Central Perk

luni, 23 iunie 2014

A review sprint

How many short book reviews can we assemble in one day?

Think of a book that's influenced you or made a difference in your life and write a short review on Hugdug. Just type in the name of the book and the site will tee you up to write a few words and share them with your friends.

To get you started, here are a bunch of popular authors and their books to choose from.

It would be magnificent if 1,000 people posted a review today. I hope you'll give it a try.

Sharing a book is (almost) as good as writing one.

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Watch Live: The White House Summit on Working Families

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The White House Summit on Working Families

Paid leave, decent wages, flexible workplace policies. These shouldn't be bonuses of a job -- they should be basic requirements. But too often, that's not the case.

Tune in today to the White House Summit on Working Families and join President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Dr. Jill Biden for a conversation about how we can all help families succeed at work and at home.

Our workplace policies should match our reality. Tune in now and be a part of the online conversation.

What Can Mid-Century Design Teach You About User Experience?

Posted: 22 Jun 2014 05:11 PM PDT

Posted by mariahayhow

Verner Panton, a design revolutionary, once said, "You sit more comfortably on colours you like." A statement that seems to disregard logic, and focus strictly on the intangible relationships which dictate preferences.

So what does this statement say about design, and more importantly, how can YOU apply this to your online marketing strategies?

The answer is an investment in user experience: understanding how design can impact cognitive science and drive decisions. Here are a few stories around Panton's designs and the insights they lend in creating successful online user experiences today.

Why invest in UX?

Panton Neon Swimming Pool

Panton worked during a wonderfully whimsy time for furniture design, helping to shaping the late 1950's Pop movement by making waves with his neon swimming pool design. Panton's focus on design that provides function and evokes emotion can be seen across his eccentric pieces and even in current day design practices.

User experience is largely a subjective field, making it difficult to directly correlate qualitative metrics to various UX efforts and initiatives. For online efforts, attribution may prove difficult as it deals with users' emotions, an increase in conversions and drop in bounce rates are signs in line with the intentions of enhanced user experience.

Analysis by the Design Management Institute shows how design-driven companies outperformed others by 228% through efforts like creating streamlined user experiences. Design-driven companies have effectively sold more product and made more profit, by providing unique experiences, at each touch point of their relationship with customers. Facilitating a stakeholder workshop can effectively gather requirements while increasing alignment among stakeholders.

How do you validate UX design?

Panton Cone Chair

Panton's Cone chair was a piece he created for his parents' restaurant. The Cone chair was so admired by a restaurant customer they offered to put it into production. Post-production the Cone chair was briefly on display in a Fifth Avenue shop in New York, where it was removed due to the large crowds it attracted.

User experience is centered on perception. With the proliferation of user interfaces it is of the utmost importance to focus on the individual user's experience, while considering the collective experiences of the target audience.

In order to validate your user's/users' experience concepts, it is important to take a systematic approach. The following Validation stack, by Cennyd Bowles, shows the close relationship between design theory, user research, and evidence; together, these effectively validate UX concepts.

UX Validation Stack

The validation stack requires you to provide recommendations that build off of one another and are driven by data. Backing up your argument with early buy-in from stakeholders and iterative user testing can both improve your argument for UX and strengthen your concepts.

Ways to improve UX

Panton S Chair

Panton's S chair, a single legless piece of cantilevered plastic, graced VOGUE in 1995 with Kate Moss sitting naked atop it. The chair remains an icon of pop movement design, and is rumored to have been inspired by a pile of plastic buckets.

The design was made to maintain consistency, with the choice of one seamless material, and functionality, with its smooth stacking ability.

UX design calls for both consistency and functionality in order to limit distractions and guide users' decisions.

Usability: Increase ease of use
Examine the full user path by watching them go through the site and conversion funnel. Asking the user how they think about or through the site and its use to them.
(Tool to use: UserTesting.com)

Informational design: Create visual hierarchy
Use data to drive design decisions. Track common on-site behaviors to adjust site layout or page layout.
(Tool to use: Simple Mouse tracking)
Content strategy: Incorporate personality
Track your brand's tone of voice across all platforms.
(Tools to use are discussed in Distilled's Content Guide)

An array of potential users should be observed over time, as users' experiences and influences continually affect their decision-making process.

How does brand communication improve UX?

Panton Living Tower

Panton's Living Tower is an impressive 2-meter high structure with unique cut-outs, designed to encourage communication. The oddly amoeba-esque cut outs in the furniture encouraged people to sit in seemingly un-conventional positions, while prompting conversation.

User experience efforts can be amplified by creating a space and prompt for conversation. Brands engaging with users on social and feedback channels should have the goal to meet their target market where they are or host a conversation their user/audience would like to have. Before building or creating a social strategy for a brand it is important to ask the following questions...

