I’ve been thinking recently about generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs). These are Top Level Domains (TLDs) that are not associated with a country such as .us (United States) or .co.uk. (United Kingdom). Here are some of my thoughts:

.musuem – a bit verbose; I love museums, but I never thought they would want or need their own gTLD. Why not bookstores or coffee shops? I can see it now: www.starbucks.coffee. But what is there to stop the proliferation of niche gTLDs? And is this the proliferation of niche gTLDs a bad thing? Not in my opinion.

.pro – bad idea, but only a bad idea becuase of its restrictive rules. I’m a pro at what I do. So are consultants, engineers, programmers, professors, construction workers, waiters, chefs and teachers. It’s presumptuous for these domains to be limited to lawyers and doctors and the like, if not insulting. This domain could have been the next .com in my opinion if its rules limited its use where less restrictive.

.jobs and .aero – Makes sense. Self explanatory.

.coop – for Co-ops. This TLD seems to have pretty good potential for creative domain hacks.

.cat – for Catalan related websites – seems fair as Catalonia is part of Spain. Will this inspire other groups in other countries seek their own TLDs?

And what about .dog?

We are looking to put together a group of beta testers at large. If you are interested in beta testing our work before we release it to the public please send an email to us at beta@imulus.com

One of the most difficult elements to remove from any website redesign or software development project is assumption. Repeatedly, designers, developers and the client fall into the trap of seeing what they want to see. Failing to look at the project with fresh unassuming eyes.

One of my favorite methods for removing assumption is the persona. A persona is a profile of someone who will be interacting with a website. A best practice is to develop and define several user personas to gauge user interaction. A good persona is based on market research, or current customer profiles. For instance; in designing a website for denture cream you wouldn’t use the persona of a 18 year old male, who is an avid video game player. Personas provide a reality check. A good persona will put you in the shoes of your users.

Personas do not only apply to web design or software development. Personas can be used in any design process, from coffee makers to building design. How do you remove assumption from your projects?

Let’s hear what you think. Input, will be an ongoing feature of Insights where we look beyond our office walls for thoughts, advice and perspectives on projects we have in the oven.

In the hunt for information I stumbled on a report from Consumer Reports WebWatch and Stanford University on how people determine if a website is credible or not. While the report is a bit dated (2002) I believe it is still relevant today. As the report states, what consumers say is important and what they actually deem as important are two very different things.

Not unlike Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink people are quickly evaluating credibility based on impression. Almost solely on the design / organization of the site consumers will determine if they are dealing with a reputable website.

Click here for the report website