Above: a highly rated Kuler bar

Color blind? Struggling with triads? Color your world at Kuler from Adobe Labs.

If you’re in need of a working color scheme, you just found it. Kuler allows you to exchange and explore color across a spectrum of interactive formats. Peruse the most popular schemes or create your own palettes and share them with other color enthusiasts via the Kuler community.

From forums to feeds Kuler promises the most socially infused color site on the planet. And we thought The Color Schemer was a colorful inspiration.

A Mind like a Steel Trap

If you don’t have a mind like a steel trap, or fifth grade math concepts are getting a little fuzzy, there’s always Google.

I needed to determine how many milliliters a particular cylinder would hold for a promotional project. Thanks to Google I was able to compute all the necessary calculations and conversions without using a calculator—or pen and paper.

The Formula

I knew the formula for determining the volume of a cylinder is:
π • r² • height = volume (where r = radius)

Had I not known the formula, I could’ve easily found it (and generator sites) by simply Googling: cylinder volume. The same is true of pi; Googling: pi generates a number accurate to 8 decimal places.

The cylinder has a radius of 1.5″ and an overall height of 10″. In this case, a basic 3.14 round off of pi sufficed. Based on the formula, I typed the following directly into the Google search field (*=multiplication; ^=exponent/power of):

3.14*1.5^2*10

Google returned with: 3.14 * (1.5^2) * 10 = 70.65

The cylinder has a volume of 70.65 cubic inches, but I need the volume in milliliters.

Converting Results

Typing directly into the Google search field, I entered:
cubic inch to milliliter

Google returned: 1 cubic inch = 16.387064 milliliter

I entered the number of cubic inches (70.65) multiplied by the conversion factor (16.387064) into the search field: 70.65*16.387064

Google responded with the answer:
70.65 * 16.387064 = 1157.74607 or about 1158 ml.

Realizing Results

Using Google as a calculator can be a time saver. For a legend of symbols and much more on using Google as a calculator, check out Google’s calculator page.

Then read our latest Great Marketing Ideas for 2007 article and calculate the ROI you’ll likely realize by reading .think.

If you’d like to significantly decrease your broadband load time in Firefox, follow these simple instructions to change defaults originally set to accommodate dial-up users.

Step 1: Open Firefox and type about:config in the address bar where you normally type a web address.

Step 2: In the filter bar below the address bar type network.

Step 3: Double-click on network.http.pipelining to change the setting from false to true.

Step 4: On the line below network.http.pipelining double-click on network.http.pipelining.maxrequests and change the number to 10.

Step 5: Two lines below network.http.pipelining.maxrequests double-click on network.http.proxy.pipelining to change the value from false to true.

Step 6: Several lines above network.http.proxy.pipelining you’ll see network.http.max-persistant-connections-per-proxy and network.http.max-persistant-connections-per-server. Double-click each line and change the value to 8.

Step 7: Two lines up locate and double-click on network.http.max-connections and set the value to 48.

Step 8: Now right-click (control-click on a Mac) anywhere in the configurator (the area where you’ve been making the changes). Select New then Integer. When prompted, copy and paste or type the following into the field provided: nglayout.initialpaint.delay.

When prompted to add a value, enter the number 0.

Step 9: Close all windows and tabs. The changes will take effect when you restart Firefox.

These changes allow Firefox to make multiple server connections and will speed up page downloads for better, more efficient use of your broadband connection.

They say usability is like oxygen – you never notice it until it’s missing.

What it Is. What it Does.

In web design, usability refers to the relative ease of use of the site. Is the interface intuitive to someone unfamiliar with the company, product, or terminology? Can information be found quickly with a minimum number of clicks?

Usability testing is a qualitative method of identifying design-wise what works and what doesn’t through typical user behavior. Whether your site is live or in development, implementing strategies derived from usability test data can positively affect the success of your site, and ultimately your brand.

Who to Test

You’ll get the best results by testing subjects with and without knowledge of your company or industry, and with a range of web experience, from neophyte to tech-savvy. That’s not to say your test group needs to be huge. Usability expert Jakob Nielsen says that testing five users will uncover 85 percent of a site’s usability issues.

