POST DIGITAL

Instagram's Mystery Press Event: Instagram Direct

Instagram is holding a mystery press event. In advance of the the event, the company sent out physical Instagram images printed on canvas. Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom will be in attendance, which means the announcement should be big.

Live Blogging:

Instagram launches Instagram Direct, lets you share photos and videos privately with friends.  Rise of the private network?

Key Features: new messaging feature that lets users send text, video, and photo messages to each other privately.

"Communication is not about photography, necessarily. If we were about photography we're built into cameras, but we're not, we're built into phones." Instagram up to this point focused on photos and videos — "moments" — as Instagram calls them.

"Messaging adds a third dimension to the app that lets people communicate using words and to do so privately, if you'd like. Sometimes you want to be able to share not with everyone, but just with a specific group," 

 

 

 

Hybrid vs. Native

“Should I go Hybrid or Native?” It’s a question that’s being asked more and more frequently by both experienced and inexperienced mobile developers. What’s decided will have a significant effect on your budgets, capabilities, and the overall reach of your mobile applications.

This great whitepaper provides direction before deciding on a path forward. Proper education and a better understanding of what to anticipate before acting will help ensure your mobile strategy is properly aligned with your overall business objectives.

Click Here To Download This White Paper

Wonder

Wonder is what SAT prep should look like. Studying for the SAT is normally just plain boring. Wonder changes that. It makes SAT prep effortless and enjoyable using game-based learning, addictive mechanics, and cutting edge personalization algorithms.

Check it out at: http://wonderbeta.com/

[via wonderbeta.com & the beta list]

Re-imagining the Affordable Care Acts’s Insurance Exchange

Right as the U.S. government shut down on Oct. 1, the new national health-care exchange went live at healthcare.gov. The digital platform was intended to faciliate 48 million people who want to buy health insurance under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act.  In the first week nearly 9.5 million people visited HealthCare.gov but only 0.04 percent of them actually enrolled in a health plan through the site. Now after 3 weeks nearly 20 million Americans have now experienced the broken HealthCare.gov website first hand.

From Screens that don't load, to long waits via Web chats and disconnected databases the site is one of the most public technology SNAFUs in recent history.  It's important to note that Healthcare.gov isn’t just a website; it’s supposed to be a platform for building health-care marketplaces. Visiting the site should be as easy as it is to purchase car insurance or even purchasing a flight from Kayak.com


After hearing President Obama’s press conference and conducting an initial heuristics examination of the exchange platform, we decided to put the politics aside and unite our networks of digital professionals to help the administration fix and improve our government’s healthcare exchange.

I invite you to take action and join me and our all-star panel of digital design, user experience, and technology thought-leaders who will share their insights and ideas on how - together - we can improve the https://www.healthcare.gov digital experience for 48 million uninsured Americans.

Mark your calendars: On Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 1PM EST via a Public Google Hangout we will share what we have found and give concrete ideas on who this digital platform should be in service to the american people.

 

Research & Information Sources:

