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How to Create Buzz for Your Startup Using Social Media [Infographic]

Social media can be a blessing or a nuisance for startups. When used correctly and effectively it can become an extremely powerful and cheap marketing tool. Your startup’s product can spread virally through networks and be the tipping point for future success. Social media can also work against you. It can provide a large platform for naysayers to voice their opinions and as Kayak found out recently, it can be a huge mishap for public relations. It is very important to carefully craft and execute a social media marketing strategy.

This robust infographic from Udemy will give you some incredibly useful tips and tricks on creating buzz for your startup. From creating a launch page to connecting with the right people, creating a marketing campaign and blogging, these tips are worth a look. My favorite – MAKE GREAT CONTENT. It also lists pros and cons of the most popular social networks – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, how to track your results, and what you should be measuring in order to maximize return.

 

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2011/12/27/how-to-create-buzz-for-your-startup-using-soci...

Edward Burns and the Socialization of Indie Cinema


“Twitter has fundamentally changed the way I make films,” film director, actor, writer and producer Edward Burns told me. At first blush, that might seem like an audacious statement, but in an era when full productions can get funded on Kickstarter and feature-length films are shot on consumer DSLRs, that boldness gives way to practicality.

Thanks to social and digital, the independent film movement is in a sort of renaissance. Not since the rise of the “indie” movement in the 1990s — when unknown filmmakers like Kevin Smith, Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez rose to prominence — has there been so much disruption in the business of filmmaking.

It’s a world that Burns knows well. In 1995 Burns’s debut film, The Brothers McMullen, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Shot for just $28,000, the film would gross over $10 million at the box office, becoming one of the biggest independent films of its era.

Sixteen years later, Burns is still making films without the aid of expensive crews, big studio contracts or pricey equipment.

Burns’s latest film, Newlyweds, is now available on VOD and Vudu. It comes to iTunes on Dec. 30, 2011. Although the film will have a small theatrical run in Chicago and San Francisco next month, VOD and iTunes are the delivery methods of choice.

We spoke to Burns earlier this month as he prepared for the Newlyweds film release. He talked about the changing nature of making film and the importance of social media to tie it all together.


The $9000 Movie Budget


One of the more remarkable aspects about Newlyweds is that it was shot in 12 days for $9,000. Burns laid out the budget process on Twitter and explained the process on his YouTube channel.

Burns used the Canon EOS 5D Mark II to shoot the film, along with a few stock Canon lenses. The quality of the output that filmmakers can get from prosumer DSLRs like the Mark II is stunning. Furthermore, he believes we’re only two or three generations away from having cinema-quality video sensors in our smartphones. The film director further reduced costs by using natural lighting and having cast members wear their own clothes and do their own makeup.

Burns talked about the very real implications these changes are having on young filmmakers.

“When I was in school making McMullen, I had to scrimp and save to buy film stock. You usually got poor-quality film stock or ends of other reels. That’s why movies from that era have that grimy, grungy look. A kid coming out of film school today won’t have that problem.”

Of course, lower barriers to entry also mean increased competition. Still, Burns doesn’t see this as a bad thing. “Why shouldn’t filmmaking experience the same disruption that every other industry has experienced?” he asked. “It’s happened in music and literature. Why should filmmaking be any different?”


The Growing Importance of Social


Edward Burns credits Ted Hope for convincing him to join Twitter. Hope, a prominent independent film producer in New York City, explained to Burns it was crucial that he find 500 followers to share and promote his message. Hope’s thesis — which he has since revised to include 5,000 fans — is that connecting with the people that really care about your work is the most effective way of getting things seen.

Twitter has fundamentally changed the way I make films.

Hope was right. Since joining Twitter, Burns has found numerous opportunities to answer questions from fans, share insights about his filmmaking process and, of course, promote his projects.

For his last project, Nice Guy Johnny, Burns was able to crack the top six in iTunes the week it was released. “This was a film with no budget, absolutely no money for marketing — outside of traditional morning show press stuff — that appeared next to major box office hits.”

Studios spend tremendous amounts of money raising awareness as to the digital and home video availability of their films. Edward Burns was able to accomplish that with Twitter.

