This is interesting on so many levels...
DiggExpose has combined -- what the cool kids call a mash-up -- Snap's web page image previews with Digg's tracking of what's being tagged online.
The site lets you choose which type of information display you would like. For each display, as you move your cursor around, the display responds. It's very intuitive. Here are a few screen shots of the options...
This one is my favorite -- it's a giant loop you can very quickly scan
This one is the default, a cluster.
Tile view ...
This rolodex style view reminds me of something available in Windows 3.0 that was also very intuitive.
Snap, the people providing the previews, have invited all their users to Digg the site. And on the Snap blog, commenters have started riffing on applications they would like Snap to develop along these lines.
This would all just be so much blah, blah, really, except for these things:
- Customers will use your product in unexpected ways, especially if it is digital. You can learn from this if you pay attention. Because some of it will reflect improvements. Some of it will reflect new market opportunities you hadn't thought about before. There might be alliances just waiting for your call.
- The notion of managing information feeds in a non-linear way is very appealing. It puts much more control in the hands of the recipient. It's not just a feed anymore, it's a buffet that you can quickly scan for the most appealing morsels.
Imagine being able to look around in a content heavy site in this manner. Something such as a bank web site, or investment information site. Even a hospital site, or a government site. I'd love to be able to access a catalog shopping site this way.
The existing navigation would be there, but there might also be a page where you can just sort through the images.
- The designer created several options for using the images. A cluster, which is fine if you just want to see what's happening in the Digg world. The tiles, for those who like their world to be a little more organized. And the loop and line for scanners.
Questions you should be asking:
- How are our customers 'mashing' what we provide with something else to make it better suited to their needs. And does this suggest a new product, service, alliance, or market?
- How can we give customers more control over accessing information from us? Especially online. Can we let them choose the display format? What about copying this brilliant thing, and putting a Snap image search on our content heavy site? We might even get some amazing PR from that.
- Do we have easy ways for customers to help us create our product or service? Can they post their ideas on our blog or bulletin board? Is there anywhere on our site that you INVITE people to tell us their ideas?
- How can we use images or graphics to help our customers navigate the experience better -- whether it is signage, or wiring instructions, are we making the information maximally accessible in the shortest possible time? Or are we still stuck on text?
- When was the last time we launched something and people smiled with delight, charmed that we were working so hard to make things better for them?
