My Flickr experience: frustration and delight

For almost a year now I’ve been a Flickr Pro member. I paid my annual tariff and upload at will with a happy Pro tag next to my name.

A few weeks ago Flickr released a new version, with a revised interface and layout, and cheekily moved from Beta to Gamma. I suppose someone had to do it.

This past week I’ve been poking around in Flickr much more than I usually do. I uploaded some new photos and checked out some photos of friends’ trips, kids, adventures, etc. The new layout, where you can see more photos on the same page, rocks. The new dropdown menus once you’re logged in, they rocks too. The new feature that lets you track all your comments on others’ photos to see when they respond, that’s genius.

But the way I found all these fancy new features typifies my experience with Flickr: I am frustrated and and delighted at once.

Some Flickr functions I just can’t figure out right away and struggle around with for awhile (frustrated). Or I don’t notice them at all. I use the site oblivious to their goodness lurking right there. Then, one day, I discover them. Huzzah! (delighted) A new way of doing something or working with the site that brings more pleasure to the whole experience. By just poking around I find new ways to like the site more.

And therein lies the paradox in designing good web experiences. How to provide access to all the goodness without overwhelming? How to highlight the new without getting in the way of the cleanliness? How to add to the experience or modify the experience without upsetting the order and habits of your customers?

I don’t know if I have the answer. I have an answer that would work for me - show me it all! I can take it and figure out what to do with it. Let me have it! But I’m note necessarily typical and I’m a data point of one. What I want and what will work for me isn’t what many others will want or what will work for them.

Is there a solution for the paradox of new versions? I suppose the best way yet to address it is to embrace the iterate-early, iterate-often, iterate-in-the-wild philosophy popularized by firms like 37 Signals and representative of the lightweight, socially focused development of Web 2.0. That way the feedback loop is shorter, more immediate and more focused on the small changes, and the builders can be more responsive. So far, that’s the best we’ve come up with.

The End of Radio on CBC

CBC is running a great 3-part series right now on the shifting landscape of media entitled, The End:

1. The End of Radio
2. The End of TV
3. The End of Print

I watched the first segment, The End of Radio, on the web and really enjoyed it. (Sidenote: Finally (!) the CBC has moved away from the awful Real Player.) The topic is presented in a snappy flow, with enough detail and first-hand interviews to satisfy my geek tendencies while at the same time remaining accessible to a general, non-geek audience. I recommend it to get a great snapshot of what’s happening in audio production and distribution: radio, satellite radio, iPods and podcasting.

I learned the following items:

• The CBC can still do some damn cool multimedia graphics.
• Top 40 = 40 song playlist
• Classic / Album rock = 150 song playlist
• “Jack” format-less format = 400 song playlist
• Internet radio = 1,000 - 3,000 song playlist
• What is a podcast? Answer: Episodic audio programs you can subscribe to and receive over the Internet, then listen to on any digital audio player (your computer, an MP3 player, an iPod, a CD player playing a CD burner from the digital file).
• What is satellite radio? Pretty much the same as current conventional radio, with the following differences: no advertising in the programs, over a hundred channels to choose from, costs to purchase a receiver unit and monthly subscription costs to maintain connection, global reception of signals (no more driving out of range).
• What is DAB radio? Digital Audio Broadcast radio (DAB) is high-definition, 2-way radio.
• How MySpace can fit into the music discovery cycle.

All that and a great closing from host Jian Ghomeshi. I’ll be watching the next two episodes later today.

‘The Joy of Painting’ Video Game

Growing up one of the most memorable programs on PBS was Bob Ross’ The Joy of Painting. I watched the show between other channels or while bored. It featured a white man with a beard and an afro painting incredible landscapes in half an hour. Sounds dry, but the effect of watching the painting come together is incredibly compelling.

Ross’ technique and TV persona was instantly recognizable. Talking to a few friends last night, we all knew The Joy of Painting and Bob Ross. We all had watched the program and remembered the ‘happy little clouds over here’ and the way Ross would ‘just pull this together across the water.’ He had little phrases for his techniques and he made it look effortless.

We got so into the conversation last night that we had to look up the show on the web. We found The Joy of Painting website and there was Bob’s smiling face, just as we remembered, with his landscapes. We browsed to the News sections and: whoa! What is this?

The Joy of Painting is becoming a video game! First thought: Odd! Second thought: Who will buy this? Third thought, after reading that the game was being developed for the new Nintendo Wii: Ohhhh. Yes. I see. With that new cool controller, painting makes sense. This could reach a whole new audience for video games. No longer just boys in different stages of emotional development that every other video game platform chases, but a new age group, gender, interest type. Very cool.

Will it work? Don’t know. What do you think?

Baby Name Wizard: Cool Interface Design

A friend linked the other day to the Baby Name Wizard. I just got a chance to play around with it and I like it. Type in a name or part of a name in the top left and the graph shows you the prevalence of that name. Segment by boy or girl names if you like. Then run your mouse over the graph to see the trends of name popularity over time. Very cool.

The Baby Name Wizard

My name, James, seems to have been very popular over time. In the 1940s and 1950s it was #1. But in 2004 it’s down to #17.

PS: No mom, this doesn’t mean anything.

NowPublic Raises $1.4-million from Angels

Local Vancouver start-up NowPublic have just announced receiving funding of (USD) $1.4-million from a group of leading technology and media investors and individuals.

The company will be using the financing to grow its reporter base and deliver the first On Demand ReportingTM system to content owners. Rumor is, it will also be using the proceeds to pay all of the hard working developers who have slaved to make the site what it is today. Thanks guys.

Congratulations go out to Mike Tippett and the NowPublic team! They’ve toiled for awhile now and this funding must feel like validation of their model and leadership. 

In case you’re interested, NowPublic is a global network of independent citizen journalists. To learn more about how you can interact and influence the news, check out the rundown of how to participate on the NowPublic website.