Burns turned to the social web while working on Newlyweds as well. When it came time to get a poster for the film’s debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, Burns turned to the online community. Fans voted for their favorite submissions. The winner of the poster contest not only got to keep the rights to his artwork (he’s now selling prints and t-shirts on his own website), he also got flown in for the premiere.

When it came time find a song for the closing credits, Burns once again turned to the online community and then chose the winner from the submissions.

Although Burns hasn’t cast anyone directly using YouTube, he agrees with our assertion that online video is the new casting tape.


The Film


Watching Newlyweds, I would never have expected that its production budget was only $9,000. The film is endearing, funny and real, a story about a newlywed couple whose “honeymoon” stage comes to an abrupt end thanks to some unexpected drama from both sides of the family.

It’s very Woody Allen-esque, reminiscent of Husbands and Wives and Hannah and Her Sisters in its understanding of relationships.

After watching Newlyweds, I was struck by how difficult it is to find a good relationship film — be it comedy or drama — in the theater. Even harder to find are those smaller ensemble films. Once a staple in cinema, these types of stories are often pushed to the sidelines in lieu of franchise films, family comedies and big-budget action films.

Thankfully, in the era of iPads, connected HDTVs and more widespread indie distribution, filmmakers are still able to tell these types of stories.

More About: edward burns, filmmaking, independent film, YouTube

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/12/27/edward-burns-newlyweds-indie/?utm_source=feedb...

Where Do You Put The Presents?: Portal X-Mas Tree

portal-christmas-tree.jpg This is a Portal'd Christmas tree. It's my last Christmas related post until at LEAST November of next year. Kidding, I can't actually make that promise because what if a really badass Santa post comes along in March? You know what they say: honesty is the best policy. Personally, I think a good refund policy is even better, but what do I know? I'm just a guy who refills shampoo bottles with water and returns them to Walmart. A Very Portal Christmas Tree [reddit] Thanks to SaraDevil, who agrees a Christmas tree you can't put presents under is just taking up space.

from Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome http://www.geekologie.com/2011/12/where-do-you-put-the-presents-portal-x-m.php

Suppliers to Begin Preparing 32" and 37" Apple Television Sets in Early 2012?

Digitimes reports that Apple's suppliers are set to begin preparing materials for the new Apple television set during the first quarter of 2012, with the company reportedly targeting a launch for the second or third quarter of the year. Apple is said to be initially working on 32-inch and 37-inch sizes.
The supply chain of Apple will start preparing materials for iTV sets in the first quarter of 2012 in order to meet Apple's schedule to launch the new display products in the second or the third quarter of 2012, according to industry sources. [...]

Media reports in Korea also indicated that Samsung Electronics started producing chips for the iTVs in November 2011, while Sharp will produce the displays for the new TVs.

While the new television sets will reportedly integrate most if not all of the functionality of the current Apple TV set-top box, sources also indicate that Apple is likely to release an updated standalone Apple TV box next year as well.

While rumors of an Apple television set have been floating around for quite some time, they gained steam several months ago when Steve Jobs was quoted in Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of him as saying that he had "finally cracked" how to create a revolutionary interface for a television product. Rumors have since suggested that Apple is working on a Siri-enabled television set that would be introduced by 2013.


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from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - Front Page http://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/27/suppliers-to-begin-preparing-32-and-37-ap...

How Tech and Social Media Companies Cashed Out in 2011


A colleague here at Mashable proposed an Onion-style spoof story entitled “Google Buys Everyone,” which would detail how the search giant hoovered every company in existence. As Homer Simpson once said, “It’s funny because it’s true.”

Google‘s insatiable appetite for other companies was just one of the business narratives of 2011, though. The other was the handful of social media IPOs that were eager to align themselves with the loony Dot-com era, a baseless comparison if there ever was one.

Whatever the case, for a lot of folks in the social media/tech industry, 2011 was a good year to cash out. Here’s a look at the two primary methods: going public or getting acquired (often by Google).


Linking In to Wall Street


Social media’s first test of investor enthusiasm came in May, when LinkedIn went public. Judging by the initial success, LinkedIn passed the test with flying colors. Shares doubled on May 19, the day the company went public, and though they have fallen off a bit since, were still way above opening price at press time.

