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Captured by two lucky ladies in a canoe.

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Fast forward to :36 to see the good. Right after that comes the bad. The end result is a punch in the face. Was it warranted? 

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I have to admit, I felt a bit uneasy when I came across this article about an Israeli man who put a QR code on his mother's tombstone.

Maybe the bright-shiny-object syndrome had something to do with it; I don't know. It just felt wrong. But only for a split second.

To me, this is a brilliant use of technology that enhances the memorial and visitation experience while paying tribute to a person's life.

We've seen multimedia on tombstones before but placing a QR code - IMHO - let's the person paying respects get so much more out of the experience. Think about what the QR code could offer:

- Memorial videos, pictures, prayer cards of the deceased

- Special messages for special occasions, like Mother's Day or birthdays 

- Visitors can leave comments on a blog

There are so many possibilities to what this technology could offer. The tombstone maker in the above is making a business out of it.

Awesome.

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Reading the Huffington Post this morning I was horrified, as many, by the images of the Vancouver riots. Sad day for Vancouver and Canada as a whole. But at least someone captured something good about what went down.

UPDATE: See what some good Vancouverites are doing on Facebook to clean up their image. Hat tip to @sulemaan 

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From the very, very nice people at The World's Best Ever. 

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Yesterday’s voter turnout for Canada’s National Election was the biggest turnout since 1812. For the first time EVER Jack Layton and his NDP government became the opposition. The Green Party won their first seat in Parliament and the Liberals, well… the Liberals learned a lesson.

The people have spoken.

So much so that Elections Canada surpassed Osama Bin Laden on Twitter as a trending topic one day after the ruthless dictator’s death and on the eve of Canada’s elections. This tells me a few things

• Canadian Parties are listening to their constituents
• Canadian Parties are getting much better at targeting their messages
• Canadian Voters wield more power than EVER before

Yesterday’s elections told me that the Parties are doing a better job at points 1 and 2 because they realize the power of point 3. The power of point 3 has helped more Canadians go to the polls than ever before. It gave them more information when and how they wanted it. A few months ago the power of point 3 was able to make a positive change in the Middle East.

Now it’s our turn. 

Just because the elections are over doesn’t mean Canadians must forgo their power. This is the time for you to use it; the time for you to make a positive change. 

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I love the form and simplicity of this story. Two 4 x 4 frames, placed side by side, telling stories of outcomes, emotions, polarity, births and deaths with 224 comments and counting - all of which sing the same tune: amazing. 

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The Marketer’s Engagement Diamond
 
In an effort to continue the conversation from three years ago I’ve made an attempt to build an engagement framework called The Marketer’s Engagement Diamond.

It's a framework I hope to use with all my clients during the next great adventure. The metaphor is simple: an engagement diamond.

In marriage, the engagement diamond represents the ultimate form of commitment to someone. “I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life.” Source

In marketing, engagement is an overrated term so I turned to Wikipedia: "Engagement measures the extent to which a consumer has a meaningful brand experience when exposed to commercial advertising, sponsorship, television contact, or other experience."

Measures, I assume, are indicative of how deep one's commitment will go; an engagement diamond symbolizes commitment at the deepest level: 'til death do us part. You can see why I chose this metaphor.

Buying a diamond ring is considered one of the most important purchase decisions consumers will make in their lifetime. To help with their decision they use a framework called the 4 Cs of a diamond:

Cut
Clarity
Colour
Carat Weight

It's a simple framework, used by the three major diamond grading laboratories to grade diamonds and to help consumers with their purchase decision; probably used by millions with great success.  

Buying a set of tires isn’t as intense as buying a diamond ring but in today's hyper-connected, consumer-powered world, people demand a stronger relationship with the brands they interact with. They expect more than just a great product; they want experiences to talk about.

