Who’s Directing Customer Opinion – Swarm Theory

This approach leverages the idea of swarm theory. It explains why large groups act with directed purpose while individuals remain self directed. There is no central command pushing a particular outcome, the theory of swarm behavior relies heavily on the idea that monitoring relative change in the frequency of events determines future behavior.

The Future to Know Satisfaction?

Recently I heard the following criticism directed against online satisfaction surveys: "How do you really know that visitors' responses and commentary actually reflect what they are thinking?" The point the person was trying to make was that it's more useful...

Traffic Jams

One of the themes that resonates in visitor commentary across all industry verticals and that plays quite frequently into site satisfaction--whether it be in e-comm, automotive, hospitality, even government--is that sites need to load fast and efficiently. In an inversion...

Gone But Not Forgotten - I Hope

Today is my last day as an employee of iPerceptions and brings to a closure six very exciting years. Although I remain a shareholder of the company and will track its success as the iPSI index becomes the preeminent metric...

Putting the E in Democracy

Talking about governments and technology (other than in a military context) means stepping into an alternate world, where paper is still king. After all, we still scribble a check-mark on a piece of paper inside a ballot box to elect our leaders--an outdated means of communicating opinion, ignorant of the technological revolutions that have transformed the developed world in the last quarter century. A simple question: why isn't the internet being leveraged to make participatory democracy stronger and more user-friendly?

Presidential Music

Everyone knows that people’s feedback and opinions are important for companies. For politicians listening is just as or even more critical. As demonstrated through her recent YouTube outreach attempt, Hillary Clinton not only cares what any and all Americans think...

Congratulations, you’re an idiot.

I am sitting on an airplane, returning from a four day trip to Internet Retailer in San Jose. The show was fantastic. There were companies ranging in size from retail start-ups to Fortune 500, all there to share their knowledge of the space and interact on a common interest. I really enjoy these shows. They are a great opportunity to see what’s going on in segments of the market that I don’t typically spend much time in. Because of the general nature of Internet Retailer, attendees are exposed to a variety of vendors and solutions, ranging from e-com providers, to analytics, to marketing solutions and more. It is a hodge-podge of internet applications and solutions…and I thoroughly enjoyed being there…and it didn’t hurt to be in Silicon Valley either.

The Dark Side

What will become of the internet? Not so long ago, the fear was that corporate merger and consolidation would create a hermetically-sealed network dominated by content monoliths. Now, the opposite is not so difficult to envision: a virtual wasteland, marauded by spammers, porn site kings, and content bootleggers, operating on the backbone of a few laissez-faire and craven ISPs.