raymosley's posterous

For the last few months I have been working predominantly on ideas and ux for a large high profile (when released) mobile project. But when I say mobile I am not talking apps, this one is for mobile web i.e. within a browser. Mobile is on the up in terms of usage and everyone is beginning to realise they can't simply get away with just making the site "work" on mobile, now it's about tailoring the experience for mobile and beyond.

This specific project has been a focus for the last 6 months but I also helped on a number of mobile versions of desktop sites we made for our clients in the past few years. I have spent a great deal of time researching, reading and understanding the challenges, technology and trends around design for mobile and now perhaps is a time to share a few findings. For a few projects I have compiled a series of documents that outline design patterns, trends and interesting articles around the subject for colleagues to also read up if they are interested.

I thought this might also be useful online for others who want to gain an understanding of mobile web design principles and some starting points for gathering further knowledge around the subject.

Core challenges and Trends
Before I post some design examples in further posts over the next fortnight I thought I would outline some great resources for gaining good knowledge about mobile techniques, trends and challenges. This is an introduction to design for the mobile web and the follow up posts will contain some best practice or interesting examples to demonstrate some of the ideas and solutions common to the mobile web.

Responsive and Adaptive design
The buzz word of the now is "responsive design" and for too many this is seen as a silver bullet of mobile design. In my opinion that is false, but it's a great start. I agree with every principle about responsive design, the fluid grid layouts, the ability to adapt to multiple screen sizes utilizing ideas such as media queries and scaling by percentages and ems. For a great introduction people should read the article by Ethan Marcotte http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/ and subsequent book: http://www.abookapart.com/products/responsive-web-design ($9 eBook).

Responsive design is a great starting point at trying to look at how layouts can and should respond to screen sizes. However responsive design alone isn't the only answer. Adaptive web design principles also need to play a major role in your mobile approach. This is where a server side technology utilizing a number of methods will match your browser capabilities with what you are being sent down the network to tailor your experience. On wi-fi? great here have a video and a few large images or two. Out and about on a feature phone? well perhaps we can slim those file sizes down a little and only provide you with a baseline.

Adaptive technologies deal with the ideas that one layout and one html coded page (with css and js etc) does not suit all devices and browsers and therefore simply hiding or scaling larger files on smaller devices (such as images) is not a good solution when you are a mobile user on a feature phone. For those unsure of a feature phone, generally this is none smartphone, possibly with a nav button and usually without a webkit browser i.e. older Nokias and to a point Blackberry.

Adaptive principles work on the idea that files should be served streamlined for purpose. Smaller screens do not need an 800px x 800px image file that has been scaled using percentages down to 120px and so should be served a 120px image. Certain phones cannot handle certain media (like video) and so do not need to download the file simply to have it hidden using display:none in the responsive style sheet. When dealing with mobile specifically the idea of bandwidth, that so many in web design have forgot about with widely adopted broadband, is now core to your decision making processes.

Understanding responsive and adaptive approaches merged is explained in excellent detail in the presentations by Yiibo at the bottom of this post.

The mobile landscape
There are a number of other considerations for mobile design. Firstly there are the browsers. No element of testing can help you overcome the multitude of browser options available on mobile. From old phones to current bleeding edge, the field is vast and the capabilities of those browsers are just as far apart. However although smartphones such as the iPhone and Android only account for around 7% of the worldwide mobile market they do serve 78% of the worlds web content accessed via mobiles. This number is only going to grow over the next two years at a lightening fast pace (source: Mobile First by Luke Wroblewski - A book apart).
However smartphones still have a way to go until they dominate the world market. If your mobile web project is to be used in countries such as Africa and India where the Nokia is termed "the AK-47 of mobiles" for it's widespread use then it's worth understanding the differences between developing a site for a shiny smartphone and a site that works quickly and efficiently on an older feature phone. The complexities don't just end at the browsers being used but also the difference in scrolling and navigating pages, the adoption and support levels for CSS styles and the network speeds across continents.

Responsibility for developing streamlined experiences for mobile on a feature phone can be a much more important task in countries like Africa. Mobile web traffic in these regions has exploded as Facebook adoption spread. The reason for this spread is Facebook convinced carriers to offer free access to Facebook  circumventing the huge data charges, enabling many in these regions the opportunity to connect with each other for free (http://www.web2fordev.net/component/content/article/121-the-mobile-web-explos.... Understanding feature phones is a crucial part of becomming knowledgeable on designing for the mobile web.

Tinker Tailor
There is also a debate around how much we as designers tailor experiences for users of different devices. This is a contentious issue, many designers and users argue that interfaces on mobiles should not be designed on the presumption the viewers are "out and about" and so should only be shown a bare bones experience. This debate will rage on, my only opinion here is that page lengths on smartphones are secondary to page weight (file sizes) and that all mobile web experiences should streamline key mobile journeys while still offering the ability to explore the same depth of content as any desktop counterpart. This should mean users do not feel they are missing out by using a mobile website only that it is a better viewing experience than trying to zoom in and out of a desktop page. There is also the global get out of jail free card of the "view desktop site" link (smartphone only). It is also worth considering that a large audience for mobile usage is the "second screen" or people browsing the web from the sofa via the convenience of a phone often while watching TV.

