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Dark Patterns
Last fall at An Event Apart DC, here was a lot of talk about web standards and content, but one of the underlying themes was “dark patterns.” Dark patterns are not the same as bad design decisions, and they are nothing new. In fact, it...

Content at All Levels
Recently, I was at a local restaurant where a large group had gathered to watch a football game. I was actually entertained more by the crowd reactions than the game itself. I have never been much of a football fan. I know that, in football, there...

Subtle Can Be Obvious
Not too long ago, I re-watched the movie "Big" starring Tom Hanks. This was the story where a boy wishes to be big at a magic wish machine and wakes up the next morning to find himself in an adult body literally overnight. I started...

Putting it All Together
Being in the web content field, I notice when things work and don’t work more than most people. I am also extremely loyal to companies or organizations that are nice to me. It’s good to feel needed and wanted. So last week when I got a...

Content Strategy at the IA Summit
I sit here writing this less than 24 hours since arriving home from the 2011 IA Summit, my first. I attended this conference after watching it from afar for 2 years, since it included a pre-conference Content Strategy Consortium. While I have been...

New Favorite Drupal Module: Node Reference Embedded Media Browser
Here at Balance, we are big fans of using node reference fields in our content types as a way to reuse content throughout our clients' sites. We use node references to select relevent content on a per node basis to display in blocks on the page....

Why We are Excited about Drupal 7
Drupal 7 recently launched with parties across the world, and Balance Interactive is just as excited about the new features. Here is a list of our top 5 reasons why we are excited about Drupal 7: A Strong Focus on Usability A big push has been to...

Happy Usability Day!
You probably take for granted all the things that you use easily every day. On November 11, 2010, thank a usability professional – it’s World Usability Day. This year’s theme is Communication. While the usability field on the web...

Trends in Online Technology: Mobile Web
How could your company use mobile technology to attract new customers and most importantly get more revenue? Is it time to make mobile a main part of the user experience? How do you decide which approach to take in terms of user experience? These...

Anatomy of a Social Media Promotion
Plunging into the world of social media marketing can seem daunting. I thought I would make it simpler by sharing an example of one company’s successful campaign on Facebook. Although this example is from a semi-large retail chain (not a...

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