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digitalagencyportlandblog · 3 years ago

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Digital Agency Portland That Helps Your Corporation Develop

Sq1 was employed by a snack meals model to drive model consciousness and decrease cost per click on. Sq1 created three targeted digital campaigns with a focus on social media engagement and video. Sq1 is a full service digital company headquartered in Portland, Ore., with a further office in Dallas, Texas find more information here. Founded in 1996, Sq1's team of round one hundred forty employees focuses on net development, search engine optimization, and UX/UI design. Headquartered in Portland, Ore., Avtec Media Group is a digital company that was founded in 2003.

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Among the numerous web solutions aimed at advertising your corporation embrace alternatives corresponding to utilizing Google Maps to establish your business’ presence.

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Social media advertising is transforming the way companies uncover and approach new prospects.

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Avtec Media Group

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But a good designer first knows which inquiries to ask that may tease out the magic. With an unusual blend of big-picture pondering, storycraft and design experience, I'm able to create solutions with a wholistic approach, being conscious of how the elements relate to the entire. We have labored on particular initiatives for corporate giants, businesses, non-profits, small companies and people alike.

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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PS5 Games: Complete List of Titles for Next-Gen Console

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Sony wants to follow-up on the historic success of the PlayStation 4 with its next-gen console, the unsurprisingly named PlayStation 5. With the PlayStation brand stronger than ever before, many people are already predicting that Sony could be in the driver’s seat heading into the next-generation of console gaming.

But that doesn’t mean a thing if you ain’t got those games. Sony will launch the PS5 with both a series of first-party exclusives and many next-gen third-party titles. Could these games be enough to beat out the Xbox Series X’s confirmed list of titles?

Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the launch titles you’ll get on the PS5 as well as the PS4 games you’ll be able to upgrade to their PS5 versions for free and the PlayStation Collections library you can expect to see on day one:

PS5 Launch Games

Here’s the list of all of the next-gen PS5 games you’ll be able to play when the console launches on Nov. 12:

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla Astro’s Playroom Borderlands 3 Bugsnax Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War Demon’s Souls Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition Destiny 2: Beyond Light DiRT 5 Fortnite Godfall Just Dance 2021 Maneater Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate NBA 2K21 No Man’s Sky Observer: System Redux Planet Coaster: Console Edition Sackboy: A Big Adventure The Pathless Warhammer: Chaosbane – Slayer Edition Watch Dogs Legion

PS4 Games Getting Free PS5 Upgrades

PlayStation players will be able to upgrade select PS4 titles to their PS5 versions free of charge. You’ll be able to do this either with a digital copy of the PS4 title you wish to upgrade (if available for upgrade) or with the PS4 game disc of the title you want to upgrade. Sony has instructions on how to do this here.

Here’s the list of PS4 games you’ll be able to upgrade to their PS5 versions:

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Borderlands 3 Cyberpunk 2077 Dead by Daylight Destiny 2 Dirt 5 Doom Eternal Far Cry 6 FIFA 21 Hitman 3 (Digital Only) Horizon Forbidden West Immortals Fenyx Rising Kena: Bridge of Spirits Madden NFL 21 Maneater Marvel’s Avengers Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom Mortal Kombat 11 RIDE 4 Riders Republic Sackboy: A Big Adventure Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege The Elder Scrolls Online The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Watch Dogs Legion WRC 9 Yakuza: Like A Dragon

Can You Play PS4 Games on PS5?

The short answer is yes. Almost all of the over 4,000 games available for the PS4 will be compatible with the PS5, including PSVR games if you already own the PSVR headset and PlayStation Camera. You can even transfer digital games, game data, and game saves from your PS4 to the PS5 through LAN, wifi, USB drives, and cloud storage if you’re a PS Plus member. Here’s a breakdown of how that works.

As for how playing PS4 games on a PS5 will improve those experiences, here’s what Sony has to say about that: “Select PS4 titles will see increased loading speeds on the PS5 console, and will also leverage Game Boost, offering improved or more stable frame rates. Some titles with unlocked frame rates or dynamic resolution up to 4K may see higher fidelity. Additionally, PS4 games will also take advantage of some of PS5’s new UX features, but more to come on that later.”

You will, of course, also be able to play PS4 game discs on the PS5.

Some PS4 titles won’t be playable on PS5 at all, but we don’t think these omissions will send you into much of a frenzy. Here’s the list of PS4-only games:

DWVR Afro Samurai 2 Revenge of Kuma Volume One TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 2 Just Deal With It! Shadow Complex Remastered Robinson: The Journey We Sing Hitman Go: Definitive Edition Shadwen Joe’s Diner

PlayStation Collection Launch Games

In addition to the next-gen PS5 launch titles, PS Plus users will also have access to a collection of PS4 titles on the PS5 simply called the PlayStation Collection. Here are the PlayStation Collection games available on PS5 at launch:

Battlefield 1 Batman: Arkham Knight Bloodborne Days Gone Detroit: Become Human Fallout 4 Final Fantasy 15 God of War (2018) Infamous: Second Son Monster Hunter World Mortal Kombat 10 Persona 5 Ratchet and Clank Resident Evil 7 The Last of Us: Remastered The Last Guardian Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Until Dawn

All PS5 Games Confirmed So Far

Finally, here’s a complete list of the confirmed PS5 titles so far. Not all of these games have available release dates, but each has been referred to as a game that will appear on the PS5 at some point.

