Archive for the ‘Search’ Category.
Although there is probably no such thing as a guide to new product or service design, I tried to summarize the lessons learned from 14 years of working on and around new service designs in a presentation to marketing students at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) this morning. You can find the presentation here.
Anametrix a next generation cloud-based business analytics company, announced the launch of InstaVista(TM) 2.0, a significant service upgrade. Advanced data filters, security settings, and customization options drive the content of on-demand dashboards that are smarter than spreadsheets and faster and less expensive to implement than traditional business intelligence (BI) solutions. Anametrix InstaVista(TM) provides immediate actionable insights from pertinent data assets through an appealing and exceptionally intuitive Software as a Service (SaaS) user interface.
A friend of mine just took on a new position: Chief Of Cloud. What seems like a natural development to him (and me), might strike my mom as blasphemy. Mom: “Jim did not replace the god you are worshiping (or any other for that matter)! Cloud is a reference to Cloud Computing. Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like a public utility (WikiPedia).” (Still a blank stare from mom.)
Although still fairly new, Cloud Computing is fast becoming a dominating way to develop software and store data. Therefore we can expect more Chief Of Clouds in the future (although I told Jim to trademark the term ;-).
According to Hitwise Facebook overtook Google in market-share although Alexa still ranks Google as the most visited website. Since Alexa’s data source tends to be more comprehensive/accurate Hitwise probably jumped the gun but might be right in upcoming months.
Google now lets users crunch public data with the data visualization tools it acquired when it bought Trendalyzer from the Gapminder Foundation (see my March 2006 entry ‘Qualitative Data Analysis‘). The ‘Public Data Explorer‘ is a new solution in Google Labs that lets users create interactive charts using data sets from the World Bank, the U.S. Census Bureau, California Department of Education and 13 other agencies. The GUI – in typical Google fashion – is rudimentary. And there does not seem to be too much data in there yet. Still I could have used that for my presentation on cultural differences last month.
