Infographic source: CurrentConfig, who also has a PDF version suitable for printing, folding and hanging on a toilet roll (should you know of someone who needs illumination on the proper technique).

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View Mashable’s Funniest April Fool’s Jokes

Once again, Google rocks it.

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I grabbed this guide to happiness from Facebook. I couldn’t read the credits, so if you know who created this simple-but-truthful flow chart, please let me know.

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Happy Valentine’s Day, and a tip of the hat to Chris Messina who shared this in his Flickr photostream and got a geeky kick out of it. It’s an Odopod Valentine.

P.S. – Annie, I would never let Google buy you from me.

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Things Real People Don’t Say About Advertising

While it’s sure to make you smile, especially if you’ve been involved in advertising or even commercial web projects, TPDSAA has a very real point. Too often we miss the mark when trying to communicate. We spend too much time on minutiae, and make too many assumptions that “we” know what our audience wants because we think they are just like us.

We Are Not Our Audience

Whether “we” means an ad agency, design firm or an individual simply trying to stake their claim on the Internet, “we” are not the same as everyone else. In fact, everyone else is very different from us. We are too close to the subject to see it through the eyes of the average visitor.

Over and over I’ve heard anecdotes of people recruiting their mom as the ultimate usability tester. The assumption is, if mom gets it, everyone will. Honestly, this is not far from the truth. We need to interact. We need to be genuine. We need to ask — our visitors, employees, members or customers — what they really need and want. And then, we need to give it to them.

I’m not suggesting design by committee, or worse, design by community. There is still a need for vision and creativity. Our experience and knowledge can help create a user experience that delights. Doing so requires a combination of that know-how and a willingness to listen and adapt to genuinely serve the audience.

Check out TPDSAA. I guarantee you will find at least a few photos you’ll relate to. And if you’re in a position to influence user experience, think about how you can avoid ending up lampooned on TPDSAA.

Looking to improve user experience? Here’s two companies I recommend:

• Adaptive Path provides a range of consulting services to help companies improve their user experience, as well as coordinating a series of events and conferences for user experience professionals.
• Creative Good also provides consulting services for companies who want to improve the user experience, supplemented by councils — groups of peers sharing their knowledge and expertise. The annual GEL conference (Good Experience Live) draws a range of creatives in a format closer to TED than an typical conference.

Meantime, I’m thinking about how I can apply the humor of TPDSAA to the realm of knowledge management. Stay tuned…

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Today is the Chinese New Year (for a few more hours at least, here in California). This year will be the Year of the Rabbit. Naturally I was compelled to commemorate the auspicious occasion with a visit to that quintessential restaurant of Chinese cuisine, Panda Express. Well, maybe not so authentic, but it was quick and cheap, and it just so happen that they gave me not one but two fortune cookies.

Fortune cookies are fascinating. About 3 billion fortune cookies are made each year, and the vast majority are consumed in the United States. They are an american invention, a derivative of a Japanese cookie co-opted and popularized by Chinese Americans. You won’t find them in China. And you can even order cookies with custom fortunes, although that seems a bit deterministic.

Even more fascinating is the psychology behind our fascination with those flimsy little strips of paper with whimsical wisdom and prophesies. I don’t know anyone who takes them seriously, but at the same time, even people who don’t eat the cookies will break them open just to read their fortune.

I’ll admit that I read them as well, and sometimes I even forget to append the words “…in bed” at the end.

Some fortunes I enjoy, and others irritate me. But most of all, I wonder… who writes these things? Is someone locked up in a room somewhere knitting their brow as they try to come up with a new twist on fortunes? Have they parlayed this into a full-time career?

The short answers are: Donald Lau, yes and no.

The New Yorker ran a story on Mr. Lau back in 2005. Lau was vice-president of Wonton Food, Inc. where he managed the accounts payable and receivable, negotiated with insurers, and and composed the fortunes that went inside Wonton Food’s cookies.

It’s a role he fell into without intent. The noodle manufacturer he worked for expanded into fortune cookies, buying a plant on Long Island and along with it, it’s aging collection of fortunes (“Find someone as gay as you are.” read one fortune dating back to the 1940′s).

Lau was chosen not for his writing ability, but simply because his English was the best of the group.

The full story is still a great read.

And my fortune today? “You will gain admiration from your peers…”

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A lot of sites have attempted to serve this up with a big heaping helping of irony and skip the linkback. I chose differently.

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Back in April 2009, some folks at Google did just that. They took a video camera to the streets of New York City to ask people “What is a browser?” Watch…

Clearly there is a disconnect between the tech-saavy and the rest of the world. So what does this mean? In my world, it means that those of us who create programs, web apps or devices need to do a much better job of simplifying, demystifying and educating. Certainly it means we use far too much “lingo” that is meaningless to most people. And it might not matter. After all, most people are getting around the Internet just fine even if they don’t know the proper answer to the question “What is a browser?” Should we care?

