#my thing is. why would it be a translation error if there are multiple native speakers on set and one of them is part of the conversation…..

[baberoe-archive]

rewatching bastogne really glad to know the comment vous appelez vous to d’où viens tu pipeline still hits

[melishade]

Well, now only one of Megatron's allies is left without a show. So if you can ask what if Predaking was a Attack on Prime. There would then be a set of three faction leaders, and Hange would go crazy at the sight of him. Sorry for translation errors. English is not my native language

This is a unique case, and this is mainly because of Predaking's overall character and character story in Transformers Prime.

I've discussed this with a few people, but Predaking really did get the short end of the stick in the show. A great parallel to him would be the monster Victor Frankenstein created. He was created for war, and because someone wanted to defy the very nature of god. He was constantly feared, lied to, betrayed, abused, ridiculed, you name it. And this all happens in the span of months after Predaking is born.

Predaking desires one thing: to lead more like him. To be amongst his own kind. To be respected and not be treated like some animal. His serving Megatron and helping him conquer before Megatron decided to double cross him, was no doubt a way of Predaking showing loyalty and gratitude for life and kinship with his own kind. So to hear that all three were apparently killed in RID2015 by Starscream is such bullshit though.

Would Predaking have turned good in the show if given the opportunity? I think he would, but it really just depends on who's showing him respect and treating him like an equal. Also, based on what we've seen with Predaking, he is someone who values honor as well. I just don't think Predaking would be evil for the sake of being evil. There are multiple factors to this. @emperor-kumquat explores this well with the TF Mercy game-story line, which explores the different paths Predaking could take: good, evil, or neutral, post TFP. It's a very interesting concept. Go check it out.

So knowing this, Predaking's place in Attack on Prime would be conflicting overall. He could probably leave with Darksteel and Skylynx to find a place to call home, or maybe he just refuses to be on a world of Autobots and goes alone. Or maybe Darksteel and Skylnyx are the ones killed off, leaving Predaking devastated. If he were to arrive on AOT, I don't think he would side with anyone. He's not going to side with Paradis because Megatron's right there. If anything, Predaking would try to kill Megatron for what he did to the Predacons on Earth. And he still blames Optimus for that too, because the Autobots ultimately did throw that grenade. Predaking would probably go after Optimus next. Would Predaking kill Optimus? Maybe. He's obviously not going to side with Marley because of the literal oppression of the Eldian people that reminds him of the abuse that he's endured.

...he could actually...he could serve as a third party. With Hizuru. Instead of Predaking going to Paradis or Marley, he hides out in Hizuru after sniffing out an energon deposit on their land. The locals spot him in predacon mode, and instead of running away in fear, they begin to worship him. Predaking finds offerings left for him by the energon deposit he's act. Confused by it, and the humans. Sure, the worship is doing wonders for his ego and pride, but he just doesn't get why they're worshiping him.

Besides Hizuru aligned themselves with Eldia in the past, I'd like to think that they kept their culture and traditions, instead of having it trampled and wiped out. And Predaking's form, which is reminiscent of a dragon, has the locals thinking that he's a god of their lands.

This does get wind to Ambassador Kiyomi and a new OC that I alluded to before hand via word of mouth from Kiyomi, Emperor Taisho. He orders Kiyomi to go to Predaking's location with some armed men. When they arrive, Predaking, in his beast mode, sees the weapons and immediately gets angry. He's screeching and acting intimidating, but doesn't attack. That's key here. They are all scared, and Kiyomi trying to figure out why, since Predaking didn't attack the local and let them leaves gifts. She puts two and two together and tells everyone to drop their weapons immediately. They are extremely reluctant given the situation, but Kiyomi is steadfast in her decision. They all do, and Predaking calms down, but is still growling at them.

"Apologies, mighty one." Kiyomi bowed, "We mean no disrespect. My name is Kiyomi Azumabito: head of the Azumabito Clan and ambassador to Hizuru. It is an honor to meet someone as great as yourself."

The dragon had stopped growling at them, but still raised it's head, looking down at them with contempt. Kiyomi raised her head and continued. "Many around the area believe that you are a god of our ancestors, great and powerful. They leave you offerings as a sign of respect."

The dragon tilted its head at that, and Kiyomi noticed the dragon's gaze turning to the small pile of offerings at the mouth of the cave it resided in.

"But...I know that you are not a god," Kiyomi proclaimed. The soldiers snapped their heads at Kiyomi, staring at her in horror. Did...did she just offend a dragon?!

"Ambassador!" one of them warned in anger and fear, but the dragon...didn't seem offended by Kiyomi's proclamation. In fact, it...snorted at the comment before sitting down on the ground, its front claws crossed together.

"I might not know the exact name for your specific species, but I have seen for myself some of those like you on Paradis," Kiyomi explained, "The scales mimic the metal that they are covered in. And so few mighty beings are capable of flight on this world of ours. And the locals say, that you have been hording glowing, blue, rocks, which your kind calls...energon."

The dragon's brow perk up at the word, almost surprised that Kiyomi would know such a phrase.

"You might not be one of the gods Hizuru treasures so greatly, but I know that you are a mighty being from beyond the stars, called a 'Cybertronian'." Kiyomi declared with a smirk, "So, mighty one, would you please care to reveal your actual form so that we may have a proper discussion of the implications of you being on our land bring?"

The dragon...seemed amused at Kiyomi's question, and Kiyomi prepared for the worse, but the dragon...suddenly began to change. Its body twisted and morphed, its elongated body turned into a human like one. Its claws turned into razor sharp hands and feet. Its wings were tucked behind its back. And its face changed into a human-like one, with horns poking out of its head like a crown.

"I could have eliminated you from the face of this world, little human," the dragon spoke with an accent, "But as of this moment, I see no need to. However, I do not appreciate weapons being brought into my domain."

"You are on Hizuru soil," Kiyomi reminded, "If anything, you trespass on our lands and bring us a great deal of trouble."

"I seem to bring a great deal of trouble to everyone around me because everyone fears what they do not understand," the dragon said, "This is quite the most relaxed I have been. I would prefer to be left alone, and I have the resources that I need. Leave now, and consider this conversation done."

"You do not seem to mind the offerings brought to your door." Kiyomi gestured to the small pile.

"I do not know what they are, and I have no need for any of them," the dragon explained, "I only allow it because these locals do not attack me or threaten me."

"Yes, because they believe you are a god of Hizuru legend," Kiyomi explained, "But that is not what the humans outside of are country will see you as. They will see you as a monster, a demon, a beast that must be struck down and stripped of its parts. The very components that make you your biology, is something so enriching and valuable it would bring great power to those who hold it."

"I doubt humans like you are capable of going against my might," the dragon declared.

"Maybe, but what about titans?" Kiyomi challenged.

The dragon was...perplexed at this question. "Titans?"

"Titans are very powerful and monstrous being," Kiyomi explained, "Many of them feast on humans, but only nine of them hold very rare and powerful abilities that could even go up against someone like you. A country called Marley has taken the resources that you feast on, and made these titans even more dangerous than before. They cause harm to millions of us humans around this world, and may very well become a threat to you, once they become aware of your existence."

"Then perhaps I have no need for this planet, and will continue my search for a new haven elsewhere," The dragon declared.

"You could, but I can only imagine how long that you take," Kiyomi sighed in defeat.

"You seem to underestimate my might, human," the dragon snarled.

"Oh, I would never," Kiyomi feigned innocence, "But how long did it take for you to find this world: a world full of substantial resources you could horde all to yourself, and a population that adores the ground that you walk on? And how long would it take for you to find the next one? Before something dreadful happens to you in that vast unknown?"

The dragon seemed to be considering Kiyomi's queries while everyone else grew tense. "A fair argument; however, I am not privy to the ways of humans. And I do not trust your kind, or anyone else for the matter."

Kiyomi noticed the bitter, angered, and pained expression in the dragon's eyes. "Because you yourself have been betrayed by someone you have trusted. Haven't you?"

"...perhaps," the dragon replied, "My past does not concern you."

"Then instead, we can work together towards a brighter future for the both of us. One where you are fed, protected, and worshipped, and one where we grow stronger to protect our motherland together."

The dragon contemplated this offer for a brief moment. "I will...consider."

"Thank you for this audience...," Kiyomi trailed off, "If I may ask, what is your name?"

"I have called myself Predaking," he introduced.

"A king with no subjects," Kiyomi mused, "How odd."

"Do not press your luck, Azumabito," Predaking warned, before transforming back into beast mode and retreating to his cave.

(You will learn more about the Emperor and Hizuru, in the Hizuru OVA coming out on March 19th. And once that is released, I will answer more questions that come into my inbox about this topic.)

[elaphh]

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[andmaybegayer]

The cultural positioning of typewriters, or: I promise I’m not corporatecore come back it’s fine.

I got a typewriter! If you want a documentary breakdown of that you should read this post, but this is going to be about what typewriters were used for back in the 20th century and how utterly batshit the entire ecosystem there was.

Typewriters were used by three main groups of people: journalists, authors, and secretaries. I don’t really care much about the first two, because while they used typewriters, their job was not typewriting. Typewriters were popular for journalists and authors because typewritten drafts and manuscripts were easier for editors and typesetters (and indeed, legibility is a big reason for the adoption of the typewriter in all parts of the world) but typing is not what journalists and authors do. Authors compose and edit, and journalists research and write, but only secretaries type.

(I read an interesting paper about this three-way split, you can read it here)

In the 1800′s, secretary was a job given to a strapping young man with a bright future in business so that he could learn the trade, but after some wars and other social pressures that reduced the supply of male secretaries, and a convenient confluence of women learning the skill of typewriting, the female secretary became a thing. Suffrage movements were pretty happy about this for a while: Women in the office! How progressive! Of course, the role of secretary very quickly stopped having a progression path to management, and it picked up all the usual misogynistic stereotypes that you probably know today.

If you’re over 45 you probably know what the job of secretary used to look like, but for those of you who aren’t, for most of the 1900′s secretary was a job that revolved around typing letters, missives and notes in a legible and consistent format. This is important, because the alternative sucks shit. If you were mid level manager Johnson Q. Goodfellow at the Racism Company, and you needed to tell the Racism Factory that they needed to produce 400 more units of Racism this week, you could try calling up the manager at the factory and telling him this. Unfortunately, there’s all manner of things that could go wrong here. He might misinterpret you saying “produce 400 more” as “produce 400 only”, in which case you might have a Racism shortage. Or he might mishear entirely and produce only four more, if your accent is particularly bad.

Instead, Johnson Q. Goodfellow could get a secretary to create a missive (in quadruplicate, using carbon paper) and get the 17 year old who hangs around your lobby to courier two copies out of town to the Racism Factory, and you can keep two copies for your own records. Very low chance for errors now, since either side can refer to their copies to find out what was intended. A secretary would also add dates and ensure all communication meets business standards.

(This is also why there’s no red telephone between Washington and Moscow. It used to be a teletype: a text transfer machine. Later, it was Fax, and nowadays it’s encrypted email and text chat. All text-based systems, written in the sender’s native language and translated on the other side to provide the lowest chance of a misunderstanding and high chance of being correctly recorded.)

How would that letter get written? If you were an audio or shorthand typist (a highly skilled profession requiring extensive training at a secretarial school) you would either be a personal secretary to a single executive or a high-ranking member of a secretarial pool. Either way, your manager would dictate a letter, and you would have to convert it into a typewritten document. Originally this would be done by a secretary capturing the speech in real time in shorthand, and later it would be captured on a microcasette and transcribed with the assistance of a dictation machine. On the other hand, a simple copy typist can only work in the secretarial pool, and you would get a hand-written draft from a manager, likely one too low-level to have his own secretary or even his own microcasette recorder. This would possibly be sent back for checking, either by the manager or by your superior, and then all copies would be sent wherever they were needed. The jobs are otherwise similar, apart from a lack of real progression for copy typists.

(A good pop-media example of shorthand typing is the “speed test” song from the musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”, a rendition of which I will link here. It’s also a treasure trove of the kind of ridiculous stereotypes that existed around the secretarial profession, as a musical made in the 60′s about the 20′s. Millie is a fawning social-ladder-climber who gets her job explicitly to someday marry her boss, who is a self-absorbed dipshit. I was a stagehand on my high school’s production of this, so I know the whole thing from memory. Please send help.)

Why don’t the managers type their own letters? Well, partially because of the weird skill split on typing: typing was a woman’s skill back then, many men would not even know how to type, and those that did may be extremely slow hunt and peck typists who would make many errors and produce uneven, sub-par manuscripts. Secretary was kind of considered a fallback profession in some cases: schools taught it to girls the same way woodwork was taught to boys. You don’t necessarily want to become a carpenter/secretary, but if you can’t find a decent company job/suitable husband, the skill can support you until you track one down or die. Man, the 20′s-70′s were insane.

There’s some interesting status stuff to talk about here. If you’ve ever seen an old movie where a rich dude takes out a tape recorder and makes a note to himself, that’s the movie’s way of telling you that this guy is powerful enough to have a personal secretary. It implies that later he’s going to put that in an envelope and leave it on someone’s desk and the next day when he comes in, any reminders he made will be on his calendar and any notes will have been typed out in full.

Secretaries type as a profession. The speed expected of an acceptable secretary is a sustained 70 words per minute, which is about what I can do in an extended session. A good secretary could easily surpass 100, and there’s an old navy typist training video of the fastest typewriter typist in the world reaching 180 wpm on demand, and since correction on typewriters is tedious, your accuracy was expected to be near on 100%. On old manual typewriters the skill of keeping all letters even was an additional challenge, since you provided the mechanical force for the type bars. Electric typewriters, like the one I have solve this problem, but it’s still a complicated skill.

Before the invention of the typewriter, the only way to produce clear, reliably text was typesetting. Typesetting is of course, a noble profession, but not something you can easily do in the office on a whim, and wholly unsuitable for one-time messages. Standardized writing in the office reduces the chance of errors and improves your ability to find out who’s to blame when something goes wrong.

Nowadays secretary is not really a job that exists anymore? You mostly hire Executive Assistants and groups of lower managers share a single Executive Assistant rather than accessing a pool of secretaries. Typing is also no longer the name of the game, instead it focuses on maintaining schedules, synthesis of letters from prompts from your manager, and serving as a gatekeeper for mail and meetings. The name has changed because the job has changed, describing an executive assistant as a secretary would be like referring to the blades of a combine harvester as a scythe. That’s not to say secretaries don’t or can’t type, they are still often the most skilled typists in an office (I have seen multiple photos of macbooks with the coating worn clean off their keys by a legal secretary or medical scribe) but most executives are now capable of performing an adequate job of typing and editing on a computer.

If you wish to do some further reading, interesting resources I found while doing some research that I haven’t linked above for this include:

This quora answer from a woman who was a secretary in the 70′s

This series from an EE magazine about what it was like to work in a typing pool

[rpbetter]

Traditional Writing Advice & RP

I see a lot of people reblogging writing advice posts, and while it pleases me to see people trying to appreciate RP as writing, those pieces of advice don’t always translate from traditional writing to RP writing.

Following the advice for writing a traditional book manuscript you want to have published, you are going to run into some issues if you follow every point of it faithfully in an RP setting.

For one thing, this isn’t just your story, you’re telling it with another writer. In RP, our reading audience and our writing partners are the same. We have to create well-written, engaging stories that are also meant to be picked up by someone else and furthered. For another, even among the most writing proficient RPers, this is a more relaxed style of writing for a reason; we’re writing neither a paper to be graded nor a work to be published, we’re expressing creativity with other people. It can fall flat quickly, to your writing partners and to yourself, if you are writing in an extremely formal manner in RP.

Writing is one of the creative pursuits that has lent itself heavily to what I’m going to politely call snobbery, and that is part of the problem here. The RPC is rather filled with muns who are self-concious, devalue themselves and their work, and can be desperate for the approval of being A Real Writer. If you love writing and you do write, you’re a writer. No, that definitely doesn’t make you a good writer, but following rules not meant for you isn’t going to make you one either.

There is a wrong way to write, actually, there are hundreds of wrong ways to write that make me want to rip my own face off on the regular. The thing is, there is no one-size-fits-all correct way to write any more than there is such a standard in visual art. There are principles that one should know and follow, but your style might be neoclassical or modern or impressionist. Saying that, in my personal opinion, things falling under the heading of modern-style art is horrid, thus inherently wrong and not art, I’d be imposing my personal aesthetics instead of encouraging people to follow appropriate principles, run with their passion and skill, and make art that moves people who are not me. That’s important, in general, but it’s even more important when we’re talking about creative art as a hobby-as a legitimate passion project one isn’t obliged to devote themselves to.

That’s the way we need to be looking at writing as well. Not as an academic and absolute Right Way, but as an art form that has principles, and indeed, literal form. By insisting otherwise, we’ve damaged writing as a hobby and a profession, and it really shows in the RPC where you have a rather stark division of muns who, on the one side, are so ate up with bizarre concepts their professor threw out about never using “said,” forcing the ideology of their personal academic experience on others, and using traditional writing advice as Word of God to shame others and elevate themselves. On the other side, you have a ton of muns who just won’t even bother anymore, and why should they? They’re genuinely not up to par, but working on it means both a process of shaming and killing their own creative experience.

