Author Archives: scottjensen

The StarCraft Business Model

The StarCraft Business Model

No, this isn’t a post about logging into battle.net while you’re on the clock. Nor is it a post that outlines the strategies that will finally undermine those Koreans that you can’t seem to defeat. No, this is about what I believe much of corporate America is missing. It is why startups will always hold the underdog advantage over long established institutions of business. It is about pushing the envelope as a company and not getting comfortable. This is certainly nothing new, but it is easily forgotten — it is the Starcraft business model.

Let me set up a foundation for those of you that might not know the difference between Dark Templar and High Templar. Starcraft is a real time strategy game. Each player begins with a handful of units with the goal of conquering the competition through military prowess. Players are enabled to build structures, advance their technologies, and build stronger military units as the game progresses. In order to do this, however, the player must harvest resources (minerals and gas) and make decisions as to which advances to spend them on. The game can be extremely fast paced as players expand their bases to harvest additional resources and build up their armies.

The Secret is in the Resources

The truth is, there is a direct corellation between the speed a player spends their resources and his or her skill level in the game. It does nothing for you to ‘save your money’ in the game. If you aren’t using as many resources as you’re gathering, then you aren’t growing as fast as you could be. At the beginning of the game, this is easy. There are few units to manage and your enemies are still busy building up their own bases. As the game progresses, however, it is easy to become distracted as you launch attacks or work on establishing new territory. If you aren’t equally aggressive at building bigger and better military units, your resources will start to build up and give you a false sense of security.

When looking at corporate America, it is easy to see a number of parrelells between these concepts and the downfalls and successes of business strategies. A startup is a new player in the game. They are eager. They are hungry. They harvest every resource possible and optimize everything they can to make sure they survive. The pace is fast and focussed, and they make those handful of units quickly do exactly what they need. Why? Because if they don’t, they won’t survive. It’s as simple as that.

Compare that to the corporate giants of business. They have long since graduated from the startup phase. It is easy to get comfortable. To let those bank accounts get plenty of extra padding. To hire people that are ‘good enough’ rather than looking for exceptional talent. They are slow and unresponsive. They have reached a level of success that they find noteworthy, and let their guard down.

They’ve forgotten to spend their resources.

They have reached a level of success that they find noteworthy, and let their guard down.

There is no excuse for companies with vast growth and resources to fall from grace. It is a result of complacency and overconfidence. They have the resources at their disposal to create incredible innovation and change, but they either fail to see it or are convinced that they are invincible. They continue to manufacture reapers when they should be pumping out thors. And while their initial strategy is what gave them the edge over competition in the first place, if they don’t continue to spend resources aggressively and adapt their strategy, they will get overtaken.

This has happened to plenty of businesses. But there are a handful of corporate business that I’d like to look at specifically. In every case, they had the resources to dominate their industries and should still be leading their markets today. But because of a few missteps of complacency, they have become victim to younger and newer strategies.

Blockbuster

Blockbuster had everything they needed to beat Netflix and Redbox to the punch. They lost touch with their industry by putting too much emphasis on having a physical store to rent movies. They assumed customers would be ok with higher prices if they were allowed to keep the movie for a week. But really, who would watch GI Joe more than once?

I worked at blockbuster during my first year of college. I know first hand of their over confidence because I was there to see how they handled Netflix — they didn’t care. They were confident that no one would want to get their movies by mail. This was about the same time that TiVo began to be a more commonplace luxury. It was apparent that the industry was changing. And if that wasn’t enough evidence, Blockbuster’s problems were compounded with the introduction of Redbox. Why would I want to pay $4.50 to rent that copy of GI Joe for a week? I’m only going to watch it once. I don’t need a fancy store with racks to get lost in. Blockbuster failed to see this as a viable feeling of its customers. Because of these mistakes in judgement, I no longer use Blockbuster for anything. Instead, I stream Netflix on my iPad and Playstation, and I go to Redbox when I want to see the new releases. There is no reason that Blockbuster, with the physical inventory, the industry experience, the financial backing, and the brand name, couldn’t have been the service I still use today to watch a movie.

American Auto Makers

Remember the GMC Jimmy and the Chevy Blazer? Remember the Mercury Sable and the Ford Taurus? What about the Chrysler Town and Country and the Dodge Caravan? Guess what? Each of these pairs were the exact same model with a different logo. But this is nothing new. Ford, GM, and Chrysler have been doing this for years with several of their vehicle models. I have never seen a more blatant example of complacency and laziness in an industry. It is apparent that innovation was very low on American automaker’s list of priorities. Meanwhile, other brands like Honda and Toyota have become popular because they pushed for better and more reliable vehicles. Not to mention how Hyundai and even Kia have started to creep into the market as big hitters. The automobile was invented nearly a century ago. It still has 4 wheels, uses pedals, and uses a wheel to steer. Why? Does it have to stay that way? These are the questions American auto makers should be asking and using their resources to develop.

