure there will not be any major capital shortfalls in the next round of stress-free tests, please note ECB Waters Down 2014 Stress Tests Second Time

In what translates into yet another sham stress test, the ECB reduced bank capital requirements from 8% to 6% then effectively declared all sovereign bonds held in non-trading portfolios to be risk-free.

Without a doubt, banks will put all their sovereign bonds in hold-to-maturity buckets (at least for the duration of the stress test).

Fine Update

In case you missed it, please note Mish Fined 8,000 Euros for Quoting French Blog.

Here's an update:

A French lawyer volunteered to represent me in an appeal to reduce the fine. His cost was €9,000 (without vat tax at 20%), plus judicial fees of another €1,000.

I quickly pointed out that legal costs (with uncertain odds of success) exceeded the fine.

The lawyer then reduced his cost to €4,000 upfront (again without the 20% VAT) plus 50% of any reduction in fine, plus judicial fees of another €1,000.

I am wondering about the mindset of French lawyers willing to waste their time and mine with such ludicrous proposals.

My original plan, which I am sticking with because the appeal period is now over, is to not pay the fine and never go to France (and I had no such desire anyway).

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Bottom 5 States in Fiscal Condition: New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, California

Posted: 19 Jan 2014 01:49 PM PST

Inquiring minds are digging into a George Mason University paper on State Fiscal Conditions, a ranking of 50 states, by Sarah Arnett.

PolicyMic Produced this Chart of State Fiscal Conditions based on the working paper.

Highlights and Lowlights

Let's return to the original working paper for some highlights and lowlights.

At the bottom of the rankings are New Jersey and Illinois. New Jersey faces long-run solvency problems due in part to nearly 15 years of underfunding its state and local pensions. It has an estimated unfunded pension liability of around $25.6 billion as well as $59.3 billion in unfunded liabilities for the health benefits of retired teachers, police, firefighters, and other government workers (State Budget Crisis Task Force 2012).

Illinois has also underfunded its public pensions, resulting in an estimated state retirement system combined unfunded liability of $ 96.8 billion as of 2012 (Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability 22 2013). To cover the costs of its pension obligations, Illinois has also sold bonds to cover its annual contributions — 60 percent of Illinois' total outstanding debt is in pension bonds (State Budget Crisis Task Force 2012). In essence, Illinois is using long-term debt instruments to meet current year pension obligations.

[In Contrast] Nebraska is constitutionally prohibited from incurring debt. As such, the long-term liabilities reflected in Nebraska's long-run solvency score are mainly due to claims payable for worker's compensation, Medicaid claims, and other employee-related items. With no significant bond debt, Nebraska has a much lower long-term liability per capita and a much lower long-term liability ratio than most other states.

Bottom 5 in Long-Term Solvency

In terms of long-term solvency (the most critical issue), New Jersey and Illinois are at the bottom of the heap. Pension plans and union activism are to blame.

All five states at the bottom of the list have one thing in common: they got that way via "progressive" extreme-liberal politics, fueled by union activism, and promises that cannot possibly be met.

Compare to the top five.

Top 5 in Long-Term Solvency

The top five states all have something in common as well: none of them are the hotbed of "progressive" activism and unions.

Although there are other issues, I strongly suggest the performance of the top five and bottom five is directly related to "progressive" politics.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

More Christie Allegations: Mayor of Flooded Hoboken Claims "Christie Held City Hostage"

Posted: 19 Jan 2014 11:45 AM PST

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been damaged by numerous allegations involving political paybacks regarding lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that disrupted traffic for days.

That scandal was bad, but at least Christie has claimed no personal involvement. He cannot say the same thing now. Dawn Zimmer, mayor of Hoboken, alleges Christie camp held Sandy relief money hostage.

Two senior members of Gov. Chris Christie's administration warned a New Jersey mayor earlier this year that her town would be starved of hurricane relief money unless she approved a lucrative redevelopment plan favored by the governor, according to the mayor and emails and personal notes she shared with msnbc.

The mayor, Dawn Zimmer, hasn't approved the project, but she did request $127 million in hurricane relief for her city of Hoboken – 80% of which was underwater after Sandy hit in October 2012. What she got was $142,000 to defray the cost of a single back-up generator plus an additional $200,000 in recovery grants.

