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20 Freshest Web Designs, September 2020

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This month we’re going big and bold. Oversized type, strong colors, in-your-face layouts, and little touches of playfulness exude confidence and make a statement. There are some quieter moments too, with thoughtful illustration and more gentle use of color. Animation still features strongly in the details, with circles proving popular in rollover effects. Enjoy.

Fledge

Fledge is a film production company based in Belgium. Their site uses split screen with looped text scrolling in opposite directions on each side. A minimal color palette adds extra punch.

2ºC Earth

2ºC Earth is a beautiful and also scary website that explores the effects of rising global temperatures by focusing on 5 specific locations. Some stunning photography and subtle use of sound take you to these locations as they are now, then show what they could become. The experience is both immersive and unsettling.

pill&pillow

Unlike many digital studios who use the design of their own site to demonstrate their skills, pill&pillow have taken a very basic approach. It is very self-assured, and it works. Random colored strikethroughs on visited links add a nice touch of playfulness.

Ferrum Pipe

Metal fencing is not the most interesting of subjects to most of us, but this site for Ferrum Pipe is surprisingly appealing. On scroll animation and some off-grid image layout brings life to what would normally be, well, a bit dull.

Lucciano’s

With its focus on mouth-watering photography and videography, the site for gelato makers Luccianos, will have you checking your freezer for any leftover salted caramel or stracciatella. The zoom on rollover is a nice effect, and the use of circles with ice cream color backgrounds for rollover text reinforces the gelato theme.

Björn Wieland

UI designer and artist Björn Wieland has created a portfolio site with a simple, relaxed feel and pleasing transitions. It feels simple, but behind the scenes there is quite a lot going on.

Coloursmith

Coloursmith is a tool from Taubmans paint company which allows you to create a custom paint color by uploading a photo. You name your color and can add a story, then you order a test pot. colors are presented well, in different light and with suggestions for complementary colors.

Finn 

Finn make diet supplements for dogs. Their site is fun, modern and clean. Bright colors and an illustration that manages to be cute but not too cutesy make a bold impression.

Highcourt

Highcourt is a new private membership leisure club set to open in New York in spring 2021. Dark blue text on cream gives a softer edge than black on white. The background color changes on scroll are pleasing, and simple line illustrations with occasional gentle animation add to the overall sense of calm.

Elevence

Elevence is the company of product designer Kazuo Kobayashi. The site uses only black, white, and grays allowing the color photos of his work to really stand out. Circular thumbnails are used to good effect, appearing on rollover.

Playtype

Playtype is a Danish type foundry whose site seems to fit their name. It has a playful, almost chaotic feel, with bright blocks of color and occasional animation. Some pretty nice typefaces too.

Neri Oxman 

Neri Oxman is many things: architect, scientist, engineer, inventor, and designer. This site feels like a really beautiful coffee table art book that you want to pick up and look through every so often. There are some nice details too, like the lens ‘reveal’ effect on rollover in a few places.

Modern Recovery

Modern Recovery is a project by sobriety program Tempest. The interactive illustration encourages exploration, to discover different stages of recovery from alcohol abuse and insights from others who have followed the program. The aim is to change our social attitudes towards alcohol and not drinking.

Bliss

Have you clicked on the link to visit Bliss Search? Yes, the link is correct, no you haven’t been redirected to a Google search results page. This Australian digital marketing company have copied the appearance of different well-known sites for their pages — Google, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tinder all make an appearance. The humor in this approach shows confidence, and makes it memorable.

Miilkiina

Miilkiina describe themselves as a digital media space and creative agency. Punchy typography, with great use of blackletter, well chosen images, and a strong header video give this home page an in-your-face edge.

Ukrainian Railroad Ladies

Ukrainian Railroad Ladies is a book by photographer Sasha Maslov. Its subjects are the, mostly, women who work as traffic controllers and safety officers at railroad crossings in Ukraine. It’s a simple site — outsized type, black and white, basic image grid, only very brief text — but it is effective in its simplicity.

Una Europa

Una Europa is an alliance of 8 European universities with the aim of offering joint research and study programs. There is some playful scrolling behavior with geometric shapes moving and changing color that enlivens what could otherwise be quite a dry site.