I have absolutely no sympathy for Ford and GM. Overconfidence doesn’t even begin to describe their problems. They have consciously tarnished their brand names in an effort to make more money. It should be no wonder to them why they are being destroyed by imported brands. While these American companies were busy slapping different logos on the exact same model, foreign companies were busy actually trying to innovate and provide vehicles with the features customers were looking for. Ford, GM, and Chrysler got lazy and stopped pushing themselves. Ten years ago I would never have considered buying a Hyundai or Kia. Now? I’d definitely buy a Hyundai, and I’d at least consider the Kia. How do companies like Ford and GM let that happen?

Newspapers

It is remarkable how slow the newspaper industry has been to adapt to technology. The Internet has devastated them. And what is worse, they continue to be the last ones to realize it. Newspapers still struggle to understand a media other than the printed page. Rather than investing in new resources by hiring new experts in interactive media, they believe they can figure it out themselves. Attention newspapers everywhere: hire digital media and user interface designers. It is time to swallow your pride and move forward.

Newspapers had the readership and the writers to create phenomenal content for the web and mobile world, and they also had the brands and credibility to be a go to source for information on the web. But just like Blockbuster, they are stuck in the physical realm and unwilling to take the risks necessary to get out of it. And now? It’s probably too late for them even if they embrace the change. If you’d like to see this first hand, check out Page One: Inside the New Your Times on Netflix.

What About You?

This is a great lesson to corporate America and businesses. If you don’t invest in R&D and continue to utilize your resources, you will get left behind. But what about on a personal level? I believe the same principle still applies. When was the last time you bought a book related to your career and actually studied it like you were in school? When was the last time you paid for a lynda.com subscription to learn a new skill? How many websites have you designed that looked more or less the same with a different logo? Don’t settle. The more resources you have, the more you should be spending. You must push yourself. You must invest in new sources of inspiration. You must learn new skills.

You must construct more pylons.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

Onyx CSS Icon

Onyx CSS Icon

Using Only CSS

When you are a designer that also does development, it seems that the two jobs have a constant ebb and flow. There are times when I spend a week or two without even writing a single div tag. On the other hand, there are days and weeks that I don’t even open Photoshop or Illustrator. Lately, between work at Ender Labs and freelance projects, I have been heavily focused on development rather than design.

While I do miss designing, this has pushed my development skills quite a bit. To demonstrate this, I decided to go through a little exercise — making the Onyx icon out of pure CSS. No images, just code. You can see the result of this exercise here.

The icon looks best in Webkit browsers (Chrome and Safari), but I also made sure that it at least looked acceptable in the latest versions of Firefox. If you look at the code, you will find one image, but that is only to force Webkit to clip the icon to a roundrect. This is a known bug with border-radius in the latest versions, something I only found out after plenty of banging my head on the wall.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

My Design Journal

My Design Journal

Keeping a Record

If the inconsistency of this blog is any indication, I’ve always been bad at keeping a journal. I’ve never really felt passionate or excited about doing it. When Day One came along, a journal application built by Paul Mayne for Mac and iOS, I thought it was an awesome app. It made keeping a journal so easy and intuitive. But the problem remained — I still didn’t really care to keep one.

That was before Day One included the ability to upload photos to the post. When I heard this feature was coming to the app, I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for — a design journal. I spend day after day creating designs at home and at work. Some of it goes live, some of it doesn’t. But behind all of these designs, there is a story of rework, redesign, and growth. I’ve never been one for keeping old sketches or rough drafts of my designs. With Day One, that is no longer a problem. I can keep a record of what I work on each day. I can see how a design progresses. I can even see how my personal style and abilities improve over time.

