Mediabarn

SAVE THE DATE - The Wonder Emporium

2010-06-11T10:26:00.005-04:00

Mediabarn is partnering with DC Design Babes once again for a great event coming up next week! As part of the Digital Capital Week here in DC, Mediabarn will be sponsoring “The Wonder Emporium”! With a great location just north of Dupont Circle, the warehouse will most certainly be packed with a ton of fellow creatives to network and party with! It promises to be a great night filled with live music, great events including digital art demonstrations, interactive painting and a live graphic design contest!

Mark your calendars for this can’t miss event on June 18th @ 9pm. Registration is quick and easy! Hurry and get your tickets now before it books up!

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Designing User Experiences for Children

2010-05-24T10:57:00.004-04:00

Mediabarn’s Director of Usability Research, Heather Nam, just published an article on UXmatters, an online magazine providing insights and inspiration for the user experience community. The article, called “Designing User Experiences for Children,” addresses potential pitfalls web designers can encounter when creating a user experience for children, suggests following design conventions that would be applicable for any user whether adult or child, and details specific findings from four recent web site usability studies conducted in the Mediabarn UX Lab with 85 children ages 3 to 9 years old. Click here to read the article on the UXmatters site.

Mediabarn's UX Lab sponsors UPA-DC event!

2010-03-24T16:38:00.003-04:00

We would love to see everyone tomorrow night at La Tasca for Sangria and Tapas!

Date and time:
March 25, 2010 (Thursday) 6 - 8PM
La Tasca
Spanish Tapas Restaurant and Bar
722 7th St. NW
Washington, DC 20001
202.347.9190

More information at the DC Chapter event page!

Happy Holidays

2009-12-17T16:01:00.007-05:00

Another year has come and gone(almost) and we're excited for 2010 because this year certainly seems to be ending on an upward and positive note! :)

We'd like to thank everyone that has helped play a part in Mediabarn's growth this past year and look forward to continuing our success together next year.

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to another successful year in 2010!

Also, if you haven't already seen our Holiday Card you should hurry up and check it out for any last minute gift ideas, recipes and stress relievers! We're hoping "The Cure" will help make an otherwise stressful Holiday Season go a little smoother for everyone this year! Or if you've been good and have already done all of your shopping, there are some yummy elixirs you can try!

Happy Holidays from all of us at Mediabarn!

DC Design Babes Event Tomorrow Night!

2009-10-28T09:53:00.005-04:00

Halloween's upon us again and it's time to get out all of your spooky gear! Come join us and the DC Design Babes as we host their DCDB Halloween Party! The event is tomorrow night, October 29th, so hurry up and register!

We hope to see everyone there, should be a howling good time! :)

Uplifting Athletes is getting some great press coverage.

2009-10-06T09:51:00.001-04:00

The Boston College Chapter of Uplifting Athletes got a mention during ESPN's College Game Day this past week as they were spotlighting BC's defensive star Mark Herzlich's battle with cancer. They have also been mentioned in the USA Today and the Wall Street Journal in the last few weeks. (http://upliftingathletes.org/bostoncollege/)

Any press is good press, but good press is great press. We're glad we can help Uplifting Athletes continue to make a difference.

4-H National Science Experiment – Biofuel Blast: Get your results in!

2009-10-01T09:41:00.000-04:00

Throughout the month of October, 4-H is collecting the user's experiment data for their 4-H National Science Experiment – Biofuel Blast. In preparation for that, we've created a Flash 'quiz' to collect all the user data. A new database table handles the results and ties into the previously created registration table. It was a pretty straight forward assignment, but shows the great potential Flash has as a serious application Front-end.

(Ask us about our Flash Dash Board projects!)

(http://4-h.org/nysd/results.php)

We are proud that we could help support the 4-H organization.