In saying all this, I want to be really clear here: I am in no way saying that shitty writing, an inability to follow basic grammatical principles, being unwilling to use the damn spellcheck that is standard everywhere, and having no concept of things like storytelling, characterization, and word flow is excusable or ideal. 

It isn’t. It’s a terribly destructive force in the RPC, and I’m not in the camp of excusing disinterest in learning, improving, and perfecting one’s hobby because it is an unpaid hobby. In my opinion, it’s part of the blight of the current RPC. However, the snobbery and inability to recognize that there is nuance to learning and writing situations has done nothing but worsen this issue.

So, that being said, some items that are 100% good to use traditionally and in RP include:

Grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

We’re not all native English speakers, and grammar is difficult anyway. It can also turn a story bland with expedience when too properly adhered to. Know the basic principles, but also, be asking yourself about both popular works of fiction and your own favorite works. Chances are, they do not strictly adhere to the rules. Experienced, naturally gifted, and learned writers all manipulate those rules to work for their stories, characters, world-building, and so on. It becomes a personalized writing style, and it’s alright if it takes you some practice to find yours.

Just remember, grammar exists for a reason. Removing or mutating too much will leave you with a difficult to read and understand mess that isn’t a style, just a fucking mess.

If you struggle with grammar, the best way to help yourself is to practice. Additionally, seeing what errors you are making can be quite helpful; Grammarly offers a free add on for both Google Chrome and FireFox that will show you spelling and grammar mistakes. It also explains the mistake, while offering you a suggested fix. This way, you can see the mistakes you’re making in action. {Presumably, there are other such resources, but since I have no experience with them, I’m not the one to recommend them.}

As I said above, spellcheckers are standard now, in fucking 2021. This has been standard on devices and browsers for so long that I highly doubt most people on tumblr even remember a time when you had to use additional software to have them.

You make a mistake or misspell, and if it isn’t corrected for you, it’s underlined very obviously for you to tap/click/float over to correct. If the word is so terribly misspelled that no suggestion comes up {not all spellcheckers are created equality; some do not recognize slang or relaxed spellings, archaic word use, myriad, particularly specialized jargon-legal, medical, technical-and so on}, we also live in a time period where we can highlight the word, right-click that bitch, and select from the menu the option to search for the word. If the word was so weirdly misspelled that your checker couldn’t figure it out, it is incredibly rare that Google doesn’t throw out the correct spelling when you search it. If the spelling was correct, but the word-use is slang, jargon, or archaic, Google is also going to tell you that-you’ve confirmed it is correct, and can now decide if you want to use it or pick a possible synonym for it instead.

There is no fucking excuse for egregiously misspelled words anymore. None. I mean...listen, I spell quite terribly myself, but no one reading my RP replies is ever going to know that fact. Having difficulty with spelling is not, and has not been for a very long time now, an impediment to writing.

Furthermore, we all miss a typo here and there, especially if we write lengthy novella. Those aren’t always going to be caught by spellcheck, and we might edit the reply five times without seeing it. That happens, it’s alright when it’s minimal! Anything other than that, though, it’s just a combination of rushing and laziness. You really couldn’t be assed to take your time with that reply, read it over at least once before posting, and/or to click the underlined word.

There. Is. No. Excuse.

Again, not all spellcheckers are the same. If you feel like yours is lacking, try an extension for your browser. Since I said it above, I obviously have Grammarly on my mine. My replies effectively go through three different checkers, actually. I write all drafts outside of my browser where it is initially checked by Pages, then, when I paste it into tumblr, it’s being checked natively and by Grammarly. It wasn’t my intention, I just wanted to be positive I was never losing a draft or cooking my ancient laptop with Google Docs. However, it’s been nice as hell to get the perspective of multiple checkers, and as such, I definitely recommend it. It isn’t like I’m putting any extra effort into this, and I’m not paying for Grammarly, either.

When you refuse to behoove yourselves of the spellchecker natively available to you, at least, you’re seriously telling your writing partners that they were not important enough for you to click a fucking word. It’s inexcusable.

Punctuation being nonexistent isn’t a writing style or aesthetic, neither is a refusal to capitalize anything. If never using a comma is part of your Aesthetic™, please, rethink your fucking life and the hobby you’ve chosen.

Punctuation is a part of grammar, and I understand that there can be complexities present that might be confusing. That is one of the reasons why you should bother to know the basics as regards when and how to use punctuation. It’s also another way in which telling people that they should adhere to advice meant for traditional and academic writing can be a shit idea. Especially in an RPC known to misunderstand shit and go overboard.

When you tell the RPC that writers use too many commas, the RPC stops using them all around. Especially, when you also attach this to the idea of evil “wordiness.” That’s something that the RPC is desperate to avoid anyway, as the majority of people here are allergic to reading and writing; anything you advise that lessens the word count for them is going to be grabbed and erroneously applied. Someone implies that wordiness and commas equals run-on sentences, and the RPC gets not only believes it, it gets this message, “if I take out the commas, it isn’t a run-on sentence.”

You have all fundamentally misunderstood what a god damned run-on sentence is. It’s not a long sentence, it isn’t a proliferation of commas. A run-on sentence is when two, or more, sentences that should be individual are conjoined without proper punctuation {a fucking comma, for example} or a coordinating conjunction.

Run-ons can be surprisingly short, in fact. As in the example I lifted from here, “I love to write papers I would write one every day if I had the time.“

That should be written with a comma, separated into two sentences, or broken with a comma and the conjunction “and.” It’s also what I see incessantly on my dash from this bizarre idea that we shouldn’t be using commas. That a run-on sentence is a very long one separated only by commas. That is literally not what a run-on sentence is.

You absolutely can use too many commas {if you want to read some examples of how to use commas, go here}, but I rarely see anyone doing so to such an extreme. The extreme being that a sentence becomes a nonsensical string of conjoined thoughts, ideas, and descriptions that could have been written better broken up into fully formed sentences. I sometimes see muns who go a little nuts with commas by putting them in wildly incorrect places in this way.

What I see constantly is either muns berating themselves for perfectly normal, readable sentence structure or muns reactively using no punctuation at all.

It is all legitimate run-on sentences or those made so short and blunt that they become nonsensical, change the tone of the writing, or have no flow together.

Which brings me to...

Sentence flow is a thing, and you should be doing it.

Unfortunately, this good writing advice tends to throw people. We’re not talking about the flow that needs to be present in academic sentence structure, or exactly the flow that is present in poetry. Though it may require practice to understand and apply well, it’s an incredibly simple concept.

You want to balance out shorter, blunter sentences with those that are longer and more flowing. It gives the text a pleasant, natural rhythm. However, it isn’t just about length, a thing that the RPC is weirdly fixated on. Rather, it’s about word use within those sentences as well.

It’s always important to write with a tone that works with your scene and, overall, with your muse. For example, in a tense, aggressive scene, or with a muse who is generally this way, it gets the message across to use short sentences and clipped words. We can feel the tension, annoyance, and threat.

Furthermore, the way your muse thinks about and uses words is relevant. A well-educated muse from the 1800′s isn’t going to have the same approach to words that a modern-day high school student does. You should be making that clear in the way they speak, but also, in the way you express their thoughts and actions. If you are only writing your muse’s personality and emotional tone when your muse is speaking, you’re not giving me the tone all the way through. It can feel like a marked delineation in flow.

However, you should be considering the overall flow of your writing as well. Did you just lay down back-to-back eloquently verbose sentences? If so, you may want to either follow them up or space them with a shorter sentence comprised of simpler words.

This is legitimately good writing advice for any manner of writing.

So is...

Show, don’t tell.

Which is another piece of advice that throws people when they try to make it more complex than necessary. That, and it grates up against the RPC’s need for short, quick writing. The idea that anything a mun gives you that your muse cannot react to verbally or with action is filler to be avoided. That idea comes from some principle advice that translates badly to RP; essentially, don’t wax poetic for three pages when it has nothing to do with the plot, characters, scene-setting elements, action, and so on. Don’t be Tolkien describing every tree and rock in excruciating detail on the way to destroy the One Ring, basically.

That isn’t fully appropriate advice in RP, where we’re having to write tiny chapters to each other to add onto. While it still has some merit, the RPC definitely has taken it to mean that you shouldn’t show anything. My muse’s private thoughts, emotions expressed and unexpressed, stirred-up memories, things they planned to say/do, but that were naturally interrupted by the flow of the thread all become Unnecessary. With...no mind to what they are showing and creating.

This particularly erodes writing muses as legitimate feeling people. As in the last example of what my muse intended to say or do that was interrupted. That’s a normal, human experience. It would be difficult and not enjoyable to read every instance of a muse’s broken thoughts and impulses or intentions, but giving one every so many replies in a natural feeling way keeps my muse presenting as a real person having a real person’s experience. Simple things like this go a long way toward your muse being “believable,” and by ignoring them or refusing to do them, you’re not making your muse very realistic. So much of the human experience is private, unknowable to outside parties.

Look...if you only knew me based upon a sterilized version of what I was saying to you or doing purely within the context of single interaction at a time, you wouldn’t know me at all. You’d have no idea what sort of nuance there is in my words, how I am expressing or withholding an opinion or emotion. I may not have any opinions, emotions, or other experiences that you are not contributing to. That’s very unrealistic, I’m not actually a person anymore. I haven’t any personality, I didn’t exist before you interacted with me.

That is the way it is with muses too. By stripping them of their internal experiences, we’re stripping them of more realistic feeling characterization. {It becomes, or adds to, a disastrous domino-effect of projected, cardboard stand-in style muses that are in no way a joy to interact with.} This is bad writing, makes for bad reading and interacting.

No one seems to understand show, don’t tell. Let me put it in a simple example: don’t tell me your muse is a good person, show me. Don’t tell me your muse is upset right now, show me.

Your muse has character traits you feel makes them A Good Person. They are compassionate, selfless, and genuinely interested in others. Don’t just leave that in the muse’s bio, or relegate it to statement-style lines like, “she cared deeply about others.” Show me these traits in action and thought. You don’t require anything dramatic to it, either. A muse like this should be a good listener, proceed with their love language in a way reflects personal involvement and a desire to comfort, be willing to sacrifice time and personal interests {don’t keep it to dramatic and literal self-sacrifice to show “selfless”}, legitimately doesn’t think of themselves first and foremost and may need reminding to care for themselves, and will be troubled by unfairness and cruelty in the world.

Your muse has been in a disagreement with a loved one, they’re not just “upset,” they are sad, angry, disappointed, and maybe even confused or surprised. While those are more descriptive and defining of the type of complex “upset” going on here, don’t leave it at these words. Don’t tell me that she said, angrily. Show me that she is having thoughts based on these emotions, actual emotional turmoil at her expectations of a loved one being devastated. Paint me a picture of the sadness in her features, the anger in her walk, how her words come out unpolished and jumbled in her surprise and turmoil.

This is what it means to show me, not tell me.

It also extends to scenes and recollections.

If your muse is happy sitting in her garden, don’t just tell me this. Show me why she is happy there, and define the sort of happiness in her thoughts, body language, voice, and expressions. Describe the aspects of the garden in tones of the happiness they bring, draw comparisons between this and her outward expression of joy with similar word use. It ties together both seamlessly in a way that we can relate to and feel, even if we hate the outdoors.

If this muse had a traumatic incident in her past, this is going to inconveniently come up, even if only in her mind. Don’t play coy about it and drop shit on your partners like, “she was thinking of things and stuff that was bad again.” No. Even if you are alluding or otherwise keeping the actual event secretive, you need to be describing how the muse is feeling, how she is experiencing the world around her through an overlay of upsetting reminders. Show me how she is having a visceral reaction to triggering stimuli while having to keep working or talking.

Additionally, even when your muse isn’t experiencing the scene you have set directly, you should show me instead of telling me about it.

Since my actual least favorite PSA on how it’s better to just tell people because no one wants to read “all that” deals with rain, we’re going to as well. Because it doesn’t have to be excessively descriptive to fucking show me it’s raining or has rained instead of just stating the fact.

Not, “it was raining.” Not, “it was wet outside.”

“In between her words, the distant, wall-dampened splash of cars driving through puddles.”

“He passed by windows beaded with moisture on his way to the kitchen.”

Wow, that was so complex, really a lot to read to get the idea that it is, or has been, raining outside without me directly telling you this!

There isn’t anything wrong with being more descriptive than this {nor is there anything wrong with using the word “rain,” so long as you’re backing it up with a description}, some of us do like to read and write about things like oil-slicked puddles in the street if our muse is seeing them or it is otherwise relevant. It’s just that you don’t have to do this, or have to do it at all times, to show instead of tell. This is yet another serious misunderstanding.

It isn’t that the description is often really that excessive, it’s more often that it is irrelevant to the extreme of sticking out weirdly. In the puddle thing, if my muse isn’t seeing it and/or I am not using that description to further experience, their mindset, personality, or tying it to an analogy later in the reply, it feels weird.

Some superfluous shit isn’t bad either, and superfluous can be purely subjective. It is, again, when it is to such an extreme as to leave your writing partner feeling oddly about a point in the text that seemed to ring with importance, but then held none. That isn’t an act of showing or telling, and neither is it your partner trying to show off as a gifted writer. For whatever reason, they just saw or felt that moment with such passionate clarity they had to include it immediately instead of waiting until a better moment for it. That’s literally it, there’s no need to project your insecurity in weird ass ways.

There are definitely other pieces of traditional-based writing advice that are great and either do transfer to RP perfectly or can with small amendments, but these are the most basic, commonly seen, and important combinations. They are also easy to better understand and apply!

When reading writing advice posts, please, ask yourself how they fit into RP. If they do at all. Many times, when it comes to the absolute basics of writing coherently and enjoyably, or developing characters, they’re great. It’s when they get into topics of some nuance that they don’t cross over so well and are outright damaging.

These pieces of advice are often being misunderstood or misapplied already, then are being passed around to a community notorious for its lacking application of critical thinking. Severe misunderstanding will happen, and terrible writing “rules” within the RPC develop from them.

Do be interested in writing, don’t separate traditional writing and RP writing into categories like “real writing and RP,” be invested in learning and improving. Just ask yourself how it applies to cooperative storytelling that is often thematic in nature, and proceed with caution and the mindset that writing is an art.

If you have the principles down and both yourself and others are enjoying your writing, you’re not doing it in an inherently wrong way because it wouldn’t be published. You’re not writing RP to have it published, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s just a difference to keep in mind when reading PSA’s about the Rules of Writing Whatever. 

[punknerdmusings]

I've always wanted to be multilingual and being semi-fluent in German along with English is actually making Japanese easier as well because 1) I understand the 'whys' of grammar and how the parts of speech fit together better because of German and 2) because of the former, I can actually make connections to why a translation I do myself is incorrect and I actually know how to use Google Translate as a tool and not a crutch.

Like, I was messing around and trying to translate the sentence 'I can write in Japanese.' I know the verb 'to write', I know 'Japanese', I have a rough grasp on the grammar. It shouldn't be too hard, right?

So I come up with the following: 日本語に書きます。(Nihongo de kakimasu.) I go to Google Translate for that 'に' bit, it's called a postposition and indicates the part of speech. I'm a bit unsure which to use for what because Japanese has a couple I've never even heard of! (Another plus to learning multiple languages: Has you ever heard of the genitive case? I hadn't either, until I took German.)

Google Translate spits out 日本語で書ける。So I make a mental note of the proper postposition, called the 'locative marker' from one source I have, and then notice how the verb is translated differently. I compare with the grammar I looked up and as far as I know, I've done it right. So where does the discrepancy come in?

If Japanese was my second language, I'd probably give up on trying to find the answer quite yet and accept that I would learn later down the road. But it's not my second language, it's my third. And so I fiddle a bit. I swap the translation direction and try out my homebrew translation. And it changes, from broken 'I can write in Japanese' to broken 'I write in Japanese'. And it clicks! 'Can' is changing the verb because of grammar rules I have yet to encounter.

And the reason German helped me realize this is not because they do the same thing, but simply because they do it differently than English. In English, as we've covered, it's written as 'I can write in Japanese'. But in German, it's 'Ich kann auf Japanisch schreiben.' Literally, 'I can in Japanese write'.

The grammar is different, yes. But understanding on a deeper level how different grammar structures work, and not just academically knowing that different languages have their own grammar, helped me connect the dots in a way I know I never would have as a completely monolingual English speaker. There's a lot of things in grammar that we learn through trial and error, things with names and rules behind them that are never explained to a native English speaker. Things like articles and the different cases, even sentence order is never really touched upon. I remembered doing for maybe a few weeks in seventh or eighth grade and no English class even mentioned it again, but sure, let's go over spelling words in senior year. Conjugation and the different tenses? You already know them!

