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Web design used to be just about computers. But with the initial rise of smartphones like the Blackberry and the iPhone, that began to change. Where once before a single website was enough, many organizations began enhancing their online presence by offering a special mobile version of their website. These mobile-specific sites tended to rely on a technique called “sniffing” to route users on known mobile devices to a different domain (often prefixed with mobile. or m. instead of www.) with a version of the site geared toward smaller screens and slower data speeds. These mobile sites typically offered stripped-down versions of the main site, with a simpler design and reduced content.

Since the first mobile-specific sites, however, a lot has changed. The number and type of mobile devices connecting to the Internet has exploded, with screens and resolutions at almost every imaginable size, from tiny, budget-priced Android phones to large, high-resolution tablets. And it’s not just the number of kinds of mobile devices that’s exploding — the number of users and the amount they’re using the web is exploding as well. With annual growth of over 16%, analysts predict there will be more users on the Web with mobile devices than PCs by 2015 (mobile device sales already eclipse PC sales). In the years beyond 2015, the mobile market is expected to dwarf the PC market at its peak.

All this has left web developers with a challenge, as the proliferation of devices has made it harder and harder to know exactly when to serve up a stripped-down, mobile-specific site.

The solution to this dilemma is called responsive design.

Made possible by recent changes in web technology, responsive design allows a website to change its formatting in response to the size of the screen it is being displayed on. Instead of loading a separate site on a separate domain, a responsive site simply adapts its layout for different devices. For example, a 3 or 4-column content-heavy homepage might display in two columns on a mid-sized device (such as a small tablet) and one column on a typical smartphone. While some content might be hidden or reorganized (such as suppressing large ads, or turning a navigation bar into a dropdown menu), generally a responsive site will offer the same content across all the different variants, rather than stripping it down.

A huge advantage of responsive design over mobile-specific sites is that, because responsive design keys in on measuring screen sizes rather than “sniffing” out the device itself, it’s future-friendly — which is to say, if several days/weeks/months/years into the future, some manufacturer releases a new, popular device at a unique size that hadn’t been anticipated when the site was first built (e.g. the original iPad), no new work needs to be done — the website will simply “respond” to the new screen size with whatever’s appropriate.

Of course, responsive isn’t perfect — because it is just guessing based on screen size, the website it presents may not be quite as optimized as a tailored-for-a-particular-device mobile site might be. What’s right for your organization depends on budget, business needs, and user behavior — it might be that a main “desktop” site coupled with a traditional mobile-specific site is just fine. Or, it might be better to develop a responsive site that presents itself in two or three different formats depending on screen size. A responsive design can be tailored to as many formats as you’d like to account for (seven is the most we’ve heard of, but three is probably sufficient in most cases).

For more on the details of responsive design, you may want to visit the following:

• The original article on Responsive Web Design
• 10 Examples of Responsive Designs
• Responsive vs. Mobile Site: Which is Right?

At New Signature, we’re increasingly encouraging our clients to think about the future — even if you don’t think you have many mobile users now, you will soon! — and plan accordingly by budgeting for a responsive design solution when implementing a new website. While there’s no guarantee you won’t want to change things in a year or two for other reasons — a organizational rebranding or shift in mission, for example — having a responsive site layout ensures you won’t be scrambling for a redesign with the release of the the next “it” gadget.

Working America’s “9 Demands of the 99%“, Center for Internet and Society, and Equality Michigan websites have won IMA Outstanding Achievement Awards.  The awards recognize that both these websites met and surpassed the standards of excellence that comprise the web’s most professional work. The judging consisted of various criteria, including design, usability, innovation in technical features, standards compliance and content. In order to win this award level, all three websites had to meet strict guidelines in each area — an achievement only a fraction of sites in the IMA competition earn.

The Interactive Media Awards are a highly sought-after prize, and this nod from IMA is a demonstration of New Signature’s ability to create world-class websites and capitalize on our close working relationships with our clients.  These awards further validate that New Signature is a leader in the interactive industry, able to effectively and efficiently develop powerful and appealing websites for our clients.

I was excited to hear that something new was going to be coming to the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP).  Mary-Jo Foley over on her All About Microsoft blog posted that Microsoft is adding a new virtualization component, which may go to beta this week, to its MDOP bundle of Windows business tools.  She goes on to say, “I’m hearing from my contacts that the next MDOP release will include a brand-new addition codenamed ‘Park City.’ One of my contacts described Park City as a “User Experience Virtualization” (UE-V) deliverable.”