Bureau Cool

There’s a bit of an old school feel about the site of digital design studio Bureau Cool, with its recent traffic animation. The changing backgrounds on scroll are a nice touch.

Gridspace

Gridspace is a multimedia entertainment studio based in Montreal, and their website is a visual feast. Lots of movement, lots of video, some good use of sideways scrolling.

Nolii

Nolii make cases and accessories for iPhone that work together. The sorbet color palette complements the product colors and the block layout provides a visual reflection of the interlocking of the different products.

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The Latest Research for Web Designers, September 2020

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In today’s look at the latest research for web designers, we’re going to look at studies and reports from Payoneer, Robert Half, Hootsuite, and Contentsquare to see what they have to say about things like:

  • Current freelancer demand
  • Web designer earning potential
  • A change in ecommerce shopping trends
  • Unseen content rates

1. There’s Light At the End of the COVID-19 Tunnel for Freelancers

Payoneer’s The State of Freelancing During COVID-19 had to take a different approach to reporting on the freelancer workforce than in years passed.

Here’s why:

When 1000+ freelancers around the globe were asked how demand for their services changed during COVID-19, this was the response:

Less than 17% of freelancers experienced an increase in demand for their services and less than 23% saw demand remain the same.

An overwhelming majority of freelancers experienced a shrink in demand, with nearly 29% saying it slightly decreased while almost 32% said it greatly decreased.

However, the data collected wasn’t just assessed on a global scale. Payoneer also looked at freelancing demand trends in various parts of the world:

Notice the differences between Asia and Australia (who were hit with COVID-19 earlier) and North America and Europe (where the pandemic arrived a little later).

It appears as though Asian and Australian freelancers are, economically speaking, already starting to feel the effects of recovery from the pandemic with demand working in their favor.

So, if you’re feeling like there’s no end to the hardships you’ve faced during COVID-19, and were considering dropping your prices, hold on for just a little bit longer. Freelancers are starting to feel optimistic about demand for their services increasing. If you go devaluing yourself now, it’ll be hard to return to where you were before COVID-19 when things get back to normal.

2. Robert Half’s Salary Guide Breaks Down the Earning Potential for Web Designers

On a related note, let’s talk about demand from the employer’s point of view.

According to Robert Half’s 2020 Salary Guide for creative marketing professionals, there’s big demand for digital talent:

So, that’s number one. We know that almost 50% of hiring managers feel as though their digital teams are inadequately staffed. That’s good news for web designers.

However, these same managers complain about creative marketing professionals’ lack of up-to-date skills as the biggest barrier to hiring or retaining them. Although the report doesn’t say so, I’m going to assume this refers both to employees as well as contractors.

This should be a no-brainer. By keeping up with the latest web design trends and techniques, you can make top-dollar for your services — and hold onto those valuable client relationships for a long time.

According to the report, this is how much you stand to earn working in web design (in the U.S.) today:

If you’re eyeballing those salaries in the 95th percentile, then you know what you need to do. Hiring managers have spoken up about what’s holding them back from hiring.

For those of you who feel as though you’ve gone as far as you can as a web designer, it might be worth exploring a new specialty. Like one of the following:

As you can see, designers in the UI, UX, and interactive space (along with web developers) have the opportunity to make more money, even earlier on in their careers. You may also find that more job opportunities are available as you move into these niches (because of less competition), which might cut down on any demand issues you’ve been experiencing because of COVID-19.

3. Hootsuite’s Digital 2020 Report Reveals an Interesting Trend in Ecommerce

Hootsuite’s Digital 2020 report is always a great resource for learning about social media marketing trends. That said, that’s not why I read it.

It’s for hidden gems like these:

It’s no surprise that we’re seeing changes in retail and ecommerce during COVID-19. What is a surprise, however, is how consumers’ online shopping habits have changed.

Here’s what we’re seeing when we compare 2020 ecommerce data with the pre-COVID benchmarks:

Site visits are 1.7% lower than expected. That would make sense considering how budget-conscious consumers are right now. It likely keeps them from going on unnecessary shopping sprees.

Session durations are 3.3% lower. This could be related to fewer site visits. It might also indicate greater consumer confidence. If they come to a website with a plan for what they need to buy, they’re going to take a straight line to conversion instead of spending time window shopping that prolongs their session.

