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Picture this- you’re at the office early one morning, attempting to structure your day. You have dozens of tasks to complete, a handful of decks to proof, a UXD to finish. You finally get your day in a position to be productive, and someone asks you about lunch.  This scenario may be a stretch, but probably not by much. So the day rolls on, you miraculously manage to knock out 80% of your goals, on top of the emergencies, distractions and fires you had to put out, and you’re feeling pretty good. 8pm- time for dinner, right?

Well, if your business serves customers and is in any way influenced by the digital/social space (hint: that’s everyone), you know the value of staying educated. In fact, a sizable chunk of your ‘work’ is probably spent reading and learning. In fact, nearly half of our team spent the better part of this weekend doing exactly that in Austin, at SXSW. Such is today’s topic: The current pace of the industry, and staying ahead of the wave. (no, not Google’s…)

Simply keeping up is a full time job. So many outlets, so little time. RSS feeds and Blogs, Facebook and Twitter, Foursquare and Gowala - Oh My! How is any regular person suppose to manage, digest, and take away something beneficial from all that noise? There are seemingly hundreds of methods to do so, and it’s easy to get caught up in the wormhole, managing how all the pieces connect and new methods of communicating between them all. You find yourself obsessed with staying ahead of the game, just to be ahead. But to what end.

Am I using the best application? The most popular?
Who has the best user interface?
Who is saying which platform has the better experience?
Which version should you actually go with?
Whose blogs should I read?
Whose tweets should I follow? And how do I find them?

To cut through the noise, the trick is knowing from who you gain value. You may spend an hour a week reading somebody’s opinions simply because they have 30,000+ followers, but if those ‘insights’ never make you think longer than a few seconds, chances are you should focus your energy elsewhere. Quality content is not a popularity game. The ability to quickly and effectively filter good information from bad is a very valuable skill set. Direct your attention to dynamIt’s blog roll (to the left) for a few examples of quality resources - at least to us. Knowing what your colleagues, competitors, and thought leaders are reading can be pretty valuable, and lend some insight into what makes them tick.

This concept is not revolutionary, I know. And ironically, if you’re reading this then you already have a great handle on this skill. I write this because this is my second week with dynamIt. Being new to the agency industry, I am in the unique position to of having a fresh perspective. I sit at my desk writing this, it’s 7pm, and the only thing telling me to go home is my stomach. I love it here. There was a point in my life where I was convinced I would be a University Professor. I wanted an environment that not only encourages constant learning, but requires it. Lucky for me, I’ve found one just like that (only without the additional tuition required). The group I’ve joined has found a way to make work, play. Additionally, they understand that in order to be at the top of your game, you have to genuinely enjoy not just the work, but the learning that fosters better work. These guys get it.

If you want to teach us, learn with us, or share with us, give us a call.

Take a look around, there are examples of good design all over. The icons on your computer screen, the street signs outside your window, the vitamin water on your desk, each are pulling for your attention so that you might notice them, interact with them, or even buy them. Have you ever really taken a step back, and thought about how the choices you make each and every day are influenced by design?

No matter the situation, the way something looks is the first thing that anyone has to form an opinion, liking or perception about. The first time you meet someone, before you know anything about them, you judge on appearance. When you are shopping for shoes, before you slip them on to test for comfort, you judge them by the way they look. Or even a web application, before you dive into it’s functionality and how it works, you judge it based on the design. The fact of the matter is, good design is valuable, because it influences these perceptions, and ultimately your choices.

Recently I was having a conversation with the newest member of the dynamIt team, Andy Hutter, who had just purchased a new TV for his place. So I asked him which television he chose. He said that his decision came down to an LG or Panasonic, and he ended up choosing the LG because of how slick it looked. Two televisions comparable in price, picture, size and specs, but Andy chose the LG because of it’s design.

Design on the web is no different. People will form lasting opinions about a company or organization based on the way their site looks, and make choices based on that. Users make nearly instantaneous judgments of a web site’s visual appeal. These impressions impact perceived credibility, usability, and ultimately influence purchasing decisions. Web users form first impressions of web pages in as little as 50 milliseconds (1/20th of a second), according to Canadian researchers. Check out this article that highlights a study on the “halo effect” and “cognitive bias“, supporting the theory of first impressions in web design.

Sometimes it can be hard for designers to make clients understand the value of good design. A lot of companies/organizations settle with a free template, a site done in Frontpage, or having their secretary’s son do it because he is a computer science major. There is a ton of value in investing in a good web presence, because it’s a lot more than just making a pretty page on the interwebs.