In an exclusive interview, Zimmer broke her silence and named Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Richard Constable, Christie's community affairs commissioner, as the two officials who delivered messages on behalf of a governor she had long supported.

"The bottom line is, it's not fair for the governor to hold Sandy funds hostage for the City of Hoboken because he wants me to give back to one private developer," she said Saturday on UP w/ Steve Kornacki. "… I know it's very complicated for the public to really understand all of this, but I have a legal obligation to follow the law, to bring balanced development to Hoboken."

"I'd be more than willing to testify under oath and – and answer any questions and provide any documents, take a lie detector test," Zimmer said, referring to the Christie administration's denials. "And, you know, my question back to them is, 'Would all of you? Would all of you be willing do that same thing, to testify under oath, to take a lie detector test?'"

Zimmer's interview comes on the heels of a scandal in which other members of Christie's inner circle conspired to create huge traffic swells, possibly in an act of political retribution, on another New Jersey town on the outskirts of Manhattan.

It's possible to believe Christie had no knowledge of lane closures on the George Washington Bridge. Still, the person responsible was a part of his administration, and with considerable delay Christie finally offered an apology.

In this case, if the charges by Zimmer are true, Christie himself is personally involved. There is no other reasonable way to look at it.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Seth's Blog : The humility of the artist

The humility of the artist

It seems arrogant to say, "perhaps this isn't for you."

When the critic pans your work, or the prospect hears your offer but doesn't buy, the artist responds, "that's okay, it's not for you." She doesn't wheedle or flip-flop or go into high pressure mode. She treats different people differently, understands that she is working to delight the weird, not please the masses, and walks away.

Isn't that arrogant?

No. It's arrogant to assume that you've made something so extraordinary that everyone everywhere should embrace it. Our best work can't possibly appeal to the average masses, only our average work can.

Finding the humility to happily walk away from those that don't get it unlocks our ability to do great work.

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sâmbătă, 18 ianuarie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

SYRIZA Surges in Greek Polls, Would Win Election if Held Today; Message People Want to Hear; Contagion Guarantee

Posted: 18 Jan 2014 11:35 AM PST

Support for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' New Democracy coalition has finally crumbled to pieces. For the year things had been close between New Democracy and opposition "Radical Left" party SYRIZA.

Not anymore. The Greek Reporter notes SYRIZA Killing New Democracy, PASOK in Attica, a critical Athens region of Greece.

A series of scandals, unresolved talks with the country's international lenders, and the escape of a terrorist seem to be taking their toll on Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' coalition government and his New Democracy Conservatives, who have fallen 7.7 percent points behind their rival, the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) in the critical Attica region including Athens.

SYRIZA, which opposes the austerity measures being imposed by the government, had been battling for the lead in surveys for a year with New Democracy, both sides barely one percent apart, but now has a lead of 24.6-16.9 percent in the poll taken by GPO for Newcast.

That comes in the wake of a series of arrests involving a scandal at the failed state-owned Hellenic Postbank, the defense ministry, a publisher charged with failing to pay his taxes and as Samaras is trying to assert the country is poised to make a comeback. Voters aren't buying it.

Despite the arrest and prosecution of its leaders on charges of running a criminal gang, the ultra-far right extremists of Golden Dawn remain a steadfast third with 11.1 percent, even though its leader, Nikos Michaloliakos and four other of his party's Members of Parliament are in jail awaiting trial.

As bad as the results were for Samaras, it was worse for his partner, the PASOK Socialists who got 44 percent of the vote in 2009 when it won the elections. Under current leader Evangelos Venizelos, who gave Samaras his votes to join the coalition and was rewarded by being named Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, have fallen to 3 percent, the threshold needed to win seats in Parliament.

PASOK is now dead last among the seven parties in the Parliament. The Communist party (KKE) is fourth with 4.9 percent, followed by the Independent Greeks at 4 percent, the Democratic Left (DIMAR) – a former partner in the coalition – at 3.1 percent and also in danger of disappearing as a party next, just ahead of PASOK.

About 13 percent of voters are undecided and while the survey wasn't nationwide, it covers the most populous area and if the lead holds it would be difficult for New Democracy to catch up and stay in power in the 2016 elections – if the government lasts that long and snap elections aren't held.