LinkedIn’s roughly $6.4 billion valuation is mostly based on hope of future growth. The company turned a small ($4.5 million) in its second quarter, but then lost $1.6 million in its third quarter. However, the network grew its revenues by 126% that quarter and it keeps bulging with new subscribers (the current figure is 130 million). With three revenue streams — advertising, recruiting and premium subscriptions — LinkedIn is one of the safest social media investments, but at this stage, is bent on growth over stable profits.

LinkedIn’s rather pacific IPO was followed by another low-key IPO for Pandora Media in June, but in July the debt ceiling standoff and the European monetary crisis spooked the market. That caused another of the year’s most anticipated IPOs, Groupon’s, to be delayed until November.

Though Groupon had a strong showing the day it went public, within a few weeks, the stock had fallen so far that it just about wiped out any gains achieved that first day.

And Zynga, which had also pushed back its IPO after the summer’s market crash, eventually moved ahead with its plans to go public late in the year. However, it also suffered a dip in stock price.

Given the limited amount of companies going public and their ho-hum stock performances, the comparison between social media IPOs and the Dot-com bubble is pretty weak. The latter era actually lasted from 1995, when Netscape went public, until the 2000 Super Bowl, which was notoriously flooded with Dot-com ads for companies that would cease to exist within a year or two.

In comparison, the trickle of social media IPOs will likely end whenever Facebook goes public (reports say that will happen next April). You call this a bubble? Somewhere, the Pets.com sock puppet is laughing.


The Ever-Expanding Googleplex


Speaking of the ’90s, the federal government smackdown of AT&T’s proposed $39 billion T-Mobile takeover rings familiar of the days when the Department of Justice was considering splitting Microsoft in two. Citing the possible effect on wireless competition, the DOJ filed suit to block the merger in August. The FCC soon piled on too. The deal is now dead in the water.

Government action likely reined in some of Google’s ambitions. Though one report had Google sizing up Yahoo for an acquisition, Google’s biggest real-world scrutiny is likely to come from its pending $12 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility.

That proposed acquisition would cap Google’s 2011 spending spree, which included restaurant rating firm Zagat, social data startup PostRank, CleverSense and AdMeld, among others.

Google’s high profile has caught the attention of the feds. In August, in an appearance that many compared to Bill Gates’ 1998 testimony before the Senate, Google chairman Eric Schmidt was questioned by the Senate Judiciary about Google’s effect on competition. Despite its many acquisitions, perhaps Google will be able to avoid the wrath of antitrust regulators by learning from Schmidt’s deft handling.

Similarly, Microsoft, made its own huge acquisition in 2011, the $8.5 billion purchase of Skype. With its $30 billion-plus war chest, Microsoft is rumored to be looking for other buys as well, including Nokia, which would be an interesting hedge against the Google/Motorola entity.

Apple’s $81.5 billion in cash dwarfs Microsoft’s booty, however. Anticipating Apple’s moves is tough, but linking the company to a potential acquisition target has become a favorite parlor game among bloggers. As the year draws to a close, though, Apple has mostly resisted the urge to snap up other, smaller companies, hence that huge stockpile of money.

Perhaps Apple’s reluctance was based on Steve Jobs’ disgust for startup founders whose only goal was to sell their companies for a quick buck. Even if Apple holds to that philosophy, though, such savvy entrepreneurs will still have a lot of potential sugar daddies to choose from, including, of course, Google.

Image courtesy of Flickr, cambodia4kidsorg

More About: apple, Business, Google, groupon, ipo, microsoft, startup, Zynga

For more Business coverage:

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/12/26/social-media-ipos-acquisitions-2011/?utm_sourc...

New iPhone? Try these must-have free apps

If you have that new iPhone you received for the holidays, you're probably looking to load it up with some apps that will enhance your mobile experience. Let me suggest some of the best of the free apps. Of course, everyone will have their own list, but here are my 5 favorites that I think most new iPhone users will love to use and to show off their new iPhone.

