Would Monkeys Use Qype?

As a follow up to my previous article on colour theory and web design (The Thin Red Line), here's an article on why Macaque monkeys may be worried about searching on Qype too.  Now, that sentence has to pique your interest!


Stop On Red! The Effects of Color May Lie Deep in Evolution… - from The Association for Psychological Science

 

The Thin Red Line

When choosing colours for your website, make sure you understand the cultural and emotional relevance they may have to your users.

Qype, the user-generated local reviews site, uses red as an accent colour and as the text colour for it's field labels.

It confused me for a bit.

Let Them Tweet Cake

I'm celebrating almost a month - time flies - with the digital team at Macmillan after taking over as caretaker social media officer.  And I've been both immediately impressed and inspired by the approach they are taking to social media and their online community.

There was cake in reception when I arrived on my first day. Not for me, admittedly, it was one of the receptionist’s birthday - but quite a first impression.  And on being led through the greenery of the office for the first time I noticed sweets and cakes at the end of virtually every bank of desks.  It's obviously something that's encouraged I thought. Or a philosophy that breeds lots of micro-sugary actions.

And that's not the only thing I like that's being encouraged. What's really refreshing is the desire to involve staff in social media and encourage them to actively uphold the principles and values that underpin the organisation: the values that give them immense pride in the work they do.  By helping them to understand the tools they can use to communicate the brand.

But it's by no means about asking them to shout loud and demand action from supporters.  Nothing is demanded of any member of staff.  Simply, the language of social media is explained so that they can feel confident joining the conversation. And be sure of the place they're coming from when they engage in their social networks.  If they see something they like they can share it with confidence.

And it's an approach that I think will lead to an increase in inspiration being turned into action. Because when you do need action, when you do need a few ripples for a cause, you know the power of the people in your network, you know how to reach them, and all you need then is to ask them to have their cake and tweet it.