The number of transactions is 19.1% higher and the conversion rate is 21.6% higher. Considering shoppers aren’t spending as much time with ecommerce websites, this point suggests that there’s a massive shift happening from in-store shopping to online shopping.

If that’s the case (even if consumers are currently spending less money), that means web designers need to set their sights on the ecommerce space. With the holiday shopping season expected to start sooner rather than later this year, now is the time to get in there and make sure these sites provide as streamlined an experience as possible.

4. Contentsquare Studies the Unseen Content Rates By Industry

Contentsquare analyzed more than 7 billion user sessions globally to create the 2020 Digital Experience Benchmarks report.

There’s some interesting data in here about website traffic and conversion trends, but what I find the most valuable is the breakdown by industry.

It was this chart, in particular, that really caught my eye:

According to Contentsquare’s data, between 60% and 75% of a website’s content is unseen. Some industries fare better than others, like home supplies and luxury retailer websites, but the numbers still aren’t flattering.

For example, what does it mean when consumers miss 75% of a financial service provider’s content?

Does this mean that the financial advisory content — which I’m assuming comprises the bulk of the pages on the site — is useless or irrelevant? Or perhaps it’s an issue of discoverability since blog content and other resources often take a backseat to service and product promotion?

What about ecommerce brands in the apparel or beauty space?

If two-thirds of their pages are unseen, does that mean their websites are overrun with obsolete inventory? Or, again, is it an issue of navigability and discoverability around the store?

As a web designer, I’d suggest performing your own unseen content analysis on the websites you’ve built. If over 60% of your pages never get any views, you’re going to have to decide what to do with them:

Option 1: Fix the navigation or search function so people can actually find these unseen pages.

Option 2: Remove them from the site and make room for content your visitors actually find valuable.

Wrap-Up

As you encounter research and reports online — whether it’s written specifically for web designers or other creative professionals — spend some time looking for hidden gems.

As you can see above, there’s a ton of relevant research for web designers out there, even if it’s hiding behind the mask of a larger issue or matter. And it’s this data that will help you get a leg up on the competition since it’ll get you thinking about your business and your approach to design in different ways.

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Avec les solutions SAP Ariba, ERG digitalise sa gestion des achats et affirme son engagement en faveur du développement durable

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WALLDORF — SAP SE (NYSE : SAP) annonce que ERG, l’un des principaux producteurs d’électricité indépendants en Europe dans le secteur des énergies renouvelables, a mis en œuvre les solutions SAP Ariba pour digitaliser et unifier ses opérations d’achat.

En activité depuis plus de 80 ans, ERG a effectué sa transition du pétrole vers l’énergie verte en 2008 en produisant de l’électricité à partir de sources d’énergie renouvelables comme l’énergie éolienne, solaire et hydroélectrique et les centrales de cogénération thermoélectriques à haut rendement et à faible impact environnemental.

La digitalisation des achats vient soutenir les objectifs de transformation cloud d’ERG

ERG adopte des technologies cloud pour obtenir une infrastructure plus flexible avec une meilleure intégration, des processus améliorés, des mises à jour plus rapides et des coûts de gestion réduits. ERG a choisi les solutions SAP Ariba dans le cadre d’une stratégie visant à consolider ses achats sur une plateforme unique, rapprochant les besoins de diverses fonctions commerciales afin de partager des informations avec tous ceux qui en ont besoin au bon moment.

« Après une évaluation approfondie des solutions disponibles, nous avons choisi les solutions SAP Ariba pour leur facilité d’intégration avec nos systèmes SAP existants, et pour offrir à nos fournisseurs une interface unique à partir de laquelle ils peuvent se connecter et collaborer avec notre organisation et nos partenaires », a déclaré Anna Campi, responsable du contrôle de la planification des achats et de la gestion des fournisseurs chez ERG. « Depuis que nous avons adopté les solutions SAP Ariba, nous avons réalisé des économies considérables par rapport à la solution précédente. Nous avons également amélioré notre structure de qualification des fournisseurs par secteur de produits grâce aux solutions SAP Ariba, qui proposent une liste de fournisseurs beaucoup plus précise et plus fiable. »

Grâce aux solutions SAP Ariba Sourcing et SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance, ERG pourra collaborer avec ses fournisseurs tout en s’assurant qu’ils sont alignés sur ses principes organisationnels et son code de conduite. Elles aideront notamment ERG à évaluer régulièrement la conformité de ses fournisseurs stratégiques, qui représentent environ 80 % des achats de la société. Grâce à la collaboration en temps réel, ERG pourra améliorer ses marges d’exploitation et récompenser ses fournisseurs stratégiques pour leur conformité.

« Collaborer avec ses fournisseurs n’a jamais été aussi important qu’aujourd’hui, car les entreprises se concentrent actuellement sur la continuité de leur activité », a déclaré Chad Crook, senior vice president and global head of Customer Engagement and Adoption, SAP Procurement Solutions. « Avec les solutions SAP Ariba, ERG dispose d’un processus digital simplifié de gestion des dépenses de bout en bout sur une seule plateforme et d’une meilleure capacité de communication et de collaboration avec ses fournisseurs, qui lui permet d’assurer la conformité et la fluidité des opérations entre ses partenaires commerciaux. »

L’engagement d’ERG en faveur des énergies renouvelables et du développement durable

La société ERG est engagée en continu dans développement durable. Pour la deuxième année consécutive, elle figure parmi les 50 grandes entreprises les plus durables au monde, selon l’indice Corporate Knights Global 100, et est cotée à la Bourse de Milan. Cette initiative, et l’objectif que s’est fixé ERG de développer ses projets de production et d’achat tout en améliorant les processus de bout en bout, ont influencé ses achats. Conformément aux nouveaux principes écologiques de la société, le conseil d’administration d’ERG a récemment approuvé un code de conduite pour les fournisseurs.

 

The post Avec les solutions SAP Ariba, ERG digitalise sa gestion des achats et affirme son engagement en faveur du développement durable appeared first on SAP France News.

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La gentillesse est la contagion qui nous rassemble

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Avec l’afflux de stress et d’anxiété provoqué par les défis mondiaux critiques de 2020 – y compris la pandémie COVID-19, la lutte pour la justice raciale et un sentiment croissant d’incertitude économique – la détresse psychologique est en augmentation.

Quatre-vingt-dix pour cent de la main-d’œuvre actuelle est touchée par des problèmes de santé mentale. Même avant que la crise ne frappe, une étude de SAP, Qualtrics et Mind Share Partners, publiée dans la Harvard Business Review, a révélé que près de 50 % des personnes âgées de plus de dix ans et 75 % des membres de la génération Z ont quitté leur emploi pour des raisons de santé mentale.

L’état actuel du monde et son impact négatif sur la santé mentale pose un risque encore plus grand pour le bien-être et les performances des employés. Une étude récente menée par SAP, Qualtrics et Thrive Global a révélé que plus de 70 % des employés se sentent moins productifs et que plus de 85 % s’attendent à ce qu’une distraction accrue ait un impact négatif sur leur travail. Les entreprises ne peuvent pas se permettre d’ignorer ces sentiments.

Alors que le travail de n’importe où devient la norme et que le numérique se transforme en nouveau social, les dirigeants doivent trouver de nouveaux moyens de favoriser de manière proactive les relations humaines et les interactions sociales positives entre collègues. Auparavant, lorsque les rassemblements physiques n’étaient pas aussi menaçants, ces types d’échanges avaient tendance à se produire spontanément.

En tant qu’optimiste, je crois qu’il y a un bon côté aux difficultés existentielles et historiques auxquelles nous sommes tous confrontés. Il y a une opportunité générationnelle de créer un avenir meilleur en donnant la priorité à un nouveau style de leadership, qui favorise et crée une culture de la bonté sur le lieu de travail afin de se prémunir contre le déclin de la santé mentale.

Il a déjà été prouvé scientifiquement que la gentillesse est contagieuse. Et si nous utilisions l’idée de la gentillesse comme une contagion de manière positive pour lutter contre la contagion physique et mentale négative causée par le virus ?

Comment la gentillesse favorise le bonheur des travailleurs

La bonté est associée à l’amabilité, la générosité, la compassion et la bienveillance. Pourtant, ces mots doux ne reconnaissent pas la force et les compétences interpersonnelles de ceux qui pratiquent la bonté envers les autres et envers eux-mêmes. La gentillesse est la capacité surhumaine que nous avons tous. Elle est gratuite, facilement accessible et illimitée. La bonté ne signifie pas toujours être au service des autres ; elle peut aussi signifier être bon envers soi-même. Même un simple petit acte de gentillesse a le pouvoir exponentiel de changer le monde et d’améliorer considérablement notre bien-être émotionnel et physique.

Pour renforcer notre engagement et notre dévouement à diriger avec gentillesse, SAP participe à la troisième campagne annuelle #BeKind21, organisée par le réseau de partenaires SAP Purpose Network, la fondation Born This Way de Lady Gaga. La campagne, qui se déroule du 1er au 21 septembre, invite les universités, les entreprises et les organisations à but non lucratif, ainsi que les particuliers, à participer à des actes de gentillesse quotidiens et à contribuer à la construction d’un monde plus gentil, plus courageux et plus juste.

En s’engageant dans un acte de gentillesse intentionnel tous les jours pendant 21 jours, la campagne #BeKind21 encourage les participants à faire de la gentillesse une habitude, à s’engager à faire preuve de compassion et à favoriser un lien authentique. Elle permet aux gens de traiter la gentillesse comme un verbe et d’agir consciemment pour remonter le moral de leur entourage.

Tout au long de la campagne, nous partagerons notre calendrier avec 21 suggestions quotidiennes sur la façon de pratiquer la gentillesse. Organisez un déjeuner virtuel avec un ami, faites rire quelqu’un ou envoyez un mot gentil à un être cher. Commencez votre journée en notant trois choses dont vous êtes reconnaissant. Prenez du temps pour vous et lisez un article inspirant ou quelques pages de votre livre préféré. Offrez-vous un moment de détente en faisant de la méditation. Jouez un rôle actif en exprimant votre compassion pour vous-même et pour les autres.

Ces actes de gentillesse se perpétueront et inspireront les autres à faire de même.

#LifeatSAP

Chez SAP, nous nous sommes engagés à construire un lieu de travail où les employés peuvent se mettre entièrement au travail. En tant que dirigeants, nous pouvons donner l’exemple de la transparence et et de la vulnérabilité comme des forces. Commencer une réunion en demandant simplement comment vont les collègues ou en les remerciant pour leur travail crée un sentiment de connexion, en particulier dans un lieu de travail virtuel, où il est facile de se sentir distant. En partageant nos propres défis, nous pouvons ouvrir la porte aux autres pour qu’ils fassent part de leurs préoccupations en matière de santé mentale et fournir un chemin d’accès aux ressources pour y répondre.

La technologie peut être un allié pour renforcer la culture et la rendre plus tangible. Un exemple en est une nouvelle application développée pour faciliter l’interaction humaine et atténuer la solitude et l’isolement ressentis par de nombreux employés de SAP. L’application interne connecte les travailleurs à distance via un chat vidéo pour des déjeuners virtuels et a organisé un barbecue virtuel pour 1700 employés, avec un boucher, des recettes et des instructions détaillées. Des chats virtuels au coin du feu, des dégustations de vin en ligne et des projections de films ont également permis aux employés de se connecter. Ces types d’activités peuvent améliorer considérablement la santé et le bien-être des employés.

Passez à l’action

Rejoignez-nous pour déstigmatiser la santé mentale et répandre la contagion de la bonté sur le lieu de travail et dans le monde, en commençant par les personnes avec lesquelles nous interagissons chaque jour.

Engagez-vous à #BeKind21.

Vivek Bapat est Senior Vice-President et responsable de l’expérience de la marque et de l’objectif de SAP.

 

Publié initialement sur news.sap.com en anglais.

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Real-Time Stock Data Using Marketplace’s API

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In this time of global economic turmoil, it’s more important than it’s ever been that your financial decisions are based on accurate, up-to-date, market information.

In a world where stock price is a key confidence marker, the businesses that attract attention, secure investment, and grow, are the ones that can demonstrate their value in a wider market.

Up to now, displaying accurate market pricing has been prohibitively expensive, needing direct access to a huge dataset, and the code to mine it. So we’re delighted to introduce marketstack, a real-time market data API that’s reliable, simple to integrate with your site or app, is lightning fast, and includes a free-forever plan.