Anyways, the takeaway is go learn some languages. They'll teach you things about not just their language but about yours too.

[lenguaepro1]

5 Tips to Choose the Best Translation Services | LenguaePro

Want to reach out to more customers but don’t know how?

Think there would be more customers but don’t speak the language?

Surviving in this gen z generation is a hit if you opt for translationa services. The world is globalizing, so does your business need to be.

In a multilingual society, organizations need business materials in a range of different languages to ensure they’re talking the right language to their customers, quite literally.

What’s a Translational Service?

For making your business run and get international recognition, you need to introduce translational services to your ring. Not only does it provide you international coverage but also clients and customers to invest into your business.

With high quality translators your customers can focus on the meaning of your content rather than just the words.

Business Documents, Marketing Materials, Website Content, Instructions leaflet and a lot more, needs translational services to improve and showcase their services to their potential customers.

LenguaePro, is a highly experienced translation and interpretation provider that offers quality service and has an excellent structure to serve every job precisely and fast . We provide services to clients of all sizes and segments. We provide Professional Translation in Connecticut, trust our translators and watch your business grow to the heights with Certified Translation Services in Connecticut only at LenguaePro.

Why LenguaePro?

Translators can be hit or miss, and it’s hard for someone who’s not native in a language to really tell the difference.

Our translators are native speakers that have a real passion for finding the right words and phrases that really capture your meaning in the target language and Certified Translation Services in Connecticut.

They don’t rest until they’re sure that their prose matches what you’ve said, not word for word, but meaning for meaning.

Offered in multiple languages such as English, Spanish, Portugese, German, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Arabic, Mandarin and French.

LenguaePro translation services help you to carry out all kinds of multilingual activities that you may have been struggling with before, such as research, document translation and blog localization.

Even the trickier things like creating instruction booklets in different languages are made easier with our native translators.

LenguaePro translators work with documents in three different stages to make sure that translations are spot on.We now have Professional Translation in Connecticut, trust our translators and watch your business grow to the heights with Certified Translation Services in Connecticut.

From the initial translating to editing and proofreading, every step of the way is designed to make sure that your translation is finely tuned and really communicates your key messages to your customers effectively.

How to choose a Translational Services?

Whether a company is reliable or credible?

Do they care about my needs?

Purchasing a translation service can sometimes be a source of irritation. You may ask yourself, what needs to be translated?

An experienced translator should know which is the relevant section of the document that should be translated.

Haphazard tone, loss of text’s style, poor diction, superficial or too literal- it’s too easy to subpart a quality translation.

A good translation carries the spirit of the text without slavishly following it to the letter. It captures the voice and music of the source text and replicates them in the translation drawing on all the resources of the target language. A good translation exudes empathy, it conveys what is written between the lines. A righteous translation elicits the same emotional response as the source does, it doesn’t colonise the work but preserves the beauty and joy without resorting to weird foreignisation.

Points to Remember

Check the Expert’s Capabilities: While choosing your translational service it’s very important to determine the capabilities your translator holds. An ethical translator should be able to resolve the tension between meaning and music and that of being source-text oriented and target-reader oriented. Excellent control over the language and presentation is the strongest ability to bring your customers to your platform.

Always remember that a good translation is eye-catching, and sings it’s own music to reach out the customer’s ears.

Number of Languages: Before choosing any translational service you should definitely have an idea of how many languages it can work on, including if your business is benefited by those languages or not.

It is way more favourable to choose a translational service with multiple language translators rather than moving to one on one service language.

Cultural Awareness: There’s a reason why most of the companies prefer local translators; local influences vocal.

Local translators carry connectivity with their translations. Like LenguaePro is Professional Translation in Connecticut, which connects people of Connecticut to give their content a local touch. A remarkable translator should know the core of their task, what is going to leave an effect and what not.

Short turnaround time: Companies with no value of time couldn’t be an inclination for your business. Avoid coming in contact with the companies who don’t have a deadline to meet, otherwise you’ll be left out with excuses they deliver every time you’ll ask for your result.

Along with the deadlines, never compromise with the quality of your content. Look for those companies which offer quick turnarounds of translation projects with no compromise with quality.

Price and rate Analysis: Never settle for those translational companies who make price their selling point. Most of the companies showcase lower quotes but deliver some low-grade content work.

On the contrary, there are companies who quote extremely high pricing and deliver the same low-grade content. You need to shortlist a few agencies and inquire about their rates before choosing one so that you get the right value for money.

Lenguaepro’s Working Process

Our bilingual translators are able to carry out work like multilingual research, document translation and even blog or website localization.

In a three step process, we ensure world perfect translations for your business with just the right meaning. We have Professional Translation in Connecticut.

We take your content, translate it, then edit and proof-read too.

No embarrassing errors.

Quality service.

Punctuality and privacy are LenguaePro’s values on each project.

Fluency and suitability to the target language.

We have a highly qualified team performing the services. Moreover we use the main technologies available that help to keep the quality and the consistency of the terminology used by the company. Everything for a competitive price.

Quality, punctuality and privacy are LenguaePro’s values on each project. We are acknowledged for translating texts of different sizes with fluency and suitability to the target language.

Our sales team negotiates price and delivery terms according to the client’s needs and the project features.

Conclusion

The task of choosing the right partner becomes easier when you know what you are looking for. A good translation is sensitive to the meaning, effects and intentions to the original but also the best ways to render them in the target language.

A translation that is indistinguishable from the original is definitely something to work forward with.

The most important thing to keep in mind is to assess your own goals and mission first. This includes asking questions concerning the markets you intend to target and the languages you plan to translate into.

[dramallamadingdang]

Before-bed replies. :)

For @emeraldfalconsims, @tamtam-go92, @scibirg, @didilysims, @penig, @ssatinn, @immerso-sims, and @fuzzyspork...

emeraldfalconsims replied to your link “ModTheSims - (Updated!) Mood Swing + Midlife Crisis”

Tbh, I looked at those and was immediately turned off by the terrible English in the popups. I wouldn't care if it was just the post itself, but I'm the kind of person who wants mods to fix the EAxis grammar errors, soooo...

I get you, but...Really, that's all easily fixable. One just needs to find and rewrite the text strings. I've done that often, especially when I used to use custom careers in my game, many of which included chance cards littered with badly-worded and grammatically-incorrect text written by obviously-not-native-English-speakers. This particular modder is obviously not a native English-speaker and obviously not fully fluent in the language, but I'm all kinds of tolerant when that's the case. With EA? Not so much, but even with them? We all make mistakes and typos from time to time that are missed in the editorial process, even when that process involves multiple people. Also, I'm well aware that my own grammar when yakking online and in forum/blog posts and things like that is far from perfect -- often deliberately so because, let’s face it, “speaking” with perfect grammar just “sounds” weird and/or unbearably pretentious -- so I try to be neither a pedant nor a hypocrite on the subject.

Anyway, yeah...Text strings be totes fixable, m'friend. ;)

tamtam-go92 replied to your link “ModTheSims - (Updated!) Mood Swing + Midlife Crisis”

Those Sound like really great Modus but im always a bit nervous about adding stuff like that to my game...

I am, too, mostly because I already use hundreds of mods in my game, so the outcome of adding new ones, especially those that alter lots of things, is always uncertain. 

So, what I do is have a testing neighborhood that I don’t care about. Its associated downloads folder contains a copy of just the Mods folder from my “real” game. I put the new mod in and play with it a bit in debug mode, see if I get error messages or if menu options go missing or any other stuff that’s a symptom of mod conflicts. If I do, I change loading order to see if that fixes the issues. If it does, then I copy the testing Mods folder back over to the folder in my “real” game. If it doesn’t, then I either don’t use the new mod or, if it’s something I really want, I run the Hack Conflict Detection Utility to see if it can tell me what the conflicting mod(s) is/are, and then I decide which I want more. And if the HCDU doesn’t give me any useful info, then I 50/50 until I find the conflicts and then decide between mods. Anyway, this way I find out if I can use the new mod along with those I already have without the possibility of doing any damage to any neighborhood I care about.

tamtam-go92 replied to your photoset “More random captioned pics because, basically, this is a household...”

Hopefully the girls will be old enough when Amalia dies...

Margo was like a day or two away from teenhood when those pics were taken, so no problem. :)

scibirg replied to your post “I'm excited about the olympics too! Especially ski jumping. I love to...”

Did you see the ladies ski jumping? Brave girls!

Honestly, most of the winter events involve bravery. Well, except curling, I guess. *laugh* I guess the worst that can happen with that is you drop a 40-lb rock on your foot or maybe slip and fall on your butt. :) And I guess the cross-country skiing is more physically-taxing than actually dangerous. And I guess the figure skating isn’t that risky, although some of those things that the pairs skaters do look more than a little scary for the female partner. But yeah, the ski-jumpers and downhill skiers and sliders and speed-skaters and snowboarders are all completely nutty in adrenaline-junkie ways that I totally identify with. :D

scibirg replied to your post “dunne-ias replied to your post: I’m excited about...”

Slalom is from Norwegian, meaning ski track with turns. In Norwegian cross-country skiing is called "langrenn" meaning long slide. Probably due to it being used for travelling long distances.

ssatinn replied to your post “dunne-ias replied to your post: I’m excited about...”

We call Nordic skiing "längdskidor" - direct translation would be "long ski". Alpine skiing we call "slalom", no idea where that word comes from though..

Hm, interesting! So in Swedish, any type of downhill skiing is called “slalom?” Because in English that word is reserved for the type of downhill skiing where you’re zig-zagging in a pattern through gates -- as the Norwegian word would imply -- not the kind where you’re just shooting straight down the hill. Or does Swedish have a different word for that, too?

I don’t know why I find stuff like this so interesting, but I do. :) Maybe I shoulda been a linguist or something...

didilysims replied to your post “I'm excited about the olympics too! Especially ski jumping. I love to...”

Woo Olympics! I find just watching the events gives me an adrenaline rush. Watching luge reruns today had me all "oh my-ing" and "oh no-ing" and actually jumping out of my seat a few times. Love those crazy dangerous downhill events. :D

OMG, that poor American luge-slider today! Did you see that? Quite the wipeout she had. Even so, I sooooooooooooooo want to luge. Like, if I could just go and do it once, like how people go skydiving, I totally would. Buuuuuut I suppose it’s something you actually have to learn how to do before you lay on a minimalist sled and zoom down a track of ice at ungodly speeds... :)

emeraldfalconsims replied to your post “I'm excited about the olympics too! Especially ski jumping. I love to...”

It's too bad that marksmanship is so tied in practical applications to killing. It was so empowering for me when I discovered a sport I was actually naturally good at.

That's not really the case, though. I mean, maybe it is in the mind of Joe Q. Public that's been fed a daily diet of crazy people killing other people mixed with glamorized violence in "entertainment," but beyond that, the practical application of marksmanship isn't killing (either people or other animals) but rather marksmanship competitions. Aside from niche things like biathlon, there are all sorts of local, regional, state, and national marksmanship competitions that happen throughout the year, regulated by their own governing bodies. I used to do 3-gun competitions, myself. 

Marksmanship isn't about killing anything because when you get down to it, hunting animals -- or even killing a person, if that’s your goal for whatever reason -- doesn't require sharpshooting levels of accuracy, certainly not with automatic weapons. (With those, you just kind of squeeze the trigger and try to hold on while pretending the thing is a garden hose. I don’t like them; I like precision.) Killing just requires doing enough damage, and you can do that without being at all accurate. Marksmanship's about consistent accuracy, often under pressure. Which can have applications in killing things, and can make you better at killing things (ideally things that are legal to kill, of course) but that's not what it's about. I wish more people would realize that. And I wish the NRA would GTFO, but that’s an entirely different subject.

penig replied to your post “Do you know why some custom doors and arches doesn't work in apartment...”

Custom content that was made before AL came out doesn't update and confuses the already-confused apartment code. To reduce annoyance I tend to use Maxis doors and arches inside exclusively. Windows are no problem.

Good to know. :) I guess I never really noticed because I don’t build apartments all that often. Mostly because I think furnishing them is mind-numbingly boring. :) And even when I do build them, I mostly use Maxis interior doors, often add-ons like centered-on-two-tile versions of a Maxis door, but since those use Maxis coding, I’m guessing they don’t present a problem in this regard.

immerso-sims replied to your post “The feel-good song meme. :)”

Thanks. I tried searching for happy songs in my iTunes collection, but I realised I am a total sad/dark/melancholic/whatever songs lover, so I'll pass on the meme :D

HAH! :) But hey, if a sad/melancholy song makes you feel better, I suppose that actually counts as a feel-good song! :)

fuzzyspork replied to your post “Big long reply post about...lots of stuff”

I've had both the high witches (excluding the neutral one because they are apparently very anti-social) on a community lot at the same time several times. If a Sim interacts with whichever arrives first then when enough time passes the other witch will usually show up. I think they must have negative relationship by default, so I've seen them fight! Fisticuffs style though. This is where magic would have been awesome. :/

Really? I don’t think I’ve ever had more than one high witch on a community lot, even when I’ve had playable stay on them for multiple days at a time, like when I send them on a weekend camping trip or what-have-you. Maybe it’s because I pretty much never have Sims interact with the high witches, since I use other means to have Sims become witches? Maybe I should try interacting with them... Although if there’s just fisticuffs as opposed to zapping each other with magic, I suppose there’s not much point. Then it’s just yet another fight between non-playables.

[insideanairport]

Nietzsche’s “Thus Spake Zarathustra” (part I/II)

❍❍❍

This is the best and most profound work of Nietzsche, yet the hardest to grasp. For beginners, I don’t recommend starting with this book. All of Nietzsche’s philosophical universe is condensed and packed in this work. I picked up this book first when I was still in Highschool. I didn’t understand a lot in the first reading of it. I also took some notes and moved on to reading other works by Nietzsche. Soon, I found myself reading all of his major works. Before writing this review, I looked back on my first notes from Thus Spake Zarathustra. I had to delete every single note I took at that time. My view has been changed completely towards Nietzsche’s work since the first time I read this book.

Where did Zarathustra come from?

If you have never heard of Zarathustra (Zoroaster or زرتشت‎) and have only heard it through this book, it means that you have spent too much time reading European writers. Zarathustra was an ancient Persian figure and the founder of Zoroastrianism religion. His most famous book is Avesta (اوستا) and along with it is the communal household prayer book called the Khordeh Avesta (خرده اوستا). Zoroastrianism is still practiced in many countries around the world, especially in Iran, Pakistan, and India. It is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions that remains active. 

Nietzsche found out that before Manichaean and Abrahamic religions, Zarathustra was the first person who came up with the idea of Good and Evil. A philosophy that states human action fall in these two binary categories. Therefore, Nietzsche considers Zarathustra the first “moralist”. In the book, Nietzsche personifies himself as Zarathustra in order to present a critique of the moralist philosophy of Good and Evil, an idea that he continued in his next book “Beyond Good and Evil”. Nietzsche believed that since Zarathustra created the first notion of morality, he must have also realized his mistake. In his autobiography Ecce Homo, Nietzsche explains: 

“I have not been asked, as I should have been asked, what the name Zarathustra means in precisely my mouth, in the mouth of the first immoralist: for what constitutes the tremendous uniqueness of that Persian in history is precisely the opposite of this. Zarathustra was the first to see in the struggle between good and evil the actual wheel in the working of things: the translation of morality into the realm of metaphysics, as force, cause, end-in-itself, is his work. But this question is itself at bottom its own answer. Zarathustra created this most fateful of errors, morality: consequently he must also be the first to recognize it. Not only has he had longer and greater experience here than any other thinker – the whole of history is indeed the experimental refutation of the proposition of a so-called ‘moral world-order’ –: what is more important is that Zarathustra is more truthful than any other thinker. His teaching, and his alone, upholds truthfulness as the supreme virtue – that is to say, the opposite of the cowardice of the ‘idealist’, who takes flight in the face of reality; Zarathustra has more courage in him than all other thinkers put together. To tell the truth and to shoot well with arrows: that is Persian virtue. Have I been understood? The self-overcoming of morality through truthfulness, the self-overcoming of the moralist into his opposite – into me – that is what the name Zarathustra means in my mouth.” (1)

Walter Kaufmann argued that Nietzsche might have more in common with Zarathustra than we think. “The two figures also share a range of similar properties or powers, such as the ability to annihilate and create in the light of a re-evaluation of past thought, the disposition to be inspired through visions manifested in poetry, dance, and song, and the courage to act in accordance with all of these. Moreover, the ‘Three Stages of History’ that Zoroaster took to be embodied in the individual (as ‘birth’, ‘death’, and ‘beyond’) are mirrored in [Nietzschean] Zarathustra’s ‘Three Metamorphoses of the Spirit’ as Camel, Lion, and Child.” (2)

In this book, Nietzsche is literally preaching but also making fun of preaching and preaching mentality. The book is about a philosopher guy who is trying to “show” humans the right way of living, through Superman (Übermensch). The philosophy is a direct-antagonism to Christianity (not all religions) yet using its lingo. Nietzsche's philosophy starts with the harsh critique of Christian morality. Yet, at times it can be seen as a critique of all morality, or a universal morality (if such a thing exists). We know that not all Abrahamic religions share the same view regarding good and evil. For example, in Bahá'í Faith the concept of evil (devil) does not exist. Evil is interpreted simply as a “lack” of good/goodness. Just as cold is the state of no heat, darkness is the state of no light, forgetfulness the lacking of memory, ignorance the lacking of knowledge.  