What is mobile?
Most important to understanding the mobile web is that not all devices are infact mobiles and design shouldn't only cater for one particular mobile manufacturer (unless there is a strong use case for that decision). Putting effort into a mobile web project that works great on an iPhone when 50% of your user base is Blackberry or Nokia is not a sound investment for you or your client (if developing for a client). Mobile or none desktop uses of websites will increase in the coming years and it's important to understand this may mean tablets, older mobiles, interactive tvs, even interactive panels on bins or that inevitable "smart fridge" idea (tomorrows world). As one very good presentation (yiibu) puts it, barrier of entry to the mobile web shouldn't be the cost of an expensive iPhone.

I can only really cover a few ideas of this briefly here and for more in depth information I really suggest reading/following/watching the following presentations/websites/people:

Yiibu
http://yiibu.com/
Pragmatic Responsive Design presentation
Why responsive design begins on the server presentation

Pinch Zoom and Brian Fling
http://pinchzoom.com/blog/
http://www.slideshare.net/fling
http://pinchzoom.com/thecontext/

Future Friendly Collective of leading voices on mobile
http://futurefriend.ly/
including the work of:
Luke Wroblewski http://www.lukew.com/ff/, http://www.lukew.com/presos/, Mobile First
Jason Grigsby http://www.cloudfour.com/blog/, http://www.slideshare.net/grigs

Other interesting articles
http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1403
http://www.lullabot.com/articles/responsive-adaptive-web-design
http://adactio.com/journal/4873/

Twitter
Luke Wroblewski @lukew
Jason Grigsby @grigs
Brian Fling @fling
Adam Greenfield @agpublic
Yiibu @Yiibu
Ribot @ribot
Scott Jenson @scottjenson
Brad Frost @brad_frost
Josh Clark @globalmoxie
Jeremy Keith @adactio
Ethan Marcotte @beep

Coming Soon
Further posts outlining some of the design patterns used in mobile web from design layout ideas, menus and buttons through to touch interactions and performance of mobile web. There is far more I have come across over the last few years than can be posted here but if anyone would like to chat about ideas feel free to find me out and about or via: thelastline.com
Please note posting from posterous is a temporary measure. All posts will shortly be merged into a blog on my own site in it's first update for around 6 years, no pressure!

Last week I wrote a post about the new Resign london campaign and the perceptions of North vs South in terms of creative recruitment. Since then in response to criticism of the campaign it was adjusted to include comments from a few MD's of creative agencies within the North West. This doesn't really make the campaign any better executed.

The main error for me is the report, the campaign and those trying to help North West creative industries I feel are missing a bigger and wider problem behind recruitment of talent in the North West. Having gained employment in the creative sector in the North West and having a girlfriend who has recently moved from London to Manchester in the creative industries, it's a subject I feel well informed and passionate about.

A bigger problem
The campaign is based on a report about talent in the North West creative scene and how top creative companies (the report only seems to interview 13 creative suppliers) perceive they have an "available" senior talent shortage in the North west and require to attract more. The campaign aims to tackle this perception by attracting top talent from the South, of course there is nothing to say if you live in the North you are not welcome to apply.

However the another issue at the heart of this campaign and the report is the term "perception". Over the last two months having seen my girlfriend make the move from her senior publishing role in London to life here in the North West and my own experience when I was looking to move to a top agency three years ago, some recruiters are looking for very exacting requirements and unwilling to match purely based on skills.

The Skillset/Cultural and Creative Council report from Jan 2010 highlights that skill shortages are always reported in the creative industries due to the fast paced changing nature of it and point 4.3 (page 36) explains the need for retraining/upskilling of professionals with new emerging technologies.

A "Box Ticker"
I use the term "Box Ticker" for both candidates themselves and those assessing the candidate. The box ticker as a recruiter usually does not look for something deeper than what is found on two sheets of A4. The box ticker as a candidate simply aims to satisfy the requirements and spend their time collecting the ticks required to progress on their way. 

You can be a box ticker and be able to also make informed decisions. You can also tick the requirement boxes but have a personality to match but where as recruitment companies and agencies used to also look at potential or transferable skills now these seem to be in the minority.

My own experience of the Top Agencies
A few years back I wished to move to a top agency. I had worked for 4.5 years at a small agency where at times I was the client contact, designer, coder and project manager all in one. I had a massive input at the agency, helped steer a course for the branding, pitches and the types of work we did. However I felt I was missing that challenge of working on large scale, big brand, projects that would give me the confidence to one day take on very senior roles or start my own business. I decided to look for that challenge.

