Provoke

  • Good Onya!

    Good Onya!

    On Friday night I was the proud recipient of an ONYA – awarded to this website for ‘Best content (personal)’. The other finalists in the category were Alison Green of  WebWeaver for  The Gathering Archives, and Jared Gulian for  Moon over Martinborough. Sorry guys! What makes the ONYAs  so special is that the  judging panel…

    Read more →

  • Power to the People!

    Power to the People!

    A presentation from my archives – many of the points made in these slides are still relevant today. Extracts from a workshop at GOVIS 2007. This one-day intensive workshop taught attendees how to incorporate user goals and agency needs into the web design process. Workshop presenters: Zef Fugaz, Bob Medcalf, Elyssa Timmer. Feedback from the…

    Read more →

  • Kids Clothing Online: Shopping Experience

    Kids Clothing Online: Shopping Experience

    A presentation from my archives – many of the points made in these slides are still relevant today. Extracts from a 2006 presentation to one of the world’s largest manufacturers and retailers of kids clothing. We investigated their in store experience and how this might be translated online. E-Commerce for Kids Fashion Clothing from Zef…

    Read more →

  • leftovers

    leftovers

    It has been about six months since I changed jobs and now some of the projects my old team were working on at the time have started going public… This was my last mini-project during my last week at Provoke (ironic since I don’t eat meat!). I did the Information Architecture and Alastair Bruerton the…

    Read more →

  • Back to the Future

    The time has come for a change and it is with some sadness to tell you that next week is my last at Provoke. It has been an invaluable experience over the past 4+ years, but for numerous little reasons it is time for me to move on. It’s especially difficult to leave behind my…

    Read more →

  • who wants to save the world?

    The Imagine Cup encourages young people to apply their imagination, passion and creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference in the world today. Now in its sixth year, the Imagine Cup has grown to be a truly global competition focused on finding solutions to real world issues. The 2008 Theme: The Environment Provoke…

    Read more →

  • by jimi ! the critics have their say…

    Tom Coates Rowan Smith Zef conjured a web persona into Jimi Hendrix before we knew what was happening. The real Hendrix was better (I was hoping for Star Spangled Banner) but Zef’s one was a damn fine stand-in. wasabicube Jimi plays a mean ukelele during Zef’s 8×5 presentation Shadowfoot Robyn …as one of the few…

    Read more →

  • Getting it On! (@ Webstock 2008)

    Getting it On! (@ Webstock 2008)

      Thank goodness Webstock is over!  Too much of a good thing can corrupt the senses… Photo by wasabicube On Jimi Was that pre-recorded? No Was that his real hair? Yes Wow, who on Earth was that? My bro: http://www.tokerau.net Was it videod? See it on YouTube. Official version should soon appear on Webstock. Can I see the…

    Read more →

  • We’re On the Front Seat!

    Another little secret I’ve been sitting on for a while now (and can now reveal) is that Front Seat Media and Provoke Solutions have partnered to develop an innovative internet and digital TV platform.    By 2009 you could be languishing on the front seat too…"We can’t think of a more natural partnership than this…

    Read more →

  • Jakob’s Top 10 Provoked!

    I’ve been hinting for a while that we had big news for 2008 : and now the word is out! Provoke – Project Management, Information Architecture, Implementation, Development. Capiche – Visual Design.From Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, January 7, 2008 10 Best Intranets of 2008 The winners of the award for 10 best-designed intranets for 2008 are:…

    Read more →

  • It’s about the experience…

    It’s about the experience…

    While Provoke has a golden reputation for being leaders in Microsoft-driven solutions, this doesn’t restrict our dUX (Design & User Experience) team from crafting an awesome experience for other technology platforms. The most recently example is sustainability.govt.nz – with the information architecture, visual design and HTML/CSS templates created by Provoke (in close collaboration with the…

    Read more →

  • provoke strikes again

    Hang on a mo? Was that Mason ‘Chopper’ Pratt on the TV?  

    Read more →

  • auckland spoolfly buys lulu

    In case you’re wondering what I’ve been up to recently, here’s a quick update… Fly Buying The new site has a fresh visual design and an improved user experience. This is the first stage of an ongoing programme of work so expect some further enhancements in future (and yes, we plan to fix the flickering…

    Read more →

  • Unravelling Visual Design

    At Provoke we’re increasingly focussing on visual design and how this influences a user’s comprehension of content, interactivity and pathways. Moments before unravelling…Coming up with a nice-looking visual design usually isn’t the greatest challenge – the real magic lies in the delicate interplay between the brand, content, navigation pathways, interactive tools and how the visuals…

    Read more →

  • busy beavers

    My design team at Provoke have been busy creating mayhem… Congrats to Alastair who picked up Silver at the Best Awards last week for his Social Ticketing concept…   Isha (pictured below) has been finding new and creative ways to spread his fame – you can views his interviews with the likes of August de los…

    Read more →

  • Microsoft Awards Provoked

    Provoke took top honours at Microsoft New Zealand’s partner awards last week… Provoke won both the premier award for ‘Partner Solution of the Year’ (for our work on the Ministry of Transport intranet) – and – the ‘Business Productivity Solution’ award, beating finalists Polymedia and HP. Provoke was also a finalist in the Microsoft Technology Advocates…

    Read more →

  • Gadget Neglect

    Canon TX1 : Ingenious or insane – I’m not sure which…I’ve been so busy recently that my new (and first ever) digital camera sat unopened on my desk for 7 days… For just $NZ500 (plus an extra $80 for a 4Gb memory card) I’ve now got a camera which not only shoots stills, but also…

    Read more →

  • {press release} PROVOKE OPENS NORTH OF THE BOMBAYS

    Provoke’s new Auckland office has just opened on the back of six years significant growth in the Wellington market. Provoke Auckland have already started working with a selection of new northern customers and are currently looking to close their first big deal with a large Australian-based company. With a budget of seven figures over the…

    Read more →

  • reinventing dux

    reinventing dux

    I’ve been reinventing the deliverables for the Design & User Experience (DUX) team at Provoke… The many facets of design and user experience – user requirements, business goals, content models, site maps, information architecture, task flows, interaction design, visual design – and more… Trying to fit this all into one tidy package has proven a challenge,…

    Read more →

  • We’ve Been Skin’n

    The Provoke Design & User Experience team had some fun last week when we were given the opportunity to design some ‘skins’ for a beta of the new Sharepoint Community Kit blogging tool. The Community Kit for SharePoint is a set of best practices, templates, Web Parts, tools, and source code that enables you to…

    Read more →

  • Students Treated to Defensive Design

    The Student Job Search website has been relaunched, but at first glance you wouldn’t notice much of a difference… While the visual design has largely remained untouched – most of the work has gone in to turning a potentially arduous registration process in to something digestable and usable for both students and employers. Provoke’s ethos…

    Read more →

  • Hurricane Rentokil

    A hand drier has just been installed at the Provoke toilets, and it’s creating chaos… …all because of a string of simple usability issues. The source of the issue (arguably) is the paper hand towel dispenser. The towels are the big chunky variety – great for absorbing moisture and muck, but they don’t collapse down…

    Read more →