Aragami 2 Atelier Ryza 2 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Astro’s Playroom Balan Wonderworld Battlefield 6 Bloodbowl 3 Borderlands 3 Bugsnax Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War Chivalry 2 Chorus Control Cris Tales Cyberpunk 2077 Cygni: All Guns Blazing Death Loop Demon’s Souls Destiny 2 Destruction AllStars Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition DiRT 5 Doom Eternal Dragon Age 4 Dying Light 2 Dynasty Warriors 9 Earthlock 2 Far Cry 6 FIFA 21 Final Fantasy 16 Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach Fortnite For Honor Ghostrunner Ghostwire Tokyo God of War: Ragnarok Godfall Gotham Knights Goodbye Volcano High Gothic Remake Gran Turismo 7 Graven GTA 5 Guilty Gear Strive Haven Heavenly Bodies Hitman III Hogwarts Legacy Hood: Outlaws and Legends Horizon Forbidden West Hyper Scape Immortals: Fenyx Rising In Sound Mind Jett: The Far Shore Just Dance 2021 Kena: Bridge of Spirits King Arthur: Knight’s Tale Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Little Devil Inside Little Nightmares 2 Maquette Madden NFL 21 Marvel’s Avengers Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales MicroMan Metal Hellsinger Moonray Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate NBA 2K21 No Man’s Sky Nth^0 Infinity Reborn Observer (System Redux) Oddworld Soulstorm Outriders Overcooked: All You Can Eat Paradise Lost Party Crash Simulator Planet Coaster Pragmata Project Athia Psyhotel Quantum Error Rainbow Six Quarantine Rainbow Six Siege Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Recompile Redo! Enhanced Edition Resident Evil Village Returnal Sackboy: A Big Adventure Scarlet Nexus Solar Ash Soulborn Stray Subnautica: Below Zero Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Temtem The Elder Scrolls Online The Invincible The Lord of the Rings: Gollum The Pathless The Sims 5 The Witcher 3 Tribes of Midgard Ultimate Fishing Simulator 2 Unknown 9: Awakening Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong Vigor Warframe Warhammer: Chaosbane – Slayer Edition Watch Dogs: Legion Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood White Shadows Worms Rumble WRC 9 Yakuza: Like a Dragon

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The post PS5 Games: Complete List of Titles for Next-Gen Console appeared first on Den of Geek.

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johnblueriggs · 4 years ago

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Here are 10 Nintendo 64 games that you don't need to know Japanese to play. To play them on your US system you'll have to modify the cart, swap the board with a US case or I just use a Game Genie to get it to fit. Games Feature: Rakuga Kids Bakuretsu Muteki Bangai-O Ucchan Nanchan no Honō no Challenger (Irritating Stick) G.A.S.P!! Fighters' NEXTream Susume! Taisen Puzzle Dama Last Legion UX Sin and Punishment Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 New Japan Pro Wrestling: Toukon Road 2 Bomberman 64 Games Featured during Intro: Doraemon 3: Nobita no Machi SOS! Dual Heroes Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 6 Nushi Zuri 64 Super Robot Wars 64 Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Dancing Museum Kiratto Kaiketsu! 64 Tanteidan Patreon ► https://ift.tt/1qsD0uu List of Tools I Use for repros and Open Cart Surgery ► https://goo.gl/eXn6WV (affiliate) Discord ► https://ift.tt/31SHwGR Facebook ► https://ift.tt/1VrV1F8 Twitter► http://twitter.com/johnblueriggs Instagram ► https://ift.tt/17jOmHT Twitch ► https://ift.tt/2AEobyl If you'd like to send us anything John Riggs, 4010 Summitview Ave, Yakima, WA 98908 by JohnRiggs

#NES #RiggdGames #RetroGaming

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disneydreamlights · 7 years ago

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Yeah, and I'd actually expand on Back Cover a bit. For one, it would be three hours long, and we'd have the scene of the Foretellers debating the intellect of tempting fate by encouraging mistrust between the Unions when a WAR was Foretold, plus the Power Bangles getting distributed and Ira jumping the gun by asking who made the demon Chirithy. Following that, Ira's character arc would be based on trying to get the others to stop fighting and watching everything fall apart, Invi and Gula would-

-would go on a traitor hunt, separately of course, with Gula eventually getting accused of being the traitor himself and getting forced into hiding while Invi eventually corners the Nightmare Chirithy, only to quickly get overwhelmed by a legion of Darklings. Ava’s plot would, more or less, consist of her recruiting the Dandelion leaders: Ephemer, Skuld, Ventus, Blaine, and Strelitzia. We’d also get Lauriam stalking the Dandelions and, earning Strelitzia’s misplaced trust. As for Ava vs Luxu?-

-We’d actually see Ava confronting him, meaning the iconic scene would actually be voice acted. As would Strelitzia’s death scene, which would be the last thing we’d see before the credits. It would actually be shot from her perspective, starting from her scanning the room (and you’d be able to see Lauriam’s shadow if you look closely), and, when she turns around, there’d be footsteps, the sound of a Keyblade getting summoned, and Divine Rose would materialize in such a way to make it clear she-

-I forgot where I left off, but suffice to say that if you could see Strelitzia and Lauriam, you would be able to see that Lauriam had stabbed his supposed friend in the back. Strelitzia would black out for a few seconds, but open her eyes to see her Chirithy wounded as Lauriam’s silhouette picks up her rule book and walks out of the warehouse. Cue Strelitzia’s death scene from her point of view, with a smash to credits. We’d have the Case of Luxu scene in the post credits, of course, but still.

…Listen three hour long backcover I’d kill for more time with the Foretellers and more expansion of their dynamics I love all of them.

Ira working hard to keep things from falling apart after he started all this by bringing up the traitor in the first place would honestly be so good. Because then he could be like “I shouldn’t have done that, I fucked up, now I gotta fix this before we fall apart and I cause the Keyblade War” except obviously that’s not how it ends up going because the war’s gotta happen but I want to see Ira realize his actions of bringing up the traitor instead of just bringing up the Nightmare Chirithy were not good.

Invi fighting Nightmare Chirithy and that being her final stand before the conversation with Ava and she realizes the only option she has is to keep gathering more Lux would just be a really good scene. I’d love to have something like that happen at least. And poor Gula he deserves so much better than being the assumed traitor because he’s working so hard to find them. ;w;

AVA AND STRELITZIA TALKING AND STRELITZIA IN THE HD BACKCOVER GRAPHICS LISTEN I AM ALL FOR THAT! Aaaanyways, yes. Yes please. I want all that though tbh I think Backcover should end with the five Unchained union leaders meeting. Not the extra scenes like the one we just got in NAUx a couple weeks ago (the one with Chirithy) but like the ones where they’re all gathering in the Keyblade Graveyard should be when it ends, just to show the build up. But also dude I would love to see the Ava versus Luxu scene voice acted, we don’t even get it in Ux since I think it was only X exclusive so like…the only way we’d get to see it would be in a Backcover movie.

Granted ending it with Lauriam stabbing Strelitzia is also a good breaking point because like…you can basically tell who did it (and if they still want to obscure it they could use slight hints like you said with the Divine Rose Keyblade and silhouettes but I just really want to see all my kids interacting together in one scene (except Strelitzia but hey I already know she’s not gonna get to talk to them anytime soon anyways.)

(P.S. Do you write Anon because honestly I would love to see your ideas for more content in the backcover movie (and some of the changes/additions in general) in fic form or something, either as one shots, or an actual fanfic, or just as whatever form of media you want to use, because most of them sound real interesting.)