If you're a news junkie, by all means get Zite, newly released for the iPhone. It sets you up with news categories of interest to you, then learns what you like by keeping track of stories you click on. Over time, it gets smarter and smarter, so in essence it creates a personalized magazine for you. Their are other news readers and aggregators, but the presentation of stories in Zite and its ability to learn make it my first choice.

Glypmse is one of my very favorite apps, the kind of app I would pay for if it wasn't free. While some of the location-tracking functionality it offers is covered by Apple's iOS 5-only Find my Friends feature, Glympse is more flexible and cross-platform to boot.

With Glympse you send a message (email or SMS) to someone with information on your location; the link is set to expire when you want it to, so your friends can't track you indefinitely as they can with FmF. Let's say you are meeting someone for lunch. When they get your message, they click on the included link, and Glympse loads a map showing a moving pin (that's you) along with your ETA. The person you are meeting doesn't need an iPhone, just any web-capable device, including laptops. It's a great service, and in practice I've found it to be super reliable.

Tango does what Apple's FaceTime won't do, which is to allow you to video conference with another cellphone using 3G (FaceTime requires WiFi). Tango has added clients for Android and Windows Phone, so it's a great way to visually keep in touch with friends. I even tried it with a friend touring China and it worked. An update last week allows you to leave video mail for your Tango buddies.

For more intellectual pursuits, try the recently released TED app. It's a collection of great talks from people in the arts, literature and the sciences. The app has been updated to work with Airplay, so you can stream the audio to another device like an Apple TV 2. I try to watch a TED talk at least once a week, and it's always a treat.

Finally, for pure fun, try Action Movie FX. From the creators of the new Mission: Impossible movie, you can add rather impressive special effects to your own movies. With the free version you can add a missile strike or a car crash to your own video. It looks great, and the price is exactly right. Reviews are glowing. There are some other modules you can buy, like a tornado or helicopter crash, but I was fine with the free effects. It's more fun than you should be allowed to have for free.

Enjoy that new iPhone. These free apps should help get you started. I'll add one bonus free app to the mix. Don't forget the free TUAW iPhone app to help you keep up with the latest and greatest Apple news. Happy Holidays!

New iPhone? Try these must-have free apps originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog http://www.tuaw.com/2011/12/26/new-iphone-try-these-must-have-free-apps/

5 Ways to Boost Your Digital Media Career in 2012


Hanson Hosein is the Director of the Master of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington. He’s written Storyteller Uprising: Trust & Persuasion in the Digital Age, and the host of Four Peaks on UWTV and has advised Microsoft, CVS Caremark and MasterCard on digital media storytelling strategies.

As 2011 comes to a close, the economic situation remains bleak. Usually, graduate school applications rise during a depressed job market, but the ongoing uncertainty has discouraged some potential students from pursuing a graduate degree — MBA applications are down 10%, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Yet with the rise of social media and the rapid advance of technology — particularly mobile — there’s increased interest in more specialized graduate programs that give priority to certain skills and strategies. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2018, more than 1.2 million new science, technology, engineering and math-related jobs will open up. This will have far reaching effects on the digital media industry. Professionals must keep up with the latest developments to stay relevant. So as you reevaluate your career path, here are five key predictions for how you should focus your career strategy in 2012.


1. Get To Know Your Devices To Know the Trends


It’s all about the consumerization of tech. We’re moving “beyond the PC” as The Economist recently put it, and this will have a far-reaching impact. The enterprise (Blackberry, Windows) once drove tech usage and innovation. Now, how we use our mobile devices begins outside the office. This puts pressure on business to catch up by implementing social platforms for interpersonal communication, along with modified tablets and app stores for the workplace. So you’ve got to get digitally literate quickly. Ask yourself: What device does your family use? How are you communicating with your friends? This is especially crucial in 2012, as we’ll see digital connectivity penetrate into the deepest reaches of our personal lives, from our workout routines to our cars. As you see how these devices hit critical mass, you can think strategically and begin to predict which platforms and technologies will dominate. Picking the winner will allow you to jump ahead of your competition.


