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Understanding Your Users, Second Edition: A Practical Guide to User Research Methods (Interactive Technologies)

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Understanding Your Users, Second Edition: A Practical Guide to User Research Methods (Interactive Technologies)

Understanding Your Users, Second Edition: A Practical Guide to User Research Methods (Interactive Technologies)

This new and completely updated edition is a comprehensive, easy-to-read, “how-to” guide on user research methods. You’ll learn about many distinct user research methods and also pre- and post-method considerations such as recruiting, facilitating activities or moderating, negotiating with product developments teams/customers, and getting your results incorporated into the product. For each method, you’ll understand how to prepare for and conduct the activity, as well as analyze and present the

List Price: $ 59.95

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Facebook Marketing Startup 22Social Gives Users Websites

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(PRWEB) April 21, 2014

22Social, a San Diego social media marketing company, has just launched a solution to a common dilemma many tech-unsavvy small business owners run into: “How In The World Do I Make A Great Website (*breathe* 2 second pause) For Free Or Very Cheap?”

At first 22Social’s new solution, software that runs completely inside of Facebook fan pages, doesn’t seem to easily solve this challenge – after all their fan page app doesn’t actually make websites.

22Social Marketing Director Jerry Rocco was recently quoted at Traffic & Conversion Summit 2014 loudly proclaiming, “You do not need a website. We do not need a website. nobody needs a website in 2014! With our tool you can turn your current un-amazing Facebook fan page into an ever-growing, lead-capturing asset that also functions as the beautiful online face of your business.”

“Now you too can tap into the massive existing user base of Facebook rather than wasting time and resources trying to build your own stand-alone online platform without the skill set to do so, in addition to building your business. Focus on what you’re good at and let our technology support the rest!” touted Rocco, working himself into a passionate frenzy praising the benefits of social media marketing and demoing their Facebook marketing tool for event attendees walking by.

Across many industries, thought leaders are taking notice and adopting the platform. From best-selling authors like futurist Lon Safko, to members of the adtech scene like Zeal Caiden of the seemingly underground content marketing agency Zealous Influence, many early-adopters are using the platform to get great results.

When contacted, Caiden offered, “I used to get mad, literally so mad at how hard it was to make beautiful Facebook fan page apps that convert. 22Social came and turned that around, [they] gave us a conversion lift from test one. Plus it makes mobile easy. I love those guys.”

Even the renowned Facebook fan page gallery Facebook Designs, frequent design muse of TechCrunch and Smashing Magazine, has decided to hop on the “22Social no website bandwagon” and has repurposed their site to exist entirely on Facebook, even heavily promoting the use of 22Social and their social media marketing plan templates on their new, possibly too ironic “How To Make A Website” fan page.

View Facebook Designs’ Interesting “Not Website” Live Here – http://facebookdesigns.org.

*Note to those interested in 22Social for Personal or Business Use – Try Facebook Designs’ above social media campaign URL for an example of a marketing plan that works on your mobile device, whether or not you are logged in to Facebook. No other fan page software gives you 22Social’s device delivery intelligence, and at the time of publish many Fortune 500 haven’t even adopted this level of societal marketing and targeting yet.

Despite what seems to be growing enthusiasm about their company in the marketplace, it remains to be seen if 22Social will stand the test of time and emerge as a world leader in social media marketing or crumble by the wayside like so many other social startups before it.







Attention All Pentaho Users: More Proof You Are In Good Company

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Attention All Pentaho Users: More Proof You Are In Good Company
March 12, 2014, San Francisco, CA —Delivering the future of analytics, Pentaho Corporation today announced that 2013 was another record year with 83 percent bookings growth from big data and embedded analytics customers over 2012. These two …
Read more on SYS-CON Media (press release)

The FTC has opened an investigation into Herbalife [Update]
Since Mr Ackman first aired his allegations in December 2012 and called on the FTC to investigate, that call has been echoed by consumer groups, a congressperson, a senator, and even an analyst supportive of the company who wished to clear the air. The …
Read more on FT Alphaville

Housecall, a New App for iOS that Connects Users with Trusted Home Service Professionals, Launches in San Diego

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SAN DIEGO, CA (PRWEB) November 20, 2013

HouseCall, the app for your house, announced the launch of its services in San Diego today, with more markets coming soon. HouseCall takes the hassle out of home maintenance by connecting users to trusted neighborhood service professionals (Pros) at the push of a button. Homeowners can order everything from an electrician, emergency plumber to tech geek support. This video shows just how easy HouseCall makes it.

HouseCall identifies and then curates independent service Pros in a homeowner’s neighborhood and makes them easy to find, so they don’t have to. No more spending hours reading online reviews, asking for recommendations and then negotiating prices. With HouseCall users select the service they need, view picture profiles and ratings of available Pros in their area, and the fixed-price they charge. HouseCall gives homeowners a seamless way to book and pay for both scheduled, and on-demand, home improvement help from trusted Pros.

“We built HouseCall because we had the same problem that every homeowner has – it’s tough to find good, reliable, local help,” said Ian Heidt, CEO and co-founder of HouseCall. “HouseCall puts reviews and prices in one spot and users are kept up-to-date on the status of a job from start to finish. We are bringing ease and transparency to the world of local home services.”

In just a few easy steps, homeowners can order the following services: Audio & TV, Carpet Cleaning, Electrical, Handyman, Landscaping, Maid Service, Painting, Plumbing, Security System Consultation and Install, Smart Home Setup, Tech Help, Windows & Exterior and Holiday/Seasonal Tasks (hanging Christmas lights). HouseCall is constantly adding new services and taking user suggestions for services they’d like to see.

1) Download HouseCall in the App Store on their iPhone.

2) View the profile, job details, and prices of nearby local Pros.