Luckily at the same time four or five of the top digital agencies in the North West happened to be looking for "Front end developers". For those not fluent in the language of web development this basically came down to job descriptions that required a good knowledge of HTML/CSS and javascript technologies. I had all those plus more as I was also a PHP developer and had a past of working as a graphic designer.

I sent  a design CV/Portfolio of work to the agencies advertising the roles in the hope I wasn't too late, because of course I had more than the stated requirements so why wouldn't they see me?
I heard from only two agencies, and of those two, only one asked me to come in and have a chat (ther other said they might get around to me after a pitch they were working on). This wasn't a huge disappointment as mN felt like home from the moment I stepped into the office but I was a little puzzled why the other agencies were not interested in even speaking to me for roles that were advertised way after I started work on client projects at mN. I had all the qualifications required but I hadn't worked on big brand projects before only local universities and national companies. None of them asked specifically for this kind of experience. 
However mN , having already checked my coding skills from my provided work examples, were more concerned with whether my personality was right for the company and that the company was the right move for me. This is the part that often get's overlooked and shouldn't; that creative and technical processes can be learnt very quickly by people in our industry however having the right "je n'ais sais quois" to take your place within any team is actually far more important. It's also something very hard to spot from a CV.

Transferable skills of no merit?
My girlfriend, having recently moved from London where she wrote articles for the Times and held editorial roles for a number of newsstand magazines, realized that moving to Manchester meant making a small change in her career. Although 10 years publishing experience might not entitle her to walking straight into a senior role up here, we discussed the fact that her experience of commisioning designers, photographers and writers along with planning magazines on tight deadlines every month were very identical to project and account managment roles. Junior or mid weight roles would allow her to learn the nuances of the design/creative production approaches while her editorial background would bring other skills to the role or company who employed her.

However creative recruitment firms in the Northwest (who contribute to the reports that campaigns such as Resign London are based on) informed her that unless she had the words "Account Manager" etc on her CV or direct past experience in an identical role their clients wouldn't even see her. They couldn't match the obvious identical role requirements between account management and her past as a magazine editor and nor could they make the small leap from feature writer to "copywriter" which are also in demand here in the Northwest. I can hardly believe that top agencies in the Northwest can't see the benefit of hiring people from similar creative sectors but perhaps when we have finished her portfolio of work and send it out we might find that out for ourselves.

Don't believe the hype
I am still skeptical of the interepretation of the report around recruitment in the Northwest which highlights a number of areas to address which hopefully also feature in the campaign as it progresses. I really do think helping all creative talent re-train from related sectors needs more empathsis and investment in the region and nationally and recruiters need to be more open minded about requirements focusing on skills before name dropping and job titles.

However I don't disagree with bringing more talent to the region, it's all about producing great work as I said in the original piece I wrote last week advertising opportunities and showing great talent you can be a part of is a much stronger message than the negativity angle of Resign London. More importantly how many people with the required skills are being overlooked because they do not have a specific job title on their past CV? Do we really feel the creative roles are so specialized that other creative sector employees cannot possibly adapt?

Further reading/viewing
Brendan Dawes describes a box ticker
Creative and Cultural Skills Council report on barriers of entry 
Digital Skills Shortages are nothing new
Skillset report as of January 2010 on the state of the creative industries in the UK 

Today a storm in a teacup kicked off around the site and campaign known as http://www.resignlondon.co.uk/. The campaign has been put together on the back of a Northwest Vision and Media  Report (view report) around challenges facing the region for growth in the creative services sector. This part of the campaign is to tackle a reported shortfall in skills within the region with regards creative personel with the experience required to tackle national and international client campaigns.

I dare say a lot of this is far above someone of my station as a member of creative staff at one of the regions agencies however I, like many others in the local creative community, felt this campaign was a little way off helping promote the region to those working in the southern creative communities. I say that with a little trepidation because I don't like criticising others work however like many others I have seen react to it I am not sure it sends the right message. Rather than promoting the positives of working up north here in sunny (it doesn't rain every single day) Manchester or Liverpool etc the campaign seems to take a slightly tongue in cheek approach that I am not sure it quite pulls off.

Personal experience
I do not know the people involved and couldn't comment on their angle however I can talk from personal experience how this campaign feels a bit wayward in tackling good honest gaps as highlighted by the report. I have been working on projects commisioned by large clients outside of the region for the last few years and also have a girlfriend who up until the start of 2011 worked as an Editor down in London, meaning I also spent a lot of time there with her and many of her friends who worked in these sectors.

I enjoy where I work, more importantly I enjoy the work I get to do at the agency I work for here in Manchester. Location hasn't been an issue and work projects have been of extremely high calibre of clients. As part of deciding my own future with that of my girlfriend we had to decide where to live together. Inevitably publishing isn't as equally represented outside of London but digital is. If we were looking at purely work opportunities then it was maybe more sensible for me to move to London where I could find work quickly and well paid enough for my skills. However outside of work and the quality of life staying in Manchester would give us were the main factors in our decision. That said had I moved to London, this campaign wouldn't have reflected the kind of output I would expect from the great agencies and creatives we have in the region.

