Infographics « Skyron Blog

Time to rethink your online product demos – 10 examples for inspiration

by Yannis

|August 15th, 2012

Copy written by the marketing manager?
Design inspired by your annual report?
Interactions borrowed from PowerPoint’s Transitions gallery?
Built in Flash?
Voiceover done in the office with a laptop mic?
Sitting somewhere deep in your website, probably badly resized?

If any of the above describe your currently available product or service demos, the time has come for a radical rethink. If you are thinking of creating one, this is how not to go about it.

The demise of Flash and the unstoppable rise of HTML5 have led to a new generation of interactive demos, mostly created on a single page and requiring scrolling (by a mouse or fingers depending on your device) instead of clicking or page flipping.

For the baby boomers dominating the corporate world, the idea of endless scrolling probably sounds like an anathema – but it works. The linear simplicity of the scrolling action leads to a user experience that is much friendlier than asking the user to click on buttons, chevrons, curled corners, or even worse, clickable graphics embedded within the demo’s content.

Below, we list 10 examples of such demos that deliver their content in an arrestingly simple manner. It is worth noting that single page demos should not be confused with single page websites (although a demo is often treated as a website). We define a demo as a form of story-telling, with a beginning a middle and an end, that brings a topic to life.

No Comments

10 Interactive Timelines to Inspire Your Content Marketing

by Yannis

|April 16th, 2012

Bring your content marketing to life with an interactive timeline. We did some research on the topic for a client and below are our best findings.

British History Timeline

Visually interesting timeline created by the BBC and featuring zoom-in functionality and filters. It suffers a bit from the vertical text and the fact that there is no actual information provided until we zoom in.

The path of protest

Unusual pseudo-3D timeline created by the Guardian with information spread across the x and z axes. It looks good but it lacks any user controls other than navigating back and forth in time. Also, each link clicks through to a new page making this timeline more of a fancy index page rather than a contained experience.

Global Events Timeline

Visual extravagance created by the British Library. It features filters, favourites, screen shots and a carousel-like navigation mechanism. The layout feels a bit cluttered and the information included is a bit of a let down; it leaves you wishing it was as elaborate as the navigation.

Steve Jobs Timeline

A very simple timeline created by The New York Times. It would work a lot better if the markers on the timeline were easier to click on.

9/11 Memorial

Another pseudo-3D timeline featuring a long horizontal scroll. It has a nice feel to it, but it could benefit from a non-linear mechanism that allows users to jump to any point of the timeline without having to rely on the scroll-bar or wait for the animation to get them there.

History of Adobe

A busy timeline marking events with dots, like the BBC’s timeline above. And like the BBC above, the issue is that the main “dotted” view does not provide any actual information and therefore offers zero value to the user. A close-up view like in the 9/11 timeline would ensure instant user engagement.

200 Years of the New England Journal of Medicine

A very complex timeline featuring a number of navigation tools and filters spread across multiple axes. Parts of it look good, but overall the UX has a whiff of interactive CDs from the late 90s. It could benefit from full screen viewing, more legible text and simplified navigation.

U.S. Political Climate

Visually arresting interactive infographic combining a timeline with multiple layers of information. The upside-down text is a bit of a UX nightmare and the physical split between the timeline and the info wheel requires the user to go back and forth between the two to make any sense of it, but it looks simple and it almost convinces that it actually is.

British Prime Ministers

Created by No 10, this is the first non-Flash timeline we came across. It works really well, but is let down by the big image in the background that offers little value and makes the whole experience visually busy and tiring.

Target through the years

A simple timeline that features a neat filter and a series of flying panels holding the information. It works well, but the panel animation is a bit annoying after a while.

No Comments

7 Mobile Business Apps infographics to help you make your case

by Yannis

|January 16th, 2012

A year ago many companies we work with neither had allocated budget for mobile strategy and development nor saw the need for them. This year mobile business apps are all the rage. Everyone wants ideas, research, case studies, budgets, but also demonstrable value. Here are seven infographics about mobile business apps with lots of handy numbers. Unfortunately it’s all US relevant. We did try to find some UK stuff, but it seems that the infographic creation business this end of the pond has yet to pick up pace.

See complete infographic: Zendesk, 2011

No Comments

Posted in Enterprise|Infographics|Mobile

10 non-corporate infographic videos for corporate inspiration

by Yannis

|January 7th, 2011

I have been doing some research for a client around video storytelling with graphics and text (infographics). A well written, designed and executed infographic video can be a lot more captivating, memorable and effective than corporate, and usually unphotogenic, talking heads delivering the same message.

B2B companies, especially ones that sell complex services and products, are the perfect candidates for infographic videos . When your message is multi-layered, composed of a mixture of features, benefits, tips, results and testimonials, an infographic video will increase reach, boost recall and also help your audience to better understand what’s on offer. The video, being a portable asset, can sit on your website, on your YouTube channel, on your blog, in PowerPoint to open your presentations, or even on your tablet PC and impress people over a cup of tea.

Some of the topics are cause related, but our criteria when compiling the list have been 100% cause agnostic.