The 7 Closet: A022 Digital Blog

"People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint."

acafourek — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:01:01 -0500

“People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.”

- Steve Jobs

(we use Keynote sometimes… does that count?)

This morning, one of our favorite clients launched a great new...

acafourek — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 10:39:23 -0500

This morning, one of our favorite clients launched a great new website and product that we’ve worked on for much of the past year. Learning Ally is a non-profit based in Princeton, NJ which enables visualy impaired or learning disabled students at all levels to excel through the use of audiobooks. With a library of over 70,000 recorded books spanning from advanced chemistry textbooks to Harry Potter, Learning Ally has been recording audibooks with volunteers since the reel-to-reel era of 1948.

A lot has changed in technology since then and Learning Ally has evolved along the way to continue delivering up-do-date formats, and this new site launch is part of the latest push forward.

We were fortnate to be a part of the team that has turned whiteboard sessions of ideas into the great new interface that debuted this morning. The site you see when you first visit is only one piece of what is actually happening - the whole picture includes the logged-out user’s expereince, a completely separate logged-in user web app, a new set of tools for teachers to manage audiobook usage in their classroom, iOS apps, desktop apps and a number of layers to tie it all together.

What We Have Been Up To

This whole project started with logged-in users - when we first started, our role was to document, define, scope and fine-tune the requirements for the transactional experience. Managing user account data, delivering audiobook file downloads, searching/browsing a massive book catalog and organizing a user’s bookshelf of selected titles were the highlights of what needed to be reimagined and with wide-ranging input across the Learning Ally team, we were able to create a plan for users that would dramatically improve their experience on the site. Ending up with nearly 100 pages of plans, features and user roles, we ended the planning phase with a great roadmap to guide the construction process.

From there, we handed off the logged-in expereince to some of the other development parters on the project while we shifted focus to the general site visitor. Using WordPress as the base CMS, we stepped from the business/planning side of things into the technical/development world. Since the new site is divided into 4 primary sections, each focused on a major audience in the Learning Ally family that is then subdivided into various sections for sales funnels, resource information and general advocacy, the primary challenge was organizing the data in a way that made it easy to undertand not only for visitors but for site editors as well. Additionally, this was our first project in which BVI user accessibility was a primary concern - we’ve alsways tried to employ best practices, but since one of the primary user groups of the site will be visually impared, it was critical to get it right. Luckily, we had the great team at Ample to handle most of the UI considerations while we got to focus on the back-end functionality.

In the end, this has been an adventurous project during which Andrew pretty much lived in a hotel and we got to dive into a waide array of topics including bibliographic data organization, BVI web navigation, SOLR query writing, and the integration of WordPress with a myriad of other systems. This project has been a great experience and we love working with non-profits who represent great causes. We are super stoked to see the success of the launch today and are already diving into the next great batch of features for the Learning Ally site. In the meantime, go check it out.

Special thanks to everyone on the Learning Ally team who made this all happen and those partners who directly contributed to making us successful, specifically: Ample, Meredith LaBrie and Priceline.

acafourek: Workin’ and campin’ in Turkey with @nicktrusty...

acafourek — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 05:27:42 -0400

acafourek:

Workin’ and campin’ in Turkey with @nicktrusty (Taken with Instagram at Dalyan Camping)

Our cool new experiment, Radar, uses everyone’s latest...

acafourek — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:06:35 -0400

Our cool new experiment, Radar, uses everyone’s latest foursquare checkins to keep us all up to date on what time it is for the 3 of us as we spread out across the globe. Today: Paris, Iceland and Los Angeles.

Open tabs = hints of things to come

acafourek — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 22:44:11 -0400

Open tabs = hints of things to come

"Destiny is for people who are too lazy to create alternate timelines."

acafourek — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:57:22 -0400

“Destiny is for people who are too lazy to create alternate timelines.”

- R. Stevens

"Creating shit is awesome. Creating shit for unappreciative fucks is shitty."

acafourek — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:57:03 -0400

“Creating shit is awesome. Creating shit for unappreciative fucks is shitty.”

"Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."

acafourek — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:55:06 -0400

“Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”

- Ron Swanson (via ckck)

Camping in Ithaca.

acafourek — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:05:30 -0400

Camping in Ithaca.

My new favorite WordPress function: is_new_day()

acafourek — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:53:00 -0400

My new favorite WordPress function: is_new_day():

} else { } ?>



"The small decisions are where products are won or lost."
acafourek — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 23:33:02 -0400
“The small decisions are where products are won or lost.”

 - experience


(via Repetitive Tasks - Chart Porn)
acafourek — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:51:58 -0400


(via Repetitive Tasks - Chart Porn)


The Wadsworth Constant: Ignore 30% of Everything – Lone Gunman
acafourek — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:37:30 -0400
The Wadsworth Constant: Ignore 30% of Everything – Lone Gunman


thiev-er-ies:

yup
acafourek — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:36:08 -0400


thiev-er-ies:

yup



"Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts."
acafourek — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:04:00 -0400
“Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts.”

 - To Kill a Mockingbird


Mathematical Forumla For Determining Which Search Results Will Be On a Page
acafourek — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:30:00 -0400
When search results are paginated, a subset of results is shown on each page.  Figure out which ones are on a particular page using this formula:

R = [v(p-1), v(p)]
R = Result set,
v = View Count
p = Pagination Depth
Example:
 When View count is set to 10, Page 13 will contain Results #121-130.
Probably not something you are going to need to use very often, but occasionally handy for testing or search algo predictions.


creativemornings:

Point No.27: Be ready for when they call you...
acafourek — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:41:36 -0400


creativemornings:

Point No.27: Be ready for when they call you up to the big leagues… because you never know.
Aaron James Draplin, Draplin Design Co
 speaking at CreativeMornings/Portland (*watch the talk)



Ziptastic
acafourek — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:07:00 -0400
Ziptastic: Easy Zip Code API for fetching City and State data


"Perfection may look good in his shiny shoes, but he is an asshole and no one invites him to their..."
acafourek — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:00:50 -0400
“Perfection may look good in his shiny shoes, but he is an asshole and no one invites him to their pool parties”

 - zefrank


"(if) low rent and low taxes is the difference between you being successful or not successful, you..."
acafourek — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:44:29 -0400
““(if) low rent and low taxes is the difference between you being successful or not successful, you don’t have a business. If having access to the best and the brightest is the difference, this is the place to be.””

 - Michael Bloomberg

The 7 Closet: A022 Digital Blog

"People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint."

This morning, one of our favorite clients launched a great new...

What We Have Been Up To

acafourek: Workin’ and campin’ in Turkey with @nicktrusty...

Our cool new experiment, Radar, uses everyone’s latest...

Open tabs = hints of things to come

"Destiny is for people who are too lazy to create alternate timelines."

"Creating shit is awesome. Creating shit for unappreciative fucks is shitty."

"Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."

Camping in Ithaca.

My new favorite WordPress function: is_new_day()

"The small decisions are where products are won or lost."

(via Repetitive Tasks - Chart Porn)

The Wadsworth Constant: Ignore 30% of Everything – Lone Gunman

thiev-er-ies: yup

"Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts."

Mathematical Forumla For Determining Which Search Results Will Be On a Page

creativemornings: Point No.27: Be ready for when they call you...

Ziptastic

"Perfection may look good in his shiny shoes, but he is an asshole and no one invites him to their..."

"(if) low rent and low taxes is the difference between you being successful or not successful, you..."