It’s not the best way to show data, but it’s new and interesting.

(via Digg)

(By the way, the latest Pepsi logo reminds me of this every time I see it…)

Update: Apparently there were more, a lot more. – Chris

From the article:

Over the last months, we’ve analyzed numerous Web designs, observing emerging trends and weighing the merits of numerous design decisions and coding solutions. In this post, we present Web design trends for 2009: recent developments, new design elements and new graphic approaches. We also discuss situations in which these trends can be used and present some beautiful examples. Did you miss any recent development in this overview? Let us know in the comments!

This article covers only 10 of the over 25 trends we’ve identified over the last months. The second part will be published next week. We’ll cover new layouts, new visual approaches and new design elements. Please stay tuned.

When I decided to create a web based product and I really committed to it, I was pretty excited. I could envision myself working on it, marketing it and reaping the benefits of my hard work. I knew from the outset that it would be a long road, that it would be hard work. At that point, it was a vision. After it’s a vision, it becomes real work.

Real work is good, and for me, the coding is fun. But, there are un-exciting aspects of creating a product. Sorting out all of the ancillary details has been a challenge: doing design work (I’m not a designer), figuring out how payment gateways work, creating an LLC, learning about SEO, etc. But amid the technical and logistical difficulties inherent in any worthwhile endeavor, there is one intangible struggle that has to be dealt with along the way.

It’s the interior voice always reminding me that I don’t have to do this. There is any easier way; a path with less resistance. I have a good job and I make good money. It’s funny how this voice becomes louder when my day job is going well. Likewise, the voice is much quieter when the day job is boring or requires me to attend many worthless meetings. Either way, that voice is always there reminding me that I could be doing something else with my free time.

The internal struggle is not surprising really. I believe that anything worth doing will force you to constantly evaluate your values and your purpose. But even then, when you find that what you are doing is in line with your goals, that all your hard work is in fact amounting to something, the internal questioning does not stop. It may quiet down, but it’s never gone and you have to deal with it.

So if you are familiar with this internal voice that I’m describing, whether you’re trying your hand at bootstrapping a startup or just trying to exercise three times a week (another time when this voice becomes loud) and you find yourself in a valley, know that it won’t last. And when things are going really well and you find yourself on a peak, know also that it won’t last.

The worst thing an entrepreneur can do is believe that the peaks will last (when it’s easy). And the worst thing an entrepreneur can do is believe that the valleys will last (when it’s hard). I learned this from C.S. Lewis and it really helps keep me going. Once we realize that the internal voice of opposition is going to stay, and that it’s something we have to deal with, we begin to learn what perseverance is and we can get on with creating awesome software despite its presence. I’m going to go finish integrating that payment gateway now.

It’s an interesting place. Austin is definitely a nice town. I’ve had the chance to meet some semi-famous people (at least in the internet space). This morning I went to a panel hosted by a Google, Yahoo, and Apple employee. It was quite good. Then this afternoon I got a chance to go to the panel by Jason Fried of 37signals. I’ve always respected him for his great blog, but it was nice to finally see in person (there are thousands of people here). More tomorrow.

http://www.design-police.org

And here’s what it looks like today.

A lot has changed, and then, not much has changed.

SimpleSeating.com is a web site that helps you organize the seating arrangements at events like wedding receptions, conferences, and more. It is run by a two person team from Foolish Software (two great guys).

Numly is a web site that assigns a number to almost anything you can upload and there are several spin off web sites such as Docly and Sigly (for signatures). The service is built by a Phoenix developer named Chris Matthieu (another great guy).

vSocial.com is a video site run by a team in Tempe, AZ and they’ve been hard at it for over 5 years now.

Viddler.com (this is a site I am a part of) is partially Arizona so it counts. All of the design happens in Arizona and development happens by a team in Poland with management in Pennsylvania. It’s a web site that allows you to share and watch videos with a lot of premium features not found on the other video sites. The site is also hosted in Phoenix.

Mosoto, is an application for Facebook that enables file sharing, chat, and music discovery. Five University of Arizona grads joined together and created this application in Tucson, AZ.

Litepost is a web based email system entering the market with a different approach to email display. It’s a very competitive market but they may have a new strategy that could work: Overtaking all of the crappy open source email solutions like Horde and Squirrelmail.

PrimeCondition.com is a valley based web startup that moves to make your workout routine anything but routine. The service allows you to create an mp3 track for your workouts that motivates and keeps you on track. Built by Simon Allardice who attends Refresh Phoenix.

Best Party Ever is a web site that helps you plan events (and parties). Built by the folks at Obu Web, you can build a party and coordinate with local vendors all online.

Flare9 Website Builder is a web service that people can use to build an inexpensive web site with a WordPress backend management system (obviously highly customized).

Ajaxm helps web developers track domain projects for customers.

Just a few thoughts: With all of this talk about building web apps, it’s amazing that there aren’t more from AZ companies. Also, congratulations to all of the above companies for getting from idea to launch successfully. What are your tips?

What was new and unusual was how they handled the sales receipt. Andrew was asked whether he would like a paper receipt or if he would like the receipt emailed to him.

Of course, trying the new way, he said email (he had to provide an address).

I’m sure you’re like me and you hate having to store paper receipts. It is such a pain to store, archive, and I hate paper receipts.

Andrew and I spent some time thinking about this and came up with this idea. What if their was a way to associate an email address with your credit card, and then whenever you used your card you could get a receipt in your email.