What does a creative look for
As a creative worker I feel able to say that if I was looking for a role the kinds of things that would impress me are great opportunities that allow me to be ambitious, work for amazing clients on great briefs and take responsibilty for projects that will matter i.e. exposure of work and the opportunity to work on projects that mean something to people. A good campaign to address any skills shortages in the region should try to connect great jobs and opportunities with great creative talent, not play up the stereotypes and create some distance that doesn't actually exist for the majority of creative workers. On the resign london site there is a jobs feed (RSS import), a housing feed, a latest news feed but there is no passionate campaign from those offering work on what great opportunities exist in the region. There is however a "print your resign from you job letter" download. There does not seem any profiles about working here or what is on offer in the region.

Ever seen the Apple Pro Profile videos?

They made you want to work with those people. Ever seen the intel creators project ? http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/en-uk/ same deal. One of my favourite ever storytelling style projects was Nick Hand's Slowcoast, I really did love howies even more after seeing this: http://www.slowcoast.co.uk/soundslides/soundslide.php?id=37. Being honest, telling stories and not insulting the intelligence of the target audience should have been the focus here. Either that or a smart, clever tongue in cheek campaign
.

It's more than skills shortages
The report highlights problems in a number of areas. Skills shortages only a part of the greater, bigger picture. One other was buyers in the region and outside not understanding what was on offer in the region, what companies here were doing and what work was being produced or whether it was at the calibre they wanted. Everyone involved probably has to take responsibility for promoting good work produced here but a campaign that helps profile the region would serve a dual purpose of advertising what the region's creative sector is really like and what is really being produced while also naturally attracting new talent to the area.

London doesn't really care about North vs South
The biggest issue I have with North vs South debates is while commercial reports on financials and breakdowns of regions are all valid the common "which is better" when not done in an ironic way, is childish and unhelpful. Today a report was published that ranked cities of the world and Manchester was above London. I love Manchester but this report has to take into account a large number of factors because truth is I know while I love living here I would equally love living in London.

My problem with this report is the number of Manchester based people I saw posting links to this today with words to the effect "Up yours london". I also know of a friend of my better half who visited Manchester two months back who when mentioning to a taxi driver he came from London had to sit and listen to a lecture on how Manchester was better than London, he didn't really care for the debate, better shopping apparently. Why does it matter? It's subjective and pointless and ultimately it comes down to where you want to live for whatever reasons you have at that time. Great work gets produced everywhere from the smallest villages to the biggest cities and perpetuating a divide doesn't really help in attracting anyone to any region.

It comes down to ambition. There is a lot of positives about Manchester and the creative sector here not to mention exciting changes and we should be selling those stories rather than pedalling old stereotypes

[Video no longer available]

If as the report suggest there are shortfalls in skills in the region perhaps there is a better way of addressing it rather than going on the aggressive angle, well meaning as it might be, but what do I know I just create stuff ;)

Further reading:
Nerve Agency release about Resignlondon
North West Vision and Media Creative Currency report
North West Vision and Media release about campaign pitch
Mark Thompson of the BBC on creative sectors outside the M25
Example of the region's creative sector - talks/meet ups put on by Northern Digitals and their Blab nights

(download)

Click here to download:

2010-in-iphone-pictures-kewJAeudgdHaEJwwBxth.zip (3.25 MB)

Featured:
Snow in January to start the year.
Decode at the V&A
Working from the British library
Chinese new year - china town London
Sunny Brighton break in April (first glimpse of summer)
Elephant parade - sloane square
Center parcs in the rain
Elections 2010 and end of a hard but rewarding project
At sea around Alaska
Mainland national parks in Alaska
Navy days in sunny Portsmouth
Beautiful wedding venue for a friend in the Cotswolds
Brighton beach for flash on the beach 2010
Autumn comes to the North
Gorillaz at the M.E.N
Sunday screening of The American at the empire Leicester square
London goodbyes December 2010 - southbank
Snow to finish the year dec 2010

For those who know my personal circumstances this might still be news to you but on the 27th december my girlfriend (Sarah) will be moving to sunny Manchester from sunny London. After doing the long distance thing for two years the time has come to finally move in together properly. Of course we are both very excited and happy about a new 2011 for us both.

However one thing we have struggled with through planning it all over the last year or so is work/career. My amazing and talented girlfriend has been living in London for ten years after moving there to pursue a career in publishing. More than simply pursuing she has managed to make it to editor of a few magazines including running the online content for those magazines. She also regulary freelances for the Times and Sunday Times and a few book publishers. She has a love of theatre that meant she also has experience of promoting and working as part of production for a number of plays including one held at the Edinburgh festival.

Publishing in Manchester however is not a sector that has too many well advertised openings at the minute that make them easy to find from outside of the city. In fact the thought is that maybe digital content production or back to theatre and the arts is the way forward. Instead of waiting around for an opportunity to open we decided to make the bold choice to move regardless.