2. Go Deep Into Content


The digital age is a great democratizing opportunity: Anyone can broadcast his or her creations to the world. But this has also led to great chaos as professionals struggle to cut through the amateur din. So you will need to use the emotive link of storytelling to grab attention and build a trusted relationship. Learn to tell a powerful story — emphasizing narrative tension through a beginning, middle and end — and translate it into a digital asset through multimedia skills in video, photography, audio and animation. It’s a popular belief that every organization is a now a media organization, meaning that every employee — or potential new hire — needs to master the creation of these media, cheaply and often in-house. In 2012, it’ll be all about immersion — a way to capture the imagination of distracted individuals who need to be convinced that your ideas are worthwhile. The “Any Screen” era is upon us. Consider apps, games, 3D, and transmedia (a cohesive storyline that is segmented and distributed on a multiplicity of platforms) as you try to transport your audiences into a deeper media experience.


3. Recognize that Social Networks Transcend Facebook and Twitter


Airlines, health organizations, museums and entertainment companies are hiring many people in the digital media space — Social Media Marketer, Digital Media Manager, Mobile Manager, Learning Technologies Specialist and Social Games Strategist are a few sample job titles. The names of these positions acknowledge that the people who hold them need expertise in creating, curating and mastering media as way to engage customers, patients and users.

Those who hold these positions possess a literacy in social media platforms and strategies. Rather than getting caught up in the arms race of the latest attention-grabbing technique on Facebook, you need to instead develop a deeper understanding of how these social networks are formed, and how they work. Technology is just the enabler. Fundamentally, social media is all about human interaction. So in 2012, even as you keep experimenting with those online platforms, you’ll develop skills in network analysis (how do you determine the true influencers in a group?), and maybe even revisit Psychology 101 (what motivates human beings?). Ultimately, successful engagement is less about the “what” people are doing on social networks, and more about why they’re there, and how they’re interacting with each other.


4. Go Deep into Data and Learn How to Ask the Right Questions


If there’s one truth about the pervasiveness of digital media in our lives, it’s that our online behavior is producing increasingly massive amounts of data. But few of us know how to glean the right insights from it. The New York Times recently lamented this “digital talent gap” and concluded that “new hires are needed for a variety of tasks, including writing code, creating digital advertisements, website development and statistical analysis.”

In that case, you’ll have to get comfortable with numbers and critical analysis. The smart use of massive date is massively important. Sure, there are tons of plug-and-play analytics tools out there, but you’ve got to get comfortable with research yourself. Learn to ask the right questions and draw informed conclusions from the data at hand. In the comical science fiction book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the supercomputer Deep Thought spent 7.5 million years pondering “The Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything?” It responded with a nonsensical “42.” In short, you won’t get the right answer if you don’t know how to ask the right question.


5. Behave Like a Media Entrepreneur, Innovator, Connector and Creator


Digital and social media are turning the professional world upside down. Fortune 100 companies, such as Ford, have merged their advertising and public relations divisions into a single entity. Professionals need to wear multiple hats to remain relevant and employable. So as you survey the media landscape, appreciate how to manage risk like an entrepreneur as you continue to experiment with innovative technologies and platforms. Your primary objective will be to take advantage of these emerging channels smartly with influencers and users, through the creation and syndication of compelling stories. By doing so, you’ll give these individuals all the motivation they need to engage with you.


Social Media Job Listings


Every week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we publish a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, enot-poloskun

More About: digital, job search series

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/12/24/digital-media-career-2012-tips/?utm_source=fee...

Is Gamification Right for Your Business? 7 Things to Consider


This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

This year has lent itself to a slew of new buzzwords, and gamification is easily one of the most buzzed about in the marketing industry.

Businesses clamored this year to understand the concept of gamification and apply it to their digital and mobile products, offering badges and points galore … but how many of them actually understand the point of gamifying or if it’s even useful for their business goals?

Dustin DiTommaso, the experience design director at design studio Mad*Pow, recently spoke about designing meaningful interactions through game design thinking during his presentation at Geekend 2011, a techie conference presented by BFG Communications.

DiTommaso explained his framework for gamification and dished out seven essentials steps for approaching the subject. Read on for a thorough encounter of DiTommaso’s model for architecting more meaningful interactions and successful business goals, and let us know your thoughts on his method in the comments below.


