Blog
News, insight and tips from the social web.
The Hoop blog covers the evolving digital landscape, social media, mobile communications, content marketing and also includes 5 top finds and Fish on Friday. Feel free to make comments.
-
Look and book online for the London Film Festival »
The London Film Festival website designed by Hoop Associates brings big stars to the smaller screen.
Packing 182 films from 43 countries into 16 days isn’t just a problem for the festival’s film programmers. Film audiences need help to navigate their way around what’s on and then to book seats for the films and events they want to go to.
What’s On
Working with the BFI, we have developed the What’s On section of their website. Putting the user first we developed clear routes from browsing to booking, creating a rewarding online experience that encourages people to return.
The Times BFI 51st London Film Festival
The new design gets its first outing for the 51st London Film Festival, 17 October to 1 November 2007.
Read more about our work on the website.
See for yourself, the London Film Festival.
Categories:
Tags:
-
Man Booker Prize winner 2007 »
The Gathering by Anne Enright, was announced as the Man Booker Prize winner at the Guildhall and simultaneously online, 16 October 2007
As soon as the announcement was made by the Chair of judges Howard Davies, debate kicked off on the Man Booker Prize website designed by Hoop Associates.
Online conversation
In an hour and a half after the announcement there were around 17,000 visitors to the site, with many adding to the ongoing conversation about the shortlisted books and English literature in general.
Enabling users
Of paramount importance to the design is each individual who will view and interact with the content. Through encouraging debate, adding blogs and enriching content the site has increased engagement with readers across the globe.
Deep engagement
As expected visits peaked when the winner was announced. The difference this year was an increased level of engagement and activity either side of the peaks at the time of key announcements.
Now the conversation has started it’s not going stop.
More about the new website.
Categories:
Tags:
-
If you’re not in, you’re out »
For business, online presence is about being part of a conversation, not delivering a lecture. Better join in.
Open house
If anyone wants to know how you do business, what customers think of your product, how you compare to your peers or what your policy on paternity leave might be, they need only go online. The web creates a degree of transparency that has never been known before and the successful businesses of the future are waking up to the fact. Fast.
Mind the gap
The days of saying one thing and doing another are over. Any credibility gap that exists between what a business says and what it actually does is magnified online. You are already under the eye glass and when you treat people badly, be they staff, customers or the communities where you operate, the story will be out and your reputation suffers even more.
People do business with people
This isn’t corporate social responsibility. This is simply people doing business with people. It’s human, it’s conversational, it’s good manners and it works. It means that secrecy is in decline, being rapidly replaced by openness, honesty and integrity. It’s the only way to survive in a multi channel environment where people want to participate.
Edge or core?
Smart companies are tapping into this change. Encouraging their staff to write blogs, inviting customers to create content, and freeing staff to explore and collaborate on edge competencies that carry risk. But whoever heard of reward without risk?
Loosen up
So do business responsibly. Be open, honest and decent and let the world be your judge. Relinquish control of the message you want to deliver and join the conversation about you that is already taking place.
You never know, you might even be able to shape it.
Categories:
Tags:
-
Usability is just good business »
Every time you battle with a website just to find what you want, that’s bad usability, and bad business.
So what’s the big deal
When you use the internet you continually make micro decisions about navigation, visual appeal, quality of content or copy and also, the kind of experience you are having. Can I see what I’m looking for, do I understand that link, can I read that copy, is this the right button etc. If this process is intuitive and painless, and seems to meet most of your requirements, then the team behind the site you’re on understands the power of good usability. Anything less than this means the business behind it undervalues you, the user. Do you want to do business with a business like that?
User centred thinking
A user centred approach to creating web sites radically increases the likelihood of success because it delivers a much better online experience for site visitors. Good usability, or user experience, is a result of placing human, rather than technical needs at the centre of all planning and design decisions. Getting this right is all about the amount of work that goes in at the beginning to understand what site users want. Ironically then, the most simple sites are often the result of months of hard work by agency and client teams alike.
Why is usability important?
Good user experience is, increasingly, the critical factor in developing fruitful online relationships. For businesses that take usability seriously, the most common benefits or return on investment are:
• improved perceptions of brand
• increased conversion rates
• greater customer loyalty and retention
• increased customer advocacy
• increased traffic
• improved search rankings.
To understand how important usability really is you have only to think of your own experience of a bad website, and how quickly you left it.
So how does your site measure up?
Be honest with yourself, is your site up to the mark? Do you provide a positive experience for your visitors? Do they find your content easily, in the place they expect it and does it engage them? If your business is not thinking about usability now your web presence is probably doing your reputation more harm than good.
And that’s bad for business.
Categories:
Tags:
-
Government gives Crossrail green light »
Prime Minister Gordon Brown signalled the go-ahead for Crossrail by announcing that the £16bn funding for the project has been agreed on 5 October 2007.
Since 2003 Hoop have been communicating the groundwork that led to this welcome announcement. From an integrated and extensive public consultation to the preparation of the volumes submitted to parliament, we have helped build understanding and support for Crossrail.
We are delighted to be involved in this visionary project and congratulate all those who have worked so hard to make it a reality.
See more of our work with Crossrail.
Categories:
Tags:
-
Baselitz inside The Independent »
The poster designed by Hoop for the Georg Baselitz exhibition at the Royal Academy was given away with The Independent newspaper on 5 October 2007.
The poster design is one of hundreds that Hoop have produced to promote artists and exhibitions in the UK.
As well as the celebrated Royal Academy exhibitions Rodin, Unknown Monet and Munch by Himself, we have promoted live performance art at Tate Modern and contemporary artists such as Gary Hume, Beatriz Milhazes and David Shrigley.
Categories:
Tags:
