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Adtimes
Prototype (New York Times) |
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Adtimes is an application
for the New York Times. Its primary function is for agencies to submit
classified ads to the New York Times through a stand-alone application.
The prototype is an IE 4.0 specific web application with ASP on an
NT box running IIS 3.0. On the client side, I used many DHTML elements
of IE4, Cascading Stylesheets as well as IE supported client-side
data binding. In this example, we experimented with concepts of utilizing
XML and XSL to represent the final classified ad and to add functionality
to the application. |
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Adtimes2000,
The Product (New York Times) |
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The product differs quite
a bit from its prototype sibling. The product uses Java servlets on
the backend on a Linux box with Apache. The Java servlets spit out
through HTTP to the client software. The client is a C++ application
utilizes an IE browser control and active-X controls for its interface.
What became clear after making the prototype, was that Adtimes required
many fields for data entry. These fields would not fit onto one screen.
Heads-down data entry was a requirement for the application. Utilizing
DHTML aspects of hidden and visible layers, I created a simple view
on the left of the screen, which is a summary, as well as navigation
of all the input fields on the right side of the screen. The navigation
moves the focus of the bracket up and down the page. This interface
was very effective and was also used in the Logo Management system
stated below. |
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BMG
customer acquisition revamp (BMG)
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BMG wished to strengthen
their online presence and wanted to establish benchmarks in terms
of customer acquisition rates. Their full site had high drop-off rates
due to customer confusion of the sign-up process. We revamped the
BMG online advertising efforts, adding fresh creative direction, experimenting,
and weighing analytics to discover the most receptive audience. To
gain market share, the BMG subscription process needed modification.
To complete our strategy, we crafted a mini-site with the look and
feel of the BMG Direct brand but cut the registration time by more
than half. |
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Faxcility (Solomon
Smith Barney - Citigroup) |
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Faxcility (Solomon Smith
Barney - Citigroup) This fax server was a rush system created in two
months. The system is a document processing system which receives
faxes, transfers them over to gif images and displays them in a browser.
The interface was restrained by the task of showing the entire fax
while allowing the user to perform data entry. The fax image, as well
as the data entry fields, needed to appear convenient to one another.
A shrunken version of the fax appears on the left. The entry fields
appear on the right and a zoomed version of the fax appears on the
bottom right. The zoomed image moves based on the cursor's position
on the shrunken fax. This is done with a sophisticated frameset and
a javascript that manipulates the scrolled area of the zoomed frame.
One should note that the data entry frame is the only frame being
refreshed by the server. All other frames are updated with a javascript
document.write pushed from the data entry frame. This minimized the
browser's work of recreating the frameset each server trip, as well
as making the coding simpler on the server, requiring only one document
to be created. |
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Globalformats SWAP
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Using Perl and XML, we created
a customizable BOT that would spider a client's site and make alternative
renderings of their site. Our goal for this product was to maintain
the marketing objectives intended in the original site design, while
improving accessibility to the previously disenfranchised disabled
market. SWAP would render the site in numerous ways to best accommodate
the needs of the user. XML was used to allow customization
of the product to best suit the client's required renderings. The
customization also gave us a platform to provide a workarounds for
a clients' egregious non-compliance. |
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Inspiration (Reader's
Digest)
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The success of the "Inspiration"
concept hinged on the downloadable desktop-push application that imparted
inspirational messages. The application was made with Macromedia Shockwave.
We created a wrapper using Macromedia's player to insure cross-platform
compatibility. Daily, the application would fetch inspirational quotes,
from the website, bringing a constant reminder of the Reader's Digest
brand and the ongoing novelty of dynamic content. These messages created
a highly personal experience for consumers and achieved maximum penetration
for Reader's Digest simultaneously. (You can see it in the Internet WayBackMachine)
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Logo
Management System (New York Times) |
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This sister web-based application
of Adtimes2000 uploads logos for classified ads, categorizes them
and stores them into the New York Times legacy system. The Logo Management
System (LMS) utilizes the same interface concept as Adtimes2000 but
was modified for cross platform versions of IE 4.0.
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Martha Stewart Downloadable
Desktop Application Prototype |
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The desktop application
provided a consistent stream of prominently branded content. This
dynamic content consisted of tips or "Good Things" delivered from
Martha Stewart. Four core content areas: garden, food, home, and crafts,
rotated daily, were selected to reflect the versatility of the Martha
Stewart brand. To leverage the e-commerce outlet, each message highlighted
a theme-based product available for exclusive purchase at MarthaStewart.com.
The result: a synergized system that yields subtle but definitive
branding. The client is a C++ application utilizes an IE browser control
and it supported DHTML to control its interface. The client would
query the host through an HTTP call to a designated address. An Active
Server Page creates content from the Martha Stewart SQL database producing
a page of information in a comma delaminated form. |
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Newspaper Association
of America |
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While classified ads look similar in many publications, each handles
ads uniquely. No uniform rules exist specifying what information
should be included about a given product, nor has there been any
overwhelming need for such rules in the past. Many publishers, including
newspapers, now offer classified ads on the web. They seek to share
and aggregate their ads with other publishers, in order to offer
advertisers a broader audience.
In order to exchange ads electronically, and to allow users to
search through them by keyword, a media-independent format and standard
structure is required. Ad text must be organized into a database,
regardless of its origin. To address these requirements, the Newspaper
Association of America (NAA), a nonprofit organization representing
1,700 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada, has codified an XML standard
for the electronic exchange of classified ads, and is currently
forwarding an industry-wide initiative for its use.
While at Zedak Corporation I provided technical expertise to the
Standards Task Force, and contributed to the development and documentation
of the Document Type Definition (DTD) for the adopted standard.
See Zedak White
Paper.
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Zedak
Corporate Website |
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To realize the business goals we set for Zedak, our corporate website
was redesigned with a bolder, livelier feel. The new bold interface
not only gained us recognition from existing clients, but also gained
the attention of prospective clients. We created a customer support
application that ties directly into Zedak's internal incident tracking
system in SQL Server with ASP, thereby giving Zedak's clients the
ability to track the status of their projects in real time. The
newly designed look is being incorporated into all of Zedak's marketing
materials and its internal corporate applications as well.
Zedak's public website supports external Intranet use for their
employees so they can search through Zedak's corporate databases
and submit timesheets online.
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