Nietzsche’s love of the Greek tragedy, Presocratic Philosophy and art is a reaction to monotheism, rationality, and idealism (especially in Plato). He calls life an “activity”: A continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations. He believes that life is something essentially immoral. In multiple occasions, he joins “God/philosophy” and “dance” to elevate the art and demote God. Quotes such as; “I would only believe in a god who could dance.” or “there is nothing to which the spirit of a philosopher more aspires than to be a good dancer.”    

Nietzsche and the East

The book is speaking of love, affirmation, and also about populism. Nietzsche might have read some Eastern metaphysics, Islamic and Buddhist texts, but definitely has read the bible a dozen times more. While the entire book is preoccupied with references and allusions to the Bible, there is only one reference to the Persians in “One thousand and one goals” where he says: “’To speak truth, and be skillful with bow and arrow’—so seemed it alike pleasing and hard to the people from whom cometh my name—the name which is alike pleasing and hard to me.” 

Dariush Ashuri the translator of Nietzsche’s work into Farsi believes that Nietzsche’s Zarathustra can only be understood in relation to his other works. Zarathustra is not simply a replica of proto-historical Prophet yet a complex iconic figure that bears the voice of Nietzsche and his entire philosophical works, which aims to change the entire vision of humanity about the meaning of being and life through “Transvaluation of all values.” (3)

The book as a whole is written at the end of Nietzsche’s philosophical career and the concept of maturity and prudent is also fitted into the thesis. The reversal of the wisdom is folly, Nietzsche is also interested to play with the two, similar to strategies that Hafez used, although less sophisticated. He is intending to elevate Dionysian philosophy and lower Christianity’s moral dogma. For that reason, I see the influences of Hafez on Nietzsche's work better in this book than others.

The notion of Journey and travel (distance and time) is persistence throughout the whole book next to the idea of repetition and Eternal return. Man is something that needs to be surpassed. Starting from the rosy dawn, following into the noon-tide in the town of Pied Cow, and finally the supper. Similar to the three stages of life: the camel, the lion, and the child. It seems like after reading a lot of Eastern metaphysics Nietzsche is intending to construct a cyclical time perception on top of the very Eurocentric and colonial Kantian perception of time and space. In regard to Europe, Nietzsche is not shy to admit his positionality. His work is from and about European culture, rather than a universal concept. At the end of Joyous Science he mentions that the goal is to emancipate from everything European: 

“If ‘thoughts on moral prejudices’ are not to be merely prejudices about prejudices, they must presuppose a position outside morality, somewhere beyond good and evil, a position to which we must ascend, climb or fly – and in any case, a position beyond our good and evil, an emancipation from everything ‘European’, understood as a sum of the authoritative value judgements which have become transmuted into flesh and blood.” (4)

Sa‘di and Hafez are the only Persian names of the Islamic era mentioned in Nietzsche’s writings. But, going back to the idea of journey and distance, I see Nietzsche’s philosophy closer to Rumi’s poetry than Hafez. Rumi (جلال‌ الدین محمد بلخى) wandered around middle Asia in his life, traveled from modern-day Tajikistan (or as some say Afghanistan) to present-day Turkey where he died. He lived everywhere in between and spoke multiple languages. Hafez on the contrary, similar to Sa‘di, Omar Khayyam and Attar of Nishapur, died in the same city he was born. Hafez’s poetry still has those transcendental elements which influenced Nietzsche yet missing those transformative parts beyond a hegemonic cultural domain. Maybe that’s why both Hafez and Goethe influenced their native speakers yet didn’t manage to connect in a deeper level with the non-natives as much as Rumi did. 

From a Middle Eastern perspective, finding Nietzsche in between the lines of Ali Shariati and Muhammad Iqbal can also be equivalent to reading Rumi and Hafez in between the burning lines of Nietzsche.   

بشنو از نی چون حکایت میکند وز جداییها شکایت میکند

کز نیستان تا مرا ببریدهاند از نفیرم مرد و زن نالیدهاند

سینه خواهم شرحه شرحه از فراق تا بگویم شرح درد اشتیاق

Pay heed to the grievances of the reed  Of what divisive separations breed

From the reedbed cut away just like a weed  My music people curse, warn and heed

Sliced to pieces my bosom and heart bleed  While I tell this tale of desire and need.

(Rumi, Masnavi, Translation by Shahriari, 1998)

"We have left dry land and put out to sea! We have burned the bridge behind us –what is more, we have burned the land behind us! Well, little ship, look out! Beside you is the ocean. True, it does not always roar, and sometimes it is spread out like silk and gold and a gentle reverie, but there will be hours when you realize that it is infinite, and that there is nothing more terrible than infinity. Oh, poor bird that felt free, and now beats against the bars of this cage! Alas, if homesickness should befall you, as if there had been more freedom there –when there is no longer any ‘land’!”  (The Joyous Science - Book III, 124 In the Horizon of the Infinite)

(Part I/II)

______________________

[lesbrarians]

Junkrat/Roadhog: Voyages Ch 11

Title: Voyages

Characters: Junkrat, Roadhog

Rating: R

Summary:  After a rocky start and some ups and downs, Junkrat and Roadhog are officially partners, even if things haven’t progressed quite as far as Junkrat would like. With his treasure at the heart of their grandiose plans, they take their adventures overseas and leave their mark on the world, for better or worse. (Mostly for worse. They’re criminals.) Sequel to “Origins.”

---

It was hard, finding a place in the congested city that they could successfully hijack as a base of operations. Nothing stayed empty for long, leaving very little in the way of housing options. After searching for a while, they no longer bothered to keep an eye out for an elusive abandoned place to serve as home. Living in the streets worked for them -- until the skies opened up. It was freezing and biting, a kind of rain Junkrat had never experienced in the arid climate of the Outback, not even on the nights where it was cold enough for a frost to form.

Junkrat swore heavily as they searched for cover. They could only linger in stores for so long before they started arousing suspicion. They had yet to build a reputation as a pair of criminals in Beijing, but their very appearance, coupled with generally shifty behaviour, was cause for alarm.

They overturned a recently emptied recycling dumpster and sat inside it, using it as a makeshift roof. From their vantage point in the alleyway, they could see the throngs of pedestrians braving the elements, some scurrying for cover with soggy newspapers held over their heads, others walking briskly with their heads down and umbrellas in hand. Across the street, an omnic left its apartment tower, rubber gum boots and a wide-brimmed rain hat on to protect the more sensitive bits of its machinery.

Junkrat scowled. “Look at that smug little bastard. He gets a roof over his head and we don’t? He’s a bloody machine, s’not like he gets cold!”

Roadhog grunted in agreement. “He doesn’t deserve it.”

“No, he doesn’t!” Junkrat said, full of righteous indignation. He rubbed his hands together. They were clammy from the cold and wet, and he hated it. “Maybe if we, ah, asked him nicely, he’d be willing to loan us his place.”

Roadhog snorted. “Worth a shot.”

“Yeah, what’s the harm in tryin’?” Junkrat snickered and ducked back out into the downpour. He picked up a piece of rusty metal piping and tapped it against the palm of his mechanical hand. It made a menacing, rhythmic clink  as he approached the omnic, who was fumbling to lock up his apartment.

Junkrat opened his mouth to shout “hey!” -- but only half of the syllable made it out before a hand clamped over his mouth. He dropped the pipe in surprise, then wrenched his head down and away, curling in on himself as much as he could manage. Experience and sheer faith told him that Roadhog wouldn’t hesitate to blow off his assailant’s head, and Junkrat wanted to give him the clearest line of sight possible.

His attacker dropped to the ground, Junkrat beneath him, just as a shot rang out, a lethal projectile whistling through the air above them.

All the wind had been knocked out of Junkrat when he hit the ground, but once he recovered, he elbowed the man in the gut and wormed his way out from beneath him. A Junker had once called him a slippery little rat as an insult, but he considered it an ability to be proud of.

Roadhog reached them in record time. He grabbed Junkrat’s attacker by the neck and hauled him upright. It was then that Junkrat realised that he had assumed wrong, and the person was a she -- a butch woman with a short haircut and interlocking Venus symbols tattooed on her cheek. Small in stature but powerfully built, she looked like a dangerous criminal, with a bullish expression and a staggering amount of tattoos peeking out from beneath the cuffs of her sleeves and the collar of her black jacket. Junkrat desperately wanted to take off his sweater so he could flash his own tattooed bicep in return, but he was soaking wet and shivering. He thought better of it.

“Oh, by the Iris,” breathed a voice behind them. In all the commotion, Junkrat had nearly forgotten about his initial target. He looked over his shoulder to find the omnic quivering in its gum boots. It dropped its keys twice before it ran in the opposite direction, one hand clutching its hat to its head and the other gripping an umbrella.

Nobody was pleased. Junkrat and the woman locked eyes, both thoroughly sour over the loss of their prey.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” Roadhog growled. Likely the only reason why he hadn’t done so already was because he, like Junkrat, was curious about why she had intervened. She certainly didn’t look like an omnic sympathiser. The woman answered in Mandarin, slowly and deliberately reaching for her pocket. Junkrat picked up his pipe and wielded it like a bat. Roadhog cocked his gun.

The woman withdrew an innocuous looking device, and Junkrat lowered his weapon slightly. It didn’t look dangerous; it was a small clip-on gadget, similar in size and shape to the key fob for Roadhog’s motorcycle. With a twiddle of her thumb on a side dial, the woman directed her next words into the device.

“You have no idea who you’re messing with,” the device translated, the English words mimicking the woman’s raspy intonation perfectly -- Junkrat wouldn’t have realised it was machine-translated if he hadn’t witnessed it himself.

The red dot of a laser winked onto Roadhog’s forehead and hovered there.

Junkrat was surrounded by water, but his mouth went perfectly dry. “Let her go, ‘Hog,” he managed. He let his pipe clatter to the sidewalk, eyes darting around for the source of the sniper, but he noticed nothing unusual. It took a lot to scare him -- hell, a healthy dose of fear would have kept him out of more than one bad scrape, but fear was a commodity he sorely lacked -- but the thought of Roadhog taking a bullet to the brain terrified him.

Roadhog released her and lowered his gun. The red laser dot remained in place.

“You cost me big,” the woman said. There was a slight amount of delay between her native language and its translation. “That was my mark.”

“Didn’t see yer name on it--” The words fell out of Junkrat’s mouth before he realised that it was unwise to antagonise someone who had their sights set on Roadhog’s head. He clamped his mouth shut, but the device was already spitting out a translation into Mandarin.

The woman’s lip curled. “You didn’t see the symbol?” She jerked her head at a small piece of graffiti on the side of the building, a red emblem that had entirely escaped Junkrat’s notice. It reminded him of the crude symbols that delineated different gangs in Junkertown. He was beginning to think he had made a grave error in going after this particular omnic. “You must be new here.” She clipped the device to her jacket’s collar and folded her arms. With a wave of her hand, the red dot disappeared. “Come with me. You lost me this, you’re making up for it. Don’t try anything funny. There are still eyes on you.”

Unsettled, Junkrat looked around for the hidden sniper again. He glanced at Roadhog and shrugged. Getting involved with a dangerous Chinese triad hadn’t been on his agenda for the day, but if it meant getting out of the rain, he’d take it.

The downpour began to lessen as they followed the woman through a maze of streets that occasionally looped back on each other, as if she was trying to ensure they wouldn’t be able to find their way to her base of operations on their own.

“What’d you want with that omnic anyhow?” Junkrat asked. “I was just gonna beat him up and take his key.”

“I know. And you would have ruined him for me. I need his internal workings.”

“What, like robot organs? Is there some kinda black market for robot parts?”

“Something like that.”

“Omnic organ trading. I love it.”

“Good. Because you’re going to be helping me to pay off your debt. That omnic we lost had a valuable set of servos that could have paid my rent for the next three months.” Junkrat didn’t know enough about paying for housing to tell just how expensive this was, but judging from her bitter tone, he gathered that it cost a pretty penny.

“I can get on board with that,” he said. “Do ya kill them afterwards?”

“Sometimes. If we’re taking their essentials. They’re usually good enough for other purposes.”

Roadhog spoke up. “A trafficking ring.”

They took her silence as a yes.

“Well, ‘sometimes’ is good enough for me!” Junkrat said jovially. “So, I reckon if we’re gonna be workin’ together, we probably oughta know yer name. Junkrat speakin’, and the big guy over there’s Roadhog.”

“You can just call me Lee.” She did not seem inclined to elaborate further. Junkrat attempted to fill the awkward silence that ensued, but all his conversation starters fizzled into nothing. After his pointing out a dead pigeon failed to garner any interest, he decided to shut up. Mostly because Roadhog gave him a look that managed to say stop talking, even with his expression obscured by his mask.

The rest of the walk was quiet. They finally arrived at a massive, derelict warehouse. Lee keyed in a passcode. Both Junkrat and Roadhog wrung out their sweaters and shook themselves off, grateful to be out of the rain, while Lee stood aside, dripping dispassionately on the concrete floor and doing nothing about her appearance beyond slicking back her short hair.

“Finished?” she asked sardonically. She led them down a long hallway that emptied into a large room. Stacked with crates, it looked like the central den of operations. A few gang members had made an attempt to make it livable, with a handful of sleeping bags spread out on the ground and a table that appeared to have multiple overlapping card games in progress. If they tipped their heads back, they could see the dark grey blanket of clouds through a skylight, the torrential downpour leaving streaks on the filthy windowpanes.

On the far side of the room stood an omnic encircled by humans, its back turned to the door and hands clasped behind its back -- tied together, Junkrat assumed. It was hard to read its height from a distance, but he had the impression that it was tall, and it was noticeably robust, with broad shoulders and a thickly plated chest. It looked like someone capable of taking more than a few hits. A real challenge.

Junkrat rubbed his hands together. “Got yerselves a big one there, eh? What, are ya gutting it? ‘Cause I’d love to volunteer my services...”

Lee glanced back at him. “No, and don’t let him catch you saying that.”

Junkrat snorted. “Like I couldn’t take it? Me and my mate here, we’d have it in a heartbeat, wouldn’t we, ‘Hog?”

“Yes.”

Lee wheeled around to face them. “I said, don’t let him catch you saying that,” she growled. “He’s our Boss.”

Junkrat couldn’t help it. He pointed his finger at the omnic and screeched, “That’s your boss? It’s a bloody omnic!”

Lee shrugged. “And he’s good at what he does. If it wasn’t for us, he’d be running a business. It was his job, I guess, being a backup if his company’s bigwig couldn’t make it to a meeting. He got tired of being in his shadow, killed the poor son of a bitch, and left. Free will and all.”

Junkrat was apoplectic. “It doesn’t have free will! It’s following its damn programming and bein’ a business leader, just for a gang instead of a suit, that’s not free will, that’s -- why would ya even want it as yer leader, I--”

He felt Roadhog’s steadying hand on his shoulder, grounding him long enough to take a deep breath. By now they had garnered the attention of most of the other gang members, although their leader still hadn’t turned around. Junkrat gestured rudely at its back.

“Likewise,” the omnic replied in perfect English.

Junkrat froze, hand still mid-air. A pair of thin incisions on the back of the omnic’s head glowed bright red, and he realised with a trickling sense of dread that they were eyes. He didn’t like the idea of something having eyes in the back of its head. Bloody unnatural, he thought.

“Lee, who are these?” the omnic continued, switching to its native Mandarin.

Lee left Junkrat and Roadhog behind to step closer. “Boss, I had to intervene, they ruined my objective--”

The translator device was still activated, and Junkrat could hear the muffled beginnings of their argument before Lee realised it was still repeating everything they said and switched it off.

“What did I say about violence against westerners, it draws too much attention, we don’t need to unnecessarily complicate things--”

They furiously whispered at each other in Mandarin until they finally seemed to reach an accord. The Boss turned to look at Junkrat and Roadhog. “You’ll be accompanying Lee on her next venture. We’ll decide where to go from there. That’ll be all.”

Junkrat had the impression that he had just been dismissed, and he did not like it at all. He was a free Junker, nobody told him what to do. “That’ll be all,” he sneered. “No, you listen, I gotta few questions first.” The first was the most pressing. “If yer an omnic, why’re ya traffickin’ them? How do I know yer not makin’ some kinda -- some kinda evil robot army with all this?”

The omnic spread his hands wide. “Why do humans traffic other humans? They’re inferior models and make for good labor. As for the second part, I suppose you don’t. Just know that others have questioned my motives...” He gestured at the group of humans around him, who nodded. “And none of them are capable of questioning further. Next question?”

