Ulanism

Unnatural Causes

I would rate the site a B-

There is no focus and nothing compelling me to search deeper into the site if I am not already a convert. The site is preaching to the choir rather than trying to sway people through argument. It is dark and dangerous and not a nice place to be.

Compare it to this: Story of Stuff

You could argue that the Story of Stuff is even more sad but the site looks happy and engaging. I would not have looked deeper into the website if it was not so open and airy. It felt fun and so I watched the excellent Flash movie. You will also note that navigation is out of
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I find this very interesting. Organizing data in a way that makes it useful. Yes!

Fail - After six years big business still has no idea what to do with this blog thing.

1) His take is very trendy and young

This is how the blogging world views corporate America. Clueless and scared of what they do not control.

2) Notice how much of his thoughts focus on control

Everything about blogging is having a “true” voice. When you are a shill for a company, your integrity is shot and people will stop reading your personal blogs.

3) He is right

Personal blogging and corporate control do not mix. Think about that for a second. Corporations do not promote individual thought - they focus promoting their brand.

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There is a huge difference between blogging your personal thoughts and using
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What are personae?

User personae are archetypes of typical customers. They are based upon our research of your services and the information you have given us about your customers and their habits.

Personae consist of personal information about the user as well as their mindset and technological comfort level.

How does YVOD use personae?

YVOD practices User-Centered Design. We base many of our design decisions on the expectations of these personae. Personae act to give us a solid base upon which to architect and design the best possible site to address your needs and those of your visitors.

As we develop the Information Architecture and flesh out the design, we constantly
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How will my new uSite™ website differentiate me from my competitors?

The simple answer to this question is that your website must perform three main tasks:

1) It must meet visitor expectations
2) It must provide visitors with the information they seek
3) People must be drawn to your site

YVOD designs user-centered websites. We figure out who your visitors are (or will be) and build a site that meets their expectations. Once we know who your visitors are, we create individual sections to speak to their needs. We spend a large amount of our energy organizing your data into understandable bits that are easy for your visitors to consume. We are guided by the two principles: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) and Don’t make
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1) When you purchase a domain, you own it
2) When you hire someone to build you a website, you own all content on it

In general, the owner of the domain is also the owner of the website. All YVOD clients own both their domain and their website.

Some web creation companies use software to “generate” a website. If this technology is not transferrable you will be locked into using them for hosting. What this means to you is that the images and text are owned by you, but how those images and text get made (served to the internet) may not be transferrable.

YVOD believes that migration to another host should be painless. We believe you should be able to take
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Google Calendar

Everyone loves Google. They have the best and the brightest writing their code and it shows. Unfortunately, they need to be all things to all people so their presentation is not quite as “beautiful” as Apple or 37 Signals… but it works. And it works well!

I often recommend folks start with Google and see how far they can take you.

Pros
Free!!!
Industry Standard (everyone loves Google)
Integrates with all Google products
Authorized users can subscribe
Authorized users can edit events
Authorized users can share their calendars
Excellent notifications

Cons
NOT private (Google reads your info)
NOT secure (Google can share your info if requested by law enforcement)

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mac.com

Apple makes a lovely calendaring solution. It is integrated into the operating system so anyone
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All YVOD email accounts use industry standard POP3 mail accounts. Gmail has a great ability to grab your mail automatically off YVOD servers. This means that you can continue to enjoy the benefits of your very own personalized email yet use the power of Google. Here’s what you do:

1) Log into your Gmail account and click the “Settings” tab in the upper right corner.

2) Click the “Accounts” tab.

3) Click the “Add another mail account” link and follow the instructions.

You will need the following information:

Email address: <your full email address>
Username: <your full email address>
Password: <your password>
POP Server: mail.your-domain
Port: 110

YVOD makes building websites quick and painless. We have developed a tried-and-true 6 Step process that our clients have called “quite enjoyable”. Hard to believe? Think about this for a second…

You know who your intended audience is. You may not know how to find them online (that’s our job) or to create a great looking website (that’s also our job) or even what needs to go on your website (again, our job). But you do know your business and you know how to come up with a few hundred words to describe what you do. You also know how to answer a few basic questions about design: What
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Introduction: What is Important

YVOD’s approach to building websites is 100% client focused. Many businesses want to tell their own story. They spend a lot of time talking about their approach to solving problems and why they are so fantastic. While this is very good to know, it is of little importance on the web. A successful website must deliver what the visitor wants to see.

Step 1: Who Are Your Clients

YVOD likes to start the conversation by asking owners of websites to think about who is going to visit their site. We try to develop at least 3 “personae” of potential visitors. These personae may describe existing online visitors, desired visitors or existing offline clients that you wish to convert to online customers. What is important is to think deeply about who these visitors are.