1. Consider Why You Want to Gamify


Yes, gamification is a sexy word. No, it isn’t right for every business.

DiTommaso recommends that businesses looking to gamify their products or services ask themselves three critical questions before moving on:

  • What is the reason for gamifying your product or service?
  • How does it benefit the user?
  • Will they enjoy it?

If you can answer these questions with confidence, if gamification seems like a good fit for your business’ product or service and if the users enjoy it, then move on to exploring your business goals. DiTommaso recommends exploring the following three questions:

  • What are your business goals?
  • How do get the users to fulfill those business goals?
  • What actions do you want users to take?

If this exploratory phase yields positive feedback, your business is ready to move into user research.


2. Identify Your Users


It isn’t enough to understand your business goals when considering gamification — you also need to understand your users and what motivates them. Research your users before you begin designing your gamified product, focusing on how they use your software, what they want and what motivates them.

DiTommaso laid out a number of questions to help businesses achieve research-inspired design:

  • Who are your users?
  • What are their needs and goals? Why are they playing?
  • What’s holding them back from achieving their potential? Is it lack of volition (belief that completing the task at hand is valuable) or lack of faculty (ability to complete the task)?
  • What is their primary playing style (solo, competitive, cooperative)?
  • Who are they playing with?
  • What social actions do they find enjoyable, and why?
  • What metrics do they care about?

Game designers must also understand what motivates users to play their games. There are a number of motivational drivers, but DiTommaso recommends simplifying to four key factors. Decide if your users are motivated by:

  • Achievement of goals or enjoyment of experience
  • Structure and guidance or freedom to explore
  • Control of others or connecting with others
  • Self-interest in actions or social interest in actions

Knowing these details about users and their motivations will assist game designers in determining how the game should be laid out, how much autonomy to allow, what the users’ goals should be and so on. Let’s explore exactly what comes next in the designing process.


3. Frame Goals and Objectives


The user’s path to mastery should entail “a journey up, with a quick little dip for relaxation — where you have either a break or a new challenge to master, like crossing a log — and then one, final, arduous climb to the top,” says DiTommaso.

Once you understand your business goals and your users, you can begin to design goals and objectives while thinking about long-term and short-term user goals.

DiTommaso advises, “Figure out a way to make long-term and short-term goals as exciting and aspirational as possible.” Users want to be heroes — design their gaming experience so that they can achieve that.

The long-term goal must be compelling and fairly difficult to achieve, says DiTommaso. This can be framed as the mastery of a new skill or habit, or the acquisition of an achievement or title. In the end, though, it is important that the long-term goal signify a “pinnacle of personal growth,” says DiTommaso.

Once you figure out a long-term mission for users, break it up into small milestones that take users along a path to success. These “discrete and satisfying challenges” should motivate users to continue on and help them improve along the way.


4. Identify Necessary Skills and Actions


Make a list of all of the abilities that are necessary to win your game. DiTommaso breaks these skills into three categories for easy brainstorming:

  • Physical Skills: walking typing, using a chef’s knife
  • Mental Skills: pattern recognition, memory, spatial logic
  • Social Skills: presentation, conversation, meeting new people

DiTommaso advises that game designers choose skills that take time to master, can be developed over time and can be broken into smaller “skill-chains.”

It is important to determine if and how the skills you are considering can be measured, so that you can track a user’s advancement. Determine whether there is existing technology that can help you monitor and track progress of certain essential skills.


5. Consider Various Lenses of Interest


In “The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses,” Jesse Schell outlines the psychological lenses that are key to making top-notch games. Lenses help game designers view their games from many different perspectives, or lenses.