How is the social platform aligned to the brand?
Why would users choose to engage in a dialogue with a brand on this platform?
What value-add could the social platform provide for users?
When would it be most helpful for a user to communicate with the brand?

Researching the types of discussions users are already prompting, about your competitors or industry, can help to uncover potential opportunities for social media strategy and content creation. Then measure social channels' impact through network referrals, conversions, and landing page visit analytics.

Why user-centered design for user experience?

Arne Jacobsen Ant Chair

Panton studied under Arne Jacobsen, who worked with him to create the Ant chair. The chair was commissioned specifically for a large Danish pharmaceutical company's cafeteria. The chair base was designed to be comfortable, lightweight and stackable. The choice to use only three legs was in an attempt to minimize hitting furniture against people's legs or other furniture, during their lunch hour.

User experience efforts should be grounded in similar methodologies, giving users additional functionality without compromising on a seamless experience. Striking a balance of trust, motivation and functionality can ultimately drive a greater user experience. Working with and learning from users' patterns, through both qualitative and quantitative testing and tracking.

How have you incorporated UX elements, principles, and methodologies into your online marketing strategies? Looking forward to hearing from the Moz community!

Here's a resource for those of you who'd like to read more about Panton's views on individual colors and color psychology.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

Seth's Blog : Cat food is for people

Cat food is for people

So is this bag of gluten-free, kale, peanutty dog treats.

And the first birthday party for the kid down the street is for her parents, not her. And the same is true for most gifts we give people (they're for us, and how feel giving them, not for the recipient, not really). And many benefits the company offers to its employees...

It's easy to imagine that the giver is focused on the recipient at all times. But, more often than not, the way the gift makes us feel to give is at least as important as how it makes the other person (or pet, or infant) feel to receive it.

PS if you think cat food is for cats, how come it doesn't come in mouse flavor?

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duminică, 22 iunie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Analysis of Obama's Plan to Save the World From Greenhouse Gasses

Posted: 22 Jun 2014 01:06 PM PDT

By executive order, president Obama has acted to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the US, allegedly to halt global warming. However, greenhouse gas production is a global thing so it's important to consider global ramifications of US policy decisions.

Starting with Europe's carbon cap-and-trade, let's take a look at global events and policies to see if Obama's plan has any chance of success.

Collapse of Carbon Price Trading

Europe's cap-and-trade effort is in crisis as a Collapse in EU Carbon Price has rendered the program useless.

The EU Emissions Trading Scheme is in crisis. Yesterday, the European Parliament voted against the backloading proposal which was aimed at increasing the price of carbon permits. After the vote, the price of carbon permits dropped by about 40% to its lowest ever price of €2.63. New Energy Finance predicts that it might fall as low as €1.

Mark Whitaker (BBC): Today, European MPs vote no to a plan to boost the idea of carbon trading as the weapon to combat climate change.

Tamra Gilbertson (Carbon Trade Watch): Perhaps this can be a signal to the rest of the world that emissions trading and market-based solutions are not the solution to climate change.

Mark Whitaker: Not everyone is convinced it actually works, but the cornerstone of Europe's effort to combat climate change is something called carbon trading, which works on the idea that companies are allowed to buy permits to cover any carbon emissions they make. It's based on the principle that the polluter pays.

The trouble is, the price of carbon permits has dropped so low that there was scarcely any deterrent at all to pumping out carbon.

Today, the European Parliament voted not to intervene in the carbon permit market to prop up the price of the permits. MEPs had been invited to vote for something called backloading, that's a plan to delay the issue of any more permits in order to boost the price. It was an invitation that they declined.

Australia Plans to Scrap Carbon Tax

Bloomberg reports Australia's Abbott Revives Proposal to Scrap Carbon-Price Levy

Australia will re-introduce a bill to repeal a carbon-price mechanism brought in by the previous Labor government ahead of a power shift in the Senate, which has previously rejected the levy's removal.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government will take the proposed legislation to parliament today, according to an e-mailed statement from his office yesterday. The plan to scrap the levy has been stalled by opposition lawmakers in the Senate, which has the power to block and amend legislation.

The make-up of the upper house will change from July 1 when the Palmer United Party -- led by Clive Palmer -- will hold the balance of power, meaning Abbott will have to negotiate with the mining magnate to pass laws. The government has said that repealing the carbon price will still allow the world's 12th-largest economy to meet its promised 5 percent reduction in emissions by 2020.

"Scrapping the carbon tax is a vital part of this government's economic action strategy because the carbon tax is bad for jobs, it hurts families and it doesn't help the environment," Abbott said in the statement. "We'll save the typical household about A$550 ($516) a year."

"Obama-Air" Forges On Alone

In spite of the face that clean energy schemes are expensive, have been riddled with fraud, and don't work, Obama has decided to carry the global carbon torch alone.