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, who opposes the austerity measures and said his party wouldn't repay the $325 billion in loans granted by the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) has predicted the Leftists will come to power.

He has promised a return to Utopia by restoring pay, cutting taxes, returning pensions to their previous level and no public worker firings as demanded by the Troika. He didn't say how he would do it without the loans or if Greece continues to be locked out of the markets.

Message People Want to Hear

I have no love for leftists. And Tsipras' promise of restoring pay, cutting taxes, and no public worker firiings is of course ridiculous.

Nonetheless, his message is what people want to hear. It's hard to say whether people truly believe in what he is saying or not.

Mathematically, it's impossible to do what he says and maintain a current account surplus as well. Perhaps Tsipras himself even recognizes that.

Regardless, the one thing I am reasonably sure of is Greece will not pay back $325 billion in loans granted by the Troika. I even support that policy.

It would be better if it came with a realistic message to Greek citizens as to what that would mean. Short-term there would be more pain. But long-term it's the right ting to do, if accompanied by badly-needed reforms.

Default Coming One Way or Another

Whether done properly, or with promises that cannot be met, Greece is going to default on that debt. When that happens, German citizens will discover that Chancellor Angela Merkel's promise that German taxpayers won't be impacted is as hollow as most chocolate Easter bunnies.

Calculating taxpayer responsibility percentages of various countries is simple enough.

Eurozone Financial Stability Contribution Weights

Country	Guarantee Commitments (EUR) Millions	Percentage
Austria	€ 21,639.19	2.78%
Belgium	€ 27,031.99	3.47%
Cyprus	€ 1,525.68	0.20%
Estonia	€ 1,994.86	0.26%
Finland	€ 13,974.03	1.79%
France	€ 158,487.53	20.32%
Germany	€ 211,045.90	27.06%
Greece	€ 21,897.74	2.81%
Ireland	€ 12,378.15	1.59%
Italy	€ 139,267.81	17.86%
Luxembourg	€ 1,946.94	0.25%
Malta	€ 704.33	0.09%
Netherlands	€ 44,446.32	5.70%
Portugal	€ 19,507.26	2.50%
Slovakia	€ 7,727.57	0.99%
Slovenia	€ 3,664.30	0.47%
Spain	€ 92,543.56	11.87%
Eurozone 17	€ 779,783.14	100%

The above table from European Financial Stability Facility

Note that Greece is responsible for 2.81% of Greek defaults. How is that going to work?

It doesn't. So take that percentage and spread it around according by revised weight. And what is Spain supposed to do with it's 12% of €325 billion of defaults?

Contagion Guarantee

Thank the economic illiterates at Troika for this setup.

Greece could have defaulted in 2009 with perhaps a €40-50 billion mess to cleanup. In a foolish attempt to prevent contagion, the nannycrats turned a relatively small mess into major €325 billion problem, virtually assuring the contagion they set out to prevent.

Expect to see much use of the word "contagion" in the coming months.

Here is a question I asked in Prisoner's Dilemma Game in Greece; Contagion-Spread Eurozone Breakup More Likely Now; How will Greece NOT pay back €320 billion? So Angela Merkel, when are you going to admit this setup, and what are you going to do about it?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Making 2014 a Year of Action to Expand Opportunities for the Middle Class

Featured

Weekly Address: Making 2014 a Year of Action to Expand Opportunities for the Middle Class

In this week’s address, President Obama said 2014 will be a year of action, and called on both parties to help make this a breakthrough year for the United States by bringing back more good jobs and expanding opportunities for the middle class.

Click here to watch this week's Weekly Address.

Seth's Blog : "Bring us your problems"

"Bring us your problems"

We're far more aware of our problems than our opportunities. Our problems nag at us, annoy us and paralyze us.

Every organization wrestles with its problems, and is eager to solve them.

When you generously invite people to bring you their problems, they might just do that.

Solving problems—actually solving them, not just claiming you do—solving perceived, urgent problems, is a surefire way to get the world to beat a path to your door. [HT to Adrian for the photo.]

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luni, 20 ianuarie 2014

Life Above and Beyond the Fold

Life Above and Beyond the Fold

History of the fold

Is space above the fold still valuable in 2014?

With so many devices, how can you possibly design for above the fold?

How to view your site in different resolutions

Designing for beyond the fold