Junkrat was not impressed. He had been on the receiving end of more intimidating threats. “Why should I trust you?”

“You shouldn’t. Just like I imagine I shouldn’t trust you.”

“Yeah, ya really shouldn’t.”

“But you’ve sorely inconvenienced my operations, and I am offering you an opportunity to work out your apparent aggression towards my kind. So for the time being, we should work together.”

Junkrat considered it. The ramifications of refusing could be severe, and he had pissed off enough people as it was. Besides, being around omnics and their body parts could provide the inspiration he needed for hatching a new plan to execute their god program. “Deal,” he said.

Neither of them offered a hand to shake.

Lee led them back to the warehouse’s main door. “He’s a lost cause now, thanks to you, but meet me outside that omnic’s apartment tomorrow. Eleven o’clock in the morning. I’ll know where you are if you don’t show. We have eyes and ears all over this city.”

“Give us a better reason to show,” Roadhog said.

“Yeah!” Junkrat piped in. “We don’t work for free.”

Lee scowled at them. “You’re repaying a debt, you’re not getting paid. You already cost us enough today.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Junkrat said. “We both lost out on that one, we didn’t get anything out of it ourselves!”

Lee stared at them, eyes flicking over to Junkrat’s mechanical arm and leg. “Fine,” she finally said. “If anything we get turns out to be a dud, you can have it. Use its parts for your prosthetics.”

“Fair enough.” Junkrat was satisfied with this idea.

Lee scrolled open the door for them, and Junkrat let out an audible groan when he saw that it was raining again. Lee had already turned away to leave them to their fate and was unclipping her device when she paused. “Dixia Cheng.”

“Dixia what?”

She clicked the scroll wheel on the side of her translator. “The underground city. Check out the underground city,” she said, “if you need a place to sleep.” She continued walking.

Junkrat and Roadhog looked at each other, then ran after her, leaving the warehouse door gaping. Gusts of rain and wind blew in behind them. “Wait, wait,” Junkrat said. “Y’can’t just say somethin’ like that and leave -- what underground city?”

“It’s an old bomb shelter complex. From the Cold War era, it was Chairman Mao’s idea. I’ve never been inside -- no one I know has been aside. My grandfather visited it once when he was a child, when parts of it were a tourist attraction, but he’s long dead. Barely anyone is aware it exists anymore, and most of the entrances are lost.”

“Then... how are we supposed to find it?”

“I said, most are lost. My grandfather supposedly knew of three, but today, I have only heard of where one used to be. It’s walled off, but...” she glanced down at the grenade canisters in the harness Junkrat had slung around his waist. “I don’t think that will be much of a problem for someone like you.”

Junkrat puffed his chest out, hands on his hips. “Sure it won’t be! No wall’s ever stood in my way before.”

“Where is it?”

Junkrat tuned out the directions that Lee gave them -- he wasn’t going to remember them anyway, Roadhog could take care of it -- and instead struggled with pulling the back of his sweater over his head.

“You look ridiculous,” Roadhog told him when he turned back to face him.

“Least I’ll be dryer than you!” Junkrat retorted.

“And colder.”

Junkrat looked down at the bare stretch of torso that was exposed as a result of attempting to use his sweater as a hood. “Eh, it’s a tradeoff.”

Lee shook her head and headed back down the hallway with nary a goodbye.

“Hold on,” Junkrat called after her. “How are we supposed to find our way back to that apartment from this underground city place?”

A nasty smile played on Lee’s lips. “Good luck.”

[riichardwilson]

4 Lessons Web App Designers Can Learn From Google

About The Author

Suzanne Scacca is a former WordPress implementer, trainer and agency manager who now works as a freelance copywriter. She specializes in crafting marketing agency, web … More about Suzanne Scacca …

There’s a reason why Google dominates market share for things like search engines, web browsers, email clients and cloud storage services. It knows exactly what consumers want and it has designed simple, intuitive, and useful solutions for them. If there’s one company whose product features you should be mirroring, it’s Google.

Whenever I’m curious about what more we could be doing to improve our users’ experiences, the first place I look to is Google. More specifically, I go to the Google Developers site or Think with Google to pull the latest consumer data.

But I was thinking today, “Why don’t we just copy what Google does?”

After all, Google has to walk the walk. If not, how would it ever convince anyone to adhere to its SEO Company and UX recommendations and guidelines?

The only thing is, Google’s sites and apps aren’t very attractive. They’re practical and intuitive, that’s for sure. But designs worth emulating? Eh.

That doesn’t really matter though. The basic principles for building a good web app exist across each of its platforms. So, if we’re looking for a definitive answer on what will provide SaaS users with the best experience, I think we need to start by dissecting Google’s platforms.

What Google Teaches Us About Good Web App Design

What we want to focus on are the components that make Google’s products so easy to use time and time again. By replicating these features within your own app, you’ll effectively reduce (if not altogether remove) the friction your users would otherwise encounter.

1. Make the First Thing They See Their Top Priority

When users enter your dashboard, the last thing you want is for them to be overwhelmed. Their immediate impression whenever they enter your app or return to the dashboard should be:

“I’m exactly where I need to be.”

Not:

“What the heck is going on here? Where do I find X?”

Now, depending on the purpose of your app, there are usually one or two things your users are going to be most concerned with.

Let’s say you have an app like Google Translate that has a clear utilitarian purpose. There’s absolutely no excuse for cluttering the main page. They’ve come here to do one thing:

Google Translate users don’t have to hunt around for the translator tool. (Source: Google Translate) (Large preview)

So, don’t waste their time. Place the tool front and center and let all other pages, settings or notices appear as secondary features of the app.

Something else this example teaches us is how you should configure your tool for users. Google could easily just leave this open-ended, but it defaults to:

Default Language —> English

Google’s data likely shows that this is the most popular way users use this app.

Although you can’t see it in the desktop app, you can see it on mobile. The formula goes like this:

Default Language —> Recent Language

I suspect that, for first-time users, Google will set the translation to the user’s native language (as indicated in their Google user settings).

If you have the data available, use it to configure defaults that reduce the number of steps your users have to take, too.

Not every web app provides users with a hands-on tool for solving a problem. In some cases, apps enable users to streamline and automate complex processes, which means their primary concern is going to be how well those processes are performing.

For that, we can look at a product like Google Search Console, which connects users to data on how their sites perform in Google search as well as insights into problems that might be holding them back.

It’s no surprise then that the first thing they see upon entering it is this:

The Google Search Console overview page shows users stats on Performance and Coverage. (Source: Google Search Console) (Large preview)

Performance (the number of clicks in Google search) and Coverage (number of pages indexed without error) are above the fold. Below it is another chart that displays recommended enhancements to improve core web vitals, mobile usability and sitelinks searchbox visibility.

Bottom line: The Overview page isn’t littered with charts depicting every data point collected by Google Search Console. Instead, it displays only the top priorities so users can get a bird’s-eye view of what’s going on and not get lost in data they don’t need at that time.

2. Create a Useful and Simple Navigation Wherever Relevant

This one seems like a no-brainer, but I’ll show you why I bring it up.

Zoom is a great video conferencing app. There’s no arguing that. However, when users want to schedule a meeting from their browser, this is what they see:

The Zoom web app complicates things with multiple menus. (Source: Zoom) (Large preview)

The “Join Meeting” and “Host Meeting” options are fine as they both eventually push the user into the desktop app. However, the “Schedule Meeting” in-browser experience isn’t great because it leaves the website navigation bars in place, which only serves as a distraction from the app’s sidebar on the left.

Once your users have created a login and have access to your app, they don’t need to see your site anymore. Ditch the website navigation and let them be submersed in the app.

Or do as Google Hangouts does. Lay your app out the way users expect an app to be laid out:

Primary navigation along the left side,

Hamburger menu button and/or More (…) button contain the secondary navigation,

Wide open space for users to play in the app.

A look inside Google Hangouts and its distraction-free interface and navigation. (Source: Google Hangouts) (Large preview)

But Google Hangouts doesn’t do away with the Google.com website completely. For users that want to quickly navigate to one of Google’s other products, they can use the grid-shaped icon in the top-right corner. So, if you feel it’s necessary for your users to be able to visit your website once again, you can build it into the app that way.

This example also demonstrates how important it is to keep your navigation as simple as possible.

Google Hangouts’ primary navigation uses symbols to represent each of the app’s tabs/options:

Google Hangouts uses icons to represent the tabs of its primary navigation. (Source: Google Hangouts) (Large preview)

While I think it’s okay for Google Hangouts to get away with this icon-only menu design, be careful with this approach. Unless the icons are universally understood (like the hamburger menu, search magnifying glass, or the plus sign), you can’t risk introducing icons that create more confusion.

As NNG points out, there’s a difference between an icon being recognizable and its meaning being indisputable.

So, one way you can get around this is to make the outward appearance of the menu icon-only. But upon hover, the labels appear so that users have additional context for what each means.

As for any secondary navigation you might need — including a Settings navigation — you can write out the labels since it will only appear upon user activation.

The Google Hangouts secondary navigation uses an icon and label for each tab. (Source: Google Hangouts) (Large preview)

Although some of the icons would be easy enough to identify, not all of them would instantly be recognizable (like “Invites” and “Hangouts Dialer”). If even one tab in your secondary navigation is rarely seen across other apps, spell them all out.

One last thing: The divider lines in this menu are a great choice. Rather than jam 10 tabs/options into this navigation bar together, they’re logically grouped, making it easier for users to find what they’re looking for.

3. Provide Users with Predictive Search Functionality

Every app should have a search bar. It might be there to help users sift through content, to find the contact they’re looking for from a long list, or to ask a question about something in the app.

The more complex your app is, the more critical a role internal search is going to play. But if you want to improve your users’ search experience even more, you’ll want to power yours with predictive search functionality.

Even though I’m sure you have a Support line, maybe a chatbot and perhaps an FAQs or Knowledgebase to help users find what they need, a smart search bar can connect them to what they’re really looking for (even if they don’t know how to articulate it).

Google has this search functionality baked into most of its products.

You’re familiar with autocomplete within the Google search engine itself. But here are some other use cases for smart search capabilities.

Google Drive connects users to documents (of all types — Docs, Sheets, Slides and more) as well as collaborators that match the search query.

An example search for ‘speed’ within Google Drive. (Source: Google Drive) (Large preview)

Users can, of course, be taken to a full search results page. However, the search bar itself predicts which content is the most relevant for the query. In this case, these are the most recent pieces of content I’ve written that include the term “speed” in the title.

Google Maps is a neat use case as it pulls data from a variety of connected (Google) sources to try and predict what its users are looking for.

Google Maps pulls from a variety of sources to predict where users want to travel to. (Source: Google Maps) (Large preview)

In this example, I typed in “Alicia”. Now, Google Maps knows me pretty well, so the first result is actually the address of one of my contacts. The remaining results are for addresses or businesses within a 45-mile radius containing the word “Alicia”.

It doesn’t just pull from there though. This is one of those cases where the more enjoyable you make the in-app experience, the more your users will engage with it — which means more data.

For example, this is what I see when I search for “Three”:

Google Maps will provide ‘Favorite’ locations in search results when relevant. (Source: Google Maps) (Large preview)

The very first thing it pulls up is a restaurant called Three Sisters (which is a fantastic restaurant in the city of Providence, by the way). If you look just above the center of the map where the red heart is, that’s the restaurant. This means that I’ve added it to my Favorite places and Google Maps actually calls it out as such in my search results.

Imagine how much more your users would love your app if it wasn’t always a struggle to get to the content, data or page they were looking for. Or to perform a desired action. When you give your users the ability to personalize their experience like this, use the information they’ve given you to improve their search experience, too.

4. Enable Users to Change the Design and Layout of the App

As a designer, you can do your best to design a great experience for your users. But let’s face it:

You’re never going to please everyone.

Unlike a website, though, which is pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get, SaaS users have the ability to change the design and layout of what they’re interacting with — if you let them. And you should.

There are many different ways this might apply to the app you’ve built.

Google Calendar, for example, has a ton of customization options available.

Google Calendar allows users to customize the look and view of their calendars. (Source: Google Calendar) (Large preview)

On the far left is a list of “My calendars”. Users can click which calendars and associated events they want to see within the app.

In the bottom-right corner is an arrowhead. This enables users to hide the Google apps side panel and give them more room to focus on upcoming events and appointments.

In the top-right, users have two places where they can customize their calendar:

The Settings bar allows them to adjust the color and density of the calendar.

The “Month” dropdown allows them to adjust how much of the calendar is seen at once.

These customizations would all be useful for any sort of project management, planning or appointment scheduling app.

For other apps, I’d recommend looking at Gmail. It’s chock full of customizations that you could adapt for your app.

Previously, if users clicked the Settings widget, it would move them out of the app and into the dedicated settings panel. To be honest, it was annoying, especially if you just wanted to make a small tweak.

Gmail’s Settings reveals a list of design and layout customization options. (Source: Gmail) (Large preview)

Now, the Settings button opens this panel within Gmail. It enables users to adjust things like:

Line spacing,

Background theme,

Inbox sorting priorities,

Reading pane layout,

Conversation view on/off.

This is a recent update to Gmail’s settings, which probably means these are the most commonly used design customizations its users actually use.

For any customizations users want to make that they can’t find in this new panel, they can click “See all settings” and customize the in-app design and layout (among other things) even further.

Other customizations you might find value in enabling in your app are:

Keyboard control,

Dark mode,

Color-blind mode,

Text resizing,

List/grid view toggling,

Widget and banner hiding,

Columns displayed.

Not only do these design and layout controls enable users to create an interface they enjoy looking at and that works better for their purposes, it can also help with accessibility.

Wrapping Up

There’s a reason why Google dominates market share with many of its products. It gets the user experience. Of course, this is due largely to the fact that it has access to more user data than most companies.

And while we should be designing solutions for our specific audiences, there’s no denying that Google’s products can help us set a really strong base for any audience — if we just pay attention to the trends across its platforms.

Further Reading on SmashingMag:

(ra, yk, il)

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/4-lessons-web-app-designers-can-learn-from-google/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/626362922737762305

[scpie]

4 Lessons Web App Designers Can Learn From Google

About The Author

Suzanne Scacca is a former WordPress implementer, trainer and agency manager who now works as a freelance copywriter. She specializes in crafting marketing agency, web … More about Suzanne Scacca …

There’s a reason why Google dominates market share for things like search engines, web browsers, email clients and cloud storage services. It knows exactly what consumers want and it has designed simple, intuitive, and useful solutions for them. If there’s one company whose product features you should be mirroring, it’s Google.

Whenever I’m curious about what more we could be doing to improve our users’ experiences, the first place I look to is Google. More specifically, I go to the Google Developers site or Think with Google to pull the latest consumer data.

But I was thinking today, “Why don’t we just copy what Google does?”

After all, Google has to walk the walk. If not, how would it ever convince anyone to adhere to its SEO Company and UX recommendations and guidelines?

The only thing is, Google’s sites and apps aren’t very attractive. They’re practical and intuitive, that’s for sure. But designs worth emulating? Eh.

That doesn’t really matter though. The basic principles for building a good web app exist across each of its platforms. So, if we’re looking for a definitive answer on what will provide SaaS users with the best experience, I think we need to start by dissecting Google’s platforms.

What Google Teaches Us About Good Web App Design

What we want to focus on are the components that make Google’s products so easy to use time and time again. By replicating these features within your own app, you’ll effectively reduce (if not altogether remove) the friction your users would otherwise encounter.

1. Make the First Thing They See Their Top Priority

When users enter your dashboard, the last thing you want is for them to be overwhelmed. Their immediate impression whenever they enter your app or return to the dashboard should be:

“I’m exactly where I need to be.”

Not:

“What the heck is going on here? Where do I find X?”

Now, depending on the purpose of your app, there are usually one or two things your users are going to be most concerned with.

Let’s say you have an app like Google Translate that has a clear utilitarian purpose. There’s absolutely no excuse for cluttering the main page. They’ve come here to do one thing:

Google Translate users don’t have to hunt around for the translator tool. (Source: Google Translate) (Large preview)

So, don’t waste their time. Place the tool front and center and let all other pages, settings or notices appear as secondary features of the app.

Something else this example teaches us is how you should configure your tool for users. Google could easily just leave this open-ended, but it defaults to:

Default Language —> English

Google’s data likely shows that this is the most popular way users use this app.

Although you can’t see it in the desktop app, you can see it on mobile. The formula goes like this:

Default Language —> Recent Language

I suspect that, for first-time users, Google will set the translation to the user’s native language (as indicated in their Google user settings).

If you have the data available, use it to configure defaults that reduce the number of steps your users have to take, too.

Not every web app provides users with a hands-on tool for solving a problem. In some cases, apps enable users to streamline and automate complex processes, which means their primary concern is going to be how well those processes are performing.