Open to opportunities
If you are looking for a very hardworking, intelligent lady able to handle commissioning of content, artwork and photographers with a great deal of contacts in both publishing and especially travel sector then your luck might just be in. She is a meticulous planner, amazing under pressure of deadlines and ever so slightly talented at writing great content (under statement).
With a few weeks of Freelance already sorted I am asking anyone I know, or who knows me, if they are aware of any positions available; permenant, temporary or placement in the creative, digital or arts sector please get in touch via twitter/raymosley or ray [-at-] thelastline.com. This is as much as seeing what opportunities there are in the region for her skillset. I might be biased but I honestly believe she would be a credit to any company who work in content production or creative industries and deserves the chance to visit some companies and have a chat to see what is available.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love films. It's not only the story or artistic achievement of films I love but the process behind it. As with all creative processes the film making process involves challenges that can be found in interactive design, and for someone who from a young age tried to understand how things were put together I am a geek for the behind the scenes.

So reading this months Little White Lies magazine I came across an amazing article from the makers of the original Tron entitled "Seeing the light" (view the digital edition pages 40-45) and it amazed me not just how they did creative things with new technologies but that these challenges don't ever disappear, only change. The fact that they made a film using unique animation techniques and early CGI is amazing enough and probably a story many people know. However what really grabbed me was the story behind how the production nearly derailed before release and how the makers of the film realised (if a little too late) what a mammoth challenge they had on their hands.

Produced and backed by Disney, TRON (directed by Steven Lisberger), was ground breaking in both approach and visual look. It didn't recieve too many hot reviews on it's release and wasn't even nominated at the oscars (suprising given it's amazing technical effects feat) but that didn't stop TRON influencing millions of young children who would go on to work with computer graphics in the future.

In over your head
There are some amazing stories in the article and great quotes from behind the scenes but one particulary hit me as being relevant to the interactive industry. Talking about having to ask the reluctant traditional animators at Disney for help in animating the film the director comments how one member of the team responded to the pressure with "this is exactly what it was like under Walt; in over their heads, terrified that this was the one deadlines they could not meet". But meet it they did and as the director goes on to comment "Everybody knew the problems and limitations, but we had plans for dealing with them".

These for me are two key points I come upon again and again in interactive work and have come comfortable dealing with. When I was 25 I was given my first major project to lead where I felt completely out of my depth and unsure whether I could actually deliver on time, on budget and up to spec. However going through that first process (and a fair few since) has been one way I have learnt how to tackle large problems between keeping everyone within a project happy and grow my own confidence in how to tackle large or tough projects. The more you experience this feeling, although far from ideal, the more you become unphased by changing specifications and large technical or creative challenges. The second point made by the director of limitations and planning is also key in dealing with technology or new ideas. Identifying you are entering unknown territory and having a back up plan or ideas of compromises are essential in delivering work in unchartered waters. Satisfying the technical challenges against creative concepts has to be a balancing act and might sometimes involve some battles, but they are worth doing if the end result means the best experience for the audience. Sometimes doing something that looks bad just because it's a technical achievement isn't worth the effort or battle, which is why films with bad special effects should have found a better way to tell their story.

I read an article today on the BBC "How online guest books changed hotels" (that featured comments from my girlfriend's editor) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11419183 and it reminded me of a subject I have approached before in user reviews and user generated content.

Over the last two years I have seen the term user generated content become increasingly sort after in web projects. The idea of course is that it can add an extra dimension to site content or even replace content provided by an editorial team if the concept allows. I have to add I am all for hearing what everyone has to say but I have also noticed and had to deal with the issues around how these concepts are integrated into a user experience.

Be better at what you do
On the one hand the benefits of user reviews, comments etc are the simple fact that no company, business or anyone providing a service or product should be able to hide behind expensive public relations releases or glossy brochures. We now live in an age where it's far easier to tell the world all the things you believe in or the good and bad experiences you encounter. The traditional thinking was that a customer who received a bad experience would tell 10 of their friends and those friends would on average tell another 5. However now with review sites and user feedback that number is probably multiplied and more importantly that review exists for people you do not know.

No one should be able to cover up bad service or bad customer experience. I firmly believe that word of mouth and user comments are an important way to improve what you do and consider your audience but you also need context.

The Trip Advisor problem
In the BBC article a group of hotels has brought a legal challenge to review site trip advisor. They argue that many users leave bad reviews over trivial matters and that rather than approach the staff to correct the problem during their stay they will hide behind the anonymity of the internet to complain and unfairly mark down a hotel destination. While this smacks a little of Hotels with bad reviews complaining that it harms their business the points are also valid. The problem however does not lie in the review sites themselves but the fact that while user generated content and comments have been billed for years as "word of mouth" they in fact hold no context to the end user.

Unlike social networks where you choose who you dial into for their take on services or places to stay, the review sites hold no way for the end user to really judge the voice that is communicating a review. The Trip Advisor legal challenge focuses on the site where really the problem lies with the readers and their ability to judge whether the voice giving the review is trusted or can be dismissed.