I believe there's a simple framework that marketers can use to deliver more value to consumers, and ultimately more positive experiences. I call this framework the Marketer's Engagement Diamond, and it consists of 4Cs:

Commitment
The level of service, function and resources within an organization dedicated to consistently delivering value to their customers. A brand shouldn’t commit to a relationship if it cannot commit to the new rules of marketing.

Content
Information, applications and experiences used to engage a customer. While a sales message is always required experiences resonate deeper with consumers. Both can be considered content but knowing which one to deliver - on the customer's terms - is what makes or breaks the engaged customer.

Conversation
The interaction organizations have with their customers measured through website metrics, call centre volume, and the social ecosystem of mentions, retweets and Likes. While interactions are important it's the level of intimacy within these conversations that matters.

Community  
Sponsored and self-forming groups that contain a myriad of content and conversations. Marketers should mine the data in these spaces for innovation, co-creation and increased customer satisfaction, all of which lead to more engaged consumers. 

Do you believe this framework is enough for today’s world of marketing? 

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One of the seminars I attended at SXSW was given by Robert Hoekman Jr. In 1 hour Robert explained 5 steps to a bulletproof UX strategy. I've been to similar sessions, read countless books and articles about the subject but this stayed with me because he explained it backwards. Why? Because that's how most clients go about it.

Step 5 - measure

UX projects often start because measurement shows something is off. Awareness is down. CTRs suck. Page views suck. Traffic is high but engagement levels are dropping. Measurement should look at acquisition rates, conversion, engagement, and satisfaction. If you aren't measuring these after launch you're pooched.

Step 4 - implement

Know everything about what is going on with the code used to build your UX. "If you're not coding it yourself, work with your developers to find out what goes into making your UX". You need to know your constraints.

Step 3 - plan

Define where you want to be in 3 months. 6 months, 24 months. Get your research. Define why you, the brand, do what you do everyday (besides make money). Ask Why does it matter? Build prototypes, check for usability. Keep it ephemeral.

Step 2 - define

Also known as The Big Think by Christine Wodke, this step makes all other decisions easier. It will clarify what you're doing. "The clearer the purpose the better the product" says Simon Sinek. A lot of products are developed as a result of purpose. If your client has asked you to build something then there is a purpose. It's your job as a UX professional to give it meaning. This is known as The UX Vision. It's your target of where you want the experience to go. When everyone knows what you're doing it's easier getting there.

To establish a UX Vision, Hoekman suggests two things: Synthesize the Story - talk to stakeholders. Try to figure out why it matters. Coherent what you're down to a simple paragraph. Or a sentence if you can. Vision One Sheet - I love the notion of a single piece of paper that captures everything you need to communicate about your strategy and the UX Vision you intend to create. Some of us may not be able to capture everything in one document but I would suggest you give it a try before throwing out the bathwater. There are 4 areas to consider in the Vision One Sheet. 1. Your Vision. 2. Your Situation (the who, what, where, when and why). 3. Design criteria (statements about which high notes to hit in your design based on data 4. Metrics.

Step 1 - audit If it's already there then take inventory. Figure out what worked, what didn't through site metrics and determine what you can reuse. A simple look at what you have right now will help answer questions down the road.

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Day 2 of SXSW was filled with tons of learnings. From debating whether marketing content is journalism, whether banks are innovating or not, how ad.ly helped Charlie Sheen be the social media rock star that he is, and how Seth Preisbatsch, the 22 year old CEO of SCAVNGR, is creating The Game Layer for the real world. As I discussed Seth's keynote with a friend he asked, "What we you doing when you were 22 years old?" Seth's energy levels are like Red Bull infused with speed and caffeine. The evening called for some good old Texan tuning out. I started at SONY's Playstation,olaing some 3d baseball. Then I moved up to the main drag then, thanks to a new app called LocalMind, was able to find a Texan BBQ house called Iron Works. LocalMind is blend of Quora and Twitter, letting you ask people in a local zone for advice on what to do, where to eat, and where the party's at. Did see a few users in the t-dot so do give it a try. I used it on Day 2, and will continue to for the rest of my stay.

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