For that, we can look at a product like Google Search Console, which connects users to data on how their sites perform in Google search as well as insights into problems that might be holding them back.

It’s no surprise then that the first thing they see upon entering it is this:

The Google Search Console overview page shows users stats on Performance and Coverage. (Source: Google Search Console) (Large preview)

Performance (the number of clicks in Google search) and Coverage (number of pages indexed without error) are above the fold. Below it is another chart that displays recommended enhancements to improve core web vitals, mobile usability and sitelinks searchbox visibility.

Bottom line: The Overview page isn’t littered with charts depicting every data point collected by Google Search Console. Instead, it displays only the top priorities so users can get a bird’s-eye view of what’s going on and not get lost in data they don’t need at that time.

2. Create a Useful and Simple Navigation Wherever Relevant

This one seems like a no-brainer, but I’ll show you why I bring it up.

Zoom is a great video conferencing app. There’s no arguing that. However, when users want to schedule a meeting from their browser, this is what they see:

The Zoom web app complicates things with multiple menus. (Source: Zoom) (Large preview)

The “Join Meeting” and “Host Meeting” options are fine as they both eventually push the user into the desktop app. However, the “Schedule Meeting” in-browser experience isn’t great because it leaves the website navigation bars in place, which only serves as a distraction from the app’s sidebar on the left.

Once your users have created a login and have access to your app, they don’t need to see your site anymore. Ditch the website navigation and let them be submersed in the app.

Or do as Google Hangouts does. Lay your app out the way users expect an app to be laid out:

Primary navigation along the left side,

Hamburger menu button and/or More (…) button contain the secondary navigation,

Wide open space for users to play in the app.

A look inside Google Hangouts and its distraction-free interface and navigation. (Source: Google Hangouts) (Large preview)

But Google Hangouts doesn’t do away with the Google.com website completely. For users that want to quickly navigate to one of Google’s other products, they can use the grid-shaped icon in the top-right corner. So, if you feel it’s necessary for your users to be able to visit your website once again, you can build it into the app that way.

This example also demonstrates how important it is to keep your navigation as simple as possible.

Google Hangouts’ primary navigation uses symbols to represent each of the app’s tabs/options:

Google Hangouts uses icons to represent the tabs of its primary navigation. (Source: Google Hangouts) (Large preview)

While I think it’s okay for Google Hangouts to get away with this icon-only menu design, be careful with this approach. Unless the icons are universally understood (like the hamburger menu, search magnifying glass, or the plus sign), you can’t risk introducing icons that create more confusion.

As NNG points out, there’s a difference between an icon being recognizable and its meaning being indisputable.

So, one way you can get around this is to make the outward appearance of the menu icon-only. But upon hover, the labels appear so that users have additional context for what each means.

As for any secondary navigation you might need — including a Settings navigation — you can write out the labels since it will only appear upon user activation.

The Google Hangouts secondary navigation uses an icon and label for each tab. (Source: Google Hangouts) (Large preview)

Although some of the icons would be easy enough to identify, not all of them would instantly be recognizable (like “Invites” and “Hangouts Dialer”). If even one tab in your secondary navigation is rarely seen across other apps, spell them all out.

One last thing: The divider lines in this menu are a great choice. Rather than jam 10 tabs/options into this navigation bar together, they’re logically grouped, making it easier for users to find what they’re looking for.

3. Provide Users with Predictive Search Functionality

Every app should have a search bar. It might be there to help users sift through content, to find the contact they’re looking for from a long list, or to ask a question about something in the app.

The more complex your app is, the more critical a role internal search is going to play. But if you want to improve your users’ search experience even more, you’ll want to power yours with predictive search functionality.

Even though I’m sure you have a Support line, maybe a chatbot and perhaps an FAQs or Knowledgebase to help users find what they need, a smart search bar can connect them to what they’re really looking for (even if they don’t know how to articulate it).

Google has this search functionality baked into most of its products.

You’re familiar with autocomplete within the Google search engine itself. But here are some other use cases for smart search capabilities.

Google Drive connects users to documents (of all types — Docs, Sheets, Slides and more) as well as collaborators that match the search query.

An example search for ‘speed’ within Google Drive. (Source: Google Drive) (Large preview)

Users can, of course, be taken to a full search results page. However, the search bar itself predicts which content is the most relevant for the query. In this case, these are the most recent pieces of content I’ve written that include the term “speed” in the title.

Google Maps is a neat use case as it pulls data from a variety of connected (Google) sources to try and predict what its users are looking for.

Google Maps pulls from a variety of sources to predict where users want to travel to. (Source: Google Maps) (Large preview)

In this example, I typed in “Alicia”. Now, Google Maps knows me pretty well, so the first result is actually the address of one of my contacts. The remaining results are for addresses or businesses within a 45-mile radius containing the word “Alicia”.

It doesn’t just pull from there though. This is one of those cases where the more enjoyable you make the in-app experience, the more your users will engage with it — which means more data.

For example, this is what I see when I search for “Three”:

Google Maps will provide ‘Favorite’ locations in search results when relevant. (Source: Google Maps) (Large preview)

The very first thing it pulls up is a restaurant called Three Sisters (which is a fantastic restaurant in the city of Providence, by the way). If you look just above the center of the map where the red heart is, that’s the restaurant. This means that I’ve added it to my Favorite places and Google Maps actually calls it out as such in my search results.

Imagine how much more your users would love your app if it wasn’t always a struggle to get to the content, data or page they were looking for. Or to perform a desired action. When you give your users the ability to personalize their experience like this, use the information they’ve given you to improve their search experience, too.

4. Enable Users to Change the Design and Layout of the App

As a designer, you can do your best to design a great experience for your users. But let’s face it:

You’re never going to please everyone.

Unlike a website, though, which is pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get, SaaS users have the ability to change the design and layout of what they’re interacting with — if you let them. And you should.

There are many different ways this might apply to the app you’ve built.

Google Calendar, for example, has a ton of customization options available.

Google Calendar allows users to customize the look and view of their calendars. (Source: Google Calendar) (Large preview)

On the far left is a list of “My calendars”. Users can click which calendars and associated events they want to see within the app.

In the bottom-right corner is an arrowhead. This enables users to hide the Google apps side panel and give them more room to focus on upcoming events and appointments.

In the top-right, users have two places where they can customize their calendar:

The Settings bar allows them to adjust the color and density of the calendar.

The “Month” dropdown allows them to adjust how much of the calendar is seen at once.

These customizations would all be useful for any sort of project management, planning or appointment scheduling app.

For other apps, I’d recommend looking at Gmail. It’s chock full of customizations that you could adapt for your app.

Previously, if users clicked the Settings widget, it would move them out of the app and into the dedicated settings panel. To be honest, it was annoying, especially if you just wanted to make a small tweak.

Gmail’s Settings reveals a list of design and layout customization options. (Source: Gmail) (Large preview)

Now, the Settings button opens this panel within Gmail. It enables users to adjust things like:

Line spacing,

Background theme,

Inbox sorting priorities,

Reading pane layout,

Conversation view on/off.

This is a recent update to Gmail’s settings, which probably means these are the most commonly used design customizations its users actually use.

For any customizations users want to make that they can’t find in this new panel, they can click “See all settings” and customize the in-app design and layout (among other things) even further.

Other customizations you might find value in enabling in your app are:

Keyboard control,

Dark mode,

Color-blind mode,

Text resizing,

List/grid view toggling,

Widget and banner hiding,

Columns displayed.

Not only do these design and layout controls enable users to create an interface they enjoy looking at and that works better for their purposes, it can also help with accessibility.

Wrapping Up

There’s a reason why Google dominates market share with many of its products. It gets the user experience. Of course, this is due largely to the fact that it has access to more user data than most companies.

And while we should be designing solutions for our specific audiences, there’s no denying that Google’s products can help us set a really strong base for any audience — if we just pay attention to the trends across its platforms.

Further Reading on SmashingMag:

(ra, yk, il)

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/4-lessons-web-app-designers-can-learn-from-google/

[laurelkrugerr]

4 Lessons Web App Designers Can Learn From Google

About The Author

Suzanne Scacca is a former WordPress implementer, trainer and agency manager who now works as a freelance copywriter. She specializes in crafting marketing agency, web … More about Suzanne Scacca …

There’s a reason why Google dominates market share for things like search engines, web browsers, email clients and cloud storage services. It knows exactly what consumers want and it has designed simple, intuitive, and useful solutions for them. If there’s one company whose product features you should be mirroring, it’s Google.

Whenever I’m curious about what more we could be doing to improve our users’ experiences, the first place I look to is Google. More specifically, I go to the Google Developers site or Think with Google to pull the latest consumer data.

But I was thinking today, “Why don’t we just copy what Google does?”

After all, Google has to walk the walk. If not, how would it ever convince anyone to adhere to its SEO Company and UX recommendations and guidelines?

The only thing is, Google’s sites and apps aren’t very attractive. They’re practical and intuitive, that’s for sure. But designs worth emulating? Eh.

That doesn’t really matter though. The basic principles for building a good web app exist across each of its platforms. So, if we’re looking for a definitive answer on what will provide SaaS users with the best experience, I think we need to start by dissecting Google’s platforms.

What Google Teaches Us About Good Web App Design

What we want to focus on are the components that make Google’s products so easy to use time and time again. By replicating these features within your own app, you’ll effectively reduce (if not altogether remove) the friction your users would otherwise encounter.

1. Make the First Thing They See Their Top Priority

When users enter your dashboard, the last thing you want is for them to be overwhelmed. Their immediate impression whenever they enter your app or return to the dashboard should be:

“I’m exactly where I need to be.”

Not:

“What the heck is going on here? Where do I find X?”

Now, depending on the purpose of your app, there are usually one or two things your users are going to be most concerned with.

Let’s say you have an app like Google Translate that has a clear utilitarian purpose. There’s absolutely no excuse for cluttering the main page. They’ve come here to do one thing:

Google Translate users don’t have to hunt around for the translator tool. (Source: Google Translate) (Large preview)

So, don’t waste their time. Place the tool front and center and let all other pages, settings or notices appear as secondary features of the app.

Something else this example teaches us is how you should configure your tool for users. Google could easily just leave this open-ended, but it defaults to:

Default Language —> English

Google’s data likely shows that this is the most popular way users use this app.

Although you can’t see it in the desktop app, you can see it on mobile. The formula goes like this:

Default Language —> Recent Language

I suspect that, for first-time users, Google will set the translation to the user’s native language (as indicated in their Google user settings).

If you have the data available, use it to configure defaults that reduce the number of steps your users have to take, too.

Not every web app provides users with a hands-on tool for solving a problem. In some cases, apps enable users to streamline and automate complex processes, which means their primary concern is going to be how well those processes are performing.

For that, we can look at a product like Google Search Console, which connects users to data on how their sites perform in Google search as well as insights into problems that might be holding them back.

It’s no surprise then that the first thing they see upon entering it is this:

The Google Search Console overview page shows users stats on Performance and Coverage. (Source: Google Search Console) (Large preview)

Performance (the number of clicks in Google search) and Coverage (number of pages indexed without error) are above the fold. Below it is another chart that displays recommended enhancements to improve core web vitals, mobile usability and sitelinks searchbox visibility.

Bottom line: The Overview page isn’t littered with charts depicting every data point collected by Google Search Console. Instead, it displays only the top priorities so users can get a bird’s-eye view of what’s going on and not get lost in data they don’t need at that time.

2. Create a Useful and Simple Navigation Wherever Relevant

This one seems like a no-brainer, but I’ll show you why I bring it up.

Zoom is a great video conferencing app. There’s no arguing that. However, when users want to schedule a meeting from their browser, this is what they see:

The Zoom web app complicates things with multiple menus. (Source: Zoom) (Large preview)

The “Join Meeting” and “Host Meeting” options are fine as they both eventually push the user into the desktop app. However, the “Schedule Meeting” in-browser experience isn’t great because it leaves the website navigation bars in place, which only serves as a distraction from the app’s sidebar on the left.

Once your users have created a login and have access to your app, they don’t need to see your site anymore. Ditch the website navigation and let them be submersed in the app.

Or do as Google Hangouts does. Lay your app out the way users expect an app to be laid out:

Primary navigation along the left side,

Hamburger menu button and/or More (…) button contain the secondary navigation,

Wide open space for users to play in the app.

A look inside Google Hangouts and its distraction-free interface and navigation. (Source: Google Hangouts) (Large preview)

But Google Hangouts doesn’t do away with the Google.com website completely. For users that want to quickly navigate to one of Google’s other products, they can use the grid-shaped icon in the top-right corner. So, if you feel it’s necessary for your users to be able to visit your website once again, you can build it into the app that way.

This example also demonstrates how important it is to keep your navigation as simple as possible.

Google Hangouts’ primary navigation uses symbols to represent each of the app’s tabs/options:

Google Hangouts uses icons to represent the tabs of its primary navigation. (Source: Google Hangouts) (Large preview)

While I think it’s okay for Google Hangouts to get away with this icon-only menu design, be careful with this approach. Unless the icons are universally understood (like the hamburger menu, search magnifying glass, or the plus sign), you can’t risk introducing icons that create more confusion.

As NNG points out, there’s a difference between an icon being recognizable and its meaning being indisputable.

So, one way you can get around this is to make the outward appearance of the menu icon-only. But upon hover, the labels appear so that users have additional context for what each means.

As for any secondary navigation you might need — including a Settings navigation — you can write out the labels since it will only appear upon user activation.

The Google Hangouts secondary navigation uses an icon and label for each tab. (Source: Google Hangouts) (Large preview)

Although some of the icons would be easy enough to identify, not all of them would instantly be recognizable (like “Invites” and “Hangouts Dialer”). If even one tab in your secondary navigation is rarely seen across other apps, spell them all out.

One last thing: The divider lines in this menu are a great choice. Rather than jam 10 tabs/options into this navigation bar together, they’re logically grouped, making it easier for users to find what they’re looking for.

3. Provide Users with Predictive Search Functionality

Every app should have a search bar. It might be there to help users sift through content, to find the contact they’re looking for from a long list, or to ask a question about something in the app.

The more complex your app is, the more critical a role internal search is going to play. But if you want to improve your users’ search experience even more, you’ll want to power yours with predictive search functionality.

Even though I’m sure you have a Support line, maybe a chatbot and perhaps an FAQs or Knowledgebase to help users find what they need, a smart search bar can connect them to what they’re really looking for (even if they don’t know how to articulate it).

Google has this search functionality baked into most of its products.

You’re familiar with autocomplete within the Google search engine itself. But here are some other use cases for smart search capabilities.

Google Drive connects users to documents (of all types — Docs, Sheets, Slides and more) as well as collaborators that match the search query.

An example search for ‘speed’ within Google Drive. (Source: Google Drive) (Large preview)

Users can, of course, be taken to a full search results page. However, the search bar itself predicts which content is the most relevant for the query. In this case, these are the most recent pieces of content I’ve written that include the term “speed” in the title.

Google Maps is a neat use case as it pulls data from a variety of connected (Google) sources to try and predict what its users are looking for.

Google Maps pulls from a variety of sources to predict where users want to travel to. (Source: Google Maps) (Large preview)

In this example, I typed in “Alicia”. Now, Google Maps knows me pretty well, so the first result is actually the address of one of my contacts. The remaining results are for addresses or businesses within a 45-mile radius containing the word “Alicia”.

It doesn’t just pull from there though. This is one of those cases where the more enjoyable you make the in-app experience, the more your users will engage with it — which means more data.

For example, this is what I see when I search for “Three”:

Google Maps will provide ‘Favorite’ locations in search results when relevant. (Source: Google Maps) (Large preview)

The very first thing it pulls up is a restaurant called Three Sisters (which is a fantastic restaurant in the city of Providence, by the way). If you look just above the center of the map where the red heart is, that’s the restaurant. This means that I’ve added it to my Favorite places and Google Maps actually calls it out as such in my search results.

Imagine how much more your users would love your app if it wasn’t always a struggle to get to the content, data or page they were looking for. Or to perform a desired action. When you give your users the ability to personalize their experience like this, use the information they’ve given you to improve their search experience, too.

4. Enable Users to Change the Design and Layout of the App

As a designer, you can do your best to design a great experience for your users. But let’s face it:

You’re never going to please everyone.

Unlike a website, though, which is pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get, SaaS users have the ability to change the design and layout of what they’re interacting with — if you let them. And you should.

There are many different ways this might apply to the app you’ve built.

Google Calendar, for example, has a ton of customization options available.

Google Calendar allows users to customize the look and view of their calendars. (Source: Google Calendar) (Large preview)

On the far left is a list of “My calendars”. Users can click which calendars and associated events they want to see within the app.

In the bottom-right corner is an arrowhead. This enables users to hide the Google apps side panel and give them more room to focus on upcoming events and appointments.

In the top-right, users have two places where they can customize their calendar:

The Settings bar allows them to adjust the color and density of the calendar.

The “Month” dropdown allows them to adjust how much of the calendar is seen at once.

