Situated Research's Blog

These days, everyone is struggling to catch up on digital marketing.  In the rush, too much of the thinking is often left to impressive young web developers who seem to know a lot about all of the new technologies however they lack experience in functionality.

Your business on the web is far too important to leave to a bunch of techie people.  In their quest to show off their dazzling skills, the web developers often forget that your digital strategy needs to fit into overall strategy.  The result is usually wasted money and missed opportunities.

Here are a few simple rules that will help you get the most out of your web development and digital strategy. Read more »

2010 appears to be a breakthrough year for gaming technologies.  In case you haven’t heard, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and many others in the gaming industry have just announced their latest releases at this year’s E3 Expo in Los Angeles. The E3 press conferences revealed trends toward motion-based game controllers, 3D technologies, controller-less gaming, and an array of retro game titles that are back on the scene. Read more »

A critique of a common method used in video game usability research

Many video game usability practitioners employ a method to test usability within video games, called the ‘RITE’ method, short for Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE). Pioneered at Microsoft Games Studios and Microsoft Research, the RITE method has been adopted by many usability research organizations besides the teams at Microsoft.

While the RITE method has some advantages, such as the ‘rapid iterative’ ability to suggest changes to designers and test them in successive passes, it may fall short when looking for usability issues that lie beneath the surface. Read more »

Sid Meier is known as the mastermind behind some of the most respected and influential video games of all time, such as Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and Pirates.

But in his pursuit of conveying a realistic experience for players, he says his logical mind wasn’t taking into account enough what was going on in players’ heads.

“Gameplay is a psychological experience,” Meier acknowledged during his GDC keynote. Today he is director of creative development at Firaxis Games. “By acknowledging that gameplay is actually a psychological experience we … can end up with a better game.”

Meier outlined specific psychological elements that occur in players’ minds, such as “The Winner Paradox.” Game designers are supposed to give gamers a challenge, but the gamer at the same time expects to win. “In the real world you don’t always win, however in the world of games, you always win” in some capacity, Meier said. Read more »

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is concerned with helping to raise your website on a list of returned results when people perform a search for your business. In other words, when customers search on Google for a business like yours, how far down the list will your business appear? The closer to the top, the more likely potential customers are to visit your website. Read more »

Work with a reliable web-design company that can help you meet current and future needs.
by Michel Ann Sharritt

People are often in a rush to get something, anything, up on the Internet. Because the average business owner is inexperienced at web design and related terminology, website companies that are anxious to offer a cheap, yet profitable (to them) service, bring up a website on the Internet that may or may not help the client generate additional revenue…the goal of commercial websites. Read more »

Video by: Vimeo
Posted By: Situated Research, LLC

Thank you for attending today’s webinar. Usually I would post questions here but we didn’t have any today. So instead I will be posting our contact information as I could not show this slide in today’s webinar. Read more »

Here are all of the questions from Monday’s webinar. The low number of questions leads me to believe I answered most of your questions during the session. If you missed Monday’s webinar or would like to watch it again please visit: http://www.situatedresearch.com/webinars/recordings.php Read more »

Do you ever wonder what your customers think of your business? Are you meeting their expectations? Are there areas that need improvement? Will they like that product or service enhancement you’ve been thinking about?

All those answers and more are there for the asking. All you have to do is listen. Read more »

Here are the questions that I received today during the webinar. If you missed the webinar please visit our homepage on our company website to view the recording at: http://www.situatedresearch.com/webinars/recordings.php Read more »

Here are the questions that I received today during the webinar. If you missed the webinar please visit our homepage on our company website to view the recording at: http://www.situatedresearch.com/webinars/recordings.php Read more »

Here are the questions and answers from our May 22 webinar: Social Networking: How to Get Started.

1. How important is the inter-member relationship in social networking?

– I believe that you are speaking of the connections that you can have within a social network. These connections are very important as they will help you to spread information, share ideas, give you feedback, and even generate leads. Read more »