Little UX Participants in the Office

2009-08-28T15:10:00.007-04:00

This week our UX Lab hosted over a dozen kids for one-on-one usability testing. Recruiting and testing 3-5 year olds can be a challenge to the most seasoned researcher, but here are a couple tips that we have found reduce the risky aspects of testing kids.

Don't recruit children that don't know how to use a computer, unless you want to see the right mouse dialog repeatedly throughout the session.
Ask what the child uses at home for an input device, as laptops dominate sales, many kids have used trackpads, not mice. If you are testing using a desktop, you can purchase USB trackpads.
Be prepared for bored siblings, young and old. Have distractions for other children that might be coming along, if you don't have something for them to do, they will certainly try to "help" their siblings.
Recommend to Mommy or Daddy that it might be a good idea to potty break right before going in.
If you need to test over lunch hours, remind parents that they might want to schedule lunch early, or a late morning snack to help avoid meltdowns.
Keep the sessions short. 30 minutes max for under 6.
Balloons for good listeners.

Sure, even with these guidelines we had tantrums, potty emergencies, a couple tumbles, but we had a blast. (and so did our client!)

Testing children requires patience, sure. But to be good at it, it requires a sense of humor and more importantly a sense of adventure.

A silver lining on the current job market?

2009-08-07T11:20:00.004-04:00

I recently came across an article on The Work Buzz that provided some interesting figures on current trends happening in today's job market. It shows that half of the workers who were laid off in the last three months have already found new jobs! And, more than half were able to either maintain or even make gains with their new salaries! This seems to be in line with what we're currently seeing here as well, which only reinforces their statistics. This should definitely be great news to the many still out their looking to find their next great thing! Hang in there folks, it looks like we're slowly turning things around!

Here are some of the other interesting facts at a glance:

Changes in Pay
Looking at workers who were laid off in the last 12 months and found new jobs, more than half (56 percent) reported they were able to negotiate comparable or higher pay for their new positions. Forty-four percent of workers took a pay cut, down from 49 percent in March.

Transferring Skills to Other Industries and Fields
Workers reported they are applying their skills to new areas. Similar to the last survey, 38 percent of workers who were laid off in the last 12 months and landed new jobs said they found work in a different field than where they were previously employed. Of those workers, the majority said they really enjoy their new positions.

Relocation
Workers are no longer just looking for positions in their own backyards. One-in-five workers (20 percent) who were laid off in the last 12 months and found jobs relocated to a new city or state; up from 13 percent in March. Of those who are still looking for employment, 44 percent reported they would consider relocating for a job opportunity; up from 39 percent in March.

Starting a Business
An increased number of job seekers have adopted an “if you can’t find a job, create one” way of thinking. Nearly three-in-ten workers (29 percent) who have not found jobs are considering starting their own business; up from 25 percent in March.

Altering Appearance
The competition for a smaller number of jobs is driving some workers to alter their everyday appearances in hopes of making a stronger impression. More than a quarter (28 percent) of workers who were laid off in the last 12 months said they have changed their appearance to make themselves more attractive to potential employers. Fourteen percent said they have lost weight, 8 percent have changed their hair color or hairstyle and 5 percent are dressing to appear younger. Teeth whitening, enhanced makeup and cosmetic procedures were also cited.

StaySafeOnline.org Launches Updated Section: National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM)

2009-07-29T11:53:00.006-04:00

StaySafeOnline.org launches updated and expanded section: National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM)

National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), conducted every October since 2001, is a national public awareness campaign to encourage everyone to protect their computers and our nation’s critical cyber infrastructure. This year's theme is "Our Shared Responsibility".

The expanded section now contains an events calendar, links to become an official endorser, and collateral material downloads.

Also check out the newly redesigned Top Tips page.

Uplifting Athletes adds Boston College Chapter.

2009-07-24T09:57:00.011-04:00

We couldn't be happier with the feedback we've been getting on the success of the Uplifting Athletes site.

We are please to announce that they have added a new chapter to their cause and site...