MDOP is an incredibly powerful set of tools offered by Microsoft and it always surprises me how many people in the IT world aren’t aware of it.   MDOP is Microsoft’s swiss army knife, available as a subscription for Software Assurance customers, and includes: Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT),  Application Virtualization (App-V), Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V), Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM), Asset Inventory Service (AIS), BitLocker Administration and Monitoring (BLAM) and Microsoft Desktop Error Monitoring (DEM) 3.5.

UPDATE: 4/4/2012 @ 7:30pm

It is official!  From The Official MDOP Blog on TechNet Blogs, “Microsoft User Experience Virtualization and Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.0 Betas Now Available“.  Straight from the source:

We are pleased to announce that the beta versions of Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 5.0 and a new MDOP product Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) are now available for download from
Microsoft Connect.

UE-V is an enterprise-scale user state virtualization solution that delivers a user’s personal Windows experience across devices, is simple for IT to deploy, and easily integrates with existing management tools.

Some of the main features of UE-V are:

• Users retain their application experience without having to reconfigure applications when they log in from a different Windows instance – regardless of whether it is a rich desktop or virtual desktop session.
• Automatically delivers a personal experience to Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 8 based devices, giving users the flexibility to work from anywhere.
• If a user accidently applies unwanted changes, IT can simply roll back to the initial state.
• Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft desktop virtualization products to roam the user experience in heterogeneous environments.

The AFL-CIO Working for America Institute’s Trade Adjustment Assistance website has won an IMA Outstanding Achievement Award.  New Signature designed and built this online resource to help explain and promote the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.  The project was spearheaded by the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute in collaboration with a number of other partners.  The project was funded by the US Department of Labor under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

This award recognizes that the Trade Adjustment Assistance website met and surpassed the standards of excellence that comprise the web’s most professional work. The judging consisted of various criteria, including design, usability, innovation in technical features, standards compliance and content. In order to win this award level, all three websites had to meet strict guidelines in each area — an achievement only a fraction of sites in the IMA competition earn.

The Interactive Media Awards are a highly sought-after prize, and this nod from IMA is a demonstration of New Signature’s ability to create world-class websites and capitalize on our close working relationships with our clients.  These awards further validate that New Signature is a leader in the interactive industry, able to effectively and efficiently develop powerful and appealing websites for our clients.

“Use categories to organize your website’s content.”

Good advice – but what do you do with them after you organize? You have a page for each category that dynamically pulls in all the content you placed within that category because it will… do what, exactly?

Listed below are four very common ways to use the category page on your website.

1. General Information with Dynamic List

Your categories are created out of a defined list of ideas or issues that define your organization. The definition of the topics are important enough on their own that they require a dedicated page of content; this content will be static and not require frequent updates.

To structure this type of category page, you start with the stable information such as a description, FAQs, brochure, etc. After your users read the general information, you want them to go further into the topic. To create the flow, you then follow the description with a dynamic list of content for that category. This page not only educates your users on the basics, it also acts as a springboard into the richness of the content on your site.

A non-profit with a list of core issues is a prime example of usage. You are able to provide a basic level of education on the issue to new (and returning) users. Then you start the ladder of engagement by providing recent activities and news on the issue.

2. Curated Channel

The fantasy of many website owners, the curated channel “shows how much work we do!” Mind you, maintaining a constant stream of content is a lot of effort!

We are familiar with this technique because so many popular websites use it. CNN, ESPN, The Onion, Huffington Post, The Washington Post,  and Wired magazine all use curated channels. Each category is its own channel of content, with fresh content being added multiple times a day, and a staff to support it. You could theoretically pull the channel out to make it into its own website. For example, if you took the local section of The Washington Post and then spun it off as its own site, it would be a thorough self-standing website on local news in the D.C. metro area.

The stream of focused information in a curated channel may draw people to a category page on a daily or weekly basis. This approach works when the overall site is very broad (i.e. all sports or all news).

As previously mentioned, this type of category page is the most difficult to maintain.  You need someone actively adding and curating content. Typically each channel has an editor in charge of it, similar to the desk editors at a newspaper.