It Will Improve Your Company Image

Visual communication is an integral part of a customer’s experience of a company or product, and it plays a key role in building a brand image.

It Helps Reach Company Goals

Good design is backed with a strategy. Our process at dynamIt allows us to discover a client’s objectives with thorough strategy, and this leads to design solutions that push to accomplish company goals for the future.

It Establishes Trust

Many studies have shown that the design of an unfamiliar ecommerce site will greatly impact the decision making process when a user goes to buy a product. I know that when I go to buy something online, if the site design sucks, I’m leaving.

You Will Stand Out Among Competitors

There is a lot crap on the web. I think this is pretty straight forward.

Even though your site may have superior products and services, an initial negative impression from a poor design can steer customers towards your competition. You only get one chance to create a good first impression, make it count.

Are there other scenarios where design has influenced you?

dynamIt was featured in last Friday’s Columbus Business First in an article about the changing agency model.

Here’s a snippet of the article:

While some traditional agencies have cut employees or gone out of business altogether, small, local, nontraditional ad firms are growing. The key the upstarts say, is keeping rates and overhead low by offering just one service.

Check out the full article here.

There’s  a lot of conversation about agencies - Can digital agencies lead? Or will traditional firms continue to have that role? Who is best suited to handle emerging media? Where should budgets be devoted? Regardless of where it nets out, what we’ve learned over the past few years is that leading with strategy, executing for a reason and being a business partner that can wrap themselves around a client results in great work and sustained relationship.

Like the Business First article says, its about doing what you do really well and cutting the other fat - whether it be overhead, or unrelated services.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2009

Arena District Firm Continues Growth Amidst National Recession

Columbus, OH, November 9, 2009 — dynamIt, a Columbus-based web engineering and digital strategy agency, is pleased to announce the addition of Kevin Pfefferle as web developer and Jamie Timm as strategist.

Kevin joined dynamIt in September bringing a wide range of experience in web design and development. In his most recent position as web manager at COSI – recognized as the top science museum in the U.S. by Parents Magazine, Kevin managed the daily operations of digital strategy, design, and development for COSI’s web presence. Kevin also collaborated on COSI’s social media strategy, which has been recognized nationally for excellence in the educational science industry. The COSI marketing team was named Outstanding Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association’s Columbus Chapter.

Kevin holds his BA degree music from The Ohio State University.

Jamie Timm joins dynamIt after a career in public relations and marketing at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Bob Evans Farms, Inc., and Highlander Logo Products. Jamie most recently was the director of marketing and communication for the Columbus Chamber where she supported the Chamber’s mission to lead and support economic development by developing integrated communications campaigns to attract new business and help existing businesses expand. During her time at Bob Evans, Jamie was one of the first communicators in the country to collaborate with a CEO on an internal blog and has spoken to communicators on the subject of social media in business nationally. Jamie was named the 2007 Rising Star by Central Ohio PRSA.

Jamie has her BA degree in communication arts from Ohio Northern University.

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Based in the Arena District in Columbus, Ohio, dynamIt combines technical, creative, and business perspective to create strategic digital solutions with corporations, non-profits and international organizations. dynamIt’s core services include: digital brand strategy, information and application architecture, database design, graphic and user experience design, content management and application, database, intranet and website development. In addition, dynamIt crafts and executes integrated communication (PR and social web) initiatives and digital campaigns with experiential components. For more information, visit www.dynamit.us or call +1.614.538.0095

Each week, The Columbus Chamber features one member company in their spotlight. This week, they chose dynamIt. Pretty good choice if you ask us! The full feature is available here, and below we’ve posted our response to the question, “Why We’re Members.”

Columbus is a leader in the Midwest. The city can boast a culture of growth and business know-how where people, ideas and capital are coming together. The Chamber is and should be the expression of Columbus’ economic hub. dynamIt is a member, first and foremost, because of the opportunities afforded to participate in the local economy and thinking. In a business era of interdependencies and quickly-dying vertical solutions (regardless of industry), businesses should commit to creating an environment of opportunities for all economic players. dynamIt truly believes that if this city and economy succeed, we will too. Through membership, we also benefit from the programming, events, and connections which the Chamber facilitates.

In case you missed it, dynamIt was also featured recently in two university publications - Xavier Magazine, and the Miami University Farmer School of Business.

In cooperation with our friends at Sync Creative, we put together a project for McGraw-Hill that was noticed by the Times. It’s always thrilling to see our work as a part of a bigger picture.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/education/22textbook.html?_r=1