Keep Your Graphic Designer on a Short Leash in this month’s Website Magazine suggests that elements such as wild background colors, garish text, visual embellishments (eye candy) and animation/video distract website visitors from important content.  In a case study of a redesign of the CREDO website they found an 84% improvement with a simplified design.  The case study used a new service called AttentionWizard.com which uses computer algorithms to approximate eye tracking studies of a web site.  The idea is these will reveal what point on the page the visitor’s eye should land on.  If it is what you want them to see — like a buy now button — bingo, you are doing well.  If their eyes don’t land anywhere, or on the wrong things it is time to make some adjustments.  I thought it would be fun to compare the Yale and Harvard main websites using the service.

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I attended an Apple sponsored presentation yesterday on using the Xcode IDE to build iPhone and iTouch apps.  It was a very well done presentation, and had me almost ready to rush out and buy a Macbook and iTouch to get started building cool apps — certainly easy to see why Apple App building has become such a popular past time (and big money maker for Apple).

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I caught a video from WordCamp Portland, where Duane Storey was talking about the “Mobile Frontier.”  He mentions some interesting statistics, such as most people using a mobile phone to web browse prefer a mobile-friendly web site, while at the same time the majority of web sites don’t offer a mobile-friendly theme.  Seems like a bit of a disconnect.  And completely unnecessary, as getting a mobile design for your site couldn’t be easier — especially if you use WordPress.  But the resources offered below also have options for Drupal and others.  I use the MobilePress plug-in on my site — it is really easy to use, allows multiple versions for various browsers, and I like the way it displays on my blackberry.

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Who doesn’t love an Apple rumor about their next genre-changing device?  The latest floating around on Apple’s new tablet basically what sounds like a 10″ version of the iPod touch.  With access to the iTunes apps store, and a version with 3G (basically a 10″ iPhone) this would have serious implications in the burgeoning mobile reader market.  When compared to the Kindle there is no way the new device will be able to match in a battery-life contest — and the Kindle’s no trouble wireless connection is pretty good.  But as long as Apple can offer decent battery life, the color touch screen plus Apps-store is going to significantly shake up the marketplace.

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Take a look at this hack-fest example and tell me it doesn’t sound really cool.  I have tried to sell the hack-fest idea to a couple of people, in a couple of different settings, with no success so far.  Pick a problem, either outward facing — like environmental waste – or inward facing — like student mobile apps.  Get some smart people together for a fixed period of time and turn ‘em loose.  Let’s do it!  What needs fixing around here?

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PBS and NPR have teamed up with local public stations to offer the Forum Network — a library of lectures on a wide range of topics.  They have some interesting content, and overall the site looks nice.  And there is a lecture that I would like to listen to, on my mobile device (Blackberry or iPod) while commuting on the train.  But I can’t figure out how to do it.  I try the download link, which promises to provide an MP3 — it actually delivers a file in an flv format, which is tough to play — VLC did the trick, but what a pain.  I tried to access the site through the Blackberry mobile browser — the player won’t load, and the site it pretty tough to navigate — a mobile style sheet would be nice.  They offer an RSS podcast feed, but it is so general I have little confidence that it would supply the specific lecture I want.

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