• Key Facts about the Uninsured Population: http://kff.org/uninsured/fact-sheet/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/
• Percentage of Americans Lacking Health Coverage Falls Again:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/percentage-of-americans-lacking-health-coverage-falls-again.html
• US Census: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/cb13-165.html
• 48 Million Americans Are Uninsured Ahead Of Obamacare Changes:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/census-uninsured-2012_n_3941339.html
• Health Care Law Fails to Lower Prices for Rural Areas:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/business/health-law-fails-to-keep-prices-low-in-rural-areas.html
• How to navigate the Healthcare Marketplace website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXf55gQibdk&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Problems with healthcare.gov: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsC7J7oTE-s&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Congress investigating Obamacare website problems: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIYpcZQ8rvc&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Obamacare technical problems continue beyond sign-ups:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb3jCZWLJv8&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Weekly Address: Enrolling in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o1N3ko4wPE&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• The Obamacare Website Didn't Have to Fail. How to Do Better Next Time: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-16/open-source-everything-the-moral-of-the-healthcare-dot-gov-debacle
• Traffic Didn’t Crash the Obamacare Site Alone. Bad Coding Did Too. http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/24/traffic-didnt-crash-the-obamacare-site-alone-bad-coding-did-too/#ixzz2j5P9oHWG
• FEDERAL OFFICIALS PREVENTED LENGTHY TESTING PROCESS OF OBAMACARE WEBSITE: http://www.fastcompany.com/3020204/fast-feed/federal-officials-prevented-lengthy-testing-process-of-obamacare-website
• CRITICAL HEALTHCARE.GOV DATA CENTER CRASHES:http://www.fastcompany.com/3020746/fast-feed/critical-healthcaregov-data-center-crashes
• OBAMACARE IS HERE, BUT FOR MANY, HEALTHCARE.GOV IS NOT:http://www.fastcompany.com/3019012/fast-feed/obamacare-is-here-but-for-many-healthcaregov-is-not
• U.S. Government Fixes Copyright Violation in Healthcare.gov Code:http://mashable.com/2013/10/24/obamacare-code-copyright/
• Obama Plays Tech Support for Healthcare.gov: http://mashable.com/2013/10/21/obama-healthcare-glitches/
• White House Recruits Tiger Team to Fix HealthCare.gov: http://mashable.com/2013/10/21/healthcare-gov-fix/
• LESS THAN 1 PERCENT OF HEALTHCARE.GOV VISITORS SUCCESSFULLY ENROLLED IN AN INSURANCE PLAN: http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/10/less-1-percent-healthcaregov-visitors-successfully-enrolled-insurance-plan/72041/

 

Video & News Coverage:

 

 

 

SoundGap

SoundGap is a really cool personal notification service that notifies you when new music from your favorite artists and bands are added to Spotify and Rdio. based on your personal taste profile. If you a music love, this app will keep you from missing a music release again.

 

Sign up for the Beta at http://soundgap.fm/

Make Your Own Infographic Porn

 

http://visual.ly/

PSFK's 2012 Future of Retail

Contemporary shoppers demands are constantly evolving as they adopt new devices small enough to throw in a pocket or purse.

A few trends that continue to become common place are Service w/ Opt In, Shopper Coaching, Auto Curated Content & Fit with a Click.  Each of these examples is covered beautiflly on PSFK's Future of Retaill Report.  They also demonstrate how brand champions stay connected with the retailer long after they have left the store.

PSFK presents Future of Retail Report 2012

View more presentations from PSFK

Nike+ FuelBand & RGA Roar into Cannes

"Life is a sport. Make it count."

Yes it is and I try every day to make it count -- now I can keep track of how I make it count with My Nike+ FUELBAND.  I love mine. From the moment I got it I understood the motivational power of it. This is why it won the CyberLion.  This is the perfect example of the post digital world!

From RGA: Nike came to us with an idea: a device that tracks your daily activity and a common, universal metric called Fuel for every active body out there. They asked us to design the entire user experience. We ensured ease of use: set your goal, and get from red to green. If you meet your goal, animations celebrate your performance. Hit a streak and Fuelie shows up to cheer you on. Data visualisations show where you were most active daily, weekly, monthly, and beyond. We created Bluetooth synch technology so when you finish your day, your Fuel is wireless synced to the platform. NikeFuel levels the playing field, and fits into your life. #Counts

See their entry here: http://judgeseyesonly.com/nike-fuelband

 

The genious behind this is no matter what shoe I am wearing (adidas glide4) Nike+ is my personal motivator, eco-system and service i subscribe to.

ThingLink

This is such a cool little app! Upload your images, tag them with media, e-commerce and social profiles and share them with the world. It's easy and fun! ThingLink has lots of tags to play with - Flickr, Facebook, Soundcloud, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, TED, Eventbrite, Mailchimp, Topspin, Amazon, Best buy, Etsy, Spotify, iTunes and Mashable.  Try it!  http://www.thinglink.com/

uSpeak

uSpeak is a new playful way to discover and learn languages. The service is free, fun and gets you to fluency in no time.

 

Sign up for the Beta at: http://www.uspeaklanguages.com