Boston College

Adding the new chapter to their existing site was fairly easy since we're using Drupal to manage the site. We look forward to adding many more chapters to the site in the near future.

DC Design Babes Event - June 25th

2009-06-18T12:37:00.003-04:00

Mediabarn is a proud sponsor of the upcoming DC Design Babes Event next week! Hope folks can make it downtown for some networking and a good time with friends! Looking forward to seeing everyone! Click here to register!

Mediabarn Launches the New SIIA.net Redesign

2009-05-13T12:26:00.009-04:00

Another successful launch! The Software & Information Industry Association launched its redesigned web site last week (SIIA.net). Mediabarn was privileged to have partnered with SIIA to help with the user experience, design and development of the site. The project was definitely a team effort, with Mediabarn joining forces with not only SIIA, but Metisc as well, a Joomla! shop in Australia. Loved the early morning status calls!

The new SIIA.net is not only more organized with a cleaner design, but also has a dynamic site structure that can easily be expanded on. Just about all of the site is driven by a single custom Joomla! template. The dynamic nature of the template allows for content blocks, widgets, modules to be easily placed throughout the site with minimal effort.

Congrats SIIA!

IE 8 is fast upon us - NOW WHAT!?

2009-04-30T20:25:00.010-04:00

I'm actually pleased with the news that MS is pushing Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8) as an automatic update.

Have you been using or testing your sites in IE 8 yet? If not, you need to be! The numbers aren't that high yet, but I bet they will --thankfully-- be increasing rapidly.

Why thankfully? Well, mainly because IE 8 supports (almost) all of the CSS2.1 specification. For full details check out quirksmode's CSS Compatibility Chart. This means, in theory, that a single set of CSS can be written and --drum roll please-- it will render correctly in IE 8.

Wait! Wait! Wait! Stop the dancing...

...what about that little button there? Yes that one, right there, the "Compatibility Button"! Holy Toggle Switch Batman, why would I want to render a site in IE 7 'mode' in IE 8?

Well, for one thing, not every site is well maintained and it may be a while before people get around to updating their code to work in IE 8. This toggle switch may make your site more palatable to new IE 8 users.

Why do they need to update their code, you ask? There are several ways, that we won't get into here, to get older versions of IE to render 'correctly' - meaning: look the same as more compliant browsers. These 'hacks' or work-arounds will make IE 8 render incorrectly. Hopefully, your work-around of choice has been to use conditional comments to deliver separate CSS files to IE 7 or older. I have been for a while, so I'm really not able to speak to how to un-hack or add-a-hack your CSS if you've been using other methods.

If you have been using conditional comments, simply updating your conditional statements to exclude IE 8 from receiving the custom IE CSS takes only a few seconds. Something like this will do:

< !--[if lte IE 7]-->

Now, to prevent people from using that little IE 7 Toggle Switch and potentially setting your site to always render as IE 7 (and not just for them), add this bit to your document head:

< equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8">

This should fix you right up, assuming you're coding valid HTML and CSS to start with. You'll still have to deal with IE 6 & 7 for a little bit longer unfortunately, but the light is at the end of the tunnel now.

--"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!" *

NCQA Accrediation and the UXL

2009-04-29T18:08:00.000-04:00

We love that the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has added a usability testing component to their accreditation process. They are giving insurance companies credit toward accreditation just for testing their websites. This will improve the quality of the interface for all of our insurance company's online presence, yeah!

Mediabarn launches new NCSA site redesign and C-SAVE section.

2009-04-28T12:34:00.012-04:00

A little under 6-months after delivering the initial site redesign for the National Cyber Security Alliance's StaySafeOnline.org site, we've done it again.

The initial project utilized an existing design from another firm. Mediabarn made some minor tweaks to the existing designs focusing on content organization and usability issues. We developed the site in Drupal, an open-source CMS, launching in late 2008.

