Do you "Like" or "Love" Facebook Pages?

Facebook allows brands to create pages so users can engage socially and receive additional benefits from the brand. This often requires users to "Like" a page in order to interact with the features.

Here's a few examples:
http://www.facebook.com/burtsbees
http://www.facebook.com/RadioShack
http://www.facebook.com/meanstinks

Brands have always relied on the loyalty of their customers and social media has totally changed the landscape of brand loyalty or the opposite, brand hatred. Many brands are learning that engaging in a relationship with their customers is the key to their success.

So why are we limited to just liking a brand on Facebook? There are people who are very passionate about a brand, you know who you are. You defend a brand like it's your little brother or sister. You take personal offense when someone bad mouths your beloved brand. You strut around in clothing with the brand's logo like you own the company or something. It's kind of ridiculous, but most of us have at least 1 or 2 brands that we have better relationships with than some family members.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could "Love" your very favorite brands and distinguish yourself from those thousands of people who only "Like" the brand? After all you defend your brand at the bar, at the round table sessions in the garage, during family arguments...I mean gatherings, maybe you should take it to the next level.

Would you like to "Love" that Facebook page instead of a mere "Like"?
Can you think of a brand that you would "Love" on Facebook, if given the opportunity?

Is User-Centered Design Dead?

I recently read this article about social personas and watched a video that outlines the future of design. The article defined how user's behaviors have changed (social behavior) and the video discussed how design solutions will change in the future by taking focus away from user-centered design. OMG SSDD.

Listen, there is no doubt that users have changed, social media influences everything and any end-solution (website, app, etc) must consider everything that influences the user. I will also concede that technology will evolve and how a user interacts with an environment will change in the future.

But!
The core approach to users must remain intact. Develop an experience that efficiently enables a user to complete a task or set of tasks and design an environment that aligns with the user's values and needs.

Whenever you take your focus away from the user, whatever you're developing will fail.

Proud to be an American

During my time in the Navy, there were some scenes that were avoidable. One of the most riveting and common events would be at a bar, club or any environment that enabled drinking.  Pack a place with military personal and alcohol and sometime between midnight and 2:00 am the same thing would always occur. I'm sure some of you with an uncanny need to stereotype are already thinking, a bunch of drunks getting into fights and being belligerent.
Wrong! "Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood is played and within seconds almost everyone would be on their feet screaming the lyrics, while I'm sure it didn't sound very good, it was guaranteed to send chills through your spine.

If you were never in the military or part of a military family, you cannot completely comprehend the sacrifice and loyalty that it takes to do such a job. You have no idea what it takes to execute a complex military operation and unless you are there, you never know the complete story and you don't want to know. You probably don't know that military personnel take an oath and part of the oath states "...I will obey the orders of the President of the United States...". While serving in the military, the President of the United States is your ultimate boss and it doesn't matter if you hate him or love him.

As citizens of the United States of America, you don't need to know these things, you get to enjoy a life of freedom and hopefully a sense of security, which is just fine.

It wouldn't hurt for some people to understand how our government works. It wouldn't hurt for some people to understand that some military operations require an executive order from the President of the United States. So if you think that President Obama didn't give the order to carry out the operation to kill Osama bin Laden, you're clueless and that's your right.

I'm not a fan of President Obama, but he did give the order and for that action alone, he deserves recognition.