Solana Crawford's Presentation for Web 2.0 Berlin: User: Action! Leading Users to Action Through Design

Solana Crawford, founder and chief design officer at DESIGN about TOWN, just finished presenting at O'Reilly Media's Web 2.0 Berlin. Let us know if you saw the presentation, and what you thought! 

The presentation abstract and slide deck are below. For more presentations from Web 2.0 Berlin, click HERE.

Solana will also be speaking at SNAP Summit3, which takes place on October 28th, 2008 at the Parc55 Hotel in San Francsico. Drop us a line if you will be attending that event, we'd love to meet you.

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User: Action! Leading Users to Action Through Design: a presentation by Solana Crawford at O\'Reilly Media Web 2.0 Conference ,Berlin 2008

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: 2.0 web)

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User: Action! Leading Users to Action Through Design

Solana Crawford (DESIGN about TOWN) 
14:35 Thursday, 23-10-2008 
Location: A3-4 

There’s something that takes that extra step, that goes beyond user interface (form) and user experience (function)... And it is that moment that each company with online presence wants its target user to reach: the click-moment. Whether it is to donate, buy, sign up or send, it is that decision-making-second, right before the user takes action, that will change their state of mind, their mood, they way they feel based on the action that was just taken.

Design elements are key in accomplishing this. The right color choice will get you a new customer, and the wrong one can make you lose a potential investor. You need to show you know not just your product or service, but also your audience. Making them feel good about taking action takes you and your company a long ways.

What will be covered:
- Today’s design trends.
- Which design elements entice users to take action: Shapes, colors, images…
- Use of color to prompt users to take action.
- How simple or sophisticated to design your site so users take action.

A Design review with TechCrunch50 Winner "Yammer"

Congratulations Yammer on the TechCrunch50 recognition.


Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: "What are you working on?"


They won the big prize at the 2008 TechCrunch50 event, and as a high profile Social Networking tool, our very own Solana Crawford has provided a design review.

Nice logo, warm and friendly, web 2.0 design style. It's not surprising to see that a social networking site uses predominantly blue for its color (ex: Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, etc...) Some of blue's strongest connotations are friendship, trustworthiness and technology.

It's very clear what the user is supposed to do once he or she gets there, but Yammer fails in explaining in detail what it is that THEY do. Yammer is not obvious until the user reaches the demo video at the bottom of the landing page. Once the user signs up, everything is pretty clear, well organized and easy to navigate.


The user forum does another good job with a logo application, but landing on that page gives you a feeling of chaos until you get organized again.

Overall, Yammer's site, though dated, makes for a good experience....It's in the details. Just a few key design and UI considerations can lead Yammer's interface to 2009.

Below is the Yammer presentation from TechCrunch50. Notice the opening title screen with the TechCrunch50.