Scoutzie screen shotMy Mobile Integration and Development class is wrapping up this week, but before its over I wanted to share with the class and my audience at large a Seattle-based startup called Scoutzie that’s building a new way to promote and connect reat mobile designers with clients who are looking to hire the cream of the crop.

Scoutzie is an online curated community for the best mobile designers in the world.  Coincidentally, I shared office space with the Scoutzie team while working for Zooppa and its advisor, Kelly Smith, is also the CEO and Founder of Zap’d, which I profiled in a post a few weeks back. Read More

Facebook logo screen shotFacebook’s brief 13% spike in share price on Friday morning after its public trading debut on NASDAQ instantly elevated the social network’s market capitalization to $117.7 – $13.7 billion more than the $104 billion valuation analysts gave it just the day before. 

While this type of spike is not uncommon during IPOs and is in line with the trading debut patterns of other companies, subtle  swings in share price now have massive implications for the financial health of a company that began as a side project in a dorm room.

In other words, Facebook is now a serious business and the company’s financial health as a publicly traded company impacts not only it’s stakeholders, but all of us who work in digital media. Concerns over whether Facebook can maintain and increase its revenue and lack of a definitive mobile strategy underscore the larger debate over the value of social media and whether companies can leverage enterprises like Facebook to make money. Read More

One in four mobile apps are downloaded once and never used again, according to a 2011 study by mobile data firm Localytics. While tracking downloads may be the first step in gauging an app’s success, tracking engagement over time truly reveals what apps are providing value – in some shape or form – to its users.

So what keeps users engaged? Firstly, the app has make a good first impression and… actually work.  Secondly, the app has to help accomplish the goal of its user in a compelling way, whether it’s checking the weather, monitoring their bank account, sharing photos or browsing web content for entertainment.  But thirdly, beyond the basics, I’d wager to say that a touch a serendipity is key to creating a memorable user experience that keeps the user coming back. Read More

I’m a list maker.  Always have been and always will be.  I probably picked it up from my dad who, each morning, would create and leave list after list of odd jobs and tasks on the kitchen counter.  I think the rationale behind this is that if you manage to capture that “to do,” that fleeting idea or thought on a piece of paper, it will eventually get “done” or turn into something down the road.  And with the digification-mobification of my day-to-day, so goes my list making habit and shameless interest into apps that allow me create, store and share lists more efficiently.  Sure, the iPhone has its native “Reminders” app, but below are 5 apps that I’m using regularly on my smartphone to take my checklist-making and task management skillz to the next level.

Read More

For the Mobile Development and Integration class that I’m taking for the MCDM, my graduate program colleagues and I presented this app proposal to Top Notch Insurance — an independent, Seattle-based insurance agency for professional driving companies, as a mid-term project for our Mobile Development and Integration class in the MCDM. The assignment tasked us to define the mobile app’s use-case, outline app content/functionality, identify integration points and build an initial design and workflow.

Read More

Mobile presents a huge opportunity for companies of all sizes… if it’s managed properly.  Yet, as has been well-documented here and on the Mobile Marketing Fail Blog, so many businesses, despite their eagerness and good intentions, fail to use mobile media effectively to serve the needs of their customers or audiences.  In many cases, this may simply be due to a lack of understanding the need for mobile-optimized experience.  In others, it may be that businesses simply do not want to have to deal with building mobile websites (let alone their other online properties) and would instead prefer to see what they can get away with directing mobile campaigns to traditional websites.

Read More

Last week, I discussed Pocket (formerly Read It Later), a mobile app that allows you to store articles, videos and web pages for later viewing.  But what I didn’t mention is that I seldom have time to catch up with all of the links that I save.  Oftentimes, I’ll “pocket” a URL that I see someone share on Twitter, only to find out later that it was never worth reading in the first place.  It’s almost as if in fulfilling one need of mobile content consumption, the Pocket team has managed to create another. Read More

In class last week, I recently professed my love for Pocket, a mobile app that allows you to store articles, videos and web pages for later viewing. Much like Instapaper, Pocket stores these items in the cloud and syncs them to your computer, phone and tablet so you can read them when you have time, even without an Internet connection.

Pocket app icon

Read More

This post was first published on Flip the Media

Origami ballons“The photos you take on Instagram are owned by you,” stressed co-founder Kevin Systrom during a SXSW panel on mobile photography last month,  “they’re always going to be owned by you.”

In what can be considered a subtle jab at Facebook, well before any acquisition talks, Systrom underscored one of Instagram’s perceived differentiating benefits: its refreshingly clear terms of service that claim no ownership rights to the content shared on its platform – “perceived” because, in reality, Instagram’s image rights closely resembles those of Facebook, although the latter’s remain less clear. Read More

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,093 other followers