Since the initial launch we have continued to support NCSA with their site content needs and adding several bits of new functionality.

The latest redesign brings a major new face lift to the site without changing the overall structure of the site and it's navigation. None of the content stored in the Drupal CMS was effected by the new design, requiring zero republishing of content. The new design was delivered as fresh Drupal Theme, actually a Zen sub-theme, in under 2 months from concept to completion.

With this redesign we also launched a new site section, Cyber Security Awareness Volunteer Education Program (C-SAVE) .

This project was and continues to be extremely fun to work on. Look for more on this project in the near future. Make sure you check them out.

Consumer Guide Automotive is live!

2009-04-23T14:57:00.012-04:00

We are so pleased to announce that the redesigned Consumer Guide Automotive site has launched. Mediabarn partnered with HowStuffWorks to help create a new UI and design - it was a really fun project to work on! Check it out here and start car shopping!

Mediabarn talks it over with Students from Penn State

2009-04-17T14:01:00.004-04:00

Today Media Barn met with students from Penn State's IST College, to give them a tour of our business. We also did a UI test exercise where we plucked students from the group and had them walk through one of our recent launches, while the rest of the team watched. We had a great time, they were a bright group.

Mediabarn launches Uplifting Athletes

2009-04-02T15:21:00.007-04:00

Today we are proud to announce that we launched the first phase of Uplifting Athletes' website. Uplifting Athletes is an organization that aligns college football with rare diseases and raises them as a national priority through outreach, research, education and advocacy.

HowStuffWorks.com nominated for SXSW Interactive Award!

2009-02-27T14:59:00.003-05:00

Mediabarn is so excited to announce that our client HowStuffWorks.com was chosen as a finalist at the SXSW Interactive Awards! We're really proud to have partnered with them on this redesign. Winners announced March 15th. Crossing fingers!!

Get Ready College Grad's!

2009-02-17T11:22:00.005-05:00

Graduation is drawing near and it's almost time to get out there in the job market! Let me guess, you're concerned because the unemployment lines are long and the economy is spiraling out of control, right? Don't fret, you may actually be positioned to have a better chance in these tough times due to shrinking budgets and clients more willing to take risks in order to get their work done!

Although companies in the finance sector (Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch) took a major hit, there are still entry level positions to be had all over. And here's how.

1) Employers are looking to cut corners and are willing to take more chances more than ever with younger talent. So do some research and uncover your worth and price yourself aggressively.

2) Prepare yourself for the face-to-face interview. Since your employment history is limited, identify personal qualities and examples to discuss in how you can make a difference. See previous blog post for pointers.

3) Stand out....in a good way. Consider a well written personalized cover letter to go along with your resume. Consider the color, layout and design of both your cover letter and resume. Don't go over the top, but there's something to be said for a nice well written and nicely laid out resume. Please be sure to spell check.

4) If you're lucky enough to have been one of the few chosen for a face-to-face interview, go the extra mile and wear a suit. It's ALWAYS better to be over dressed then under.

5) If you've played your cards right, you probably have some internship experience. Definitely use that to your advantage. Be sure to highlight any similarities you may have with the job description you're applying for. Those who are already acclimated to the workplace are more likely to have a leg up on the competition.

6) Clean up your online presence (myspace/Facebook/bebo). Most employers will do their research these days and the last thing they want to see is embarrassing pictures from your big frat party the weekend before.

7) Be sure to go beyond the College and University Career Centers. Definitely use it as one of your many vehicles, but don't rely on just one vehicle. Try placement agencies to help find you a jr. position. Even if they can't find you your dream job, they can hopefully find you something within your target industry. The more people you have working for you the better.

8) Tap your parents network. Don't be afraid to use your parents and their friends. Besides you're probably a pro at it by now, so why not use that expertise for a good and rewarding reason for once.

9) There are jobs out there for you, it just may not be in your backyard. So be ready to relocate and don't be shy to search and apply for openings in other cities and keep you options open.

