The MindMill

Distraction ± interaction

Chances are, you don’t jump online to search around for ads to click on. Usually, we’re skimming through content that interests us. That’s the beauty of the online experience, you don’t have to sit through any commercials or bullshit to get to the information you’re seeking. All the while, online advertising does it’s best, by means of Flashy animated banners and rich-interactive media, to divert our attention so they may deliver their marketing message. Most people, like myself, simply choose to ignore their efforts, mainly because we prefer not to be interrupted from the current online task at hand.

It’s no surprise that a 2% click-through rate on an online banner is considered standard (and somewhat successful). Online viewers simply do not want to be pulled away by an advertisement they have the power to avoid. Unlike TiVo technology, we are still exposed to the ad, but due to it’s unobtrusive placement among site content, we can just as easily avoid being sidetracked by simply choosing not to interact.

Now, being that I work in the online advertising world, I understand the copious amounts of unit sizes, serving functionalities, and rich-media technology available to inundate the viewer with impressions. But all these impressions have no impact unless they either:

A) Offer some sort of valuable message that hits the target right on the mark.
B) Leave a positive (and memorable) brand impression
C) Engage the user long enough to entice them to click and learn more – ultimately convincing the viewer that YOUR MESSAGE is more important than the content they were already seeking out before stumbling across your ad.

Meeting at least one of those requirements is a pretty tall order, left mainly to chance to be met by the eyes of your target viewer. Maybe the solution is easy – allow the user to simply save your ad (even if they are mildly interested) to a Bookmarks folder to come back to later if they so desire. Based on the user’s preferences settings, the older links can auto-remove themselves as time goes by.

Clicking a banner adds new link to the "Saved ads" folder in Bookmarks of the browser.

Preferences can be set to simply launch the destination link of the ad in a background tab, which allows the user continue at their own pace, interrupted.

QR Cards

If you’re like me, you never forget a face. Yet, putting that name with the face of the person you’ve only recently met is frustratingly impossible. The same holds true to the mandatory ritual of exchanging business cards after an initial business meeting. Often, the aftermath results in a desk-corner piled high with a salad of business contacts – none of which offer more value than a simple name and number. For some people, that’s all you need, but I’d rather alleviate my mnemonic downfalls in exchange for a more personifiable association with my Contacts.

If there was a simple way to cross-reference some sort of database via a “saved trigger”, all the information you’d need could easily populate itself directly into your Contacts list. This “trigger” would need to be easily acquired, unobtrusive, and require little or no recollection to access to really be worthwhile. Rather than the exchange of tangible pieces of cardstock, it should be captured and saved by more intelligent means.

Trade shows have used similar technology for years. Strolling attendees need only present their lanyard-connected barcode to the vendor and you’re all set. It’s a simple cross-reference look-up where you put a plain ID# with a database of variable information. All you need is a simple interface, ideally one that most people already own, to begin the process of effortlessly exchanging robust information.

A viable option is the already established Quick Response (QR) Code technology. Simply print an encoded ShotCode on anything and you have a quick reference to 49-bits of data – all easily accessed via a mobile phone with built-in camera. Throw in some simple data management software that syncs up with an online database and you have an incredibly effortless solution to keeping track of all the people you want to keep in contact with.

Some initial ideas...

Single card can contain multiple contact info. Can also be encrypted via online database reference if necessary.





The ability to capture multiple contacts in one shot. People can purchase branded ID cards that reflect thier personal taste for social networking purposes.





Example of finally putting a name with a face via online database reference tied to a QR code. Can be integrated with the widely used Contacts functionality of Microsoft Outlook.

GPS HUD

Those who have rented cars in unfamiliar areas with an even more unfamiliar driving destination will usually opt-in for the omniscient guidance of a GPS system. Gone are the days of tangible media as means of navigation, which services such as Google Maps may attribute themselves to as catalyzing the death of. Yet, the old-school paper-folded road maps and ever-popular Epson printed MapQuest.com solutions have one major flaw in common: the unsafe annoyance factor.

How many of us have approached a point in a highway fraught with a maze of exits, interweaved in a manner that requires an array of split second decisions in order to choose the correct path? Forget the chances of winning this puzzle with 100% accuracy while driving solo with a crumpled Yahoo! Maps printout in hand. Though your chances are greatly increased with a co-navigator in the passenger seat, their ability to quickly dictate directions while paying attention to the cars current position on the map only further adds to the unsafe annoyance factor.

Now, throw the usual GPS peripheral into this situation. If human beings could concentrate on a subject in two separate locations visually, like a chameleon, the dasboard-based GPS unit would be ideal. But aside from the astute female robot voice throwing out confusing commands under the noise of the radio, the GPS screen’s animated position of your car’s relative position to it’s calculated trajectory on the map does help alleviate some of the confusion for making snap driving decisions. Yet, due to its small size and poor location among the lights and switches of the dashboard, the annoyance factor still exists.

Maybe the military got it right when they developed heads-up-display (HUD) technology to improve their pilot’s ability to search out and destroy. Is there still an annoyance factor with a transparent overlay obstructing the driver’s view? If successfully navigating through hostile territory at the speed of sound (via HUD as an aid) is a valid example for debunking the previous question, then possibly GPS HUD for the civilian market may be a step in right direction.

Below are a few comps displaying some ways to integrate GPS HUD into the windshield with real-time perspective mapping to decrease obtrusiveness.

Used in conjunction with in-dash illuminated display, the annoyance factor is greatly reduced – allowing driver to focus complete attention on the road ahead while anticipating any sudden changes in direction via the green drive path simulating distance.