It’s a shame that I don’t put more value into keeping a personal journal; I can admit that. But at the very least, I’m keeping an archive of everything that I have the opportunity to create and design each day. Design is incredibly important to me. Being able to see where I’ve come from and how I’ve developed as a designer is a priceless resource. Day One is an excellent app and the perfect tool to provide that record. Whether you’re like me, using it to keep a design archive, or you’re using it to keep a traditional journal, it is absolutely worth the investment.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

iPhone Blueprints

iPhone Blueprints

For the last year, I have been juggling a project that involves something I have never done before — I wrote a book. Truth be told, the project started shortly after the experience I describe in the case study of chapter 5. I felt that I actually had experience to share that could benefit others. I went through several phases of putting down the project and picking it back up again. Eventually the book started to take shape, involving all aspects of user interface design. I chose to focus on higher level concepts rather than pixel precision and specific design trends. I’m incredibly happy with how the book has turned out. I can honestly say that this is a project that has stretched me as a designer and a creative.

I created the book using iBooks Author, which turned out to be a lot harder than I expected. It definitely merits its own post here so I can explain the process and offer advice to anyone else that is going to try it. That will come in the future. But for now, I am happy with what I was able to accomplish. iBooks offered a number of features that made the book more interactive and immersive. Yes, this means that the book is only available on iPad, and to a very limited selection of regions. To solve this, I am working on an ePub version that should be released in the next few weeks.

Download the iBook

iTunes Link
Website

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

Mobile Email Campaigns

Mobile Email Campaigns

The world of web design has been changing for some time now. With the increasing use of smartphones and tablets, there is a need to provide content that adapts to devices other than desktop computers. “Responsive web design” and “mobile-first” are common phrases thanks to Ethan Marcotte and Luke Wroblewski. I believe that this movement is necessary, and that’s why I’ve made sure that my own site is responsive and optimized for mobile devices. But there seems to be an aspect of the web that has remained an oversight to the mobile-first perspective.

Long before we were surfing the web on mobile devices, we were enjoying one simple, fundemental feature on those same devices — email. Why is it that something enjoyed on smartphones long before this mobile movement still remains unchanged? Perhaps it is because there is no apparent glory in email design. I would argue with that point. Email design may still be stuck in the 90s as far as HTML markup is concerned, but there is plenty of room for innovation and excellent design. It’s time to change standards. Its time to rethink how we are doing it. Nobody uses web interfaces and desktop computers as their primary source for viewing emails so lets stop designing them at 600 pixels wide.

What’s Out There

Most HTML emails are completely oblivious to providing content that is optimized for a mobile device. Instead, they give you a complicated graphic that looks like a small landing page or website. You know exactly what I’m talking about. They show up in your phone’s inbox and aren’t even legible because of the allotted screen real estate for the message. Need a reminder? Here are a couple examples of emails from Guitar Center and Papa John’s. The text is tiny, links are grouped close together, and you struggle to make the email an ideal size. This is bad design, and it has to change. Some companies seem to be aware of the need for mobile treatment but are incredibly misguided. They will provide a link that says “Viewing from a mobile device?” which will link you to a text-only webpage that isn’t even optimized for a mobile device. How backwards is that?

MailChimp has been making some recent strides to provide tools for building mobile friendly email campaigns. I’m surprised how long it has taken for them to make this move, but better late than never. They have even built a free mobile app that allows you to preview your email on a mobile device without sending a test email. It’s actually quite helpful. If you’d like to know more, read their article here.

A Twitter Case Study

twitter logo

To illustrate my point, I put together a little case-study for a redesign of the twitter notification email template. Why Twitter isn’t already doing this, I don’t know. They don’t even have to go through the process of omitting content. The emails provide clear, upfront information. It is simply a matter of rethinking the form.

It starts by changing the standard email design size. We know that 600px isn’t going to cut it anymore. The virtual pixel size of the iPhone is 320px wide, while the portrait view of the iPad is 768px. We want our email to look good on both of these devices, so we are left with two options. Either we can start with the lowest common denominator – the iPhone – and design our email to fit within a 320px boundary, or we can do something much more interesting — make the design responsive.

To do this, the code is actually quite simple, especially if you are familiar with the principles of responsive web design. We start by designing the email for a maximum width. This is a restriction on the size that you want the email to display at. It won’t apply to a smaller device like the iPhone, but it will keep your email from being over-scaled on larger devices like the iPad. I prefer to keep this width somewhere around 400-500px. Set this parameter on your code by using a <div> with the css property of max-width:

<div style=”max-width:400px;” >

</div>

This is basically your wrap element for the design. Next, you will nest a <table> inside and set the width to 100%:

<div style=”max-width:400px;” >
    <table width=”100%”>
    </table>
</div>

Lastly, be sure to use percentages when declaring widths in your code. This is especially important on images, as it will allow them to scale to fit the appropriate areas. For example, if you have a header image that is spanning the entire table, set the width in css to 100%:

<div style=”max-width:400px;” >
    <table width=”100%”>
        <tr>
            <td>
                <img src=”header.png” style=”width:100%;” />
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div>

And that’s it! Make sure you stick to the other best practices for HTML email markup, and test your designs plenty. The results will be emails that look great across several devices as well as through web interfaces and desktop clients. On top of that, your users will be able to easily digest and interact with your content.