Well, I don’t we need to care that people use whatever new words we introduce (i.e. browser) but it does matter that people understand the basics. How do I get around and find the stuff that’s important to me? How do I avoid getting “tricked” by the bad guys on the web who want to steal my credit card number or my identity? And how do I make my computer, my mobile phone, and all my other connected devices serve me, and not the other way around?

Simplification

Keeping it simple has been one of the big reasons for the success of Apple. The iPod Shuffle doesn’t even have a screen. You just load it and play. The iPad is enjoying popularity with older people as well as toddlers precisely because it is so damn accessible. Not a lot of bells and whistles — it just works, and does it well.

In the world of the web, we don’t do so well. The web is littered with sites with dozens of choices all shouting for our attention. Steve Krug’s seminal book on web usability — Don’t Make Me Think (affiliate link) — addresses this problem head-on and largely on target. If you create websites or apps for any connected device, get his book and read it. If you’ve already got it, pull it out and read it again. The bottom line is that we creators and curators make things unnecessarily difficult for folks. Make it — and keep it — simple.

Communication

Some techies sneer at the newbies and their lack of what they consider basic web know-how. In their mind, the average Joe needs an education. Do they? Or do they just need someone to explain it to them? Both are close, but even better, why don’t we simply communicate better?

I’ve always believed strongly that communication is the responsibility of the communicator. In other words, if I want to communicate a message to you, it’s my job to do it in such a way that you comprehend and fully understand my message and it’s intent. We need to become better communicators.

Circling back to the video, Google thought a bit about this problem and figured there were some basics about how the Internet works that everyone should understand. They put together an online book titled Twenty Things I Learned About Browsing and the Web. The reading experience is very similar to using a Kindle or iPad, but just works in your browser. And the format of the book looks very much like a children’s book, which some people find charming and others condescending. But they get an “A” for effort.

As for me, I have my work cut out for me. My very field — knowledge management — draws blank stares from most people (who quickly regret having asked what I do). And many of the practitioners in the field have been raised on a steady diet of acronyms, obscure lingo and academic theory. It’s become part of their DNA, and they perpetuate this knowledge management geek-speak as a way to make themselves feel somehow a little smarter.

This reality is not unique to my field. The web makes it easy for almost anyone to become a creator, and we all have a long way to go. If we really want to reach people, we need to work on simplification and communication.

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Being the weekend, I’m sharing something a little more recreational in nature.

When I first bought my iPhone 3G (same day they came out), the lines were horrendous. But I did have plenty of time to learn about the new apps that were available. The Apple store employees were showing off their favorite apps, one of which was Midomi.

Midomi essentially let’s you find songs when you don’t know the name or even the artist. You can hold it to the radio and it will tell you the artist, the song title, the album and even provide links to YouTube videos and the ability to purchase the song on iTunes. But even more impressive, you can hum or sing a bit of the song and Midomi will find it for you… usually.

I didn’t really get the appeal of Midomi when the guy in the Apple store described it, so it wasn’t until a week ago that I downloaded it and gave it a try. The verdict? Midomi is FUN!

This week when I was driving to Dulles airport, I had the radio tuned to a classic rock station, and heard a song that I wanted to add to my personal library. I fired up Midomi,

Midomi records about 10-15 seconds of the song, sends it to their server and returns a list of matches. In my experience, grabbing songs from a radio was extremely accurate.

To purchase via iTunes, you must be connected via wifi. Since I was on the road, I just added a bookmark so I could return later and purchase the song.

Now for the real fun…

Midomi is useful, but the real fun begins when you try singing or humming a song. Lynn and I were cracking up as we tested the accuracy of Midomi (and our singing talent). Here’s how to play:

Get a few friends together. In round robin fashion, you challenge your friends to “match” a song from the band or artist of your choice. They choose the song, and sing or hum into Midomi. Who ever gets a match (or the highest match, if you’ve got a group) can decide the next challenge.

Let the laughter ensue.

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Seriousness is stupidity sent to college. – PJ O’Rourke

I don’t have any particular reason for sharing this quote, other than it caught my eye while reading today and wanted to capture it. My brain is too full to store it, so I’ll use this little corner of the web to do so. 

If you’ve got a good quote or anectdote about stupidity, please share!

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Nike Soccer has made a couple of shorter commercials from this, currently airing during the Euro Championship. Brilliant, and worth sharing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now — what would a first-person film of your life look like?

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NetDisaster doesn’t actually damage the site that raises your ire, but does give you a chance to harmlessly deface it with scribbling babies, nuclear bombs, meteors, pee, fried eggs, crashing zeppelins and more. It’s a cathartic experience that must be lived to appreciate. And a perfect way to kill 10 or 20 minutes.

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The video is amusing.

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