Design, SEO, the Creative Underclass, and a Resonant Middle Path

Aside from the natural flow of these three topics, it's interesting to see the parallels between resonant word choice and resonant design choice. As far as Google is concerned, both choices are only measurable by A/B tests to see what the masses think of a simple parallel choice. But where does innovation fit into that scenario? If the only known current choice is only between a slow horse and a fast horse, how do you get a majority to accept the feasibility of an airplane? How would testing really capture fundamental differentness, where traffic might not speak towards all possibilities of improved comprehension, efficiency, and function but rather identify the most well-tread path?

People tend to self-divide into visual and text preferences, and what that could mean is that there's a natural middle ground between Flash and words. The design elements can be used to help funnel visual learners into their natural playground, while those of us who are drawn to text can happily go play in our natural environs. Like blogs.

Comcast, Belkin, and The Familiar Customer Support Ring of Hell

Comcast and Belkin have not so surprisingly joined forces to create the perfect customer support torture device. Comcast sent me to Belkin this morning with no idea what was happening, and here's the options for Belkin's customer support on the weekends:

1. Press 7 to replace your hardware.
2. Press 9 for a non-networking product like UBS, iPod, and so on.
3. Press 1 for technical support.

All options return this recording: "You have not entered a valid option."

And the recording starts over. The evil infinite loop is alive and well! Mwahahahaha!

What's in a Name? Hopefully Not Any Customer Confusion

Interesting discussion today around what customers are looking for. Do they want a one-stop shop for software learning? Is that different than interest in the product? Are product, industry, or profession more important? Does customer interest set change drastically from before and after they buy a product? And where does a product feature description fall in that spectrum?

Once you have all of that information, you have the start of a content plan. That plan should be reflected in the name and core messaging. And be careful of the search confusion that can start around the name of a product or campaign - are there too many like brands out there? And do you own the related URLs?

Is Web Video for Everyone?

The other day I presented as part of the panel for the Web Video Leadership Forum at San Francisco State University. It was curious to see that video is now an integral part of marketing, but everyone seemed to be struggling with how to handle the costs. As prices lower and more quick cam tools become available, this will be less of an issue. And there will be more user generated content.

It seems most webizens take one or the other path -- video watchers or text readers -- though the preference can change depending on content type and context. Are there that many people who chase both, even when they're scanning quickly through a site?