A Few Last Thoughts

Obviously, this article isn’t for everyone. The majority of the email campaigns that I design for are built around iOS app content. That alone narrows down the user base that I design for. It means that I am primarily concerned with how the emails will look on iDevices over other interfaces. While these emails should appear fairly correctly across other email clients, I haven’t done testing for some of the ones that I don’t care about (Hotmail, AOL, Outlook, etc.). If you are creating enterprise email templates or sending to a wide variety of users, this might not work for you. At least, not yet.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

Great Beginnings

Great Beginnings

Joining Ender Labs

I have been working at Neutron Interactive for over two years now. During this time, I have had the opportunity to work closely with Zach Holmquist, an extremely talented developer. As some of you might know, over a year ago we began creating iOS apps together. This started with EventBoard for iPad and quickly spread to other internal and freelance projects. Somewhere along the line, a quazi skunk works was started at Neutron to facility these projects — we called it Ender Labs.

It wasn’t much longer until this initiative started to build momentum. What had been 20% time was quickly becoming full-time. It became obvious that if we were serious about this, we would have to have be in with both feet. An official Ender Labs team was created, and Zach was allowed to develop apps full-time. He was also allowed to hire Donald Hays, an iOS development genius. I was forced to linger a little longer to wrap up my current projects for Neutron, but I soon joined the team full-time as well.

The Present

Today, Ender Labs is its own entity. At the beginning of this year, we officially severed the tie between us and Neutron to become our own company. It is an exciting opportunity to work in a small team that is focused on innovation and app development. We have many exciting projects to keep us busy, and I am honored to be working alongside some incredibly talented individuals.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

Onyx for iPad

Onyx for iPad

What I’ve Been Working On…

It has been quite some time since I made a post about a project that I’ve been working on. Lately, my efforts have been focussed on an iPad app named Onyx. It allows you to explore and create color swatches in a very exciting way. Seeing this app come to fruition has been one of the most satisfying experiences in my design career. There are few things that I am more proud of than seeing this app on the new retina iPad.

Want to Know More About the App?

www.onyxapp.com
iTunes Store

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

A is for Apple, and V for Vendetta

A is for Apple, and V for Vendetta

The Attitude of a Brand

If you were to ask ten designers for the difference between branding and identity, you’d get ten different answers. Regardless, I’m going to give you my own definition. To me, it’s a simple distinction. Branding is the attitude of a company or product, while identity is the physical manifestations of that same attitude. You can agree or disagree with me, I really don’t care. That’s not the point of this post. The point is that successful branding is much deeper than a company logo or corporate stationery.

I’ve always thought that the movie V for Vendetta is an excellent crash course on the subject of branding. Much of the story centers around a man who goes by the name V. His aim is to spark a revolution in a not-so-distant future England. He is labeled as a terrorist by the government but is seen as a prolific leader by the people. However, the revolution isn’t about him. He wears a mask and goes by an alias because he claims to represent an idea rather than a man. A man can be caught, he can be killed, he can be imprisoned — but an idea, an idea is invincible. This is exactly what it means to brand something. To build it around a core set of ideas or an attitude, not around a logo, product, or any particular person.

Steve Jobs

The Legacy of Steve Jobs

Apple is viewed by many as the most valuable and strongest brand in the world. The question remains, will it continue that pattern? Or did that brand begin its decline with the passing of its leader, Steve Jobs? It’s true, much of Apple’s success is directly linked to one man and his personal insights. Even the keynotes and product announcements were centered around him. He was the hero. The master mind. The one who could see what others could not. And without him, it’s hard not to acknowledge a void in the company. So, is the strength of Apple’s brand centered on one man? Or did his leadership create something bigger than that?

[Spoiler alert] In the movie, you never learn the identity of V. In fact, he dies on the cusp of his long awaited revolution. When the police ask his accomplice about his true identity, she replies that V is everywhere. That he is in every single one of us. Not just one man. How can that be? V represented a specific set of ideas and, as the movie points out, ideas need not be exclusive to one person. Anyone can chose to believe in them and adopt them as their own. Although V started the revolution, as his ideas spread, the movement is carried by everyone else who chooses to believe in them.