Overall, don't let all of the bad news get you down. Remember, if you're talented, hardworking and persistent, there's a job out there for you. It's just a little harder to find these days, but they're out there!

Good luck and remember to stay positive!

8 Tips for a Successful Negotiation

2009-02-11T10:00:00.039-05:00

Regardless of whether you're trying to negotiate through a contract, a fee with a client, or a rate increase, the premise behind my tips are guaranteed to help navigate these sometimes treacherous waters. Since my friends, family and consultants are continuously asking me questions like, "How can I make more money?" or "How do I know I can't be making more?" in this scenario, I'll use the example of negotiating a base salary or increase. If you're already in a job or interviewing for a new one, the following tips should help make your next review or interview an enjoyable and rewarding one!

1) Timing is key. If you're in an interview, don't blurt out your salary requirements, wait until you're asked. Remember, you need to approach this topic cautiously and where possible, practice patience. If you're goal is an increase, don't wait until you've had "enough" before you barge into your managers office demanding a raise. That will never work!

2) Be prepared. The more prepared you are to have this conversation, the less money you'll end up leaving on the table, period. Make sure you take the time to do your homework and come up with a fair benchmark in your mind that you'd be content with. Then think about one that is slightly higher(+/-10k) and be prepared to discuss this figure and keep the lower one as you absolute minimum. Understanding the average salary for your particular job type is crucial in determining your approach. Here are some popular places online to check your worth. I suggest using these sites as a simple check, not as your main determining factor of whether you deserve a raise or not. Everyone's case will be different.

- salary.com
- monster.com
- careerbuilder.com

3) Get to know your manager. Understanding where your manager's stress points lie is pivotal in positioning yourself for a higher base salary. Even if your boss or potential boss seems cool as a cucumber, they're inevitably going to have areas of stress, trouble spots or concerns(hopefully they don't involve you). If you can identify those key areas, then voila, you've just identified your new goals for the next quarter! If for whatever reason you're not positioned to achieve those goals, then figure out other indirect ways in order to achieve a similar result. The idea is to show that you've proactively identified some key areas for improvement and are thinking of ways you can help make an immediate impact. And here's the beauty, coincidentally, they'll just so happen to be aligned with your boss' goals as well!

4) Put your game face on. Okay, so you've completed your research and identified some key areas, so now it's go time. Take the initiative and set up a time to meet with your manager. A good way to go about this is to mention that you'd like to sit down and discuss your personal and professional goals together. In your meeting, you may want to start off with expressing your passion regarding your position and role within your organization. Feel free to get creative here. For example, expressing your dedication to the team, overall company or product or service that you offer. The reason I suggest beginning with this type of approach is, you don't want this negotiation to backfire and to somehow be misconstrued as your way of expressing that you're unhappy. Always keep it positive.

5) Keep your cool. If you're anything like me, you tend to start speaking very quickly when things begin to heat up. You need to remember that this is your chance to prove yourself, to assure your boss you're ready to step up, so it's imperative that you act like it. Don't rush through it, because acting nervous or unsure of yourself doesn't exude a sense of confidence! And believe me, if you're giving the impression that you're unsure that you deserve a higher salary, why for one second would you think you'd get it? So take your time and get through all of your points while speaking slowly and clearly. At the same time remember to stay on track and keep your points and responses concise. And at all costs[very important], don't get confrontational, defensive or argumentative. Keep your emotions in check and stay in control at all times. ALWAYS remain professional and positive.

