Here, finally, must certainly be the last word on Angry Birds. Certified Human Factors Engineering Professional Charles L. Mauro has done an exhaustive report called "A Cognitive Teardown of Angry Birds," in which he breaks down, piece by ever-lovin' piece, the throw-birds-at-pigs game and just what it does to users and their experiences.
The whole thing is quite interesting if you're into user experience design, but the gist is that Angry Birds fits extremely well within our brains' "mental model" of what the game should be. Not only is that bird-tossing physics engine easily calculated into our cranium, but the game's bite-sized levels (which you can scroll across to re-check at any time) also play into our short-term memory programming as well.
And finally, Angry Birds nails down the visual experience by being both simple enough for almost anyone to understand, but just complicated enough to remember in an iconic way (so much so that the characters in the game have been turned into cakes, costumes, and even, um, bras. What Angry Birds did is no secret (and lots of other games have aped its look and aesthetics since -- that "star rating on tons of levels" feature is now an iOS standby), but Mauro has done an excellent job really breaking down point by point why this game is so astoundingly successful on a cognitive level.
[via Slashdot]
Analysis determines why Angry Birds is so popular originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
[After last week's post on A prelaunch page for your startup, Josh Ledgard of KickoffLabs reached out to point out his alternative. Here's more info from Josh.]
by Josh Ledgard
Co-founder, KickoffLabs
You need to start marketing your next great idea today. Technology is easy, but marketing is hard. You need a head start and hard work because…
1. You aren’t famous
Yup, if you were the co-founder of Facebook buzz will build itself. (See Quora) But you didn’t invent Facebook and no one cares what your building.
2. Your idea sucks
No one has the heart to tell you that in person. You have to prove otherwise. If you put up a landing page and can’t get anyone but your mom to ‘pay’ you with their email address… you need to go back to the drawing board. If you can quickly test and build an audience you may be onto something. Prove it.
3. You don’t know how to sell your idea
You don’t know what that pitch is yet. The pitch needs to be ready for the tech launch. You use code to test your software and a landing page helps you test your pitch. Improving signup conversion rates will improve paid customer conversion rates at launch.
4. Your idea has already been ‘stolen’
A lot of people worry that sharing their idea early will lead to theft. Sorry. It’s already been stolen. Good ideas are not unique. Secrecy is irrelevant. Pitch, execution, and customer experience are the things you can claim uniqueness on. Transparency helps refine those things.
5. You can’t do it yourself
Creating a signup landing page before you launch isn’t just about getting customers. It’s about finding partners. Engage signups to find testers, partners, & complimentary ideas you never would have received if you held onto everything.
6. You aren’t rich… yet 
Do you have $20k to blow on generated traffic? Probably not. You need a head start. You need customers to find other customers for you. You need your idea to get passed around for free… relatively speaking.
7. Your SEO won’t build itself
Slimy consultants have tarnished the term. But it’s proven true that if you bring your URL up with the product launch you are starting with 0 SEO. It takes 2-3 months for search engines to start really sending you traffic. Get a placeholder up so you don’t start at zero. You don’t want to generate all the traffic yourself. You can’t. See #1.
8. You have no motivation
If your idea doesn’t suck and actual people start signing up and talking about what your building…it’s extremely motivating. Way more motivating than sitting in that dimly lit cubicle. A little social pressure can go a long way towards making your dream a reality.
9. You don’t know anything about your customers
They aren’t who you think they are. When they start signing up on your landing page you can start learning, quizzing, asking, and engaging with them. What you end up building will be different than you envisioned… but it will sell better.
10. Buzz doesn’t happen… you build it.
You can’t just expect customers to start talking about your idea and signing up. You have to encourage them. Customers respond better to direct requests if you want them to share something cool. You can make a gimmick that’s not sleazy.
If you liked this post check out KickoffLabs. We’ll help you find customers with a viral landing page in less than 60 seconds! Are you more of a do it yourself person? Build your own site and use our viral API. Our simple goal is to help every business find at least 5 more paying customers every month.
Like any good idea there are alternatives to the KickoffLabs service. Some are even cheaper. We differentiate ourselves by being simpler, supporting you better, and creating a customer referral platform that goes well beyond the landing page to include analytics, auto-responders, newsletters, and an API you can use well after you launch.
Epson Japan announced [JP] the so-called Moverio today, a see-through 3D head-mounted display (HMD), which is the first of its kind, according to the company. Think of it as mix between of NEC’s transparent HMD Tele Scouter and Sony’s cool 3D OLED head mounted display HMZ-T1, powered by Android OS.
The Moverio creates the experience of watching 3D (or 2D) pictures on a virtual 80-inch display that’s 5m away – while still being able to see what’s happening around you in the real world. Apart from the display itself, users get a small controller that offers 1GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot.
The Moverio supports MPEG-4/MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video files, including – side-by-side 3D images on its 0.52-inch displays with 960×540 resolution (it handles AAC and MP3 audio files, too).
Epson also squeezed Android 2.2, Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b/g/n (direct access to YouTube and a web browser), and a microUSB into the device.
The Moverio’s headset is sized at 205×178×47mm and weighs 240g, while the controller measures 67×107×19mm and weighs 160g.
Epson expects to initially sell 10,000 units when the device hits Japanese stores on November 25 (price: US$770).
Via AV Watch [JP]
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