Mining for Data

Usability testing can take many forms. A common and successful method employs tracking mouse movement and videotaping test subjects as they complete a variety of tasks from locating the site itself when provided only the company name, to navigating through the site to find specific information.

Mind the Data

The data is then analyzed with video and mouse movements displayed split screen. It becomes easy to identify areas that are counterintuitive through mouse movement, facial expression, body language, or even verbal clues such as “I’m lost.�

If your site is particularly complex or information-rich, after the initial issues are fixed consider doing a second round of testing. Often additional areas for improvement are identified once the initial stumbling blocks are removed.

Get Results

After observing unorthodox, yet common search habits in testing, we made minor changes to one non-profit’s site that increased traffic by a factor of 100.

Usability testing also revealed the need to reposition elements within the interface. The simple move increased hit rates ten-fold to an area vital to their site’s target goals and objectives.

Everyone processes information differently, and the goal for any site is a simple, common sense interface that’s easy to use and understand. Usability testing identifies whether you have met that goal and enables you to make changes to better meet your customers’ needs—always a benefit.

For more information on how to achieve measurable results with your marketing dollars see Great 2007 Marketing Idea No. 1: Paper and Purls.

Packaging is a part of modern life. This article, an insight into the design of a consumer package for satellite radio provider XM, includes many aspects of a typical package development process. In the interest of time, we’ll skip research, diagnostic and technical methodology phases and concentrate on the basic iterative process steps in this article.

Contracted as a co-branded piece with equipment manufacturer, Delphi, the XM package is designed to contain a variety of product configurations while meeting the requirements of multiple retailers.

Thumbnails
(above: click for larger view)

The first stage of the package design process is broad idea generation with an eye toward reasonable possibility through the use of quick sketches called thumbnails—essentially a Brainstorm session on paper.

Even in this early ideation phase, function and manufacturing objectives established in earlier logistic explorations are at the forefront of the design rationale.

A plump and friendly ovate design—suitable for both pegged and stand-alone shelf display—captured the team’s attention. It features an interchangeable outer shroud designed to accommodate variable messaging and XM product differentiation.

Rough Refinements
(above: click for larger view)

Of the 32 initial thumbnails, five are selected for tighter “rough� conceptual sketches. The rough design stage serves several purposes. Roughs allow the customer to collaborate in a conceptual dialog with both Brainstorm and their own internal team.

In addition, roughs allow the design team to further reconcile a host of issues—from substrate selection to detail and aesthetic considerations. Increasingly the form is discussed with a heightened sensitivity to relative manufacturing requirements and capabilities.

Although computer-generated designs are great for visualization, introducing them too early in the development process can consume allotted resources and generate fewer options. Furthermore, their finished look can ignite concerns about exhausting budgets without the benefit of conceptual buy-in.

Design Control Drawings (DCD)
(above: click for larger view)

DCD drawings are to final fit and finish what roughs are to concepts. In this case, the forms are expressed as orthographic projections, i.e., front, right side and plan (top) views.

The primary intent of this phase is to convey relative proportions and relationships between forms within the package, i.e., to “control� the design. A rough and wispy hand drawn line could mean anything to a packaging engineer. Conversely, detailed and dimensioned schematics begin to define a working reality.

Of course, many issues were addressed during the XM DCD phase: Drop test considerations, proper cavity allowance for nested accessories, marrying the outer shroud with the stand-alone clamshell, substrate selection and opacity levels, inherent multi-part clamshell tooling considerations, etc.

Rapid Prototyped 3D Model
(above)

Project participants hailed from several continents. So, to help bridge geographic and language-based barriers, we produced a quick 3D model based on data and dimensioning extrapolated from the vector-based DCD drawings. The model proved a useful discussion tool in describing general functions of the package.

Aesthetic and Messaging
(above: click for more initial design examples)

Although this article primarily explores the physical form development of a package, the aesthetic process is important enough to warrant an article of its own.

Some aspects of messaging development begin as early as the thumbnail stage. However, on many levels, full graphic exploration doesn’t begin until a form factor direction is set. At retail, messaging and brand continuity are crucial.

A Finished Package
(above: click for larger view)

Although concessions were made along the way, the completed two-part package is remarkably similar to the original concept design in form and function.

Click here for more about Brainstorm.