#MMO Anon #Anonymous #Heather Answers #Kingdom Hearts X Spoilers

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droidafrica · 4 years ago

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Redmi 9-series officially entered into the African smartphone market in the close of July last month. The series includes the entry-level Redmi 9A, Redmi 9C and the vanilla Redmi 9, which have the upper spec sheet in the trio. We were able to get a unit of the standard Redmi 9, and this is our review of the device.

Redmi 9 Key Specifications and Features

Dimensions; weight: 163.3 x 77 x 9.1 mm; 198 grams

Display: 6.53-inch IPS LCD 1080 x 2340px FHD+ with 19.5:9 ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection

CPU: 2.0GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio G80 with Mali-G52 MC2 GPU

Storage and RAM: 64 GB and 4GB RAM; expandable up to 256GB via microSD

OS: Android 10.0 with MIUI v12

Camera: Quad-cameras: 13MP f/2.2 main camera; 8MP f/2.2 wide lens; 5MP macro and 2MP depth lens

Front camera: 8MP f/2.0 Selfie

Video recording: 1080p/720@30fps

Connectivity: Dual Nano-SIM: GSM / HSPA / LTE

Other Features: Fingerprint scanner (rear), USB Type-C

Colors: Carbon Gray, Sunset Purple, Ocean Green, Pink/Blue

Battery: 5020mAh with 18W fast charging

What’s the box content of the Redmi 9?

The Redmi 9 is available in Carbon Gray, Sunset Purple, Ocean Green and Pink/Blue colors. The box comes with two of those colors plastered atop. Luckily for us, one of the colors on the box, was what we saw when when opened the box. The full box content of the Redmi 9 includes:

Redmi 9 smartphone

Wall charger (10W)

USB Type-C cable

SIM ejector pin

Multiple language User manual

Design and Built Quality

If you are coming to the Redmi 9 from the Redmi 5 or 6, you may notice sharp changes in design, but if you’ve used the Redmi 8-series, or even the Note 8, you may not notice much changes in design. Generally, I found the Redmi 9 to be far sturdy than the Redmi 5 of 2018, but you might not notice much improvement in built-quality if you’ve owned a recent Redmi phone. Besides, who makes a crappy, cranky phone in 2020, except the device is sold below $70 USD, which the Redmi 9 is not.

Button placement remains industry stardard; power button and Volume rocker to the right hand side, IR blaster and secondary mic atop the phone, triple card slot to the left hand side and 3.5mm audio jack, USB Type-C and a single loud speaker at the basement.

The back of the device has a circular textured finishing, which help formed the visible circle towards the four rear camera modules at the back.

As far as built quality goes, the device is very sturdy but, it tad weighty too. Official specs mentioned 198 grams, but my review unit peaked at 202 grams without SIM and SD card inserted. But hey, a 5020mAh battery lies on the inside, which should make up for the extra weight.

Redmi has great display, if not for the brightness nit

The Xiaomi Redmi 9 spot a 6.53-inches display with a dew-drop notch above the screen and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. On paper, the device has Full-HD+ screen with 1080 x 2340 pixels resolution. At the price, the display has great colors, and don’t even think of noticing any pixel with your naked eyes. But there is one problem, the screen is not bright enough for outdoor use.

You’ll enjoy the display while indoor, and you might need to reduced the brightness at some lighting situations. But this is not the case during outdoor use, and you might need to shade the screen with your palm, especially under direct sunlight use. Surprsingly, a smaller, cheaper device with HD+ screen did better under direct sunlight than the Redmi 9.

A 1080p juicy screen marred with weaker brightness nit

I think Xiaomi is being careful not to strain users eyes with overpowering brightness. They even did include Reader Mode which ultimately alter display color reproduction and overall brightness for a better indoor use.

So display wise, the Redmi 9 is a win for some, and rather ‘not-win’ for others, sort of. The outdoor busy guys might not enjoy covering the display of their device while in use during sunny days, but for indoor loners like myself, the Redmi 9 screen is much more enough, considering other great features that this device offers, like the ones below.

Hardware can’t get any better at this price!

Intel inside!, Sorry I meat Mediatek inside!. The CPU inside the Redmi 9 is Helio G80 chip from Mediatek. The Helio G-series are Mediatek gaming CPU for not just mid-range smartphones anymore, but also for entry level device like the Redmi 9A and 9C.

So is the Xiaomi Redmi 9 a gaming smartphone? Yes, sort of. But should I be having the likes of Blackshark phone or, Asus ROG Phone or even the recent Lenovo Legion Phone on my table right now, I would never call the Redmi 9, a gaming phone (I’m looking at you Infinix Note 7). But since I don’t have those phones, and to anyone who don’t have any of those phones, well, the Xiaomi Redmi 9 is of course a gaming phone.

On paper, the Mediatek Helio G80 in the Redmi 9 has Octa-core CPU in all. There is a dual 2.0 GHz from Cortex-A75, and Six 1.7 GHz from Cortex-A55, pegged with Mali-G52 GPU (up to 950MHz). Our review unit has 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

Sadly, I don’t play games, for now, so I did not run any gaming performance test. But we’ll surely start doing gaming tests when we resume back on YouTube, hopefully soon. You can check out our long abandoned channel here, and if it is okay by you, please subscribe to it. We are surely coming back soon.

Talking about testing, we did run few benchmarking test though, and our results are shown below.

Xiaomi Redmi 9 Benchmarking Tests

AnTuTu V8: 200,007

GeekBench v5.1: Single-core: 361

GeekBench v5.1: Multi-core: 1,320

3DMark SSE – OpenGLES 3.1: 1,332

3DMark SSE – Vulkan: 1,323

Even though we did not run any practical gaming performance test, no one would expect a smartphone touching 200k in Antutu benchmark to stutter while surfing even the heaviest web page on the internet. Thankfully, the Redmi 9 and it Helio G80 CPU did not stutter during all our basic test.

But we wanted to see the limit of the phone, so we loaded 10 different web pages in 10 Google Chrome tabs, to see how many tabs will refresh when we switch back and forth between the tabs. Interestingly, the Redmi 9 and it 4GB RAM handled all the 10 tabs without a single refresh on any page. But when we pushed it to 20 tabs, some of the initial tabs started refreshing when revisited.

In all, the Helio G80 is a worthy mid-range offer, and offers hug and notable improvement over the Snapdragon 439 CPU used in the Redmi 8-series. to be, the CPU is one of the major stand-out specs of the Xiaomi Redmi 9.

