webqem blog

We have been working with iPrime (the digital arm of regional network Prime Television) over the past year to produce the “world’s first” town-specific, video-based social networking site. canberra.iprime.com.au is based on the premise of “Right here, right now” and provides local users with a one stop shop for all content relevant to Canberra.

iPrime were keen to move away from the traditional portal approach and as such we recommended using the latest technologies including Adobe Flex and Adobe Flash. This allowed us to build a rich, engaging site that users can navigate through seamlessly.

The Event module for Adobe Connect allows you to track Event registrations by campaign URL, giving you the ability to determine campaign effectiveness through analysing the sources of your registrations.

When managing an event you select the “Enable Campaign Tracking” option from the Registration Questions page to activate this option, then locate the URL for the registration page.

Copy the URL and modify the address, adding “?campaign-id=” to the end with an additional unique identifier and use that new URL in any correspondence you use for the campaign’s registration pages.

This process is explained in further detail in an Adobe TechNote: http://www.adobe.com/go/c886a790

At webqem we have a number of regular cycle commuters, so it was only fitting that we would participate in the National Ride to Work Day. Our new office has all the facilities needed to encourage cycling to work, including a bike rack, lockers and a shower.

On the day, there were five participants (it would have been six if not for an injury), and we rode in to the office in Neutral Bay from Balmoral, Brookvale, Cremorne, Mosman, and Pyrmont.

The webqem bike rack, one bike short of being full.

Unfortunately we were one bike short of filling up the webqem bike rack in the foyer, however since five of the team are regular cycle commuters it’s not the first time the bike rack has seen five bikes on it – so I am expecting it will be full one of these days!

This news will not come as a great surprise to many, since it happened a few weeks ago, but an issue with our blog recently has prevented me adding this rather important news.

Yes, we finally outgrew Office #2 and have moved on to Office #3. With twice as much room at over 350m square, we no longer have to work elbow-to-elbow!  Hooray! It’s a rather spiffy, brand new building on Military Road, not far from the old office. Pop in and see us sometime.  The new address is:

webqem pty ltd
Level 1
130-132 Military Road
Neutral Bay
NSW 2089

You can find all our details and a map on our website, of course.

… maybe you are one! We’ve got 2 positions we need to fill: one for general web sites and applications, and one specific to digital marketing. Responsibilities include:

• Communication with clients: taking briefs, liaison, providing WIP reports, etc.
• Analysing business requirements and helping shape the right online solutions
• Developing information architecture and wireframes
• Cost estimates, scheduling and project management
• Working with the designers and developers to oversee production and deliver the great results our clients have come to expect from us

… Interested or know someone? Give us a shout for more details!

Update: 16 November 2007

Thanks to everyone who applied for the positions, we have now successfully filled both!  

There is a great article on the Adobe site that explains the benefits of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). The article is based on research undertaken by Forrester and explains that many site owners considering RIAs have difficulty assessing their true value. This contrasts with research showing that well-designed RIAs can produce user friendly, visually interactive applications and sites and importantly a healthy ROI. We have had similar discussions with many clients and think that this article is required reading for anyone contemplating a RIA!

After receiving several interested comments related to the source of the barcode reader I created for the developer comp. last year, I had a chat with the powers that be here and we decided that the best option for all folks involved would be to opensource the code.

I have to tidy up the code to make it presentable and compatible with Flex 2.01 but expect another announcement in the near future.

*** Updated ****

Mike no longer works at webqem, and unfortunately there will be no further news on the barcode reader.

There’s a new Usability Consultancy in town (and by ‘town’ we really mean ‘the planet’!).

After many months of planning, well-known usability dude and all-round good guy James Breeze has resurfaced, launching Objective Digital.

“Oh, another usability outfit” we hear you say. And that’s kind of what we thought until we took a closer look at what James is promising. As well as the usual services you might expect from a Usability Consultancy, Objective Digital is offering cutting edge remote testing. A first for Australia. As James puts it:

‘If the product you’re creating is online, don’t gather your requirements, design it or test it in a lab; do it on the Internet’. James Breeze, Objective Digital’s founder.

… What this means in practice is that instead of your testing being tied to a relatively small sample of users in a testing lab at a particular time – it’s all done online. They recruit online, research online, report online and you can observe online.  Essentially – they can test anyone anywhere, globally.

We think that’s pretty radical… and should give new (and very real) meaning to the term rapid roll-out.

We’ve just completed a brand spanking new site for a brand spanking new venture… Digital Cadet.

An initiative of long-time Internet specialist Brendon Cropper, Digital Cadet is backed by the industry bodies and big names in online media. Aiming to address the shortage of skilled online media people, Digital Cadet provides an intensive 3 week course in market knowledge, practical training and industry mentorship.

We’re looking for an outstanding web designer. Got what it takes? The chequebook’s open.

We’re a relatively small team (15 people) and we have a lot of fun doing what we do for some of the biggest names in Australia including realestate.com.au, Virgin Blue, Land Rover, SEEK, Yahoo!7, E*TRADE and Allianz, amongst many others.

• Do you like the thought of working on varied projects from large corporate sites and web applications to funky flash sites and online advertising creative (Probably all in one day)?
• Do you want to work with a company that will value your talent, reward you and give you the opportunity to really make a difference?

If this sounds appealing and the following is TRUE of you:

• You can send us some examples of YOUR great work to look at and prove to us you know the difference between good and bad interactive design
• You can demonstrate a sound understanding of both usability design and visual design
• You think that sloppy mistakes and typos should be punishable by firing squad (read: ‘Attention-to-detail a must have’)
• You are a highly effective communicator with both colleagues and clients
• You think that initiative is not an optional extra
• You have a sense of humour

- then please get in touch. Email your resume and, vitally, your online portfolio to jobs@webqem.com.