These customizations would all be useful for any sort of project management, planning or appointment scheduling app.

For other apps, I’d recommend looking at Gmail. It’s chock full of customizations that you could adapt for your app.

Previously, if users clicked the Settings widget, it would move them out of the app and into the dedicated settings panel. To be honest, it was annoying, especially if you just wanted to make a small tweak.

Gmail’s Settings reveals a list of design and layout customization options. (Source: Gmail) (Large preview)

Now, the Settings button opens this panel within Gmail. It enables users to adjust things like:

Line spacing,

Background theme,

Inbox sorting priorities,

Reading pane layout,

Conversation view on/off.

This is a recent update to Gmail’s settings, which probably means these are the most commonly used design customizations its users actually use.

For any customizations users want to make that they can’t find in this new panel, they can click “See all settings” and customize the in-app design and layout (among other things) even further.

Other customizations you might find value in enabling in your app are:

Keyboard control,

Dark mode,

Color-blind mode,

Text resizing,

List/grid view toggling,

Widget and banner hiding,

Columns displayed.

Not only do these design and layout controls enable users to create an interface they enjoy looking at and that works better for their purposes, it can also help with accessibility.

Wrapping Up

There’s a reason why Google dominates market share with many of its products. It gets the user experience. Of course, this is due largely to the fact that it has access to more user data than most companies.

And while we should be designing solutions for our specific audiences, there’s no denying that Google’s products can help us set a really strong base for any audience — if we just pay attention to the trends across its platforms.

Further Reading on SmashingMag:

(ra, yk, il)

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source http://www.scpie.org/4-lessons-web-app-designers-can-learn-from-google/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/08/4-lessons-web-app-designers-can-learn.html

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CGWorld: Monster Hunter World interview

The following is a translation of an article that was published on the Japanese site CGWorld Entry where they interview the character designers involved with the 2018 video game Monster Hunter: World by Capcom. The interview involves veteran designer Shin-ichi Shiohara and newcomer Mika Mekada as they discuss the process of coming up with characters for the game, as well as the training process that new hires must go through before joining Capcom’s design department.

This was part of a series of articles published by CG World Entry aimed at amateur CGI artists who wish to create characters at video game companies. The Metal Gear Survive interview I’ve previously translated was also part of this series.

You can read the original article at the following link

https://entry.cgworld.jp/column/post/201802-c-capcom.html

Profiles

Shin-ichi Shiohara - Lead character artist. Joined Capcom in 1999. Has been involved in the development of titles such as Forbidden Ground (2005), Devil May Cry 4 (2008) and Lost Planet 2 (2010), as well as the Monster Hunter and Dragon Dogma franchises. He’s been involved in the latest entry, Monster Hunter World, designing characters, equipment, backgrounds and otomos, in addition to drawing concept art. He is currently working as a design section leader for a currently unannounced title.

Mika Mekada - A native from Nagoya. She graduated from the Aichi University of Art with a design major and joined Capcom in 2017. She’s currently in her first year of employment and is working as a character designer and modeller for an unannounced title. She is struggling everyday to come up with character designs that attract many people.

Capcom - Established in 1979. They’re currently headquartered in Chuo, Osaka, where they plan, develop, manufacture, and distribute PC/console games, online games and mobile content, as well as manage amusement facilities. They are responsible for numerous hit franchises such as Street Fighter, Resident Evil and Monster Hunter.

Monster Hunter: World - The latest entry in the Monster Hunter series, released on January 26, 2018. The player must hunt monster who live in various places. The design works of hunters, weapons, equipment, monsters and such that appear throughout the game will be covered in this article.

Be Sure To Give A Reason For Every Design

Let’s start by telling our readers what kind of work both of you do in the Design Section you’ve been assigned to.

Shiohara: Our section is responsible for designing the characters, weapons, equipment, props and such that appear in the game. Many of the artists specialize in certain field. I am the lead character designer myself. When I first joined Capcom, I was assigned to designing and modelling environments, but I transferred over to the Design Section since I wanted more variety in my work. Lately I’ve been in charge of designing many characters and their equipment.

So do you practice your design work while also acting as leader?

Shiohara: That’s right! Many of the artists at Capcom want to be creative in their jobs and don’t want to concentrate only on management. While it’s difficult to be creative while being manager, they also have privilege of assigning themselves the job they most want, so it’s fun in that regard.

Are the designing and modelling work assigned to different sections?

Shiohara: While there are indeed separate sections for design and modelling, most artists do both jobs anyway. Some people are already using 3D tools during the design stages. Particularly when designing monsters, many people find it a lot easier to use Zbrush to sculpt a form than it is to do a drawing.

Mekada: While I’ve been assigned to the Design Section myself, I do a lot of 3D modelling myself. Back when I was in school I used to believe that designing and modelling were two different careers, so I was surprised to learn that some people tend to do both jobs.

Was Shiohara-san in charge of the characters and equipment in Monster Hunter World?

Shiohara: Yes. When it comes to Monster Hunter, the equipment wore by the characters are no mere armors and clothes, they’re almost characters themselves. Because Monster Hunter is a series where you hunt monsters [of course], create weapons and equipment using materials you acquire and then fight stronger monsters, the designs of the monsters are naturally given precedence. We expand ideas such as wanting to play the game a certain way or bring about a certain strategy when confronting a certain monster and then stuff them into the designs of the monsters. For example, there’s a creature called Anjanath that lives in the ancient forest that is established as a very warlike creature that attacks other monster that invade its territory and will pursue the player everywhere once it gets angry. As a result, characters who wear equipment created from a slain Anjanath will also have a wild warlike look to them. Its weapons have also been designed as something that such a warrior would love to use.

Mr. Shiohara talking about his designs. In front of his hand is the costume design of a character wearing armor created from the remains of a slain Anjanath

Ms. Mekada also talking about her designs.

So all the weapons in the game have a basis in something?

Shiohara: We always try to give a reason to every design. Just drawing something because you like the colors or shape isn’t enough to convince the users or its surroundings, nor will it make for an interesting game. You will need a design that suits the characterization that you’re aiming for.

Can you tell us about the process that leads you to complete one design?

Shiohara: We started by drawing many rough designs in order to expand our image. In the case of the Anjanath gear we’ve mentioned a while ago, we also drew a rough design that invoke the image of a tribe from an undiscovered land that was even wilder than the finalized design. During this stage I try to draw as many rough designs as I could come up with and then show it to other artists in the Design Section to get their feedback. The final decision is made by the art director who oversees the game’s worldview. In the case of Monster Hunter World, that person would be Kaname Fujioka, who serves as the game’s executive director and art director. Once you narrow down the direction for the finalized design, we fill-in the details while keeping in mind the overall silhouette.

So everything from the rough design up until the finalized one is done by a single artist?

Shiohara: If there’s room in the schedule, we might have multiple artists working on various rough designs of the same idea, but usually we only have one artist assigned to a specific design from beginning to the end. The same applies even to newcomers like Ms. Mekada. We give no restrictions to rookies just because they can only do certain things, they’re responsible until the end. However, those artists who cannot complete a job because of their lack of experience will often be supported by their surrounding seniors and supervisors.

Are there artists who specializes in weapon designs, like there is for monsters and environments?

Shiohara: There are artists who specializes in a variety of things, but usually we have artists who specializes in weapon designs. There are a variety of weapons that appear throughout the Monster Hunter series and a great deal of them have a transformation functionalities. Specialized knowledge and technique are required since it is necessary to come up with a design that doesn’t collapse before and after transformation.

Realizing The Oddities in One’s Drawings

Ms. Mekada is currently in her first year Capcom. Can you tell us what you studied before joining the company?

Mekada: I’ve studied design at the Aichi University of Arts. During the first two years I studied a wide range of design styles from flats to solids, while during the last two years I’ve majored in visual communication design. I love drawing since I was a child, so I thought about learning how to design in order to make the best use of my illustrations. For example, I used to be interested in the Ainu culture, so I depicted their stories as illustrations, printed them on a pamphlet and distributed them around for free.

Why did you pursue a path in game development?

Mekada: I decided to purse a career in video games after studying various design styles at college and was wondering what to do. I love video games since kindergarten and I would often play with my sisters and other neighborhood kids who were also into videogames. I would cry so much when I lost, it would bother the other people around me. I wanted to draw videogame characters during my later years in grade school, but I wasn’t very skilled at all. I would practice by trial and error while wondering about how I would draw a cool character or a cute one. I also wanted to work on creating videogame characters since I love coming up with a character’s backstory.

It sounds like you’re working dream job.

Shiohara: I was interested in Mekada from the beginning, since I was the teacher for the rookie training program this year and she herself wanted a character designing job, so I transferred her to her current section by the end of July.

Mekada: Almost everything I learned from the rookie training program I’ve applied in my current job. At first I thought I was simply doing my best to learn new skills and knowledge, but later I realized that the people training me were trying to determine the suitability of the new hires and were already planning my future assignments.

How long does the Rookie Training Program lasts?

Shiohara: Around three months. Every year we even get graduates from art universities who majored in oil painting and sculpting that had never touched a 3DCG tool or even Photoshop. However, our lecturers are people who are active at the frontlines and are pretty good at teaching the new hires to make something up to a certain extent. In fact, Mekada was practically an amateur when it came to using 3DCG tools, but she quickly learned to use them.

What was the most impressive thing that you learned during your training period, Ms. Mekada?

Mekada: The Capcom-style human body drawing training was quite practical and educational, unlike the drawing examinations done in the art universities. Instead of drawing a nude model, they give you a stick figure with only a specified pose and you’re asked to flesh out and fill-in the details with your drawing.

Shiohara: Since we deliberately assign angles and poses to artists that they don’t usually draw, even those artists who are proud of their skills are forced to conceit and end up realize that they did not know the human body as much as they thought they did, usually resulting in a humbling experience. Thus, after we have a grasp of their understanding and abilities, they are trained in how illustrate the anatomy of the human body.

Mr. Shiohara and Ms. Mekada talking about the new employee training program. On a hand is a clear file containing concept art, rough sketches, CGI and such made during the training period.

Mekada: Because my major was design arts, I never had a formal education in human drawing, even though I had been drawing human characters on my own volition. I learned a lot from the training program, making me examining my own work and realize which parts of my drawings looked odd. It was a huge revelation. I wouldn’t say my art is perfect, but now I know which mistakes to avoid, what isn’t possible and where I need some practice, which helps in setting up goals in my own work.

How Much Fun Gameplay Can Be Suggested Within The Limits of the Game

Shiohara: During the training, I ask the recruits to design a character, turn it into a model, insert the skeleton, implement it into the game engine and then move it using existing animation patterns. In her series of assignments, Mekada designed a character, to the point that she even thought about the character’s gameplay style, and then provided a very throughout presentation.

So it’s not just about drawing a character, but also about thinking how you want players to use and enjoy your character. That’s why artwork and plans are made to communicate to other people.

Shiohara: That’s right. In fact, we often give presentations to the other staff members in our daily work in order to convey the idea that such a character fights in such a matter, such as by drawing a small scene like a comic strip or by mimicking the intended actions ourselves. We convey the values of designs and ideas through such explanations, which is how we increase supporters. Mekada was able to do it to an extent during her training period, which is why I thought she was suitable for the job. The enthusiasm of wanting to create the game you want is not something that can be taught during training. I believe the most important ability is knowing how to communicate with others.

Mekada: I was able to experience the process up of my design being into 3D and being implemented in a game on my assignment, so I made many new discoveries. For example, there is a limit to the amount of wavering objects, such as hair styles or accessories and apparel that interferes with the arm and leg movement of a character cannot be realized when it comes to fighting game characters. Therefore it is necessary to make it into a unique silhouette while making a costume that fits the character’s body to some extent. It was through much guidance from my instructors and a process of trial and error that came to realize the concept of a “form that doesn’t work no matter what.”

Shiohara: It’s important for designs to understand such circumstances in a game, but there’s also the drawback that if you end up learning too much, the amount of designs you can contribute end up being reduced. Designers are expected to come up with as much fun gameplay as possible, as long as they can be realized in the game. If your scope shrinks more than it is necessary, then your designs might not entertain or even surprise users. Art directors have pointed out to me that “you should keep the modeller in mind and do what you want without being too reckless”. First you try to draw what pleases you and then you discuss it with the modeller as you try to find a common ground that approaches the limit of expression. Given that it becomes harder the more experienced you become, you shouldn’t try to be overcautious when it comes to coming up with ideas either.

All artists who have worked for a long time have their own “Fetishes”

Finally, Ms. Mekada, can you tell us about your future aspirations?

Mekada: I want to create a variety of characters and perhaps someday create a character that will change the outlook and values of the player. I played many history-themed games during my years as a grade schooler, so I’ve experienced not just videogames, but also history. As such, I wish to convey new discoveries to the player through the characters that I create.

Shiohara: Mekada can be almighty when it comes to both, designing and modelling, but I really want her to think about what she can express best and try to show it to me. All artists who have worked for a long time tend to have their own fetishes that they try to express in their work whenever the opportunity arrives. When you show me your fetish, it’s easier to assign you a job by saying “this is Mekada’s specialty. If you rely on her, she will give you the best.” Once you get used to your current job, I want you to gradually refine your fetish and put it out there.

[orchidsheep4-blog]

18 Ways to Support Your English Learners

A MiddleWeb Blog

2018-2019 is going to be a year where your English Learners thrive! Your ELs need some extra scaffolds and supports to level the playing field. They are learning a new language while navigating content at the same time.

Here are 18 ways that you can help support them in their journey. Not every EL will need all of these scaffolds. Some will need more than others. And once they no longer need the scaffold, remember to release it and let them soar!

1. Provide visual supports

Visual supports can be sketches that you create yourself on the fly, or they can be google images that you pull up on a device when you realize that a student needs to see what you are discussing. Visuals also include real objects (realia) that you or students bring in to support vocabulary and concept development.

Not enough can be said about visuals. One of my favorite ways to use visuals to support ELs is through Picture Talks or the Picture Induction Method. Learn more here. They are super powerful!

2. Use adapted text

Some students, such as those at earlier language proficiency, will need adapted texts. These are texts that differ slightly from the text the native English speakers may be reading. The adapted text is less strenuous on students who are learning English yet provides them with the same content. You can find great, FREE adapted texts from websites like NEWSELA.com.

Check out this blog by Larry Ferlazzo where he shares many different places to find adapted texts. What I love about adapted texts is that they look very similar to the regular text so students can’t see that anyone is getting a different form. ELs don’t feel singled out.

3. Offer sentence frames or sentence stems

Sentence frames or sentence stems are an entry point into academic or social conversations for students. ELs benefit from these because they give momentum to their thoughts. I think of them like a push on a swing set. When our kids aren’t able to push themselves, we give them the initial pushes on the swing and then they take over.

Sentence stems are similar. They are like a push to propel our students’ thoughts forward. A couple of things to keep in mind about sentence stems/frames: we should model the use of them, offer them but not require them, and tailor stems to meet various language proficiency levels. (Here’s another Ferlazzo resource.)

4. Value and encourage native language

Honoring a child’s native language has many benefits both for self-esteem and academically. Language is part of who we are. Encouraging the use of native language sends a message that a student’s identity is valued and respected in our classroom and world.

I can remember when my sister was in the middle grades that she was embarrassed by our native language and my mom’s accent. She didn’t want her peers to see that we were different. Perhaps if one teacher had asked questions and shown interest in her culture and language, my sister would not have stopped speaking Serbian.

If a student has a language other than English that they can tap into and refer back to, we should let them! This is big. Literacy is valuable in any language. Bridging the languages helps to build the target language.

5. Provide opportunities for collaborative work

Learning is social. ELs especially benefit from collaborating with other students and not just other ELs. They need to discuss, communicate, listen to, read with, negotiate, and problem solve with students of all types. Groups should be fluid and flexible, sometimes with partners and other times with three and four and more. This type of setting also lowers the affective filter for ELs while allowing everyone an opportunity to participate.

The old, traditional way of the classroom was that the teacher stood in front, lectured while students listened, and then the teacher asked a few questions and called on a couple of students. Only those few students who were called on actually participated; everyone else zoned out. Participation is powerful.

6. Repeat or rephrase instructions

Be careful not to assume that everyone understands your directions. Many students (including ELs) will be reluctant to say in front of their peers that they don’t understand. Avoid asking, “Does everyone understand?” It’s not typical for anyone to respond, “No, I don’t understand.”

Instead try gauging understanding by asking questions or having students retell the directions to a partner. Then listen in so you can clear up misconceptions by rephrasing the directions. I heard a colleague once say, “I repeated the directions at least five times and they still did it wrong.” Sometimes repeating is not enough. If they don’t understand, then repeating will not work, but perhaps rephrasing will. Try it a different way.

7. Assess understanding

Check to see if students understand the lesson or directions before it’s too late. Setting students up for success is key. If we want them to do well, we have to prepare them and check along the way to see if they are on track. Some call this incremental evaluation.