Camera Performance of the Redmi 9

There are four camera modules at the back of the Redmi 9. The main 13-megapixel snapper, with 8-megapixel wide lens, 5-megapixel macro snapper and a 2-megapixel depth shooter, while a single 8-megapixel selfie seats upfront.

We tried out all the sensors above, and they all worked as intended. The 13-megapixel main snapper can capture crisp images in outdoor shots. As for indoor snaps, well, good images are assured with good lightening condition and stable hands. But on the contrary, images get grainy with high noise level.

Sadly, the single LED flash at the back did not really help much as well. I’m not even sure whether there is a software glitch here or something else. For example, when the LED light is set to auto, it won’t fire during some low-light shoots especially when the object is bright, but not adequately bright.

One other issue I have with the LED flash is, it use same focusing light as capture light. This is what I mean, usually, a smartphone LED light is fine-tuned to produced low light during image focusing, then fire a more stronger and bright light to capture the image. But the Redmi 9 is not so, same focusing light captures the image without even a blink, leading to sharp-less indoor images. But again, images taken under good lightening conditions are great.

Sincerely, I enjoy playing around with the camera on Redmi 9. You could also capture a larger filed of field on the device, that is where the bundled 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens comes in, but it can’t go above 118 degrees.

Then, there is the isolated 5-megapixel macro lens, which performed incredible well in my test. Thanks to the lens, I was able to count the legs of this House Fly, or is this Bush Fly?

Finally, the frontal selfie snapper, which can shoot in normal mode or AI portrait mode, and surpsingly, even though there is no LED flash upfront, the frontal 8-megapixel lens is still able to capture decent images.

Normal (Good light)

Portrait (Good light)

Indoor (low light)

Software is MIUI 11 Above Android 10.

The Redmi 9 runs on MIUI 11 out of the box with Android 10 underneath. Usually, with MIUI, you get all apps on the home screen without additional drawer, and the app drawer fans mostly resort to a third party launcher to get their beloved feature. Well, with MIUI 11, extra launcher may not be needed as the OS now have two home screen interface, of which the second interface is app drawer based.

One major argument for MIUI is the customization features. Through the MIUI theme app on the Redmi 9, users can access and download almost unlimited skin and themes of varying customization, given that viewing and interacting with Adsense Ads is okay with you.

Aside the Ads, it is important to note that Xiaomi have it own services and apps, tailored for the Chinese world, a little similar to Google service and apps. Most of these apps and services are preloaded even on the international variants of Redmi and Xiaomi Mi devices. And for phones like the Redmi 9 that come with Google Services and apps, as well as Xiaomi Services and apps, expect a handful number of bloatware.

Aside the two issues above, MIUI is a great OS. Yes, you read that well, MIUI isn’t just a User Interface (UI) but an Operating System (OS), and when combined with Google’s fastest OS till-date (the Android 10), the result is a smooth and buttery fluid User Experience (UX). Although the combination took out above 12GB ROM from the built in 64GB of storage.

I don’t really like the old ‘all apps on the home screen’ feature of MIUI, so after setting up the device, I instantly switch to the App drawer version of the interface. For what it worth, OS alone won’t amount to a smoother interface, the hardware department also has it role to play, thankfully, the Helio G80 CPU plays it game very well. And if there is any area I did not encounter any issue with the Redmi 9, is in the software department.

The notification drawer is kept very minimal, and a single click (inside phone setting), will switch you from normal to dark mode in seconds. Software connecting the peripherals of the phone are will optimized as well. The phone will guide you to set up the fast fingerprint scanner, the built-in speaker is loud enough for my Parlor. The camera components are connected fairly well, except for the LED flash talked above earlier.

How About Battery Performance?

One of the reason while the Redmi 9 is a bit weighty, is due to the built-in 5020mAh battery. After a whole 24 hours of pushing and pressing the Redmi 9, I had to, reluctantly, charge it remaining 30% juice this morning for charging sake, and not because I know the device might be going off anytime soon.

The Redmi 9 also come with great battery management app, which when turned on, gives you almost twice your battery run time, but to the detriment of background running apps, like emails, chat notifications etc.

Charging the device from 30% to 100% this morning took around 1H:37M. Kinda slow right? Well, perhaps, and that is because even though the Redmi 9 support 18W fast charger, a 10W charger is what you’ll get out of the box, and not the faster 18W charger.

Xiaomi Redmi 9 Pricing, Alternative and Conclusion

On the international front, the Redmi 9 starts at around $119 for the base model with 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage. But in local market, Nigeria for example, the device is available with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage and price at N66,000.

Phones with similar specs you can get at this price includes: Infinix Note 7 Lite, Samsung Galaxy M11, Tecno Camon 15, Huawei Y7p and the OPPO A31 smartphone.

When I got the Redmi 9, I wasn’t expecting the device to tick all spec box, knowing fully well that it a mid-range offer, but it did, sort of. Seriously, it interesting to see how much specs and features Xiaomi has pack into the Redmi 9, and despite the little hitches we noticed in the camera department and the less-bright LCD screen, the Redmi 9 is still a big bang for the buck, offering Mediatek Helio G80 under $120 dollars.

Redmi 9 Unboxing and Review: Great value for money Redmi 9-series officially entered into the African smartphone market in the close of July last month. The series includes the entry-level…

#Redmi #Redmi 9 camera samples #Redmi 9 camera test #redmi 9 detailed review #redmi 9 performance test #Redmi 9 review #redmi 9 unboxing #Xiaomi

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laurelkrugerr · 4 years ago

Text

Kylie Jenner’s Removal from Forbes’ Billionaires List Underscores the Basic Rules of PR

June 15, 2020 9 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Okay, I’ll admit it – I’ve never been a Kardashian fan. I’ll admit that “Momager” Kris Jenner and her offspring have achieved remarkable feats in garnering attention and revenue, two of entrepreneurship’s highest goals. But for me, the issue is the in-your-face actions the mom and her family are perpetually taking for celebrity’s sake.

Kylie Jenner’s removal from the Forbes Billionaires List (after making the magazine’s cover in March 2019 as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at 22) is a case in point.

Granted, the family’s fame is perhaps most remarkable for the fact that it emerged on the back of tabloid headlines, Instagram popularity and reality TV. The family already had wealth and stature from the legal career of Kris’s ex, OJ Simpson attorney Robert Kardashian (now deceased) and subsequent ex-spouse and former Olympian Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner). But there was seemingly little to account for the family’s rise beyond daughter Kim’s small part as a closet organizer for Paris Hilton in The Simple Life in 2003, followed by a famously stolen sex tape.

