Fresh Start Effect

daily thought

Happy 2019!

I have been reading up on the new year resolutions phenomenon. We all know that everyone starts with new intentions, but a few weeks into the new year, they vanish quickly. We fall back to our old habits.

But for so many people the new year feels like a new start. You can be that better person you always wanted to be. It is called the Fresh Start Effect.

According to the fresh-start effect, people are more likely to take action towards a goal after temporal landmarks that represent new beginnings. Temporal landmarks are days that stand out as being more meaningful than other days and generate a “fresh start” feeling that motivate us to achieve our goals.

And you don’t have to wait for the new year. You can start today. Every day is a chance to start something new or do something to improve.

Creative flow

daily thought

Recently I made my first painting. And I loved the process. It is an activity where you can completely immerse yourself in. And it is something where you are constantly switching state. 

Think of something you can make & make it with your own hands.

Add small details & then take a step back to look at the bigger picture.

Adding stuff & not overdoing it.

I loved it.

When do you experience creative flow?

My First Painting

Why I write this blog

daily thought

3 reasons why I write this blog …

  1. to become a better writer: I believe that training my writing skills every day will eventually make me a better writer
  2. to better understand my own ideas and thoughts. Putting an idea into words forces me to really understand what I am thinking
  3. I love to experiment with different tools. Having my own outlet gives me the opportunity to constantly test out new tools

The day there is no news

daily thought

The 8 o’clock news is always 20 minutes long. Somehow the amount of news is independent of the quantity or impact of the events that happened that day. 

News is relative. On a quiet day, the smallest remark is news. On days of national elections, that natural disaster at the other side of the world will probably stay unnoticed. 

Twenty minutes of news. That is what people expect. That is what has been programmed. That is what has been sold to the ad agency. 

I am looking forward to the day there is no news. The day there is nothing really important to say. The day the news stays quiet. And people can read, play games or just talk with eachother.

“Today there is no news. Have a great evening.”

What is important to you?

daily thought, leadership

To know what is important to you at work, try to answer these questions from Seth Godin:

  1. What are you doing that’s difficult?
  2. What are you doing that people believe only you can do?
  3. Who are you connecting?
  4. What do people say when they talk about you?
  5. What are you afraid of?
  6. What’s the scarce resource?
  7. Who are you trying to change?
  8. What does the change look like?
  9. Would we miss your work if you stopped making it?
  10. What do you stand for?
  11. What contribution are you making?

[Original post Seth’s Blog: Ten questions for work that matters]

Best Analytics Newsletters

analytics, insights

The field of analytics is changing rapidly. And for many analytics professionals, it is hard to keep up with all new developments. One of the best and easiest things you can do is subscribe to a couple of the best analytics newsletters. From that moment on you will have a constant flow of inspiration, tips, and tricks. Coming straight to your inbox. 

Here are my favourite newsletters on analytics that I recommend everyone to subscribe to. 

Continue reading

Marketing Insights Event – De Impactvolle Data Analist

analytics

[DUTCH] Afgelopen donderdag (2 februari presenteerde ik (samen met mijn collega Timothy Dieduksman) bij het Marketing Insights Event in Utrecht. 123 deelnemers namen wij mee in wat een Data Analist kan doen om meer impact te maken. Bij ING zoeken we trouwens nog meer van deze impactvolle Data Analisten!

De presentatie werd gewaardeerd met een 7,9 en vind je hier:



Teletekst: still my favorite newsapp

insights

Teletekst remains very popular in The Netherlands. In other countries (like Great Britain and Belgium) the local Ceefax initiatives have been shutdown. The succes of the Dutch Teletext app can be explained by the fact that the NOS (Dutch Broadcasting Company) released this app in the early days of smartphones.

And here are my three reasons why Teletekst still is my favorite app to follow the news:

  1. Limited: you only have to visit this one page to know what is happening in the world
  2. Speed: one Teletekst page is less than 1 kilobyte
  3. No ads: no annoying advertisements

As long Teletekst exists, I will be using it.