What is marketstack?

marketstack is a REST API that allows you to access stock data for public companies at 72 global exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the London Stock Exchange.

marketstack delivers real-time market data, accurate to a single minute, ensuring that the information you base your decisions on, and the information you pass on to your customers, is always up to date.

There are more than 125,000 stock tickers, from over 50 different countries; you can query stocks, or over 75 different market indices; intraday market data is included, meaning you can monitor trades that close at the end of the day; you can even retrieve data about time-zones and international currencies.

Why Choose marketstack

marketstack uses cutting-edge technology to deliver market data in an easy-to-integrate JSON format, which is lightweight and incredibly easy to dig into.

Requests are made via a simple HTTP GET call, and all requests are run through bank-quality 256-bit HTTPS encryption. Whatever code stack you’re using, whether it’s PHP, Python, Node, or plain old JavaScript, marketstack provides comprehensive documentation to get your team up to speed in mere minutes.

The highly reliable cloud infrastructure can handle anything from a few dozen requests per year, all the way up to millions of requests per day. Regardless of the scale of your project, marketstack is robust and flexible enough to handle it.

It’s Not Just About Money

marketstack isn’t just about the bulls and bears of markets, in the tech sector specifically, stock price is an indicator of wider business trends and performance.

When Apple became the first US company to reach a $2 trillion valuation, not only was its stock price central to the story, but it indicated a trend in the tech giant’s dominance that went beyond cold hard cash.

When an eccentric billionaire makes outrageous, and ill-judged comments, and tanks his company’s valuation, the fluctuations in stock price are a big part of the story.

Beyond the spin of politicians, the market index of different exchanges is an indication of what analysts with in-depth knowledge really think during an election campaign.

With over 30 years of historical data, marketstack is a history of business, particularly the burgeoning tech sector, and makes that history available with a simple to use API.

marketstack’s Rock Solid API

marketstack’s API is built on top of apilayer technology, one of the most respected, and trusted API providers in the world, with a huge amount of experience delivering data reliably. Millions of API requests can be run through the API hourly, and it still has almost 100% uptime.

Any API is only as good as the data it supplies, and marketstack’s data is supplied by numerous high-authority providers around the globe, resulting in unprecedented accuracy.

As a result, marketstack is trusted by over 30,000 companies — including Microsoft, Amazon, Uber, and Credit Suisse — and 80+ universities.

Getting Started with marketstack

marketstack is entirely free for up to 1000 requests per month, with access to 1 year of historical data, as well as end-of-day data. No credit card is required to get started, and you’ll never be billed. This is the perfect option for simple integrations, or developers working on proof-of-concept builds. What we really like about marketstack is that the free package is genuinely usable. It’s not just a trial version that presses you into upgrading.

For anyone who needs more comprehensive data, packages that include market indices, technical support, and commercial use permissions, start at $9.99 per month, or just $7.99 per month when billed annually.

Head over the marketstack today to claim your free API key, and get started.

 

[– This is a sponsored post on behalf of marketstack –]

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The Convergence of Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence

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Introduction

According to a 2016 research by Mckinsey, it was revealed that the total annual external investment in AI ranged between $8billion to $12billion in. Statistically, this is a clear sign that AI is making a great impact in the global industries especially the financial sector. In other words, it’s a revolutionary impact in the financial industry can not be underestimated.

Blockchain, on the other hand, has also shown its immense potential in so many industries especially in the finance industry. In fact, it’s digital disruption is greatly impacting how so many businesses operate in our contemporary world. While so many industries are beginning to embrace the amazing options these technologies – Artificial intelligence and Blockchain technology offer – helping them to create more value,  boosting sales, and so on,  it’s interesting to know that the combination of both will positively revolutionize the future of the fintech industry.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

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How to Develop an End-to-End Healthcare IoT Platform

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Whether it’s heart rate tracking or a reminder to take medicine, the Internet of Things (IoT) has brought a new revolution in the healthcare industry. IoT is bridging the gap between doctors, healthcare facilities and patients by allowing them to connect remotely.

Grand View Research revealed that the global IoT in the healthcare market is expected to reach $534.3 billion by 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 19.9% over the forecast period. From personal fitness tracking products to remote monitoring applications and surgical robots, IoT has the potential to bring innovation to the healthcare ecosystem.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

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Interview: Redesigning the Empire State Building’s Website

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In 2019, to keep pace with an interior redesign of its visitor experience, the Empire State Building decided to redesign its website. Blue Fountain Media were engaged to deliver the project. With the new site launching, we spoke to Head of Design, Tatyana Khamdamova about designing for the world’s most famous building.