Whether you love the Kardashians or despise them, it is hard to dispute the business tenacity of any team that could sustain any program, let alone a reality TV show, for as long as Keeping Up With The Krdashians, which has been running since 2007 for 18 seasons so far.

Mom Kris has been instrumental in helping the clan’s daughters, in particular, to parlay attention from Instagram and tabloid headlines into celebrity influencer roles and brands in clothing and beauty. Youngest daughters Kendall and Kylie have achieved perhaps the most traditionally legitimate roles, with Kendall, now 24, being named the world’s most highly-paid model in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Kylie, the youngest sister, has been acclaimed as the most financially successful as the founder and owner of Kylie Cosmetics (the outgrowth of the wildly viral Kylie Lip Kits business launched in November 2015). It is the claimed revenue for Kylie Cosmetics that served as the crUX of the aggressive PR bid for the Forbes billionaire ranking and record in 2019.

As an expert in public relations, I would caution anyone to follow the roadmap that the Kylie team followed. They abused the rules of PR, and it came back to haunt them.

Related: 6 Common Mistakes of DIY Public Relations

Rule 1: Beware the things you do for attention

While gaining some form of attention and influence is a vital part of the game for most kinds of business, in my opinion, the kinds of business that exist primarily for the ability to monetize attention are treading on dangerous ground.

When you actively seek attention for things the press wouldn’t otherwise cover, you are taking a risk.

For example, in the midst of the global health crisis, I am seeing legions of companies wanting to promote themselves for doing good. “We donated masks; we’re making hand sanitizer,” they’re announcing. They want to be seen as heroes and they want the world to know. A competing agency even came forward in our own region, hoping our own “giveback” would be free PR to promote them for a campaign to do good. Um, no.

While there are myriad examples of people and companies rising to support their communities in magnificent ways, doing so for the motive of “being seen” and promoting themselves as doers of good is a risk. For every kind of PR, consider the question first of who needs and wants the information and why. If the only entity helped is you, as promotion it’s a lousy reason to fill the airwaves, and it is prone to backfire as well.

As someone who’s written columns for years, I am stunned at the audacity of people who conclude interviews with remarks like, “By the way, you need to include my name in the headline because I’m trying to fight down a bad story on ABC,” or “That story needs to refer to me as a ‘leadership guru,’ because I’m using it for my marketing afterwards.” Both of these conversations were finished on the spot and neither story appeared.

In contrast, the founder of a distillery that converted from premium liquors to massive production of sanitizer for medical facilities, porta-johns and community members was extremely interesting to me and to others. Why? Because he spoke candidly about the realities of regulatory restrictions on transporting ethyl alcohol in quantity and the very real vulnerabilities the business faces in determining how long the pivot should last and whether it can or should resume its former operation when the pandemic is over. These are the stories that capture the attention of readers as they show others they are not alone in their fears and inspires them with the ideas that others have used.

In the Kylie Jenner situation, her PR machine went wrong in relentlessly pitching Forbes the evidence they should consider in naming her the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. Even as a privately-held business, they offered up tax returns and normally confidential records to bolster their claims. The numbers seemed to add up and they got the press attention they were asking for. But in doing this, they broke Rule 2:

Related: What to Do When You Wake Up to a PR Crisis

Rule 2: Beware the release of private financials

Publicly traded companies are required to disclose their financials. So if you’ve had an up quarter or down, the world will know it, and the SEC requires you report the information in a format that is available to all. This is a great move in transparency; however, in making a public company disclosure you must adhere to careful procedures ti ensure the information is in the right format and equally available to all observers at once. If you are a board member or stake holder who knows the information early, you are not allowed to trade on it or disclose it to others (as too many public figures have learned).

If you are privately held, however, while you must provide the information to your board, to the bank and to your private investors, you should seriously question the rational for sharing it with anyone else. Suppose you have a record-breaking quarter. Good for you! But if you blare it to the press and public, you have needlessly educated your competitors as well as the public you are trying to impress. Worse still, once you’ve opened the books, what will the press and public conclude when you later have a negative quarter and decline to answer the question, or wish you didn’t have to? Now the gauntlet’s been thrown, You will have to either provide the update or let the audience assume the answer you’re refusing to give is bad news.

If the reason for disclosing is to let the market know your product is exceeding expectations, why not quantify the answer in another way, such as percentage growth or units sold? Even then, consider why you’d release information that could be put up for comparison later in the seasons to come. But the Kardashian team also appears to have also violated the most fundamental rule of public relations: Never lie to the press.

Rule 3: You should never lie to the press

As reported, the PR team pressing the Kylie agenda produced tax returns to validate her company’s earnings. Sure enough, the numbers supported a business valuation of $1.2 billion, making Kylie Jenner a bona fide billionaire.

But what the PR team didn’t consider was this: Jenner is now selling the company to Coty, for $600 million. That is potentially understandable during a season in which the sales of many products have dropped. However, the information provided by Coty to its investors on the company’s prior results are orders of magnitude smaller than the numbers the PR team was��giving to Forbes. The new numbers not only refute the billionaire standing, they reportedly indicate the prior tax returns provided were faked.

The press reports bad news as well as good. But when a prior claim by a source is shown to be false, the press will report it with intensified fervor and the public will pounce upon it with glee. In this case, stock in the acquiring company has taken a sizable drop since the announcement. Watchers are speculating that the acquiring company may back out of the deal or even sue based on the stories of prior sales that appear to be as inflated as the founder’s plumped lips. (As background, Jenner disclosed in 2018 she had used and later removed the artificial fillers that had been widely reported by media.)

The lessons to entrepreneurs in these events should be clear. Not all attention is good attention. Not all press is good press.

Used with care, celebrity status can be fine for advancing ideas and products. For example, a notable CBS newscaster in Houston, Dominique Sachse, has won two Emmys for her coverage, but she also broadcasts her real-life beauty and fashion ideas on YouTube and Instagram to an audience of millions. Public reports estimate her income and net worth to be many millions, but she has never disclosed or marketed her worth (nor has she attempted to aggrandize her value through aggressive attempts to “be seen.”)

In every case, honest communication is vital. And putting the interests and needs of your audience and customers first is the ideal approach to getting meaningful press.

