Improve your startup’s surveys and get even better data Startups frequently use surveys as a cheap and easy way to get feedback from users. But the resulting data will only be as good as the survey itself. I often see products with surveys that have easy-to-fix mistakes like misleading questions, improper sampling, and skewed rating scales. That’s a shame — these teams could be collecting better data and making better decisions if they just paid a bit more attention to survey design. There are plenty of places to learn about survey design. When to use a survey Before designing your survey, think about the questions you want answered, and decide if surveys are the right tool for the job. Surveys are great when you want to… Track changes over time — See what changes before and after a feature launch.Quantify issues seen in user studies — We know [x] is a problem for some users, but how many? But surveys are not very good at… If a survey is the right method to answer your questions, here are some good tips for getting started. Survey basics
Why Smart People Underperform And What To Do About It There have been times in my life that I’ve felt like my brain was broken. Whether I’ve had too many ideas swirling around and couldn’t focus, or I just started to feel crushed under the weight of everything that “had to get done”… I’m no stranger to the frustration that comes when you can’t seem to get your potential to match your performance. Many folks who are highly creative and intelligent have a hard time channeling all that ambition and energy in a way that’s both productive and satisfying. Some of us fall victim to destructive, addictive behaviors that harm ourselves and others. Other times, we stay trapped under a fog of frustration that never lifts, unable to reach the greatness of our full potential. If you can relate to any of this, you’re going to love today’s episode of MarieTV. My guest today is one of the world’s leading authorities on helping driven people embrace their gifts. “Smart people underperform because they fail to prioritize.” To find out more about Dr. P.S. xox
Why Your Links Should Never Say "Click Here" 6 Stunning Visuals That Will Make Your Content Memorable, Sharable, and Beautiful With so much content competing for attention on the Internet, do you ever wonder if your content stands a chance? According to the journal Science, we have to process five times more information today than in 1986. Our readers are overwhelmed. So how can you make your next blog post stand out among the masses? You bet it is. Visitors to your website read, on average, only 28% of what’s in front of them. And one way to slow them down, increase engagement – and boost comprehension – is to use visuals. (Yes, I know you’re not an artist. The following are six types of gorgeous visuals that are easy to create and can double your blog’s traffic and engagement levels: 1. See this image? It’s just begging for shares on Pinterest, Facebook, Google+ and even Twitter because: So how do you create an image that people will love to share? Start by finding an image that reflects your post content. Then add the post headline to the graphic. 2. – John Medina, Brain Rules 3. 4. 5. 6.
A Gmail Lab That Makes Life Easier: Canned Responses I’m always on the lookout for tools and strategies to deal more efficiently with the overwhelming number of emails I get each day. Here’s something that’s helped out lately: Gmail’s Canned Responses. Canned Responses lets you create a template for an email response that you write often, then import that response into your email with one click. Saves you LOADS of time. So, for example, I often get emails from Brazen Life fans (a blog I manage and edit) asking how they can contribute guest posts. For the last few months, I’ve been responding to each one individually, letting them know that we do accept guest posts, so long as the topic and voice are unique, and linking to our writer guidelines. With Canned Responses, I save myself from having to write that email over and over. How’s that for saving precious minutes? Here’s what Canned Responses looks like in my email: So how do you add Canned Responses to your email arsenal? Would love to hear your ideas in the comments!
The Six Contract Provisions Freelancers Should Include Why Your Form Buttons Should Never Say Submit by anthony on 01/05/11 at 10:27 pm When you see a Submit button on a form, what comes to your mind? One could easily reason that clicking the button submits the user’s information into the system for processing. When users fill out a form, they are engaging in a task. A form button that says Submit gives users the impression that the form isn’t focused on a specific task. Your form button should describe exactly what the user is doing in their task. Although Submit buttons aren’t as prevalent as they once were, they still exist on forms today. 111 Low-Cost or Free Online Tools for Nonprofits The number of low-cost or free online resources and tools available to nonprofits today is astounding. Many nonprofit professionals are overwhelmed by the all choices and as mobile media continues to grow, prepare to be mind-boggled by all the new technology options that will be available to your nonprofit in coming years. That said, to be alerted of new low-cost or free resources and tools available for nonprofits, please subscribe to the Nonprofit Tech for Good 2.0 e-Newsletter [see right column]. A section of the e-newsletter entitled “Resource of the Week” features a new resource/tool in each edition. 1. Zeen :: zeen.com Zeen is a new product soon-to-be launched by YouTube’s co-founders that will allow users to “discover and create beautiful magazines.” 2. Wufoo allows individuals and brands to easily create web forms through a simple drag and drop interface. 3. 4. Wordle is an online tool that allows you to easily create word clouds. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
Web Form Design Patterns: Sign-Up Forms - Smashing UX Design Advertisement If you want to maximize the revenue of your service you need to maximize completion rates of your web forms. Unless you have some revolutionary ideas to impress your visitors at first glance, it is not enough to simply enable users to sign up on your site. However, designing effective web forms isn’t easy. But how exactly can we figure out these decisions? Below we present findings of our survey of current web form design patterns — the results of an analysis of 100 popular web-sites where web-forms (should) matter. Update: the second part of the survey results is now also published: Web Form Design Patterns: Sign-Up Forms Part 21. Sign-Up Form Design Survey The main objective of the survey was to provide designers and developers with some intuition of how effective web forms are designed in practice; we also wanted to present some guidelines of how a user-friendly web form can be achieved. We have selected 100 large sites where web-forms (should) matter2. 1. 1.1. 1.2. 2.