Webdesigner Depot: The Empire State Building is probably the most iconic building in America, if not the world. Were there any points at which you thought, “Oh God, this is too much pressure”?

Tatyana Khamdamova: Yes, of course, it was a lot of pressure knowing that people all over the world will be looking at your work. But with the pressure, we also felt excitement and pride that we got to work on such an iconic project. Just thinking that we are doing the site for Empire State Building made us feel proud of all that other work we did during our whole life that gave us the opportunity to be a part of this project.

WD: Blue Fountain Media is a large agency. Did you utilize the whole company, or was there a smaller, dedicated team tasked with creating the site?

TK: On a project like this one, you need the expertise of the team members from all departments in the agency. You want people to work together from the beginning to ensure that their knowledge helps to shape the project and produce the best possible outcome. It’s important for designers and marketers, for example, to be a part of the strategy and UX phase to provide their input which minimizes tunnel vision and generates more ideas. You can only achieve the best results if every single detail from strategy to design to development is done right.

WD: That’s a lot of people to coordinate. Did any roles naturally come to the fore, or is design leadership a quality that varies from person to person?

TK: Some people are natural leaders in their fields. But, sometimes a certain project requires people to take responsibility and show their leadership skills within the team. So I would say that it’s a quality that varies from person to person and doesn’t depend on a role or a title at all.

WD: What were the central aims of the redesign?

TK: ESB’s previous website did not reflect the level of design to match their iconic brand, UX was not user friendly, the content was outdated, and they wanted to grow online individual and group ticket sales. In addition to competing with global and NYC based tourist attractions, ESB was also faced with growing competition in the NYC Observatory market with Top of The Rock, One World Observatory, and Edge at Hudson Yards.

While the building underwent a $165 million renovation, BFM was tasked with creating a best in class website that reclaimed their iconic brand identity while providing an intuitive, and enjoyable user experience for both domestic and international visitors looking to learn about the building, exhibits, and the many ticket experience packages that they offer to visitors.

WD: How do you approach researching a unique project like this?

TK: We went to the source! First, we spoke to visitors of the Empire State Building while they were in line. What was their experience, did they use the website, what made them choose to visit the observatory instead of or in addition to some of the other competing observatories in the city. We then looked at other key tourist towers worldwide to see how they are positioning themselves globally to draw inspiration. We did in-depth stakeholder interviews that included folks working at the building every day and the types of interaction and questions they field from visitors. We conducted surveys of international travelers to understand their motivations and concerns. Finally, we dug into the website itself by testing using various protocols and platforms to understand the visitor paths, what they were able to easily do, and what tasks they may have found challenging. Drawing from all of those insights, we planned and designed the site using an iterative process.

WD: ESB visitors come from all over the world; how did you tackle designing for an international audience?

TK: People across the globe speak different languages, have different cultures and needs. Our goal was to learn about the audience and give them a site that looks and feels like it was created for them. Luckily we were working for the iconic building that is well known internationally and capturing the design aesthetic of the building itself already made the site recognizable across the globe. When working on the project we also were making sure that all users can see the information in their local language when they land on the site and have easy access to the language selector in case they want to change it. When you translate from one language to another the number of words and characters is not always the same. It was important to make sure that the site is designed and developed with an understanding of how the content will be displayed in other languages. With the localization help of our parent company Pactera EDGE we successfully translated the site in several languages and tested it to ensure that it looks right for the local and international audience.

WD: The famous view of the ESB is the external view, but your design feels more in keeping with the experience of the building’s interior. Was that a conscious decision?

TK: It was a conscious decision to create a site that makes you feel like you are visiting the building. Our goal was to make the visitor excited to buy a ticket and see all that beauty with their own eyes. But, if someone doesn’t have an opportunity to come to NY we wanted to make that online experience as close to the real one as possible. We understand that nothing will replace the actual visit to the Empire State Building but we wanted the website to feel real and by using the great photography and amazing Art Deco design elements, we were able to do so.

WD: How did you interpolate such a complex style as Art Deco into a functional site?