Related: 5 Public Relations Tips to Help You Write a Pitch Someone Will …

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source http://www.scpie.org/kylie-jenners-removal-from-forbes-billionaires-list-underscores-the-basic-rules-of-pr/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/06/kylie-jenners-removal-from-forbes.html

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z2z-gaming-and-random-art-ai · 11 months ago

Video

youtube

Console Fighting Games of 1999 - Last Legion UX

Developed by Yuke's and published by Hudson Soft, Last Legion UX is an arena mech fighting game released exclusively on the Nintendo 64 and released exclusively in Japan.

1. Intro 00:00

2. Games Intro 00:10

3. Gameplay 01:27

4. Outro 07:25

Twitter (Gaming & AI Art)

https://twitter.com/zero2zedGaming

Instagram (AI Art)

https://www.instagram.com/random_art_ai/

For more fighting game videos check out the playlists below

Console Fighting Games of 1993

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CFcKSo9Eglrv2NFDHAqNDRi

Console Fighting Games of 1994

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CF-R5w4NujQcYo8cCcOMHYv

Console Fighting Games of 1995

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CEUiZn8FlwHoMcwoOzUqchX

Console Fighting Games of 1996

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CF0j9K_v7UqS3dxjwh6XIIM

Console Fighting Games of 1997

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CFm1r27Q5PvbO_4CjYYsj4-

Console Fighting Games of 1998

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CHG7kROLoO-HAXmmzib8cd4

Console Fighting Games of 1999

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CH1CPUcsBRyu5VpFnhqj4Kv

#youtube #last legion ux #hudson soft #n64 #nintendo 64 #90s games #90s gaming #video games #japan #japan only #yukes #mech fighting game #fighting games

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riichardwilson · 5 years ago

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Amid the economic gloom, some hopeful indicators emerge for marketers

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on consumer and business confidence, with various surveys reflecting pessimism and expectations of a deep and serious recession. Indeed, many economic forecasters and major investment firms project between 15% and 30% unemployment when all the layoffs are through. (At the height of the Great Depression, unemployment was 24.9%.)

But amid the gloom and doom there are several hopeful signs for marketers considering campaign strategies and expenditures that may indicate the economy isn’t as severely damaged or won’t be down as long as many of these grim predictions suggest.

Improving Consumer Sentiment

The HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) tracks consumer sentiment across five economic categories: jobs, economic outlook, willingness to make major purchases, personal finances and new home buying intent. These indicators dropped off a cliff as the lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders took hold in March in many states.

Source: CivicScience

As of the end of last week, four out of five of these indicators started ticking up, as shown in the chart above. In particular, people’s perceptions of the U.S. economic outlook improved significantly. While this may be a function of hopeful thinking about an impending return to normal life — whatever that’s going to mean — it’s potentially significant.

That’s because psychology and confidence play a major role in “personal consumption” (i.e., consumer spending) and consumption drives roughly 70% of U.S. GDP. Other categories, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, include business investment (18%), government spending (17%), with trade being a 5% net negative.

A ‘Black-Friday’-Style Spending Burst

In addition, last week, the first wave of government stimulus checks appears to have triggered meaningful consumer online spending. Shopify CTO Jean-Michel LemieUX tweeted that the company was seeing “Black Friday level traffic every day.” Shopify now has more than 1,000,000 customers in 175 different countries, many of them small businesses.

Source: Shopify”

“Wednesday was one of the best days that we have seen in a while for some brands,” said Kaitlin McGrew, senior SEM manager at PMG Advertising on Friday during a panel discussion of commerce marketers on Live with Search Engine Land. Clients across fashion retail, home organization and skincare categories saw the stimulus bump last week, said McGrew.

Merkle also reported that its paid search data “suggests that many consumers used part of that stimulus money on more discretionary purchases … across a variety of industries [we] saw lifts in conversion rate and revenue yesterday, with some retailers reaching levels similar to 2019 Black Friday numbers.”

The agency further explained the spike included apparel, furniture, automotive, footwear, outdoor living, audio equipment and cosmetics. “[A]ll experienced significant day-over-day growth without any change in promotional or advertising strategy. While the amount of growth varied significantly, many clients sampled saw revenue changes between 40% and 100% day over day.”

One question is whether the behavior will last once the immediate cash infusion is gone. But the surge in buying suggests there’s considerable pent-up demand among consumers who’ve been stuck in the house for weeks. Once real-world businesses open up again, they may also experience significant demand — think salons and haircuts.

Increased Marketing Activity

A recent survey of 250 CMOs by John Koetsier (for Singular) found that 73% of respondents were actually increasing their marketing agency and ad spending.

Here’s where these CMO-respondents said they were focusing their increased activities:

28% — more advertising.

18% — more content marketing agency.

15% — organic growth.

12% — social media marketing agency.

It’s not entirely clear what “organic growth” means in this context, although I suspect it includes a number of non-paid digital channels and tactics, including SEO Company. Client retention was also a major focus of these CMOs.

So while a substantial percentage of marketers have seen budget cuts or reallocation (.pdf), there are others adopting a more proactive, even opportunistic approach during this period. Messaging still needs to be appropriate and mindful of the current situation, but many companies see opportunity to position themselves for growth in the next phase, as we emerge from the immediate crisis.

Return of ‘Nonessential’ Products to Amazon

According to the Wall Street Journal and CNBC, Amazon is going to allow third-party sellers on the platform to start shipping nonessential items to its warehouses later this week. While not exactly an economic indicator, this suggests something of a return to a more normal operating procedure for the e-commerce company — and its legions of shoppers.

In mid-March the company stopped the shipment of nonessential items, due to the virus, putting pressure on third-party sellers on the platform. As the restrictions subside, quantities of nonessential products will reportedly still be limited to enable continued prioritization of essential goods. But that should ease over time.

Another positive indicator, it appears that toilet paper shortages are also easing on the site.

Consumer Confidence Is Key

One more debatable, potential signal is the stock market. The market has been incredibly volatile as the parade of job cuts and negative economic news has unfolded. But recently, it has staged a partial recovery.

The market is controlled, as much as anything, by psychology and confidence. Its performance in turn fuels our collective perceptions of economic health. If investors have confidence in future growth, the market generally gains. When the market does well, consumers often gain confidence in the direction of the economy and so on.

Ultimately, however it’s consumer confidence (and consumer spending), more than any other factor, that will determine how soon the recession ends and whether the recovery looks like a “V,” a “U” or an “L.”

