Tzyh Ng's Blog (13)

Revulsion of click-bait content has recently boiled over again, accompanied by some fascinating analysis about how higher quality, more meaningful content is so much better at engaging readers for longer amounts of time and the tantalizing thought that ““you’d probably do better sitting on the right hand hill”... …

One of the key challenges for online marketers is coordinating effectively the wide range of digital channels for outreach and the fragmented and siloed reporting these channels generate. From my recent research of mobile marketing tools and platform vendors, the situation is improving for marketers -- although it is far from completely resolved.

Starting from a mobile tool-set such as SMS/MMS and voice,…

Mobile first -- the principle of approaching digital design from mobile form factors first, then accommodating larger form factors afterwards -- is a buzz term. It turns on its head the old status quo of designing for desktops primarily, with mobile as an afterthought. The term trips glibly off tongues everywhere now, but don’t scoff at its current trendiness. You might miss the fact that it’s a god-send to content strategists and UX designers.…

Has your company grown to the point that it needs some structure and organization around its sales processes? Do your existing ad-hoc collection of online tools not cut it anymore for supporting sustained outreach to clients and closing deals? I recently found myself helping a growing startup wade through the sea of customer relationship management (CRM) tools online to narrow in on a few that fit its needs and thought I would share some of my…

There's a fascinating story just published on The New York Times, "Silicon Valley’s Youth Problem," that explores the many facets of the age divide in the heart of America's tech industry. Written by a Comp Sci graduate student with a few internships at hot new Silicon Valley startups under his belt, the article touches on many aspects of the new guard/old guard divide in an industry…

Look around you, and just about everyone you see probably has a smartphone. And if those smartphone owners were aware of the sweatshop labor in dangerous conditions and minerals which finance arms-buying,…

Could it be that we building up to a collective moment against oversharing? That social media posturing, "like"-chasing and follower-building have created a backlash and a hunger for less exposed, more targeted, and more authentic forms of connecting? Perhaps so, judging by the intense interest around apps like SnapChat, Whisper, and Avocado.

Snapchat

Fueling the popular disappearing-photo messaging…

It's a fun and fascinating part of my job to dream up of new ways to use social media for communicating and engaging with digital users. And with mobile devices, opportunities for social connecting are infused in every movement and moment. So much so that talk of social media addiction is sometimes greeted with a glazed-eyed blink before those eyes turn back to a Facebook screen.

Obviously, some deep-seated psychological need is being tapped via social media. And of course,…

HiPPOs -- the Highest Paid Person's Opinions -- are a well-known pitfall and obstacle to creating a great web site or mobile app. Features or designs aren't chosen because they're what users need, but because they're what the HiPPO wants.

Well, another common pitfall is something worse than digital design by HiPPO -- digital design by a herd of HiPPOs. Usually, the powerful heads of several departments all want their desires represented. If they all got their way, the new site or app…

A firestorm erupted after chief Yahoo Marissa Mayer banned working from home in an effort to shock the moribund company culture back to life. The resulting debate over whether working from home was good for corporate innovation and productivity is, to me, not all that interesting. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t work from home even after putting in a full day at the office -- at the very least, they check and respond to office emails and make work-related calls during…

Interruptions are the annoying, disruptive, beeping, booping constant of our lives -- phones ringing; notifications buzzing; bosses, coworkers, spouses and kids clamoring for our attention. How we react to them -- and the toll it takes on our productivity and concentration -- is a well-studied subject (see Wikipedia on…

I always look for back-up options -- things I can rely on should everything go horribly wrong in a hurry. Blame it on my being a project manager. Or having lived in New York through 9/11.



While Superstorm Sandy cut a destructive swathe through the Northeast and dominated headlines in the week just past, there were odd, tiny parallels in O’ahu events that set me thinking about what basic tools and technologies I can rely on -- and, conversely, what my Achilles heels are -- when…

It always seems like we have more to do than hours in a day -- waves of work demands, constant family obligations and a cacophony of phone calls, emails, texts and reminders. Amidst this overload, it’s increasingly hard to focus on the things that are important to us and give them the level of attention, passion and creativity we’d like. Here are some basic guides I’ve found helpful for creating the mental space for making smart choices on what to pay attention to and getting these things…