During the post-presentation free-for-all of a recent Third Tuesday Ottawa, I had my mind blown by smart cookie, often shift+control linked and former 76er, John Wiseman. We were talking about A vs B Testing and its slow and steady adoption within the web industry. We talked about the conversion of visitors into buyers via the testing of 2 variations of a site design, the evolution of focus-testing. It was the usual chatter until he drops this nugget on me.

RobotReplay — The Next Generation of Web Analytics

It’s a free web-based application where it tracks and records the mouse gestures of each visitor’s session. Did I mention that it’s FREE? Beyond being pretty damn cool, it allows clients to see for themselves where a visitor clicks first, what doesn’t get any attention at all and everything in between. The service is simple to implement into your site’s code and it records the session in tasty flash video on their servers. This is especially useful for those darn online forms that gets no love. Now you can see why.

Can it replace your current tools for collecting web metrics? No. Think of it as a beauty of a complement to your existing plan (if you have one that is). The dead-sexy kneepads to the thigh-high leg warmers, if you will.

I have yet to test it out on my personal sites/blogs, because evidently you need actual traffic for it to work.

This can help mash out those long battles over the size of buttons, where they’re placed, etc. Unfortunately, it doesn’t address the request by the client to make their logo 75% bigger. You’re still on your own for that one.

12 Values Shaping Technology’s Future

The twelve values: Appropriatenes, Assistance, Connectedness, Convenience, Efficiency, Health, Intelligence, Personalization, Protection, Simplicity, Sustainability, User creativity.

After connecting people to content, and connecting people to people, the technology will be moving further to the background.

Rachel Matney (Target) speaks to Simplicity, Assistance, Convenience: there is a lot going on, there is a lot of confusion, there is a lot of stuff: we want to feel in control. Simplicty: when will a dvd player become a grande mocha? People need simplicity in choices. This leads to ambient information and importance of information design. Assistance: how to help users achieve tasks. This leads to artificial intelligence and current technologies doing more for you.  Convenience: requirements to make tools and services to make life easier. These values are easier achieved and more quickly realized.

Andrea Shortell (MTV) speaks to User Creativity, Personalization, Appropriateness: everyone is a producer, everyone wants to share and everyone wants validation (top 8 on myspace).  User driven content and user developed architecture - leading to adaptive architecture.  Personlization means more than just presentation. As it applies to MTV, it allows the user to develop a close relationship with the brand. Appropriateness means aunthenticity. It means communicating in an expected channel. Diversity is a key factor to who the audience is: how they see themselves and their place in the world. It includes ethics and ethnicity.

Timo Veikkola (Nokia) speaks to Efficiency, Connectedness and Intelligence: Nothing compares to the intimacy of pesonal communication: focus in design is people centric (enable public to pick up on convergence and use new technologies) and aims enhance personal relationships. There is a lot of concern with hyper-consumerism (see What Would Jesus Buy) - there will be shift to searching for products that you want. Information starvation - need to find the information you need. People want more control. Shift from tools to companions which will aid in efficiency. Connectedness speaks to a participatory culture. Connectedness also speaks to connectedness of devices and systems. Personal entity in virtual communities leads into using imagery as useful capital and to communicate ideas and is important in establishing credibility and paradigms. Leapfrogging: some cultures are having first introduction to connectedness through mobile - not the web - which will create a shift in behaviour. Intelligence - mobile information needs to be contextual. don’t search, find. Intellignence means sensors, performance, productivity and classification.

Panelists:

• Scott Smith Futurist/Dir Research Applications,   Social Technologies
• Rachel Matney Guest Insight Group Mgr,   Target
• Andrea Shortell MTV
• Timo Veikkola Sr futures Specialist,   Nokia