A common misstep is to try to take a successful website on a niche topic – such as Baltimore transportation – and expand it into channels. If you implement curated channels prematurely, it results in dead-looking category pages because of the gaps in time between articles being published.

If you are curious about moving your category pages towards curated channels, as a trial run, setup Twitter accounts for each category and tweet links to the articles and other content. It will give you an idea if you really have enough content to keep each Twitter account active, and if you have the workforce to support it.

3. Winnowing

When I am shopping for a lounge chair on department store’s website, I immediately click the furniture tab. I am using the furniture category to winnow – to rid of the unwanted parts – the items displayed.

Among retail websites, winnowing category pages is a common strategy. When a retailer has too many products across too many areas, they need to help people quickly reduce the set of products. These category pages are just the starting point. After a certain point, facets become useful to start narrowing among the other attributes such as price, color, brand, etc.

4. The Archives

This classic strategy presents an archive of content.  When a user selects a category, a list of content is presented, often in reverse-chronological order. Archives are built in to most content management systems (CMSs).

With advances in search engines on websites, an alternative to the archive category page is to direct the user to the search page with the facet for the category preselected.

The live online demo is on Thursday, April 12, 2012 at 1:00 PM ET, will last one hour, and will be led by New Signature’s Matt Alofs.  Register now and don’t miss this opportunity to see the features and benefits of Office 365 in action—and how this next-generation, cloud-based service can help you transform your organization.

With Office 365, you can create an “anywhere” workplace that supports employee needs and helps your business maintain a leading edge. Please join us for a one-hour webcast and live online demo showing how the Office 365 suite of tools—including professional email, calendars, instant messaging, video conferencing, and file sharing—can transform the way you work.

By attending this live demo, you’ll learn:

• How you can use Office 365 to build a connected workplace that’s accessible from virtually any location and any device.
• How you can enable employees to work interchangeably from smartphones or laptops—with or without Internet access.
• Ways to customize Office 365 to fit your organization’s unique processes and needs.
• How the many features of Office 365 work together to help save you time and money.
• Why Office 365 provides robust security features and the reliability you’d expect from a world-class provider.
• How Office 365 allows IT administrators to stay in control—of user access, user accounts, and deployment across the organization.

This event is jointly hosted by Microsoft and New Signature. Office 365 specialists will be on hand during the demo to answer your questions via a live chat Q&A.

Microsoft has recognized New Signature’s leadership in public cloud computing through a Partner Case Study at Microsoft.com titled, “IT Solution Provider Boosts Revenue by 50 Percent with Cloud-Based PC Management.” As the case study summarizes, “To provide efficient, financially flexible desktop management services for customers, New Signature added Windows Intune, a cloud-based PC management solution from Microsoft, to its portfolio of solutions. Freed from maintaining physical infrastructure to provide PC management, New Signature increased its profit margins by 25 percent and its revenue by 50 percent. With more satisfied customers, the firm has solidified its reputation for creative IT solutions.“

Register now for UBM Channel’s “Keeping Up With the Cloud: Opportunities & Challenges for 2012 and Beyond” Virtual Event held on Wednesday, March 28th, 2012, from 10:00am – 5:00 pm ET .  “The Cloud Options in the Market Today” featured session will moderated by Robert Demarzo, UBM Channel, and will feature three speakers, including: Christopher Hertz – CEO, New Signature; J.J. Antequino – Partner Technology Advisor, Microsoft; and Don MacNeil – Managing Partner, Strategic SaaS.

Other featured sessions Include:

• Securing the Cloud
• Storage in the Cloud
• From the CRN Test Center labs
• SPECIAL SECTION – CRN Coolest Cloud Vendor Pavilion

Several years ago Craig Zingerline co-founded the very succesful website Bracketeers, which lets visitors create their own brackets on any subject.  The Sports Illustrated article by Phil Taylor, “My Picks? Pulled Pork, Joan Of Arc“, describes how Craig, “saw the craze around March Madness and how people seemed to be drawn to the whole bracket system. We thought there might be an opportunity to bring that into focus in areas other than basketball.” One virtual tournament on Bracketeers, to determine the best deli sandwich in Indiana, drew nearly 100,000 votes from the public. A current bracket for best Radiohead song has more than 10,000 votes. If you build a bracket, they will come.