How To Say No To People Who Want To Pick Your Brain Oh sweet, sweet, mother of pasta! I’m 2 days away from heading off to Italy for a looooong overdue vacation. This trip is something I’ve dreamed about for years and we finally got our acts together to make it happen. That means I’ve been waaaay more productive than ever to get everything done so I can totally unplug while we’re away. Which brings me to today’s brand new episode of MarieTV. Here’s the scene: you’re busy as all heck working your buns off. Through your blood, sweat and tenacity — you’ve gained a lot of experience and expertise. You’re now drowning in constant requests from friends who want to “have coffee and pick your brain.” But the truth is… a. If you’re tired of ignoring these emails and feeling guilty about it, this episode of MarieTV is for you. You’ll get three word-for-word scripts to help you kindly and elegantly navigate non-stop brain picking requests. If they want to pick your brain, ask them to pick a time and method of payment. Baci e abbracci- Diggin' this content?
91 Trendy Contact And Web Forms For Creative Inspiration This article showcases modern and interesting contact/web form solutions found around the Internet. I also collected interesting ways how people decide to call their contact forms – get in touch, contact info, say hello, talk to me, say hey, connect, say “hi”, mail us and of course – contact us. My own personal opinion is, you should use Contact or Contact Us in your navigation, but supplement it with creative relate photos and styled text. There you could use more creative – say hi, get in touch or friendly – say hello. Article is separated in 4 sections: Modern And Trendy Contact Form Solutions ( 40 Examples)Grungy, Vintage, Hand-Drawn Style Contact Form Solutions ( 16 Examples)Clean And Minimalistic Contact Form Solutions (18 Examples)Extremely Original and Creative Contact Form Solutions (15 Examples) I hope you’ll enjoy this article and get necessary inspiration and understanding how contact sections and forms can be created in appealing, clean and creative way. 1.Contact DigitalBase
Free icons! License: Free for commercial use License: Free for commercial use (Include link to authors website) License: Free for non commercial use License: Free for personal use only License: Free for commercial use (Do not redistribute) License: Free for personal use only (Buy licence) License: Free for commercial use (Attribute author as specified in license) InDesign CS5 & CS5.5 * Export content for EPUB (CS5) Export text You can save all or part of an InDesign story in file formats that you can open later in other applications. Each story in a document exports to a separate document. InDesign can export text in several file formats, which are listed in the Export dialog box. The formats listed are used by other applications, and they may retain many of the type specifications, indents, and tabs set in your document. You can save sections of commonly used text and page layout items as snippets. Using the Type tool , click in the story you want to export.Choose File > Export.Specify a name and location for the exported story, and select a text file format under Save as Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS). Exporting content for the web To repurpose InDesign content for the web, you have several options: Dreamweaver (XHTML) Export a selection or the entire document to a basic, unformatted HTML document. Copy and paste Copy text or images from the InDesign document and paste it into your HTML editor.
How to buy infoproducts wisely Normally this is Review Thursday, where I tell you about the free things people keep sending me nowadays in the mistaken belief that I am influential. Today, I’m going to talk about a related issue: how to decide whether a resource is right for you. I am cheerfully going to call myself an expert on this, having bought about $6,000 of them in the last 12 months. Here are my guidelines on how to spend wisely and buy beautifully. photo credit: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML Should I go into debt to buy information? No. But going into debt to buy action? If you buy the how-to that provides the last piece of the puzzle, or a resource that helps you demolish the blocks that have held you back, or a course that gets you building your castle in the sky… well, those are all actions that will probably lead to you making back more money than you invested. Resources that don’t lead to action aren’t an investment ; they’re an indulgence . How do I avoid buyer’s regret? I know. 1. 2. 3. So… don’t buy it!