Yes, Steve Jobs was one man. One man who caused an immense amount of change in the world — his very own revolution. And now, that man is gone. Will the same innovation continue? I believe it will. Because even though Steve was always at the heart of the movement, it was never about him. It wasn’t about the iPhone or the iPod. In fact, what Steve engrained in us has very little to do with any particular Apple product. Instead, it was his attitude and ideas that we are left with. An attitude of excellence and passion. A constant restlessness that meant never settling. A stop to complacency and idleness. Apple was the vehicle that he chose to embody these ideas, and by extension, they have become the soul of Apple’s identity. As long as that identity lives on, so will the success of Apple.

Steve is gone. We’ve lost a great man, but we have gained his vision. His revolution will continue to live on. It’s carried by each of us who have been inspired by his attitude and ideas that will continue to echo for years to come.

If that’s not a legacy, I don’t know what is.

Thanks, Steve.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

South Park Wallpaper

South Park Wallpaper

OMG! They Killed Kenny!

In honor of the second half of the South Park season starting this week, I thought I would do something special. This is a South Park ‘Who Killed Kenny’ wallpaper that I put together. I like it best on my iPad home screen. Enjoy!

Choose Your Format:

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

The Handier Handyman

The Handier Handyman

I Can’t help but make a comment about these two companies. Both of them are actively pushing their brand through tv spots, both of them are very well known names, and both of them offer the exact same services and products. And at first glance, their commercials might even seem similar. However, there is a rudimentary difference between them that I believe makes one successful and the other, well, not so much.

But first, we have to determine what the goals of the company are and the goals of their targeted consumers. Only then can we make an objective critique.

Goal of the company:
Entice more people to use their store for their home improvement needs.
Goal of the consumer:
To fix, improve, and modify their homes.

You will see that both of these ads actually do very well at addressing the needs of their consumers. At the root of their concepts they communicate the same message: to do something. I recently read this book. It’s written by a man who spent most of his career as a psychologist, and then used his experience to transfer over to corporate marketing and advertising. He argues that behind every product, there is a ‘code’ or a specific trait that a particular culture associates with it. It is a fascinating book filled with some great insights into why we behave the way we do when it comes to purchasing decisions. In the book, he discusses how important ‘doing’ is to Americans. It is a word that speaks to us. We measure our success by what we have ‘done.’ When we meet someone, we ask what they ‘do.’ If there is an industry that this concept speaks to directly, it is the home improvement industry. How well do these ads speak to someone that wants to ‘do’ something to improve their home?

Let’s Build Something Together

These spots center around inexperienced home owners that go to Lowe’s to receive the tools they need as well as the training and advice to send them on their way. Both the concept and the slogan are extremely on key for giving the customer the means to ‘do’ their projects. However, there are a couple small flaws that we can see after a second thought. Who are these ads really enabling? Is it the customer? Apparently, their customers are airheads that need help with the simplest of tasks. How to paint a wall? How to tighten a nut? Really? What about the big stuff? Think they could build their own deck? Lay their own sod? It’s not likely. That’s why the ads are actually only enabling the store’s employees. They are the only ones that are competent enough to actually ‘do’ something noteworthy. Even the clever slogan, ‘Let’s Build Something Together,’ implies that you need their help. You can’t do it yourself, let us help you do it. This might help their reputation for customer service, but how realistic is that kind of customer service anyway? I’ve never received that kind of attention in a home improvement store.


More Saving, More Doing

If that doesn’t make you want to get out and build something, I don’t know what will. This ad appeals to just about anyone that has a little bit of handyman in them. Who doesn’t have a little pet project or idea they’d like to try out to improve their home? You’ll also notice that Home Depot doesn’t put a specific face to any of their employees. Who is in the commercial? The customers. They are the ones putting these awesome projects together — not just tightening their plumbing. The slogan is spot on, ‘More Saving, More Doing. That’s the Power of The Home Depot.’ Nailed it. They even use the word ‘do!’ It completely empowers the customer, and doesn’t even ask for a thank you.

And the Winner Is…

Yes, these are subtle differences in messaging, but they make a huge difference. The Home Depot definitely pulls out on top on this one. Lowe’s is actually doing pretty well, and should be commended for what they’ve accomplished. But when you compare the ads side by side, there is really no question as to which empowers the customer to accomplish their home improvement projects. The Home Depot has a completely different attitude. It’s all about providing you with the tools and resources you need and then getting out of the way while you give your neighbors something to talk about. Really, my hat is off to the Home Depot marketing department on this one.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»