With over 80 wireframes, 60 page templates and 4 videos delivered, this was no standard front-end design project. Our team essentially reverse engineered the OzForex site in scalable format – for 4 international sites – Australia, Canada, UK and NZ – as well as a standalone mobile version. The scale of functional improvements include a new currency calculator, very cool FX Dashboard, set of 3rd party partner tools and full deals application – in both website and mobile format.

Over a year in the making, it’s wonderful to see the end result live – and we’re looking forward to the feedback from users as they move to the new system.

From initial concepts in late 2009, through new information architecture, wireframes and workshops at oneworld’s headquarters in Vancouver, to the application of new branding and a completely rebuilt content management system – it’s been epic.

The launch went without a hitch and the results have already been very enthusiastically received – no mean feat given the number of entities involved in approval and sign off.

We’re already looking forward to a number of incremental improvements in the coming months and ever closer integration between the websites of oneworld and the airlines that make up the alliance.

ready2teach offers educators an informal, just-in-time approach that will help make the most of the Adobe licenses you have.  Being able to interact with the trainers in a “virtual classroom” means you can tap into a mine of information.  And if you can’t make the live sessions you can view them later anywhere, anytime.  The topics cover all the key aspects of Adobe’s Creative Suite so there’s bound to be something to suit every educator – in teaching, administration or research.

This is an excellent opportunity for all teachers to improve  their knowledge and skills, while experiencing the virtual classroom environment.

For educational institutions it offers a cost-effective solution – to provide training opportunities for all staff – while maximising the investment in ICT.

Find out more at: ready2teach.com.au

For more details you can read the Adobe article or call us.

Here’s a few mobile specific trends we’ve been noticing.

Sliding Galleries

Allows to easily navigate between multiple slides and frequently offers some fancy transition effects. This is especially useful in mobile layout because on a limited space you can display multiple pictures.

Photo Backgrounds
Large photo as website’s background creates stunning visual effect. Having an overlay of content the photograph faster conveys the story and brings a really great sense of contrast.

Dual Column Navigation

The style is remarkable for having a skeleton οf navigation menu split into two columns. Such layout perfectly serves many mobile sites as all menus are housed within the scope of a mobile screen.

Horizontal Navigational PanelsThe big trend around menus is the use of large horizontal panels, which are sure to be a mainstay in mobile design. They’re space effective and can considerably facilitate fingertip content browsing as the clickable area is larger. And they just seem to mimic the UI of iOS and Android, which makes for a comfortable and familiar interface for users.

Here is an incredibly minimal, but lovely and colourful portfolio site by Russian web designer, Alexander Zhestkov. One big long expanding page, which renders identically on mobile devices – is a incredibly simple but very effective approach. The tasteful colour palette and the small type are what make it work aesthetically, putting the viewers focus on the portfolio of work. If you dig the design, give the guy some support with some FB likes and Google +1′s.

Website for media companies usually fit into two categories – overly shiny and uninformative, or over informative and dull. We like how Diablo Media have rode a careful between the two. They’ve managed to put together a site that isn’t light on the content, but dressed up well enough that it is anything but dull. The single long page layout, crossed with a traditional horizontal navigation works well with the striking big images. The icing on the cake is the clean and modern typography.

Powered by the same core technology that runs Ooyala Everywhere, Ooyala Social enables publishers to grow audiences, boost engagement and drive revenue on the world’s biggest social network.

Built-in social features promote sharing and content discovery. And Facebook Connect-based authentication ensures viewers enjoy seamless viewing, whenever and however they connect. With Ooyala Social, users can:

• Share videos with friends and family, and chat while viewing
• Discover what their friends like and recommend
• Watch on nearly every kind of screen and device
• Rent or buy videos easily with Facebook credits

Facebook is just one piece to the growing social TV phenomenon. Ooyala envisions a future where video viewing, content discovery and engagement all have a connected social dimension—a future that’s enabled by Ooyala’s backend social API integration. Social meets big data, meets HD-quality video on all devices.

One of the first publishers to take the plunge with Ooyala Social, is one of our favorite movie studios – Miramax. The guys that brought you classic films such as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Good Will Hunting and Clerks – are now available to rent right within Facebook. You can even view them on any other device like a smartphone, tablet or connected TV.

You can imagine it won’t be very long before you will be able to leave the house with nothing but your phone, gone will be the days of fat wallets filled with prehistoric bits of plastic. This is obviously going to have a huge impact on traditional retail – but we suspect that Google have some interesting things in-store for online retail (ala Paypal).

We’re keeping a very close eye on this, interesting things happening.

Ross Forgione, CIO at Austereo Group Ltd, said, “We’re delighted with how Ooyala has made online video a real and simple success for us. And now Ooyala is an even better option, given it’s always better to do business with a company that’s investing in the local market.”

The Hamish and Andy Farewell Tour is available as an on demand recording at 2DayFM. The boys got the surprise of their life when U2 dropped by their last Thank You tour show. Check out the quality of the recording.

Arsenal is a digital brand, delivering multiplatform content, wanting to drive audience engagement and transactions, and to develop new insights into Arsenal’s fan base. They were looking for a comprehensive solution for delivering video on demand.