30+ UX Myths that debunk common web design misconceptions

insights

If you read this blog, you probably believe in building websites based on evidence, not false beliefs. If so, then you should read UX Myths – the brainchild of UX designers Zoltán Gócza and Zoltán Kollin.

This is what they say about UX Myths:

Our goal is to provide evidence in user experience design that can help stakeholders move away from design decisions that are based merely on beliefs and personal opinions. But you should still do your own research, check how your design performs.

We’ve collected a lot of research data, as well as facts, quotes and articles from well-known designers and web experts in order to debunk the common web design misconception.

Here are my personal favorite myths:

  1. People read on the web (myth #1)
  2. People don’t scroll (myth #3)
  3. You need to redesign your website periodically (myth #11)
  4. You are like your users (myth #14)
  5. Users make optimal choices (myth #15)
  6. The homepage is your most important page (myth #17)
  7. People can tell you what they want (myth #21)
  8. People are rational (myth #29)
  9. If you are an expert, you don’t need to test your design (myth #30)
  10. Success happens overnight (myth #32)

Read them all at uxmyths.com or download this pdf, print it and put them on the wall (a Behance project).

New Year resolutions

Geen categorie

First of all, I wish you all the best in 2016!

If you haven’t made any New Year resolutions yet, here is some advice from Dan Ariely: setup your priorities.

… I get a lot of requests for all kinds of time-consuming activities very day. In general I try to be helpful, but there are only 24 hours of the day and I already don’t sleep much. So, in reality every time I say yes to something I also say no to other things – and my sad realization is that my process for saying yes and no does not lead to a plate of activities that fits with my priorities. So, in 2016 I am going to try and figure out what my priorities are, and then direct my time in a consistent way with my priorities. …

Dan Ariely

So, what are your priorities this year?

[photo credits: Colin Knowles]

 

Webtrekk User Conference 2015 Berlin

analytics

Friday 29th of May I presented at the Webtrekk User Conference in Berlin, Germany. I talked about how you can improve the customer experience with the use of analytics.

I started my presentation with proving the German prejudice of Dutch people driving with caravans is just wrong!

You can see the presentation here:


Mobile Phone Share of Activations: Pie Chart Remake

visualization

Today Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) released the results of its research on mobile phone share of activations per manufacturer. You can question the validity of the research, but for now I’ll just assume the numbers are correct. CIRP bases its findings on a survey of (only) 500 US subjects that activated a new or used phone in the October-December 2014 period.

Their main conclusion:

Continue reading

How many people are publicly using Google Plus?

analytics

The answer is: somewhere between 4 and 6 million. This is a rough estimation (based on Google’s profile sitemaps) done by Edward Morbius.

I have visualized how the 2.2 billion Google+ profiles break down based on user activity:

Googleplus
How many people are actively using Google Plus? (data: Edward Morbius)

 

Edward’s findings are:

There are about 2.2 billion G+ profiles.

Of these, about 9% have any publicly-posted content.

Of those, about 37% have as their most recent activity are comments on YouTube videos, another 8% are profile photo changes.

Only 6% of active profiles have any post activity in 2015 (18 days so far).

Only about half of those, 3% of active profiles, are not YouTube posts.

That is, 0.2% – 0.3% of all G+ profiles, about 4-6 million users, have made public post in 2015.

You can find more on this analysis and the method he used in Edward’s Google+ post. There is one caveat: it does not include non-public posts or comments.

The graph is a Sankey Diagram and was made with SankeyMATIC.

[UPDATE] This post got some attention on Reddit, Business Insider, Slashdot, Boing Boing, Twitter and several other sites in Hungary, Greece, Poland, Brazil and again Hungary.

 

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30 Days to Data Storytelling

Geen categorie

30Days-to-data-storytelling

The people of Juice Analytics have created this great 30 Days to Data Storytelling.

 

It’s critical for analysts and presenters of data to share information in a way that people just get it. Enter data storytelling – a magical elixir to all your data communication woes! Well, maybe not quite. But you should be aware of recent efforts using this timeless approach to deliver information so naturally – through stories.

You should download, print and use it.