The reality is that this already exists in a small way. You can already get access to your transaction detail from most banks and credit card companies. What we need is a way to format this data (xml?) and get a feed for it, and then have shops and stores offer the email or xml feed option in addition to paper receipts.

The shops and stores would need to be on board with this, because return policies often stipulate having a paper receipt. Regardless, it’s a neat idea.

If that’s the case, why hasn’t Google released a Wikipedia competitor yet? Food for thought.

While I’m here, I’m also planning to tell a few people about our upcoming product (we got business cards for it, finally, which I’ll show at some undisclosed date here on BrainFuel). I’m going to try to visit a few coffee shops. Taking a lot of photos and video, and enjoying the California weather.

Rob Sandie managing last minute bugs prior to launch of version 2.0 of Viddler.

The front of a flyer I designed yesterday.

A “Tag” we can hand out with writing on it.

The back side of the flyer.

An interesting billboard we saw.

Cake 2.0.

Check out Viddler.com to see all of the cool stuff.

The event is being organized by Steve Swedler, and I’ll be there as well providing advice on coffee. If you’re building web apps, or anything web related, the invite is open to all to attend.

What: Refresh Phoenix
When: Tuesday, March 6th at 6:30pm
Where: Inza Coffee
Topic: Author of Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web Application Design will be joining us for a conversation on the principles of design. Check it out on Amazon.

We’re going to be attending along with several people from Viddler. The show is on April 15th through the 18th in San Francisco. It will be the perfect opportunity to hand out business cards and meet potential “early adopters” of our product, while at the same time spreading the word about Viddler.

A few people think the iPhone will rock things. I’d say they might be right, however it’s a rather expensive phone and right now most of my friends don’t have $500 phones. We’ll have to see. One person made a rather funny prediction: MySpace will re launch as an all CSS design. Everyone laughed.

What are some of your predictions for the web in 2007?

Here’s an excerpt:

The other thing I like about Viddler is its navigation. Its Explore page in particular gives you a half dozen ways to browse videos, but it’s not nearly as overwhelming as Youtube can be. Videos are quick to load, and the quality is comparable with other Flash video providers. I would like to see one of these services offer a variable quality by connection, but it appears we’re not there yet.

Viddler is a really impressive service. If anything it improves on Youtube’s browsing and uploading experience in almost every way. People feeling hindered by time and size limitations on competing services should give Viddler a chance, as their 500MB cap is very generous and the uploader is easy to use and powerful. The community features and commenting system are also very developed for a young web service. Video bloggers can also enjoy cutting a step out of their production process, and not having to use any actual software for the recording. Recommended.

I took some photos at the event which are below with commentary. Enjoy!

The way an Unconference works is exactly as you see. The first thing that happens is that people brainstorm topics. The only rule is that you have to be willing to also moderate that discussion (or suggest someone).

James Britt votes for a topic as Sean Tierney tallies votes.

About 50 percent of the people brought laptops.

Josh Padnick leads a discussion on web site project management / sales process.

Quick grab a shirt!

Sean Tierney wearing his BarCamp Phoenix shirt wraps everything up and gathers feedback.

I’d have to say that the strangest moment of all was when they held the Zune giveaway, which was sponsored by Microsoft. Here’s how it went down: Someone got up with his Powerbook and demonstrated the randomizer script he had written that morning. It was written in Ruby on Rails, and was pretty slick. Then, he opened it up in Firefox and ran the program. Too funny.

I hate how IM makes me always available.

I hate how people can send me questions or tasks or problems almost instantly and I have to respond.

I hate how IM forces an immediate decision and response.

I hate how IM takes up so much time.

I hate how if you don’t respond to instant messages anymore, people keep asking you the same stupid questions over and over again.

I’m signing off.

A few quick observations:

1. Both companies are successful. In fact, Microsoft Windows has made far more money than Flickr ever will.
2. Web Apps have the luxury of being hosted, and this means that new code only needs to work in a dedicated environment. Windows has to work in a number of scenarios.
3. This graph ignores the various upgrades available from Windows Update.

It can’t possibly be design style. More and more I fail to see the creativity in Web 2.0. All of the designs look the same with their gradient backgrounds and big shiny buttons. Yet their are some popular designers who design with this one style.

I don’t think it’s information architecture and planning. None of the big time designers even talk about the planning. And companies like 37signals grow wiery touting the benefits of not spending much time with wireframes and site maps (note I didn’t say any time).

Is it designer branding? Then there are the designers who have fabulous blogs, a couple of high profile projects under their belt, and a loyal following. Experts at branding themselves, these designers frequent the conference circuit on the lookout for high profile projects. These people might be great designers, but foremost they are popular designers.

Can you figure it out? Who do you think are the greatest designers?

He can and should still be the reining champion at Apple Computer, but in a very big way he needs to be grooming a protege. And publicly. He needs to step down from being the only person in the public spotlight.

If I were Steve Jobs, I would let each of the product managers announce and introduce their own products. Instead of Steve Jobs announcing the newest products, it should be Steve Jobs watching.

One argument against this is that Steve Jobs has a presentation style that totally rocks and his audience loves it. I agree, but it doesn’t matter. He should not be the only public face of Apple. It can’t be all about him otherwise when he leaves, it all ends.

Steve Jobs will need to move on at some point. Why doesn’t he give somebody else a chance? The way things are going, if he ever decides to move on, or something happens to him, the company he has labored for will have no public persona. I’m not saying that Steve Jobs needs to go away, but in a very big way he shouldn’t be the only person we the public see and hear from.

Anyways, there’s my rant of the day. If you want to read a different point of view go read Leander Kahney’s piece in Wired.