About The Author

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/amid-the-economic-gloom-some-hopeful-indicators-emerge-for-marketers/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/616043175089471488

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scpie · 5 years ago

Text

Amid the economic gloom, some hopeful indicators emerge for marketers

Improving Consumer Sentiment

Source: CivicScience

A ‘Black-Friday’-Style Spending Burst

Source: Shopify”

Merkle also reported that its paid search data “suggests that many consumers used part of that stimulus money on more discretionary purchases . . . across a variety of industries [we] saw lifts in conversion rate and revenue yesterday, with some retailers reaching levels similar to 2019 Black Friday numbers.”

Increased Marketing Activity

A recent survey of 250 CMOs by John Koetsier (for Singular) found that 73% of respondents were actually increasing their marketing agency and ad spending.

Here’s where these CMO-respondents said they were focusing their increased activities:

28% — more advertising.

18% — more content marketing agency.

15% — organic growth.

12% — social media marketing agency.

Return of ‘Nonessential’ Products to Amazon

Another positive indicator, it appears that toilet paper shortages are also easing on the site.

Consumer Confidence Is Key

About The Author

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/amid-the-economic-gloom-some-hopeful-indicators-emerge-for-marketers/

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tak4hir0 · 5 years ago

Link

About The AuthorEric is the founder of UI UX Training where he leads workshops focused on UX research, design facilitation, and UX copywriting. He has spent the past 18 years … More about Eric … Bringing A Better Design Process To Your OrganizationThink about your last few software projects. Was there a healthy balance between concrete business goals, meeting users’ needs, and shipping the product in a timely fashion? The key to striking this balance is a design process that accounts for complexity, addresses design problems early, and avoids relying too heavily on third parties.As user experience (UX) designers and researchers, the most common complaint we hear from users is: “Why don’t they think about what I need?”In fact, many organizations have teams dedicated to delivering what users and customers need. More and more software developers are eager to work with UX designers in order to code interfaces that customers will use and understand. The problem is that complex software projects can easily become bogged down in competing priorities and confusion about what to do next. The result is poor design that impedes productivity. For example, efficiency in healthcare is hampered by electronic medical records (EMRs). Complaints about these software systems are legion. Dr. Steven Ugent, a Boston-based dermatologist and Yale Medical School alumnus, is no exception. Since 2010, Dr. Ugent has used two EMR systems: Before 2010, he finished work promptly at 5:15 every day. Since he and his colleagues started using EMRs, he typically works an extra half hour to 1.5 hours in the evening. “I don’t know any doctor who is happy with their medical records system. The crazy thing is that I was much more efficient when I was using pen and paper.” The EMR systems are clunky, inflexible, and hard to customize. Ugent, for instance, cannot embed photos directly into his chart notes. Instead, he must open the folder with the photo of the mole and then open a different folder to see the text. This setup is particularly cumbersome for dermatologists who rely heavily on photos when treating patients. Ugent succinctly summarizes the problem with EMRs: “The people who design it [the EMR system] don’t understand my workflow. If they did, they would design a different system.”Doctors are not alone in their frustration with clunky software. Consumers and professionals around the world make similar complaints: “Why can’t I find what I need?” “Why do they make it so hard?” “Why do I have to create a login when I simply want to buy this product. I’m giving them money. Isn’t that enough?”A major contributor to clunky software is flawed design processes. In this article, we’ll outline four design process problems and explain how to address them. ComplexityNext-Release SyndromeInsufficient Time For Design IterationsSurrendering Control To Outside Vendors1. ComplexityScale, multiple stakeholders, and the need for sophisticated code are among the many factors contributing to the complexity of large software projects. Sometimes overlooked, however, are complex laws and regulations. For example, insurance is heavily regulated at the state level, adding a layer of complexity for insurance companies operating in multiple states. Banks and credit unions are subject to regulation while utilities must comply with state and federal environmental laws. Healthcare products and software subject to FDA regulations offer an even greater challenge. The problem isn’t that the regulations are unreasonable. Safety is paramount. The issues are time, budget, and the planning necessary to meet FDA requirements. As Jeff Horvath, Ph.D., a UX consultant with extensive experience in healthcare, explains: “These requirements add a couple of orders of magnitude to the rigor for writing test protocols, test setup, data gathering, analysis, quality controls, and getting approval to conduct the research in the first place.” For example, a single round of usability testing jumps from six weeks (a reasonable time frame for a standard usability test) to six months. And that’s with a single round of usability testing. Often, two or more rounds of testing are necessary. This level of rigor is a wakeup call for companies new to working with the FDA. More than once, Horvath has faced tough conversations with clients who were unprepared for the extended timelines and additional budget necessary to meet FDA requirements. It’s hard, but necessary. “It pays to be thorough,” says Horvath. In 2018 the FDA approved a mere 11% of pre-market submissions. The demands on researchers, designers, and developers are higher for healthcare software requiring FDA compliance than for traditional software products. For example: A UX researcher can only conduct one or two usability test sessions per day as opposed to the more common five to six sessions per day for standard software.UX designers must remain hyper-attentive to every aspect of the user’s interaction with software. Even one confusing interaction could cause a clinician to make an error that could jeopardize a patient’s health. For the same reason, UI designers must draw interfaces that remain faithful to every interaction.A longer time frame for design and usability testing means that the developer’s coding efforts must be planned carefully. Skilled and well-intentioned developers are often eager to modify the code as soon as new information becomes available. While this approach can work in organizations well practiced in rapid iteration, it carries risk when designing and coding complex systems.Failure to manage complexity can have fatal consequences as happened when Danielle McCray was admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital as she was about to give birth. To ease her discomfort, healthcare workers connected her to a patient-controlled analgesia machine, a programmable infusion pump. Eight hours later McCray was pronounced dead from a morphine overdose. A major factor in this tragedy was the flawed design of the infusion pump used to administer medication. The pump required 27 programming steps. Failure to address such complexity by designing a more intuitive user interface contributed to unnecessary death. SolutionThe solution is to acknowledge and address complexity This point sounds logical. Yet, as explained above, complicated FDA regulations often surprise company leaders. Denial doesn’t work. Failing to plan means your organization will likely fall into the 89% of pre-market submissions the FDA rejected in 2018. When conducting usability tests, user experience researchers must take three steps to manage the complexity associated with FDA regulations: The moderator (the person who runs the usability test) must be hyper-attentive. For example, if an MRI scan requires a technician to follow a strict sequence of steps while using the associated software, the moderator must observe carefully to determine if the participant follows the instructions to the letter. If not, the task is rated as a failure meaning that both