TK: Fortunately for us, our office is located a couple blocks away from the building and we had the opportunity to go there and see some of the details. We also had access to the great photos of the renovated hallways, exhibits, and observatory decks, which gave us the idea of how the Art Deco elements were used in the interior design of the building. We all know that interior design and web design have different needs and goals so it was an interesting challenge to design a site that makes you feel like you are inside the building without overwhelming users and that content is easy to read and the ticket purchasing process is simple and clean. We re-created a lot of design elements used on the ceiling, walls, and floor of the building simplified those elements and made them part of the website design. A lot of those elements were used in the background, call to actions, icons, and maps, and combined with the brand colors used in both interior and web designs we were able to give the site the Art Deco look.

WD: There’s been speculation in the design community recently that Art Deco may re-emerge as a trend in the 2020s. Having worked with the style, do you think it could benefit the wider web?

TK: This was a very specific design approach for a very specific project that takes us back to the 1920’s and emphasizes that era through modern twists in web design. I do not see how it can be applied on the web in general unless the client specifically asks for it, for example, architecture website, real estate, or furniture site. Every project is unique and has its own goals and style and there is no one solution that will fit all. As of today, The ESB is Art Deco in a sense and it truly owns that style.

WD: Can you share some details on the technology stack you employed?

TK: The site was built on the Drupal CMS, integrates with Empire’s partner Gateway Ticketing System, and is hosted on Acquia.

WD: Why Drupal? Does it have qualities that suit a project of this scale, or is it simply the case that BFM had the pre-existing expertise of Drupal to facilitate the build?

TK: BFM is a dev-agnostic production team and we always ensure we’re making the best recommendation to our clients. In this case, the previous website was built on Drupal, so in order to decrease the effect of a new platform rollout that would be unfamiliar to the internal ESB teams, we decided to keep the site on the Drupal platform. Luckily, Drupal is an extremely flexible CMS and the needs of the site perfectly align with what Drupal provides.

WD: With visitors from around the world, the range of browsers and devices you had to consider was vastly larger than most projects. Did you draw a line for support? If so, where was it?

TK: BFM constantly updates our list of supported browsers and devices to stay in line with changing technology trends and device usage around the world. We’re extremely lucky that our larger organization, Pactera EDGE, has deep roots in globalization and localization, so we leveraged their team to help us with all aspects of website visitors from the many regions around the world, including translation services and testing. Since this was a complete overhaul, we ensured the baseline standard for all devices was met and will continue to enhance as the future technology needs become apparent.

WD: The Empire State Building gets millions of visits each year, what sort of server resources do you need to throw at it to guarantee uptime?

TK: BFM is a partner of Acquia, and Empire State Building is hosting their new site with them. Acquia is a wonderful ecosystem built specifically for high performing drupal websites and provide many tools for their hosted sites to be able to handle fluctuations in visitors, traffic surges, and with the 24/7 support offered, they can easily manage the changing needs of worldwide visitors.

WD: Now it’s live, how does the new ESB site relate to its real world presence?

TK: The Empire State Building defines the New York City skyline. The world’s most magnificent Art Deco skyscraper, it’s a living piece of New York history and an instantly recognizable symbol of city culture today. The old site did not reflect the amazing interior and exterior design of the building and we had a chance to showcase the redesigned interior and bring more attention to the beautiful Art Deco design elements. We wanted to create the site to make you feel like you are visiting the building. By showcasing the exhibits, renovated halls, and observatories through compelling photography and architectural details, our goal is to make the visitor excited to buy a ticket and see all that beauty with their own eyes.

We’d like to thank Tatyana for taking the time out of her day to talk to us.

Source


Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

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EU Privacy Shield and the Future of Data Regulation-Compliant DBs

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On July 16, 2020, the European Court of Justice got rid of the four-year-old Privacy Shield agreement struck between the U.S. and the EU that had exposed Europeans to possible U.S. surveillance. The agreement had also allowed U.S. companies like Facebook and Google to store data about European residents outside of the region. 

This move is yet another great example of the EU doing “right” by their constituents and holding tech companies responsible for their users’ data privacy. The news also builds on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) leadership, extending its consumer protections and providing a model for the rest of the world to work from as global data privacy policies continue to evolve.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

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