A favorite part of my job is finding new internet tools. I’d label my style of discovery a kind of ‘eloquent stumble upon it by chance method’ (pun intended). I spend time researching, but often these days the solution just shows up like magic. Sometimes like a weird (goose-bump creating) synchronicity kind of thing. Truly I benefit from all the generous talent out there in the social networking universe.
My friend and coworker Julie McCullough-Hale describes me to her clients like this; “He’s kind of like our personal Nordstrom shopper for everything internet.” He wanders the web finding the gems and brings them back to work for you. I get a lot of personal satisfaction from that.
Matt Sweet and I enjoy taking those newly found web solutions for test drive. We love discovery. Our process has evolved into a rather sophisticated set of strict rules that guide our empirical method.
1. Under no circumstances can you read the directions, tutorials, or watch the ‘how to’ video.
2. Don’t even think about clicking the “Help” button.
3. You can collaborate and talk about the program while you’re trying it out. In fact we suggest that you do.
4. Start your stop watch and time yourself. How much time did you spend figuring it out?
5. Try to avoid any reviews or blogs about the program while you are trying it out. Wait until you’ve at least reached a subjective opinion. Ask yourself… Is it intuitive, useful, or fun? Is it doing what they said it would? Does it fit in with the ensemble of other tools in your collection?
Our premise being - most web apps are very intuitive and user friendly. Like most of us, we just start clicking away and see where that takes us. If an app is worth its salt, it's probably pretty straight forward and designed to do a few things well.
Play time is important so take it for a ride with an open mind. You’ll often need more than one session to discover what it does best.
I find it fascinating how certain ‘things’ integrate themselves into our daily life without us even being aware of it. I was thinking the other day about all the programs we’ve looked at and tested this past year. I caught myself in a Stupiphany realizing how indispensible (on an almost subconscious level) some of them have become.
Picnik.com I love this program. When I need to crop, size, frame, stylize or enhance a digital image, I use Picnik.
Vyew.com A great web conferencing tool that’s so easy to use even I have a hard time making it difficult. Check out Matt's blog about it.
Skype.com Sometimes I just feel like an idiot. Why did I wait so long? “Duh, what about free phone with video to anywhere on the planet with an internet connection do you not understand?”
Twitter.com I didn’t get this one at all at first, but we kept playing with it and I am so grateful we did. In addition to, “What are you doing?” Did you know, (if you’re connected to a good group out there), you can tweet a question and immediately get answers, solutions, links, and feedback.
Yammer.com Like twitter, my people are just a micro-blog entry away. It’s a great tool to update our team over two states and keep them in sync with the latest.
Retaggr.com My business card online. It also works as a dynamic traffic director. We refer to it around here as ‘your buffet table’... Welcome to my internet smorgasbord!
ActiveRain.com A great real estate networking site and an endless source of good information, support, and inspiration. I am so grateful for those I have come to know here. Their interest, encouragement, and enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious.
Biznik.com A fabulous networking site of business owners and entrepreneurs of every kind. I love their modus operandi; leverage the web to drive real world events.
Facebook.com What can I say? The virtual pop by, stop and say hello. Welcome to the more casual me. I’ve connected and reconnected with many friends, coworkers, and associates.
Dictionary.com There are several online but I find myself using this one. In fact it’s usually open in a Chrome browser all the time.
Wikipedia.org When I need a fact, a date, where is it, when was it… I start here.
Google.com What list would be complete without it? I love all my Google toys. Gmail, Alerts, Reader, Blogger, Analytics, Google Chrome, Maps, iGoogle, Mobile, SMS, Desktop Search, Earth, YouTube, etc. etc…
Stumbleupon.com When you stumble, you’ll find pages that friends and like-minded surfers have recommended. This is a great tool for finding things you might not on a search engine.
Delicious.com Search the internet collective via shared bookmarks by tag. It totally blows away conventional bookmarking. Here’s a great short video by Commoncraft.
How about your favorite web apps?
enjoy...
photo: Fire and Snow, by Paige Fabre
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