6) Okay, you've got 'em in your sights. Hopefully at this point things are progressing nicely and you've been able to express the desire for an increase. Chances are, one of the following three scenarios will happen, 1) The most likely case is that you've caught your boss off guard and they'll ask what type of money you're looking for, or 2) They're bright and picked up on your hint on why you wanted to meet in the first place and are prepared to offer you something, or 3) for many number of reasons, the door is shut on any possible increases. If #1 occurs, never and I mean NEVER, be the first to throw out a figure. It immediately gives away any and all leverage you may have had. If #2 occurs, never commit or agree right away, even if it meets your goals. Remember that everything is negotiable. However if #3 occurs, don't freak out(see Tip 5). Especially in these difficult economic times, increases are difficult to come by. So if there's no budget for a base increase, use it as leverage to get other perks. Additional vacation, stock options, signing bonuses, expense accounts, profit sharing, and performance raises are only some of the perks that can make up for actual cash compensation.

7) Now we're in business. We're going to go ahead and assume that our fabulous tips have uncovered some extra cash or perks for you. Congratulations! However in some cases, this is where things may start to get a little confusing. Don't feel like you need to sign or commit on the spot because it's perfectly acceptable to redline any employment contracts. Simply ask for time to review it closer and when you get home, feel free to mark that bad boy up to your liking. This is especially the case if your salary goal has not been fully satisfied. Keep in mind that there's always some give and take with any contract. Don't feel like you're ever locked in, just about everything in a contract is negotiable and don't let anyone tell you different.

8) Not seeing eye to eye? If you're following these tips to the tee, you've already mentally set a fair salary goal in mind. However, if things are way off base with your employer's expectations, you have to be prepared to walk away. So make certain you have a backup plan for this scenario. Although this is not ideal, this method can sometimes be rewarding if the employer caves and reconsiders. Regardless of what happens, end things professionally and on a good note. It's a small world and word that you lost your cool can and will travel fast!

Good Luck and feel free to post your own ideas, tips and results from your own experiences!

Scrolling and Ad Blindness

2009-02-03T11:40:00.003-05:00

Ad Blindness is a phenomenon commonly found with eye tracking research. Ad blindness also includes “right rail” blindness, a similar occurrence due to the placement of tower and stamp-shaped ads loaded up in the right column of a webpage. Rebeka Sedaca wrote about reclaiming the right rail in 2006.

As seen in many of our tests, right rail blindness can also be linked to user behavior; e.g. the use of the mouse scroll wheel. In a website usability and eye tracking test at mediabarn, we noticed an avoidance of the right rail column. Upon further inspection, what we noticed was a behavioral difference between those who used the scroll wheel on the mouse while scanning the page, and those who used the mouse to move scrollbar of the Web browser. Users who used the scroll wheel remained focused on the main content of the webpage, while users who used the mouse and scrollbar looked away from the main content, scanned to the right, and positioned the cursor on the browser’s scrollbar. Although this action was quick, this change in focus allowed for a greater possibility for these users to notice the content in the right rail. Our test data, although small in sample, showed scrollbar users had more fixations over right rail elements than those who used the scroll wheel. Or, in other words… the scroll wheel was doing its job, making scrolling easier for users and allowing them to stay focused on the content they wanted.

Because these behavioral findings were not the focus of the study, there were no follow up questions with the participants regarding this behavior or whether they noticed the content in the right rail or not. However, it does illustrate that the use of technology (e.g. the scroll wheel on the mouse) can impact how people use and view a webpage. Therefore, as technology advances, new tools and user behaviors are introduced, and as these tools and behaviors become more common place, then page layout design can also be impacted, evolve and change.

Today, many blog layouts have reclaimed the right rail, as Sedaca wrote, by placing local navigation links in the right column of the page. But, how else might technology and user behavior change page design and layout? We look forward to observing what’s ahead.

2009 SIIA CODiE Awards

2009-01-16T15:06:00.000-05:00

Keith Deaven and Jason Pentecost have been asked to judge the CODiE Awards!
The CODiE Awards hold the distinction of being the industry’s only peer-reviewed awards program, which provides member companies with a unique opportunity to earn praise from their competitors.

The Naming of Mediabarn

2008-05-29T15:34:00.002-04:00

People often ask us what the origin of the name Mediabarn is. The following is a long-winded answer to that question!