the interface design and associated documentation will require modification;The moderator must also track close calls. For example, a participant might initially perform the steps out of order, discover the mistake, and recover by following the proper sequence. The FDA considers this a near miss, and the moderator must report it as such;The moderator must also assess the participant’s knowledge. Does she believe that she has followed the proper sequence? Is this belief accurate?2. Next-Release SyndromeOne factor in the failure to acknowledge complexity is a fix-it-later mindset we call next-release syndrome. Software bugs are not a problem because “we’ll fix that in the next release.” The emphasis on speed over quality and safety makes it all too easy to postpone solving the hard problems. Anyone involved in product design and development must tackle next-release syndrome. Two examples make the point: We discovered serious design flaws with a client’s healthcare tracking software. The company chose to release the software without addressing these problems. Not surprisingly, customers were unhappy.We conducted usability tests for a large credit union based in the U.S. The participants were seasoned financial advisers. Testing revealed serious design flaws including confusing status icons, buttons with an unclear purpose, and a nearly hidden link that prevented participants from displaying important data. Remember, if the user doesn’t see it, it’s not there. When we reported the findings, the response was: “We’ll fix that in the next release.” As expected, the web application was not well received. Responses from users included: “Why did you ask us to review the app if you had no intention of making changes?”Solution: Reject The Fix-It-Next-Time MentalityThe solution is to address serious design problems now. Sounds straightforward. But, how do you convince decision-makers to change the entrenched “fix-it-later” mindset? The key is to shift the conversation about achievement away from product delivery toward the value created. For example, teams that take the time to revise a design based on user research are likely to see better customer reactions and, over time, increased customer loyalty. Strengthen the case by using quantitative data to show decision-makers the direct connection between user research and increased revenue and a positive customer experience. Use data to connect research and design improvements to specific business goals (Large preview)Re-defining value is, in effect, a process improvement because it establishes a new set of priorities that better serve customers and your company’s long-term interests. As McKinsey reports in The Business Value of Design: “Top-quartile companies embrace the full user experience; they break down internal barriers among physical, digital, and service design.” 3. Insufficient Time For Design IterationsRelated to the next-release syndrome is insufficient time to iterate the design based on research findings or changing business requirements. “We don’t have time for that,” is the common refrain from developers and product owners. Designers working in Agile environments are frequently pressured to avoid “holding up” the development team. Development speeds along, and the software is released. We’ve all seen the results from confusing phone apps, to clunky medical records software, to the cumbersome user interface for financial advisers referenced above. Solution: Design SpikesOne solution comes from the coding world. In his article “Fitting Big-Picture UX Into Agile Development”, Damon Dimmick offers the idea of design spikes, “bubbles of time that allow designers to focus on complex UX issues.” They fit into the Scrum framework by temporarily taking the place of a regular sprint. Design iteration (Large preview)Design spikes offer several advantages: They allow UX teams to focus on holistic issues and avoid getting bogged down in granular design issues that are sometimes emphasized within a single sprint;They offer the opportunity to explore complex UX questions from a high level. If needed, the UX design team can also engage in design-centric thinking at any point in order to solve larger UX challenges;By adopting design spikes, UX teams can leverage the same flexibility that development teams use in the agile process and devote the time needed to focus on design issues that don’t always fit well into a standard scrum sprint;Development unlikely to be affected by design decisions can proceed.Naturally, design iterations often affect certain parts of the code for a site, app, or software product. For this reason, during design spikes any code that will likely be affected by the design spike cannot move forward. But, as Dimmick clearly states, this “delay” will likely save time by avoiding re-work. It simply does not make sense to write code now and then re-write it a few weeks later after the team has agreed on a revised design. In short, postponing some coding actually saves time and budget. 4. Relying Too Heavily On VendorsAddressing complexity, resisting next-release syndrome, and allowing time for iteration are essential to an effective design process. For many firms, another consideration is their relationship with software vendors. These vendors play an important, even critical, role in development. Yet, granting them too much leverage makes it difficult to control your own product. Outsourcing to software vendors (Large preview)Certainly, we should treat colleagues and vendors with respect and make reasonable requests. That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s necessary to surrender all leverage as happened during my tenure at a large finance firm. While working at this firm as a UX designer, I frequently encountered this dynamic: Manager: “Hey, Eric can you evaluate this claims software that we’re planning to buy? We just want to make sure it works as intended.” Me: “Sure, I’ll send you my preliminary findings by the end of the week.” Manager: “Great”The following week: Manager: “Thanks for the review. I see that you found three serious issues: Hard to find the number for an existing claim, screens with too much text that are hard to read, and the difficulty of returning to a previous screen when processing a new claim. That is concerning. Do you think those issues will hinder productivity?” Me: “Yes, I think these issues will increase stress and processing time in the Claims Center. I’m quite concerned because my previous work with Janet’s team demonstrated that the Claims Center reps are already highly stressed.” Manager: “Really good to know. I just sent the check. I’ll ask the vendor to fix the problems before they ship.” Me (screaming inside): “Noooooooooooooo!”This well-intentioned manager did precisely the wrong thing. He asked for changes after sending the check. No surprise that the vendor never made the requested changes. Why would they? They had their money. Not only did this scenario play out repeatedly at that company, but I’ve witnessed it throughout my UX career. SolutionThe solution is clear. If the vendor product does not meet customer and business needs, and the changes you request are within scope, don’t pay until the vendor makes the changes. It really is that simple. ConclusionIn this piece, we’ve identified four common barriers to quality design and corresponding solutions: Complex regulations and standards The solution is to acknowledge and address complexity by devising realistic timelines and sufficient budget for research and iterative design.Shipping software with bugs with a promise to fix them later The solution is to avoid next-release syndrome and address serious problems now. Persuade decision-makers by re-defining the meaning of value within your organization.Insufficient time for design iterations The solution is to include design spikes in the agile development process. These bubbles of time temporarily take the place of a sprint and allow designers to focus on complex UX issues.Relying too heavily on vendors The solution is to retain leverage by withholding final payment until the vendor makes requested changes as long as these changes are within the original project scope.The fourth solution is straightforward. While the first three are not easy, they are concrete because they can be applied directly to existing design processes. Their implementation does not require a massive reorganization or millions of dollars. It simply requires commitment to delivering a better experience. (ah, il)

#Smashing Magazine

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