How could we improve user reviews
A year and a half ago at work I helped create a movie review site that generated short reviews from twitter. It was an experimental piece in being able to gain the views of "real people" from the twitter api. At the time I listened to podcasts and read articles on the value of user generated content and how when you search out people's views that they post naturally as opposed offering them a way to post a review you can often gain a more measured idea of what people really think.

Last month at work I also sat next to a colleague who was looking at 20 pages of Yelp.com reviews (including all the local McDonald's and Netto's in the area) from one single user. Reading them all as part of his profile you could get a sense that maybe this person wasn't on the same wavelength as us but in a single review context you would probably take the comment at face value.

When people have no way to see the person behind the review the natural thing to do is to place yourself in their position. By that I mean suddenly a review is taken from your context and not theirs. In working with a social powered movie review project I saw, and agreed in some ways, many comments that who cares what everyone else thinks? That 100 morons could and do love "Meet the spartans" but that doesn't mean that you will love it. This is where context is everything.

I, like many others I expect, use trip advisor regulary before booking hotel stay's home or abroad. However I also have my own internal filter whereby if anyone complains that they think the wine priced at £500 can be bought at an off license for £10 I instantly dismiss their comments or rating. What we really need to do is match people with likeminded people before offering reviews. In terms of movies I only read reviews by people who like the same kind of films to me, it's no use to me if they think transformers revenge of the fallen is the greatest film ever made as we are simply not in the same room in terms of personal tastes (I am not commenting on whether they are right or wrong). There is also always that niggling doubt whether the person leaving a review is of sane mind when using various review services.

The simple answer to this is use social networks for reviews but this relies on your own circle of friends to have visited anywhere you are planning to go or have experience with anything you plan you buy or use. The key for me in building a slightly better customer review experience is the ability to review the person first. You should be pulled into seeing what else they have said about other services, some highlighting as to what their context for the review is (other films they like, other hotels they have loved etc). There are so many ways we are different that this kind of context allows you as a viewer to make better decisions about the quality of that review. If someone constantly complains about price but you are someone for whom the experience and good value for money for that price outweighs the cheap as chips approach then the review is unhelpful to you. This is the missing link in this equation and bar social networks I haven't found many places that deliver this yet....but I would be willing to try

Last week I was lucky enough to be sent by the company I work for to Flash on the Beach in Brighton. I have only occasionally dabbled in the arts of Flash development (although not very well) but I wasn't at a disadvantage at FOTB. However being a Flash developer isn't what this conference is all about. It's true that there are plenty of sessions held that concern the tools of Flash development, or given by current or ex Flash specialists, but overall it's a design conference and it's quite easy to simply go see some inspiring people give you some food for thought.

When the option surfaced of being able to visit the conference there were a couple of big reasons to visit including attending the inspiration sessions by both my Creative Director Brendan Dawes and one of my all time design heroes Stefan Sagmeister. Neither disappointed, but I also got to see a lot of speakers that having lived outside of the flash and generative coding circles for the last few years I may have missed. I can highly recommend to anyone, from any interactive design background, to give this conference some consideration.

Inspiration and Time to reflect
Taking a few days out of the normal work routine and being able to simply soak up some design sessions is good for anyone involved in design. I did have to dip into a bit of work on one occasion but on the whole it was a great oppourtunity to reflect on how I personally do within design. I had a simular kick up the backside when I got to visit DeConstruct  in 2009 and I think it's good to hear from other designers how they approach the common problems in the industry.

Productivity had been an area I had struggled with outside of work. Within work I had become better at being focused and splitting projects down into manageable pieces for delivery but outside of work I found I fell victim to procrastination too often. I had many an idea of projects or things I wanted to learn but I seemed to lose the drive I once had once I got home from the office. A common theme of this years Flash on the Beach was the message that we as interactive designers have more opportunity to pursue new ideas than ever before and that "getting things done" is as important as having the ideas. I was inspired by Bren's very own slide "Talk - Action=Shit" and the part of his presentation that discussed getting ideas out there as the only way you can really achieve anything.

Grant Skinner was the first session I attended where he explained that just giving himself 20 minutes here and there and trying to write small sections of code etc had allowed him to get back into creating work. Hoss Gifford also outlined how he had read "Getting things done" and that splitting larger projects down into small manageble chunks had allowed him to get his productivity back on track.

The Kick
So having seen a number of speakers who have all achieved things simply by putting what they preach into action I decided to give a few of the things I had heard a try. I now give myself 30mins a night or morning to focus on a small chunk of the work I have had ideas about for years. Sometimes this is reading about new techniques I often hear about but haven't spent time to learn, or it's writing a class in PHP, or maybe even just one method of a class. Already, in just two weeks, I have learnt and written a great deal more. I have stopped worrying about the larger idea of a project and concentrated on scaling it down into manageable pieces, almost like I would a work project or agile methodology approach. I am slowly but surely checking things off, and more importantly I feel productive again outside of the working hours. I am also trying to use these same techniques for other things such as all the DIY projects I have put off for four years.