Back in 1994 when AOL was still on Westwood Center Drive in Vienna, Dave Baker was the manager of a group that Jason and I worked on called the Rainteam. We were originally put together to kick start the use of photos on the service using the new Rainman publishing system that the amazing AOL developers created. After Rainman was more widely implemented and the individual channels were publishing their own Rainman content, our team was re-purposed to work on special projects or to assist channels with their design and build needs. We were a hodge-podge group of people with a diverse set of skills (visual design, Flash, coding, etc.), so we were well suited for doing this type of work. At one point, we were tasked by Ted Leonsis to come up with one new and cool thing to put on the service every day for a month. We were given the name the "Coolteam," a name that is as embarrassing now as it was then (and I'm sure you can picture the amount of crap we took from our fellow AOLers for THAT moniker!) A whole other blog post can some day be given to the Rainteam/Coolteam...it was one of the best and most amazing work experiences of my life.

Anyway, during the Coolteam days, we would dream of a place where we could bring together all types of creative people and let them loose on great, innovative ideas and products. We imagined a barn as the venue. A barn that had the standard decor of an old-time facility on the outside, but was ultra-modern and tricked-out inside to promote creativity and open thinking. We would half-heartedly try to get funding for what we called the "media barn" (as well as a ton of other seemingly crazy ideas like a Winnebago in which we could tour the country and generate community initiatives that we dubbed the "Communibago.") None of these ideas seemed that far-fetched back in the heyday of AOL. Not surprisingly (in retrospect) we were never able to produce a solid business justification for the Winnebago, the barn, or numerous other hair-brained ideas.

The barn, though, really stuck with us as something to hold on to. We liked what it represented. Old meets new. Values meet creativity. As we talked over the years about starting our own business, the media barn would become our rallying cry. It wasn't much of a jump when we came to the conclusion that media barn would make a good company name, albeit vague and not really explanatory for what we planned to do.

Disclaimer: I am by no means a branding or marketing expert, so read the following paragraph at your own risk. As it turns out, I believe Mediabarn has a number of benefits as a business name. It works well for search engines, is relatively unique, affords us good branding opportunities, and isn't too specific as to pigeon-hole us from a perception perspective. But most importantly it carries real meaning to us as being representative of where we came from. When choosing a name for a small business, this is one of the things I personally believe is extremely important. Your brand as a small business is all about who you and the people who comprise your team are. If your name carries with it something you believe in, you will project your brand with more personal conviction.

Usability Team Expands. Web will become more usable.

2008-01-02T14:10:00.001-05:00

Mediabarn hires Michael Brown as Usability Research Manager to lead our in-house UX Lab. Michael brings with him over 10 years of experience in the Internet industry that includes user experience testing and web accessibility consulting. Prior to Mediabarn, Michael was part of AOL's consumer research team where he led many studies that included usability, eye tracking, and mobile product testing.

Going Green for the Holidays.

2007-12-11T16:07:00.001-05:00

Mediabarn goes green and opts for all digital holiday card. And no, it wasn't because we are cheapskates. We donated our printing costs saved to arborday.org to plant trees on behalf of our friends and colleagues. View our holiday wishes here.

World Usability Day 2007

2007-11-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

Mediabarn hosted an open house to help celebrate World Usability Day which was Nov 7th. We gave tours of our usability lab, demonstrations of our new eye tracking system, and conducted small user testing sessions on some local hospital web sites.

Glad everyone came out!

Eyetracking Services

2007-11-11T09:05:00.000-05:00

Mediabarn is proud to announce that we now provide eyetracking on our premises. Our lab uses eyetracking industry leader Tobii's most recent system to eyetrack websites, ads, video, design and ui prototypes.

User Focus 2007

2007-10-02T16:05:00.000-04:00

Media Barn is a proud sponsor of User Focus 2007, the second annual UPA-DC Metro Chapter Conference.

