Tzyh Ng's Blog – August 2013 Archive (2)

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…