The silly thing about it all is that no matter how small the step or piece of work, achieving it in 30mins or even an hour gives a massive sense of achievement and more importantly the feeling of getting things done. I had heard these techniques for years, and even practiced them at work but employing them a bit wider is already having positive effects. For a supposed "Flash" conference I managed to avoid any real talk of Flash techniques and have come away with far more than I expected.

Today was a new experience for me, and one I feel slightly ashamed of, as I was sent to ground by a left turning car on my cycle commute. I have been cycling on the roads for roughly 18 years and until now although I have had some close shaves I have never had an accident that wasn't simply me falling of on ice. Giving the details of what happened I am pretty sure the blame will point at me and I have to admit I do feel quite responsible but I was also doing what every single cyclist does everyday and on a stretch I use daily in the same way and have done for years.

The Accident
The accident happened within Manchester city centre, on the dual lane section of road down by CIS building that leads past Victora at the foot of the short downhill. It had been raining and I was caught in the 5pm traffic. As per usual for rush hour the traffic here was stacked up in a queue. It being two lanes of traffic that always travels quickly over the bottom junction across Victoria I actually think a bike being on the right of this traffic is as dangerous if not more than the left. I was travelling down the left of the traffic at the points it was pretty much at a standstill, undertaking if you will. Naturally I do this daily and always instinctively at junctions never undertake for fear of a left turning car.

On this occasion as we hit the left turn that runs by the CIS and the printworks I was slightly behind a mini, on it's left rear wing (but not level with it), I slowed for the junction and checked both the indicator (which I do naturally) and through the back window to view the driver. With no indicator I let off the brakes a little as it was so wet and that's when the car turned quickly left almost as if it was a last minute decision from the driver, no indication. I saw the car turning and tried to turn with it but ended hitting the passenger side door and slamming onto the road.

The driver stopped, he and his friend walked over and checked i was ok. My arm was bleeding badly and I could tell I had road rash on my lower back as well as the obvious areas on my arm which hit the road first. I said I was fine as I felt stupid and the driver who looked understandibly shook up checked his car. I offered a number of times to give my details to repay the small scratch on his door. I had pointed out that I was aware that I was travelling down the left but I simply hadn't seen any indicator and in the wet could not stop in time once I saw him turn. He seemed to contemplate taking my details but in the end said as long as I was ok then it didn't matter, thankfully he also wasn't agressive towards me.

Where to place the blame
To be honest I don't blame him too much, but I also don't take full sole responsibility. One of my big bugbears as a cyclist on the roads is that you cannot argue rights with motorists as there is little awareness of the reasons why cyclists do things such as "undertaking", which is a grey area debate. In this particular instance it's unsafe for me to pass on the right of the traffic. When it is stationary this is fine but as soon as it moves I would be left on the right of two lanes of traffic between fast moving traffic on my left and oncoming traffic on my right. I am pretty sure I would also get abuse from drivers who would consider me a hazard travelling down the right side of the dual lanes causing them to undertake me instead. In fact it is far safer to move down the large space left of the queue until the cars start moving. If you cannot get awareness of your position (as I couldn't for this driver) to a driver by being well in front when they start moving then you have to assume that they cannot see you and accidents like mine can happen on occassions whereby drivers fail to indicate and turn left quickly. For this reason I also never undertake buses or lorries whether they are stationary or not in queues of traffic.

In the situation described above my biggest fault was simply not hanging back far enough from the car closest to the junction I ended up hitting. An accident would also have been avoided by him indicating. This is not something I expect to happen often (touch wood) as I am very careful about this, it's now a natural part of my road cycling, but on this occassion I am lucky. I still feel left filtering on this stretch of road is the only option other than sticking in the queue like a car taking up a central position, though I do wonder how motorists would feel about me slowing them down like this. Overtaking on the right of two lanes of traffic that will move quickly as the queue moves would leave a cyclist in a very dangerous position.

Cycling solidarity
The upside to all this though was that my ride went on to include a puncture forcing me to walk the end of my ride and on that occassion as when the driver and his mate were stood in front of me I had other cyclists stop and check I was ok. I have also done this when I see a cyclist in trouble at the side of the road and it does make you feel less alone out there when you are used to the odd case of abuse, agressive drivers or being told you need to pay road tax. So thanks to those cyclists who offered to help, though I said I was fine on both occassions it did warm the cockles and did remind me why I love the cycling community.

Over the last few years I have found I have enjoyed the cream of foreign language films more often as opposed the output from Hollywood. I am convinced a few of these films had they not been in foreign language would have won more plaudits and probable Oscar buzz. In fact Hollywood have caught onto the great foreign language films created in the last few years and some are currently in production in big american english language remakes including Let the Right One In (being remade as Let Me In by the director of cloverfield) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

So here some of my must see recommendations from the last few years, dates are UK release.  