3) Schedule service or get on-demand help.

4) When a Pro is en-route, users will see them on a map. Once the job is completed to the user’s satisfaction, payment is processed automatically with the credit card they have on file. There is no need to tip.

5) Wrap it up with a rating of the service. Ratings can only be done by people who have actually used a service Pro to ensure they are fair.

There are also many benefits to Pros who use the app. Most importantly, HouseCall makes it easier for Pros to find additional work by connecting them to a marketplace of homeowners and jobs. Pros see nearby service requests and can also get local work during their downtime. It also helps them manage their workflow with easy-to-use scheduling tools, helps them form the connection with new and returning clients, and provides automatic payment and streamlined digital invoices for every job.

“The Pros version of HouseCall allows home service professionals to book more jobs by giving them the mobile tools to do so,” said Roland Ligtenberg, co-founder of HouseCall. “We bring real-time opportunities to our Pros, organize schedules, generate invoices, and process payments so that they can focus on completing jobs and making HouseCall users happy.”

HouseCall was founded by a team of mobile technology innovators who simply wanted a better way to maintain their homes. Prior to founding HouseCall Ian Heidt, Adam Perry-Pelletier, Chris Zwickilton, Roland Ligtenberg, and Reza Olfat pioneered smartphone technologies together as a team at Qualcomm. They also helped found the company’s experimental division, Qualcomm Labs, an incubator focused on leading innovation in new wireless product development and developed the groundbreaking Gimbal platform.

HouseCall is funded by a global venture capital group, e.ventures, who were initial investors in companies such as Angie’s List and Groupon. Their advisors include the San Diego general manager of Uber and former general manager of new products at Service Magic (now HomeAdvisor). HouseCall is also a member of EvoNexus, San Diego’s only community-supported, fully pro-bono technology incubator.

ABOUT HOUSECALL

HouseCall is the app for your house. Launching first in San Diego, with more markets coming soon, HouseCall takes the hassle out of home maintenance by connecting you to trusted neighborhood service professionals at the push of a button. Homeowners can order everything from an electrician, emergency plumber to tech geek support.

Prior to founding HouseCall, Ian Heidt, Adam Perry-Pelletier, Chris Zwickilton, Roland Ligtenberg, and Reza Olfat developed smartphone technologies at Qualcomm. Together they helped found the company’s innovation division, Qualcomm Labs, an incubator focused on leading innovation in new wireless product development and developed the groundbreaking Gimbal platform. HouseCall is funded by a global venture capital group, e.ventures, who were initial investors in companies like Angie’s List and Groupon. Their advisors include the San Diego general manager of Uber and former general manager of new products at Service Magic (now HomeAdvisor).

HouseCall can be downloaded in the App Store on your iOS device, appstore.com/HouseCall.

For more information please visit, http://www.tryhousecall.com.

Connect with HouseCall: facebook.com/HouseCallApp, twitter.com/HouseCall, youtube.com/HouseCallApp, instagram.com/housecall, #housecall.

Download the HouseCall media kit.







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New Coin-Sized Device and Smartphone App Helps Users Track and Find Their Lost Wallets, Keys, Phones, and More

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Santa Barbara, CA (PRWEB) May 13, 2013

Phone Halo’s newest creation, Button TrackR, is a coin-sized device that eliminates the common frustrations involved with losing or misplacing important items.

Button TrackR is only about the size of a few stacked quarters, it can be placed on or stuck to virtually anything users would like to keep track of – whether it’s a disappearing TV remote, keys, or a lost wallet. It is combined with a free, easy-to-use iPhone app, Item TrackR (http://appstore.com/itemtrackr), to create a time saving tool that aims to eliminate unnecessary stress in people’s every day lives.

How It Works:

Button TrackR is a coin-sized device that can be attached to or stuck to anything you want to keep track of. The device communicates to the user’s iPhone or Android, and if the user is about to leave an item behind, the Phone and Button TrackR device will audibly notify the user. At the same time, the app remembers the time and location the user separated from their item and shows the item’s location on a GPS map. The app can then guide the user to within five feet of this exact location using GPS and a short distance Hot & Cold finding system within the app. Users can also locate their lost items by causing the Button TrackR device to ring. The system is completely bidirectional which means if the user can’t find their phone (and the phone is on silent), the user can press a Button on the TrackR device and cause the phone to ring.

Button TrackR has a new feature called Crowd Sourced Tracking. If you lose an item, the Button TrackR will begin to broadcast a encrpyted unique ID that can be detected by the phone’s of other Button TrackR users. When another Button TrackR user walks within range of the lost item, a message is sent to the Phone Halo Cloud server which will then send a notification to the user with the updated GPS location of their lost item. This revolutionary technology allows users to track their lost items without the need for expensive GPS tracking devices and instead, using the power of crowd collaboration.

“We’ve been working on item finding and tracking devices for over 3 years. We’ve always wanted to create a solution that can help users find items after they’ve become lost. With Crowd Sourced Tracking, that is now a reality” says Chris Herbert, Co-Founder of Phone Halo. The Button TrackR has been aggressively priced at a single device for $ 25. Early customers can purchase a 10 pack for just $ 95, $ 9.50 a device, for a limited time.

Please visit http://www.igg.me/at/ButtonTrackR for more information about the Button TrackR campaign.

The Button TrackR utilizes the latest technology called Bluetooth Smart or “Bluetooth Low Energy.” Unlike older Bluetooth devices, Bluetooth Smart uses a common coin cell battery that can last for 1 year. At launch, the Button TrackR will be compatible with the iPhone 4S/5, iPad 3/4, iPad Mini, New iPod Touch, Samsung Galaxy S3/S4, and Samsung Galaxy Note 2.