The New York Times reports Using Executive Powers, Obama Begins His Last Big Push on Climate Policy.

Curiously, and as with Obama-Care (Romney-Care) the roots of Obama-Air are from Romney-Air. The Times explains.

In his first term Mr. Obama tried to push a cap-and-trade bill through Congress, but it died in the Senate in 2010. Republicans, Tea Party groups and the coal industry attacked Democrats who supported it, criticizing the legislation as a "cap and tax" that would raise energy prices. Cap and trade is now seen as political poison in Washington. But Republicans said that the new rule has created a back door for Mr. Obama to force through a politically inflammatory policy by reviving it in the states. "This E.P.A. regulation will breathe life into state-level cap-and-trade programs," said Peter Shattuck, director of market initiatives at ENE, a Boston-based climate policy advocacy and research organization.

Many states are already researching how to join or replicate the nation's two existing state-level cap-and-trade plans, both of which bear the signatures of prominent Republicans: Mitt Romney, the 2012 presidential nominee and former Massachusetts governor, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former California governor.

As governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney was a key architect of a cap-and-trade program in nine northeastern states, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. He worked closely at the time with a top Massachusetts environmental official, Gina McCarthy, who today is immersed in the Obama administration's new rule as the administrator of the E.P.A. Mr. Romney later disavowed the regional cap-and-trade program.

Cap and trade was born in 1990 during the administration of President George Bush as a centerpiece of amendments to the 1970 Clean Air Act. Conceived as a business-friendly way to cut pollution without heavy-handed regulation, the idea was that the cap would ratchet down each year, allowing less pollution while market forces drive up the price of permits, creating an incentive for industries to invest in lower-polluting sources of energy. In 2006 in California, Mr. Schwarzenegger signed a pioneering state cap-and-trade law. As the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, Senator John McCain of Arizona pledged to put in effect a nationwide cap-and-trade law.

Officials with the northeastern regional cap-and-trade program that Mr. Romney initially endorsed have played a significant role in shaping the new rule.

EPA Clean Power Proposal

Inquiring minds digging into the EPA's Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule will discover ridiculous hype about global warming.

Our climate is changing, and we're feeling the dangerous and costly effects right now.

Average temperatures have risen in most states since 1901, with seven of the top 10 warmest years on record occurring since 1998.
Climate and weather disasters in 2012 cost the American economy more than $100 billion.

Carbon Tax - A Bad Idea

With the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) struggling and "carbon credit frauds" in the news, many analysts argue we should get rid of carbon trading and opt for carbon taxes instead. But according to Alex Trembath and Matthew Step, carbon taxes will do nothing to cut emissions because they don't lead to innovation. "Steve Jobs didn't develop the PC because the price of typewriters went up."

Energy Post authors Alex Trembath and Matthew Step explain Why a Carbon Tax is a Bad Idea.

Economists' attraction to a carbon tax was on full display recently when economist Greg Mankiw wrote in the New York Times, calling a carbon tax a climate policy "America could live with," compared to the grab bag of regulations and fuel standards targeted by the Obama administration.

Carbon tax supporters believe it will lead consumers to use less dirty energy. Mankiw writes, "When making everyday decisions, people would naturally look at the prices they face and, in effect, take into account the global impact of their choices."

Mankiw's preferred climate solution aims at getting U.S. consumers to buy slightly more fuel efficient cars or turn off light bulbs more regularly because energy prices are modestly higher. This will have little impact on global emissions because virtually all their growth will be in rapidly growing developing nations like China and India.

The only way to get to dramatic cuts in global emissions is by developing significantly cheaper and better clean energy technologies. Current clean energy alternatives cost significantly more than conventional energy. Expecting consumers and businesses, especially in poor developing nations, to pay a large price premium for clean energy is wishful thinking.

Economists have built a cottage industry out of comparing carbon taxes, cap-and-trade, and conventional pollution regulations. But an innovation strategy to develop cheaper, better clean energy technologies doesn't make the cut. Frankly, this shouldn't be a surprise as innovation is not part of neoclassical economists' lexicon. In Mankiw's seminal textbook Principles of Economics, the word "innovation" is barely mentioned in almost 900 pages of text.

But breakthrough technologies like jet aircraft, gas engines, computers and cell phones have never emerged because their competitors' price increased. Steve Jobs didn't develop the PC because the price of a typewriter went up.

Government Not the Answer

Unfortunately, Trembath and Step miss the boat as well, siding with innovation economist Mariana Mazzucato who recently opined, "A quick look at the pioneering technologies of the past century points to the state, not the private sector, as the most decisive player in the game."

"In other words, smart government innovation policy that works with industry is how the world will get cheap clean energy," say Trembath and Step.

For starters, the idea that manmade global warming is the reason "seven of the top 10 warmest years on record occurred since 1998" is debatable, if not outright laughable.

