Designing for ADA Compliance

De-Mystifying Google Analytics: Geographical Data Import

De-Mystifying Google Analytics Part 1: Internal Site Search

Most websites utilize some form of internal search that allows users to quickly find what they’re looking for by typing keywords into the search box. But many website owners and marketers don’t realize that this internal search data is available to them through search content reporting in Google Analytics – and that it can go a long way in helping them better serve their users.

What Instagram’s album feature means for brands

Memes, Community and the Evolution of Communication

Have you seen the latest Dos Equis commercial? It quips that the most interesting man in the world “has inside jokes with complete strangers.” Beyond the inherent funniness of the concept, it made me laugh for a different reason—the enormous irony that the Dos Equis guy has become one of the most popular memes ever, and the fact that memes are, indeed, an inside joke with complete strangers…

On Mobile Forms and Homer Simpson Fingers

There’s an old episode of The Simpsons where Homer, working from home, tries to call the nuclear plant to warn about a meltdown. As he dials, he hears the following recording: “The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now.”

Dave Rodriguez, Managing Director, Development

What Google’s Paid Search Changes Mean For You

Your Quality Time: How Social Platforms Steal Your Attention (and What You Can Do About It)

How the VIMM Model can Improve Usability of Your Site or Application

There are many definitions of “usability,” but most of them are too general to be useful. The VIMM Model is different. It’s a practical approach to improving usability that can be applied by just about anyone.

5 Questions to Solve Your Business Challenge

The insights gained from this 5-point analysis reveal the unique, measurable way you will succeed.

3 Key Sources for Accessible Market Research

Should your brand be on TikTok?

Meet a Hansonite: Joe Holub

Do you need a competitive assessment?

Supporting people with disabilities: Why you should include everyone’s needs in the design of your sites and applications

Evolve Your Email Marketing

Jordan Rees, Senior Project Manager

The Benefits of Social Listening

How To Optimize Your YouTube Channel

Developing Content for the Healthcare Consumer

What We Know Now: Mike Osswald

Why Project Management Certification Is Worth Getting

Yes, Paid Media is a Great Opportunity for B2B

Understanding the Google Analytics 360 Suite

Why We Design The Home Page Last

People Skills for UX 2015: Negotiation Skills — Making a Case for UX

As a User Experience Architect, I was fortunate to attend the recent People Skills for UX webinar locally sponsored in part by Hanson and hosted by Rosenfeld Media and Environments for Humans. The webinar featured specialists on topics related to improving interpersonal relationships, with user experience leaders then tying those topics into the realm of digital design. One thing that became clear through all of these presentations was how crucial people skills are to advocating for UX.

7 Reasons to Define Your Solution First

When you’re creating a new website or app, it might be tempting to dream big and work out the details later. But it’s always wiser to start by defining your solution first. At Hanson, we call this Requirements Definition and Solution Design.

Leslie Gasser, Managing Director, Operations

The User Experience of Live Events

A few weeks ago, a colleague wrote about how his work as a user experience architect is filtering down into his personal life and changing the way he relates to people. His story demonstrates that UX is not just for web architects and usability testers.

Why Trade Shows are Great Opportunities for Social Engagement

Trade shows have long served as a breeding ground for innovations and relationships. And while many brands and industries have spent decades perfecting their trade show strategies, social media is a relatively new addition to these strategies. As more companies continue to develop an active social presence, many are realizing that trade shows are great opportunities for social engagement. Here are a few reasons why.

Behind the Magic of Live Events

The house lights dim. The crowd hushes. Music swells from an unseen source as the curtains part to reveal an actress, in a trio of spotlights, swooping down from the stars...

Why Niche Social Networks are Good for Business

The social web is huge, and it isn’t going away. But as social media fatigue sets in, a growing trend is emerging: some users are abandoning their larger networks in favor of smaller, interest-based social networks. Here’s why the rise of niche networks makes sense—and why they’re good for business.

A Project Manager’s Principles for Effective Meetings

As a project manager, I admit I have a bit of a reputation around here. I’m known for getting people out of meetings early, earning me the nickname “Miss Bossypants.” (I’ve been assured this is an affectionate term.) Ending meetings on time seems like a basic tenet of business. But the dozens (hundreds?) of ineffective meetings we’ve all experienced in our careers indicates that it’s an acquired skill...

Going Social with the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic

I once sold lemonade to Jamie Farr. Or, I tried to. I grew up across the street from Highland Meadows Golf Course, which—if you know anything about Toledo—has long been the home of the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic. It was a tradition of my childhood that every summer for one week, LPGA players and fans took over my neighborhood to have fun and raise money for local children’s charities...

4 Reasons to Revise Your Content During a Redesign

Do you have dusty boxes in a closet or basement that you never unpacked last time you moved? You ran out of energy. Or you ran out of space. Maybe (gulp!) it’s been boxed up for decades and you just keep moving it with you. Now imagine that those boxes are the website content you haven’t updated in five years...

5 Reasons Your PPC Campaigns Are Failing (and How to Improve Them)

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising has become a large part of corporate online media spending because it helps brands get more visibility in search engines than organic searches alone can provide. But some campaigns run into trouble due to lack of research and focus. Here are 5 reasons campaigns fail and what you can do to start improving them now...

Websites and Trail Races: It’s All About the Navigation

There is nothing to fear except fear itself. And also getting lost in the woods overnight. My husband and I are both runners. Yet I had long hesitated to run a trail race for one reason: my fear of getting hopelessly lost in the woods. Last summer my husband coaxed me into a series of XTERRA trail races. But as the date of our first race approached, I became almost panic stricken that I would never find my way out of the trees.

What Being in a Band Taught Me About Social Media

Musicians spend countless hours and dollars crafting their music and the vast---and I mean vast---majority of them fail. The good news is that like most things in life, some of the greatest learning comes from failure. After I hung up my professional musician hat, I realized how similar the marketing life is to the musician life. Here’s what being in a band has taught me about branded social media...

6 Reasons Your Video Content Underperforms and How to Improve It

It’s no doubt that video content continues to soar in popularity for brands and marketers. It truly is one of the greatest mediums for communicating your companies products and offerings. However, all too often branded videos underperform and end up doing little of what they were intended to---provide value to current or potential customers. What follows are a few of the common issues found with branded videos online, especially ones that live on YouTube. Your video content may suck (or underperform) if it’s guilty of one or more of the following.

4 Reasons to Keep Press Releases Out of Your Company Blog

How many visits and comments does your company blog get? Is that a painful question to answer? Companies large and small have recognized the immense popularly of blogging and jumped on the bandwagon. But a tour of these brand blogs reveals that many still don’t know why to blog (other than “we should”) or how to blog (beyond the function of WordPress). Indicator number one? Their blogs are full of press releases. What’s wrong with that? Plenty. Here are four reasons to get the press releases out of your brand’s blog...

Why empathy maps are more important than ever

Those emotions, while not entirely connected, look something like a curvy line with highs, lows and everything in between, which is a great transition to our topic: empathy maps.