While Schell’s book identifies 100 lenses, DiTommaso pointed out 10 particular lenses to focus on for starters:

  • 1. Competition Type: Player vs. player, player vs. system, self-directed
  • 2. Time Pressure: Relaxed, exploratory play or brash-tactics-get-things-done play
  • 3. Scarcity: Scarcity can add a level of challenge and strategic gameplay
  • 4. Puzzles: Puzzles are problems that promise the existence of a solution
  • 5. Novelty: Change presents a new set of challenges and patterns to master
  • 6. Levels: Graph progress, ability and access and provide a roadmap of progress
  • 7. Social Pressure / Proof: Show users how others are excelling in the system — via a leaderboard, for example
  • 8. Teamwork: Teamwork can also act as resistance when users need to work with others
  • 9. Currency: Anything that can be exchanged for something of value will be sought
  • 10. Renewals and Power-Ups: Renewals and power-ups help “unstick” players and redirect them from dead-ends

Framing problems, core objectives and actions in your games using these tenets will often yield a better gaming experience for users.


6. Outline Desired Outcomes


Think about the types of rewards and punishments that will result from a user’s actions — this should create a feedback loop that motivates users to improve.

Positive feedback could include rewards, such as moving up a level, unlocking a badge or earning points — and negative feedback might entail starting a challenge over, for example.

“Outcomes can be contingent or schedules,” says DiTommaso. “Players can trigger an outcome based on specific actions they take or based on a time frame within the game.”

No matter the time frame, though, players should always see their progress towards the “ultimate objective,” which DiTommaso also calls the “Epic Win!” Incremental success and failure will guide them along.


7. Play and Polish


“Platforms are never done,” says DiTommaso. Once you have the game build, test and polish it. Here is a framework DiTommaso suggests for analyzing the game:

  • What’s working and what isn’t?
  • What have you not considered?
  • Is the game personal enough for your users?
  • Do they feel that it’s tailored to their own unique personality and desires?
  • Are you tapping into the player experience needs of competence, autonomy and mastery?
  • What’s going to keep it interesting in 10 weeks? In 8 months?
  • When player reaches the Epic Win!, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

DiTommaso recommends that game developers not spend too much time testing games, though. “Get it out there and let your users be the testers,” he says. Users expect iterations and software updates, so don’t be afraid to release and iterate, he says.

This seven-step framework for approaching gamification is a very thorough resource from Dustin DiTommaso. If you still have questions, though, view DiTommaso’s entire Geekend presentation slideshow embedded below and ask further questions in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Flickr, andyburnfield & andercismo

More About: features, gamification, Marketing, mashable, outreach

For more Business coverage:

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/12/24/gamification-for-business/?utm_source=feedburn...

DirecTV HDUI is rolling out across the land, iPad app adds 12 more live streaming channels

DirecTV began quietly seeding its HDUI to customers back in November, but judging by our tips inbox it has recently picked up the pace of the rollout. It's live in many areas already where you're probably enjoying the sweet, sweet new guide with its 16x9 graphics and speedier interface, but if you don't yet have it, check out the thread at DBSTalk with estimated rollout dates for many areas. Also by way of the forum comes word of 12 new channels including AMC, Velocity and HD Net that were just added to DirecTV's live TV streaming iPad app. Of course, the update still won't play nicely with jailbroken iPads, so a cracked version will be required in those cases. Check out the list of channels after the break, if you're not seeing them in the app try hitting the "edit" button at the top right, finding them in the list and clicking the green plus symbol to add them manually.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading DirecTV HDUI is rolling out across the land, iPad app adds 12 more live streaming channels

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DirecTV HDUI is rolling out across the land, iPad app adds 12 more live streaming channels originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/24/directv-hdui-is-rolling-out-across-the-lan...

Introducing the gdgt databox!

Have you ever been reading a post about, say, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and caught yourself thinking "What were those dimensions again?" Or, maybe it's something about the iPad 2 and you can't recall the thing's release date, or exactly how many different variations Apple has on offer? How about which of those two devices is heavier? You could go digging back for their respective reviews and find out, but now we have a better solution: the gdgt databox! It's a comprehensive, clickable, interactive database containing all the specs for all the devices we cover on here. Its contents are pulled from the massive library of hardware and software maintained over at gdgt, tirelessly updated and maintained around the clock. With a few clicks you'll have all the info you need and, should you desire more, you can quickly ask a question to someone who actually owns one. Check out a few example devices in the box below -- or just keep on reading. You'll be seeing a lot of it around these parts.

Introducing the gdgt databox! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/23/introducing-the-gdgt-databox/