More to the point, the idea Obama can do anything sensible to save the world from global warming in a timely manner, even if it were true, is genuinely ridiculous.

A history of Obama's backing of energy programs riddled with fraud, waste, and eventual collapse is proof enough. Government nearly always backs the worst ideas, requiring the most subsidies, while better technologies are delayed or die on the vine.

Kyoto Treaty Exemptions

Please recall that China and India are Exempt from Kyoto standards. The US opted out because China was not a party.

Canada signed the treaty but in 2012 Canada Leaves Kyoto Protocol, Lets China Buy Into Oil Sands: "Canada's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol took legal effect on Saturday, December 15. Canada is the only nation out of more than 180 to legally exit the treaty that governs greenhouse gas emissions."

China's Soaring Coal Consumption

A 2013 article in the Scientific American discusses China's Soaring Coal Consumption.

In a simple but striking chart published on its website, the U.S. Energy Information Administration plotted China's progress as the world's dominant coal-consuming country, shooting past rival economies like the United States, India and Russia as well as regional powers such as Japan and South Korea.

According to EIA, the 325-million-ton increase in Chinese coal consumption in 2011 accounted for 87 percent of the entire world's growth for the year, which was estimated at 374 million tons. Since 2000, China has accounted for 82 percent of the world's coal demand growth, with a 2.3-billion-ton surge, the agency said.

"China now accounts for 47 percent of global coal consumption -- almost as much as the rest of the world combined," EIA said of the latest figures.

The rising consumption numbers reflect a 200-plus percent increase in Chinese electricity generation since 2000, with most of the new power coming from coal-fired power plants. Chinese growth averaged 9 percent per year from 2000 to 2010, more than twice the 4 percent global growth rate for coal consumption. And when China is excluded from the tally, growth in coal use averaged only 1 percent for the rest of the world over the 2000-2010 period, according to EIA.

U.S. Coal Exports Contribute

Although Chinese coal is largely sourced from domestic mines, EIA figures show that U.S. coal shipments to China have dramatically risen in recent years, punctuated by a 107 percent jump from 2011 to 2012. Chinese imports of U.S. coal surged from 4 million tons in 2011 to 8.3 million tons last year, according to the agency. Only Argentina and Austria saw larger percentage increases in U.S. coal shipments, but on much smaller volumes.

Europe Fires up More Coal

Ironically, and as a direct result of US targeting coal, the price of coal has plunged. US coal emissions may go down, but as we have seen above, China usage is on a rampage.

What about Europe?

Please consider the February 2014 Financial Times report Shell Hits Out at Brussels Energy Policy.

Royal Dutch Shell has launched a broadside against what it says is a "European energy crisis" that could drive a raft of new coal power plants across the continent at the expense of cleaner alternatives such as gas.

Policy confusion in Brussels means as much as 11 gigawatts of coal-fired generating capacity could come on line in Europe over the next four years, according to the company, one of the world's largest natural gas producers.

That would be equal to around a dozen coal plants and it could lead to a situation where coal was locked in as an energy source even though gas is much cleaner to burn, said Dick Benschop, Shell's head of gas market development.

The US shale boom has made natural gas cheaper in that country, triggering an influx of cheap American coal to Europe that has helped make gas plants less economically viable.

Shell says Germany's coal imports rose more than 7 per cent to nearly 44m tonnes in 2013 from a year earlier and the UK saw a similar rise, while carbon dioxide emissions in both countries increased in 2012.

At the same time, large EU utilities estimate at least 30 gigawatts of gas-fired power generating capacity has been mothballed around Europe.

Obama's Plan to Save the World

Europe was mothballing natural gas and importing US coal even before the crisis in Ukraine. Think Europe is going to burn less coal now?

Such is the silliness of cap-and-trade, uneconomical government forays into wind and solar energy, and policies that consume energy (shipping US coal thousands of miles to China and Europe) so they can burn it there, because we cannot burn it here.

The notion Obama is going to save the world from greenhouse gasses and rising temperatures via US government policy to burn less coal and be more fuel efficient here is clearly absurd.

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

Monday: Join the conversation on working families

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Monday: Join the conversation on working families

The modern family looks different than it has before. More parents are working, and nearly a third of families with children are single-parent families.

It's not 1960 anymore, but you could be forgiven for thinking our workplaces still feel like it: Most moms and dads don't have access to paid leave or a flexible workplace.

It's time for workplace policies that match our reality -- and give all of us the best chance to succeed at work and at home. So tomorrow we're hosting an online conversation on working families and the 21st-century workplace.

If this is an issue that matters to you, tune in to WorkingFamiliesSummit.org starting at 9 a.m. ET tomorrow to join President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Dr. Jill Biden in this important conversation.

P.S. -- This is a national conversation and we need your voice to be a part of it. Tell us how modern workplace policies would help your family.

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