Mediabarn Placement Services is called on again!

2007-07-21T16:37:00.000-04:00

Mediabarn Placement Services partners with several new clients in July including The Motley Fool and Discovery Communications.

WSJ and Our Own Mauro Scappa

2007-04-15T09:12:00.000-04:00

The Wall Street Journal interviewed Mauro for their Career section. Mauro shares some of his insights on finding really amazing talent. Read it here.

Create Magazine Highlights our Lab

2007-03-11T15:53:00.001-04:00

We are pleased to announce that our User Interface Lab has been featured in this month's Create Magazine.

Oh Kodak, you too?

2007-01-08T21:01:00.000-05:00

Why do **photo** paper manufactures keep putting out old letterhead sizes like 8.5x11 sizes when all photo FRAMES are 8x10 and have been like FOREVER? Even my newly purchased Kodak super mega mirror finish super gloss HD paper i purchased was 8.5x11, i had no idea until i carefully cropped and printed an 8x10 digital photo and there was white blocks where i expected ink to be.

So Frame makers when are you going to realize that all cameras and paper manufacturers are at 8.5x11 ratios and sizes? When am i going to see 8.5x11 frames at target? Here is something else that is nuts...even Kodak Gallery .com only offers 8x10 enlargements but their own premium paper is 8.5x11??? Yikes.

There is lots of cropping and trimming going on. I bet at home craft trimmers sales have gone through the roof.

Come on! This one is easy...someone just make the switch! I vote for 8x10, although 8.5x11 is closer to 16x9...maybe we just need a widescreen paper size, so our photo screensavers on our TVs and Computer LCD screens will not be stretched. My mom will thank you for not making her look 30% wider.

Our own Emily featured in 12/06 GLAMOUR!

2006-11-06T16:52:00.000-05:00

We are proud to announce that our own Emily has been chosen to appear in a photo in the December issue of Glamour magazine. "I am excited about being able to gain some exposure for Mediabarn Inc with this layout." says an elated Emily.

Congrats Emily we could not be happier with the results!

Open House

2006-10-20T12:38:00.001-04:00

Thanks to everyone who came to our open house last night.

The winning ticket number was #7, if that is your ticket, call us to pick up the plasma tv.

Your Colors are Safe on the Web

2006-08-24T10:28:00.001-04:00

There was a time when the "websafe palette" was valuable. I even had an hour long presentation on the topic. Today, the most modern Adobe products still have the palette checkbox in their webchooser dialogs. Its time for that feature, as well as the palette chooser item in the Save For Web drop down, to be axed.(That feature should have never been there in the first place, since you should never have limited all your colors in your image just to the palette)

So designers, if you have not already done so long ago, it is time to stop limiting yourselves to those 216 colors called websafe. (Although many designers are either too young, too stubborn, or too insensitive to have use websafe colors in the first place.) For those experienced, true conscientious and craftsavey designers out there, who might not have gotten the memo, Im hear to tell you, drop the web palette. Why? For both mac and pcs, 256 color settings have not even been an option for computer users for over 5 years.

Note: most designers didn’t get it right to begin with. You can blame that on Adobe and Lynda Weinman (sorry Lynda). But lets save that topic for the history books.

It is time to move forward Adobe. For the sake of digital craftsmanship please do these three things in Illustrator and Photoshop: 1) remove "Only Web Colors" checkbox from the color picker, 2) remove the "Restictive (web palette) from the Save for Web dialog's "Color Reduction Algorithm" drop down, 3) Remove "Web" as an option as the index color dialog when saving as a gif.

Thats all. I want to thank those of you who were trying to do the right thing by using websafe, but it is time to move on.

The New Studio/Office Space is Awesome!

2006-06-30T15:49:00.000-04:00

I love it here. The new space with all the windows and open feel is just wonderful.
{sigh}