1. Mesrine - Parts 1& 2 - 2009
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259014/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411272/
Trailer: http://bit.ly/d5Ekc

A french/canadian film in French starring Vincent Cassel as the notorious french criminal Jacques Mesrine. Mesrine comes in two parts much like any great gangster film; the rise and the fall. Mesrine was released on a short run in the UK and double disc DVD shortly after however it is my favourite (marginally) of the last few years and well worth a watch for anyone who likes their Godfather, Scarface, Heat and Carlitos way.

Cassel is electrifying as Mesrine who while being a brutal killer (he claimed 37 deaths in his book Killer Instinct although police have never been able to confirm this number) was also a man with charm. The story revolves around his book Killer Instinct which is also the title of the first film, the second being Public enemy number one (one of the two names he was known as following his rise to infamy).

The films take you from his days in the army to starting his criminal path as a bank robber to his multiple prison escapes across continents. It's fair to say the first part is paced better and more full of action however this really is one to take in the full story from start to finish. 

2. A Prophet - 2009
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235166/
Trailer: http://bit.ly/4YsMfi

Another french film and it was hard not to put this as numero uno. A Prophet is in part a prison drama and also another gangster story and mixes a hard edged tale with great cinematography and some brutal scenes. It tells the story of a young franco-arab character Malik who enters his first stint in adult prison after spending much of his youth in various facilities. The film begins with his entry into prison at 19, illiterate and alone and sees him bridge the two main gangs inside and outside the prison (muslims and corsicans) to rise into a position of power almost under the radar.

As good as any gangster film such as Godfather et al beware that some early scenes might be a bit hard to handle. 

3. Let the right one in - 2008
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/
Trailer: http://bit.ly/dmXfE

Swedish this time and probably one of the most suprising films I have enjoyed in the last few years. I watched this knowing no more than it was a swedish vampire film but came away with a film to add to my all time favourite list. It's so good that there is currently an american remake ready for release called Let me in, for me though this has to be seen in it's original swedish format.

The story is of a young 12 year old boy named Oskar who lives with his mother in a block of flats in a suburb of Stockholm and is bullied on a daily basis at school. He befriends his new neighbour, Eli, a young girl who only comes out at night and can only enter a room if she is invited in. She lives with an older man who agrees to look after her by providing her with fresh blood.

As gory as it sounds, and indeed in some parts is, this is also a very touching story of a close bond and relationship between the two young main characters and is expertly matched with some amazing cinematography that the Swedish landscape deserves. How this will work as a remake I am not sure but to be honest I don't really care as this is easily one of my all time top film choices. I was also lucky enough to see it recently on a big screen once more with around 2000 other fans at a Summerscreen double bill (with the Lost Boys to finish) at Somerset house in London, the cheers and applause at the end of the film was not mis-placed.

4. The Lives of Others - 2007
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/
Trailer: http://bit.ly/80yFeP

This German films tells the story of East Germany during the early 1980s and the observation and spying tactics employed by the east german secret police, the stasi. During this time the socialist state would monitor it's citizens (at one point reported one officer per seven population) for anti political behavior. The film concentrates on the monitoring of prominent cultural figures from writers to actors and actresses and one agent in particular and his assignment to a writer and his live in actress girlfriend.

The story for this film is subtle yet powerful and shows the abuse of power and the people caught in between in a failing regime. The ending of the film is beautifully crafted and the writing of the characters is equally strong throughout, billed as a thriller it is an amazing character study of a film.

5. Sin Nombre - 2009
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127715/
Trailer: http://bit.ly/nVsdl

Spanish language film set in mexico and in the fierce Mara Salvatrucha gang is a beautifully shot film about one particular gang member named Casper and a group of three imigrants on their travels to the US/Mexico border. The film begins telling the stories of the two main sets of characters individually until they merge halfway. One side of the story is Casper and his time within the Mara group and the other side is the group containing a father, daughter and son who travel on top of a train in a smuggling operation run by the Mara gangs.

The film is gripping although I have to admit the end probably disappoints with only a 96 minute run time not being enough to truely set up the story then honour a suitable ending. With that said the amazing camera work and impressive gang tattoos of the Mara make for more than just an entertaining watch.

Notable additions
The Counterfeiters http://bit.ly/9QRm92
The Wave http://bit.ly/19JX1J
Downfall http://bit.ly/3LngTj
Che (Hollywood but in spanish) http://bit.ly/NDBII
Pans Labrinyth http://bit.ly/4fWCMK
[REC] http://bit.ly/duQWnc
Amelie http://bit.ly/4vgV57

Films on the list to view
The White Ribbon http://bit.ly/7OcJ3S
Persepolis http://bit.ly/2I1M
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo http://bit.ly/5lMtf0
Waltz with Bashir http://bit.ly/JaPnB
Baader Meinhof Complex http://bit.ly/3zTpcD
The Secret in Their Eyes http://bit.ly/beCxdy