There are many ways to do this. It can be asking students to retell directions to a partner or having partners hold an academic conversation as you walk around and listen in. When there is a written product, check in with ELs midway to see their progress. This will help to catch problems or errors in advance if the product is being turned in for a grade. If done correctly, these meetings can also be wonderful ways to build relationships with ELs.

8. Chunk academic reading materials

No matter what subject you teach, there are probably reading materials that students must read. Lengthy text can pose a comprehension problem for some ELs who are still processing and translating the English language. One way to alleviate this is to chunk the reading material. This means break it down into smaller pieces for delivery.

ELs will still read the same text, but in between you might give stopping points to talk or sketch meaning. For example, if this blog post was an assignment for an EL that may benefit from chunking, I might chunk the reading into 3 sections and between each, my students would stop to discuss with a partner an open-ended question that I pose for them. Or I could have them read 1-9 today and 10-18 tomorrow.

9. Allow time for free reading

Free reading is the best way for our students to become better readers. Read more. Read, read, read. When we assign students what they must read, they usually don’t want to read it and many of them don’t read it. But if we give them choice in their reading and the time to read, it becomes less constraining.

We can encourage students to read at home, but we can’t rely on it. That won’t always happen, and we can’t control what takes place outside of school. What we can do is create an environment in school where reading is pleasurable and inviting. We can provide daily time for our students to read. Unfortunately, since we don’t put a grade on it, many times free/independent reading gets bumped off the daily schedule.

10. Set academic goals together

Meet frequently with ELs (especially in middle grades and higher) to discuss where they are and next steps. All students need to know their target. If they don’t know where they are headed, then they may be wandering aimlessly. Because ELs have a lot on their plates – managing both academics and language – setting goals with them helps them to narrow the focus. If you are in a WIDA state, you can use the CAN-DO descriptors to help you set goals with your ELs.

The important thing is that you confer frequently with your students, letting them know that you care about them and their success, and that you are their biggest cheerleader. This is a great time for ELs to ask you questions. If they aren’t, you can invite them to do so. Once they become comfortable enough, they will. Learn more here on personalized goal setting.

11. Intentionally plan for writing

Keep in mind that writing is not just something students do in writing class or language arts. We must intentionally plan for writing in all content areas. Why? Students need to be able to use the language of science, math, history in their writing and their speaking.

One way to plan for writing in content areas is to first begin with open ended speaking activities. Having students hold academic conversations over hot topics using domain specific vocabulary can prepare them for writing. When we let them talk with several partners, they begin to hear multiple responses and can use their peers’ ideas when they begin writing.

Some students will need sentence starters to help them begin their writing. Beginner ELs may need paragraph frames, picture supports and a vocabulary word bank. The point is, don’t skip the writing in content area classrooms!

12. Embed speaking opportunities

I know what you might be thinking… “but they don’t talk about the topic we’re studying.” That used to be my problem with letting students talk in class too. The further they were from me, the further they were from the topic. And I was frustrated because, frankly, I had a lot to cover. If I let them talk, I was afraid we wouldn’t get to all of it. AND talking is not graded, so I didn’t see the worth.

But talk is CRUCIAL for our ELs. We must provide (not require) opportunities for them to discuss with a group or partner so they can negotiate for meaning, hear another’s point of view, process thinking, dig deeper, learn new vocabulary, and practice language in a low stress setting.

I’ve found the best way to do this is to scaffold for success. Model what I want to see and hear EXPLICITLY, give them sentence frames and vocabulary, and post the question that they will discuss so they can go back to it if they forget. Two of my favorite structured speaking methods are QSSSA and Talking Heads. Click on each to learn more.

13. Offer wait time

So S.I.M.P.L.E. you don’t even have to plan for it. But you have to remember to do it. Offering wait time means that you ask a question. And then you WAIT before you call on anyone to answer. Wait. Wait. Wait. It can be awkward and someone will try to talk.

Here’s where I like to throw in a twist. Rather than calling on one person to answer…I have them share their answers with a partner. This way EVERYONE answers rather than one single person. My ELs get practice talking and listening. Win, WIN!

Why wait? Well, many reasons…but to begin with, some of our ELs are processing and translating English into their native language. Wait time gives them a chance to do the hard work and then build the courage to answer in English too! More on wait time.

14. Embrace and lift up cultural differences

We all have culture. Let’s just get that out there. The thing is that when there are differences in culture, we have the choice to ignore them, embrace them, or ridicule them. Many people think that ignoring cultural differences is just fine. Actually, it’s not.

Cultural blindness is “acting as if cultural differences do not matter” and thinking that everyone responds and learns the same. Our job is to embrace differences and create opportunities to learn from one another. Recognizing that each student brings with him/her unique and valuable assets that can enrich the classroom and tapping into those resources will lift up students.

15. Model what you expect

When giving instructions or an assignment, model explicitly what you want to see. Your ELs will need to know what you want from them. Whether it is a writing assignment or a speaking task, show students exactly what it is that they will need to achieve.

Setting students up for success from the beginning empowers them to know the goal. Some will be able to get there quickly while others will need multiple opportunities. Either way, they will all get there when the time is right if we model what we expect.

16. Ask questions

Ask questions about their family life and about their hobbies. Don’t make assumptions. Showing all students, but especially ELs, that we are interested lets them know that we care.

We know that our students don’t care what we know until they know that we care. For ELs this can be so powerful since often ELs feel isolated and different. Asking questions and showing interest gives them a feeling of belonging that they may need.

17. Build a culturally responsive environment

Building an environment that is culturally responsive means taking a look at the students you serve and assuring that the walls and resources reflect the students. Include books in other languages. Pull in resources that represent your diverse student population.

Your students will appreciate seeing people that resemble their families on charts, posters, books, etc. This sends a clear message that all students are welcome and valued. Including diverse materials allows each child a window and a mirror to both empathize with others and feel valued.

18. Foster an inclusive class community

You set the tone in your classroom. Your students will know if you appreciate diversity and welcome students of all kinds. They will follow your lead. Fostering an inclusive classroom is paramount for ELs but really for any child.

For ELs this means that we model empathy, ask questions, invite individuality, and embrace one another as we are. Inclusive classrooms allow every child to feel they have a voice. They are rooms where risk taking is appreciated and students feel safe with one another.

Well, that’s definitely not everything, but it’s a good start! How do you assure that ELs are supported, valued, and thrive in your classroom? Share with us!

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Source: https://www.middleweb.com/38652/18-ways-to-support-your-english-learners/

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Roll-Up Property Considerations for Google Analytics 360

Roll-Up Property Considerations for Google Analytics 360

For Google Analytics 360 users who are considered taking advantage of the special Roll-Up Property feature, extra time should be spent planning what data to combine and how that will impact decision-making and reporting. As a reminder, Roll-Up Properties are special properties that Google will grant GA360 users by request only, so you cannot create them on your own.

Even though there is a Property ID that is formatted like all the other property IDs that you are familiar with, this Property ID is not meant to go anywhere on your site or in a tag manager since it behaves differently. It can be thought of as a master folder that will sync and copy data from your chosen properties automatically (only data moving forward from the roll-up property creation date). It collects copies of the hits from multiple locations but you can still configure familiar property and view settings.

Our previous post on rolling up your data introduced the feature as well as an alternative parallel tracking solution that will work for non-GA360 customers. Since then, more Google Analytics changes, additions and updates have been introduced which affect decisions and strategy for these roll-up properties. With these new opportunities and additional 360 capabilities in mind, it’s time to think beyond basic implementation. This post will be focused solely on the roll-up reporting feature for Google Analytics 360, but several of the broad ideas and concepts here can translate over to other aggregate tracking solutions that you may be using.

To add a regular property to a Roll-Up property, it must be within the same account. This was a disappointment when Roll-Ups were first released but with the newer ability to move properties, there is so much more opportunity to use this feature.

Thinking about why the data should be aggregated and rolled into one property is the first step. Not every organization will need this feature and using it for the sake of novelty will lead to wasted effort and time. I feel like most data questions are frustratingly answered with the same question: “Should we do this/Are we successful/etc.?” followed by the response of, “What’s the context?” … but that’s exactly what I would say in this case. Let’s look at a few examples.

Multiple Revenue Models

Many companies don’t fall neatly into the high-level model description of Business-to-Business (B2B) or Business-to-Consumer (B2C) types. A portion of your websites may be dedicated to one focus while another portion is dedicated to the other; they are completely different audiences in most situations. The marketing strategy will be very different as well as the product type or level, so should they really be analyzed together?

The higher-value purchases and leads of the B2B sites may skew the data when analyzing marketing efforts as well as metrics related to revenue or conversions. Also, there likely would be little user crossover between the two models’ sites. My recommendation would be to roll-up all B2B sites into one roll-up property and roll-up all B2C sites into another.

One potential argument against this is the ability to see if the sites’ content matches the audience by looking at a portion of users that land on one site and convert on another. However, an alternate and simpler solution would be to add an event for links to the other site and analyze segmenting in each property’s view. To take it a step further, you could also link Search Console data to the individual properties to see if users’ searches are matching the appropriate product – this would partially account for those who land on one site and go to the other through future organic searches. If only a small amount of users fall into this category, why waste the additional hits on your GA360 billing account?

To get a broad picture of how both types of sites are performing at a quick glance, reporting with Data Studio or a similar solution would give you overview data in one place.

Development Sites

Many enterprise-level businesses have several sites for development, staging and testing. These should absolutely have their own individual properties per website and a Roll-Up property would be a great idea as well. In terms of cost, these wouldn’t carry a huge amount of hits and the payoff would be worth it. One view could have all test sites aggregated together. The session stitching wouldn’t be useful here but viewing all events related to testing, JavaScript errors, events related to site speed, data across multiple vendors working on multiple sites, and annotations or automated measurement protocol hits could save time and help management across teams.

Mobile Mobile Websites

For mobile websites that are either simply a mobile version of the desktop site or an “m.” subdomain, our recommendation is to use the same property ID as the regular website and always take advantage of segments and mobile-only views. Unless there’s a rare case of the mobile subdomain serving different content and a different user experience, there’s no reason to separate this into a different property, which means you would not need to use the Roll-Up property feature.

AMP

Previously, integrating AMP tracking with the Google Analytics Client ID to retain sessions and users across AMP and non-AMP pages was not a default behavior and involved significant effort to code and configure (luckily we have uber-experts Simo Ahava and Dan Wilkerson!). For those who did not use custom code to retain the Client ID, a recommendation was to keep AMP in a separate property so that session and user metrics weren’t inflated in the main property. This relates to the Roll-Up feature if you are in a situation related to the next point where a decision has to be made.

With the new and useful native Google Client ID feature, the integration is much simpler and AMP hits should be sent to the regular property and exist alongside regular website hits. It isn’t a default setting but adding it is as simple as a line of code and a field addition for Google Analytics. For those that have been using AMP for a while and have been sending hits to a separate property, using the Roll-Up feature may be preferable – this would preserve legacy AMP data while taking advantage of the Client ID feature since Roll-Up properties can be configured to unify sessions.

Mobile Applications and Firebase

Mobile applications are downloaded from the Apple Store and Google Play and are not served from a browser – these are tracked differently even if they appear the same and deliver the same content. These should always have their own property and the different versions (iOS/Android) should be separated as well. With Firebase, mobile application data may even be in two places at once – tracking to Google Analytics for Firebase as well as a more familiar mobile application property.

Roll-Up considerations are especially important here. First, Firebase cannot be added to a Roll-Up property. It makes sense because it is a completely different reporting platform. However, the next step is to decide if your mobile application properties should be added into a Roll-Up with your website data. If the content is similar or the same, it would absolutely be worth it to use a Roll-Up and is especially relevant for publishers.

Since Roll-Up properties have custom dimension mapping and calculated metrics, a content ID or something similar can be passed on both platforms to have the ability to analyze overall data. This has the added benefit of cross-device tracking since the User ID feature is available for both web and application tracking.

Here’s another scenario – let’s say you have one application that serves the same or similar content as your website (the above example) but you also have other applications that serve other content or are for other purposes. This is a case where you can take advantage of the ability to add one property to multiple Roll-Ups*. The content app can be added to a Roll-Up with your content website[s] and the same application property can be added to another Roll-Up that houses all of your mobile application properties. Even though the mobile applications have different purposes, an application Roll-Up is useful for high-level performance metrics such as crashes, exceptions and downloads, for example.

*Speaking of multiple Roll-Up properties, roll-up-ception isn’t possible. You can’t add a Roll-Up property to a Roll-Up property (although I can’t think of a use case for that).

Integrations Google Search Console

A well-known limitation of the Search Console linking process is that a Search Console site can only be linked to one Google Analytics property. Also, a property can only be linked to one Search Console site. Unfortunately, this means that the link wouldn’t be useful for Roll-Up properties.

Google AdWords

The AdWords link is just as simple for Roll-Up properties as it is for individual properties. This should be one of the first things you do when creating a Roll-Up property to start collecting the click and cost data into your account. Not only that, a great part about having AdWords data in a Roll-Up property is the ability to use broader remarketing audiences. This means that you can designate more conditions for your users as they move across multiple sites. Combined with the new Audiences report in Google Analytics, this is even more powerful.

Google BigQuery

One of the most exciting benefits of having a roll-up property is the ability to link BigQuery to an aggregated view instead of an individual website view. This saves time creating SQL joins across multiple tables and multiple projects. The linking process is identical to a regular property’s view, so there are no additional or more complex steps to go through in order to get things flowing. A potential decision for linking a roll-up view instead of individual properties’ views is that it may affect the amount of backfill for very large sites. When a BigQuery integration is initially linked, 13 months or 10 billion hits (whichever has fewer hits) of historic data are ported over to your project. If you own sites that have over 10 billion hits across less than 13 months, it may be more beneficial to link each property’s main view separately to get the most amount of historic data.

DoubleClick Products

For publishers, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) data is invaluable to have alongside Google Analytics data. A Roll-Up linked to your DFP account or accounts would give important metrics like overall revenue across multiple content sites that the organization owns. However, when rolling up mobile application and website data, it’s worth noting that the DFP integration does not currently support mobile app ads, so that data will not show up or be folded into the combined metrics here.

For DoubleClick Campaign Manager and DoubleClick Bid Manager, a Roll-Up property gives the opportunity to analyze broad advertising efforts such as overall brand awareness across your family of sites. Using segments, demographic data and aggregated engagement metrics from Google Analytics could supplement ad optimization.

To link a Roll-Up property to DCM and DFP, the same process of contacting Google to begin the integration needs to be repeated. The connected properties will not automatically populate the linked data in the Roll-Up property. Luckily, one DoubleClick account can be linked to multiple Google Analytics properties for each of these products.

Property Moving

If you are moving properties to make sure they are in the same account for a Roll-Up, a DFP integration would have to be unlinked before moving the property and then re-linked once it is in the new account with the Roll-Up property. This means that there would be a gap in DFP data in Google Analytics. Publishers should be aware before making decisions around these actions.

For DCM and DBM, the link remains intact and they do not need to be unlinked before the property is moved. However, make sure the initial integration happens before the property is moved since the property ID and account ID must match for the link to be set-up.

Custom Data Data Import and Cost Data Import

When you link a property to a Roll-Up, Data Import settings will not port over. These tables will have to be added to the Roll-Up property as well. Just mapping the custom dimensions will not populate the field.

Custom Tables

Since Roll-Up properties will have much more data than individual properties, custom tables should be considered during the strategy and decision-making process. The sampling levels are the same for these properties and if you are using a reporting solution like Tableau, Domo or a spreadsheet add-on which all use the API, custom tables are essential.

In addition, Roll-Up views still have the cardinality limit of 75,000 rows per table so custom tables would be worth it for page dimensions and metrics.

Events

Some events will be the same in multiple websites like outbound link tracking, scroll tracking, contact events and social shares. Others will be more granular and very specific to the individual website. Do all of these events need to be included into the main reporting view in the Roll-Up? Be smart with filters to have a clean view that’s actionable and makes sense of the aggregated data.

Content Grouping

Having each site as a content group is such a simple implementation in Google Tag Manager and on-page code. All you would have to do is set the content group to the website name on the pageview. Why do this? Content Groupings are unique because they can be used in the Behavior Flow report. This will give you a (sampled) visual of users’ navigation between sites.

Use It!

If you are a GA360 customer, consider the possibility Roll-Up properties. If it does make sense to use them, make sure you get the most out of the feature by thinking about account structure, using property settings, and linking to additional data that you have available to you. The new User Explorer report will especially be interesting to analyze multiple touch points as well as the Multi-Channel Funnel reports for multi-session analyses. Roll-Up data also gets around the limitation of not being about to join multiple views’ data in Data Studio, so aggregate data can be visualized and added easily.

Ultimately, the decisions and strategy around rolling up your data will deal with high-level stakeholders and multiple teams. What questions do you have that currently cannot be answered by having segmented data across multiple properties? What part of the user journey are you missing out on between devices or multiple websites? A Roll-Up property could deliver the answers you’re looking for in your Google Analytics data.

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