Arsenal recently relaunched their subscription-based services, which includes a major online video user experience overhaul in preparation for global expansion of their membership services.

Arsenal opened up a previously UK-only offering to their worldwide fan base, which saw their subscribers overnight going from approximately 20,000 to almost a quarter of a million.

The subscription service included both a £1.50 day-pass and a £36 annual membership. While Ooyala had previously powered the free content on arsenal.tv, it is now behind all the live and video-on-demand (VOD) content delivery on their redesigned Arsenal player.

The new player features an intermediate size player view which mimics a popular BBC iPlayer option.

See it in action at player.arsenal.com

To demonstrate the innovative and exciting ways that Ooyala is being used, we’ll be posting regular articles about companies and sites that are deploying video with Ooyala.

The most high profile example has been the partnership with ESPN.

Over the past few weeks, Ooyala has begun integrating its video technology into ESPN’s website and is now officially powering all of the streamed video content.  The launch covers all of their sport specific site sections within the ESPN domain (MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL, College Basketball, College Football, Soccer, and Nascar). In addition to those sport specific sites are their local sites (Boston, Chicago, Dallas, LA, and NY).

ESPN wanted to standardise their approach to multi-device delivery, centrally manage custom video players to comply with different business rules for different sites, and increase video impressions and viewer engagement with the faster loading times.

ESPN,  powered by Ooyala.

Off the back of an incredibly successful ‘Colour Match Countdown’ application, the game was repurposed to provide a competition mechanic around the OPSM sponsorship of AFL and NRL umpires and referees.

Players have the chance to win Grand Finals packages including tickets, flights and accommodation, priority seating and after parties.

webqem will use Ooyala to provide leading companies in the IT, HR and marketing industries with compelling online experiences. With Ooyala’s technology, webqem is offering companies with unprecedented control over online video experiences and valuable insight into analytics in order to increase viewer engagement and generate more revenue. Ooyala’s analytics deliver real-time reports on 500 different metrics, giving webqem insights into user viewing behavior, content reach, and global distribution and sharing. With Ooyala, webqem will be able to extend their reach internationally through engaging online video experiences.

“We have always been committed to delivering cutting edge web experiences that drive our clients’ businesses and set them apart from competitors,” said Larry Adler, Operations Director, webqem. “With Ooyala we’re now able to provide the industry-leading online video platform to our clients so that they can create rich viewing experiences for their customers across all screens, including desktops, smartphones, and tablets.”

Online video is being rapidly adopted by global organizations as they look to maximize consumer interaction and engagement. According to Generator Research, the global online video market is expected to grow by 225 percent to US $14 billion in 2014.

“As online video is increasingly adopted by every kind of global organization, webqem is ahead of the pack in offering premium video solutions,” said John Treloar, Managing Director of Ooyala ANZ. “We’re proud to work with them to make it possible for their clients to monetize content assets and make better business decisions regarding their video audiences.”

About webqem

webqem was born in 1999 to meet the demand for a professional, highly skilled web solutions company. With unrivalled experience in IT, online marketing and training, the webqem team provides leading edge, one-stop web solutions. We take the time to get to know what our customers really need, bringing with us a passion for the possibilities that the web offers. Servicing IT, HR and Marketing departments within leading corporations such as MLC, Allianz, CommSec and oneworld, we also work with many highly successful small businesses online.

About Ooyala

Ooyala is the leading online video technology and services company. Ooyala provides online video publishing, analytics and monetization to leading global companies to help increase revenue and engagement. With Ooyala’s comprehensive online video solution, content owners gain viewer insights that enable strategic business decisions. Ooyala has over 500 customers including global media companies and brands including ESPN, Dell, REI, Sephora, Bloomberg, Endemol, Fremantle Media, Telegraph Media, Vans, and Vice Magazine. Visit Ooyala on Facebook and follow @Ooyala on Twitter.

Watch his video to see all the new features:

Have a look at this article on smh.com.au that covers this from a small business perspective, and discusses the importance of being clear about what you want to achieve, so that you can communicate clearly with your target audience.

It is a great event that we’ve attended since 2009. It has over 500 attendees and is a great opportunity to learn, collaborate and network with others within the Moodle community.

Moodle is a Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is a free web application that educators can use to create effective online learning sites.

You can follow the progress of Moodlemoot 2011 via twitter with #mootau11 or you can sign up and attend the event.

iMoot is an annual web-based event where the Moodle community of over 32 million users are provided the opportunity to join together on a global scale. The event engages a global audience of Moodle practitioners, administrators and decision makers.

The goal of iMoot is to ignite the sense of community and sharing for which Open Source, and in particular Moodle, is famous for.  It’s a meeting of minds that enables the sharing of the best in each of us.

This years iMoot did just that. It saw 65 presenters from 6 continents deliver a staggering 110 presentations, 24 hours a day. The site blossomed from 0 to 544 accounts with a daily peak of 744 logins in a 24 hour period. There were over 500 tweets and dozens of blog posts.

Have a look at some of the great conversations that spawned from the event and join the community.