Going 'lively' online

By Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 20, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Updated October 20, 2008 at 9:31 a.m.

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Photo by Matt McClain © The Rocky

MJM045 President of EffectiveUI, Anthony Franco (cq) poses Tuesday 10/07/08 near the Microsoft Surface, which is an interactive coffee table that the Denver-based company is developing applications for. EffectiveUI is also prospering by creating interactive Web applications for such national giants as eBay, Discovery (Earth Live) and Microsoft. (MATT MCCLAIN/ ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS)

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Inside a dingy brick warehouse near Coors Field, a few dozen Web developers and designers work in front of computer screens in a cavernous room.

Some work individually, while others huddle in small groups or collaborate in pairs. Still others mill around a lunch buffet tucked in one corner - lunch is served to employees every Tuesday. Two large dogs sprawl on the floor near a small conference room in the back.

This is the headquarters of EffectiveUI, a 4-year-old Web shop that has prospered by creating interactive Internet applications for such companies as eBay, Discovery and high-school yearbook company Herff Jones. Today, the company has 85 employees and small offices in Rochester, N.Y., and Vancouver, British Columbia.

EffectiveUI developed Discovery.com's Cancer Collage, a multimedia presentation of people living with cancer, and

Discovery.com's Earth Live, a three-dimensional presentation of the Earth's environmental challenges.

It is one of only about a dozen Web shops selected to work on applications for Microsoft's Surface, an interactive coffee table computer.

And EffectiveUI created eBay Desktop, a spiffy new interface for searching and bidding on items, complete with desktop alerts when your bid has been trumped or a new item is available.

Web sites used to be static, text-based. Many still are. But thanks to advancements in technology, companies increasingly are making their Web sites lively and interactive.

Companies use terms like "customer engagement" when talking about this trend while also focusing on the traditional goals of building brand, generating sales and cutting costs through improved efficiency.

EffectiveUI President Anthony Franco has a consumer-oriented way of looking at it: "Users don't want to be engaged, they want to get something done," he said. "Interactivity for its own sake is useless."

To hear others tell it, that philosophy could be a big reason for EffectiveUI's success.

Hundreds of Web shops across the country are "business partners" with Adobe and Microsoft. Adobe and Microsoft rely on such shops to build applications on top of their software, which helps drive software sales. The shops often get early or beta releases of the software so they can play with it, test it and give feedback.

Mike Downey, a principal "evangelist" in business development for Adobe's platform business unit, said Adobe typically likes to spread work around.

But he said EffectiveUI is probably one of only about a dozen firms "we work with on a consistent basis" on projects using complicated enterprise-scale applications such as Adobe AIR and Adobe Flex.

A couple of years ago, for example, Adobe brought in EffectiveUI to work directly with eBay on its desktop application.

Downey said the people at EffectiveUI "really have deep, technical skills" in two key areas: the functionality or architecture of the application, and the design that creates a good user experience. He added that EffectiveUI does work quickly, meets deadlines and delivers on expectations.

William Tschumy, senior user experience evangelist for Microsoft, has similar praise, saying EffectiveUI "has been able to show off a real ability" in its interactive application work.

Downey said EffectiveUI also promotes itself better than many Web shops. EffectiveUI and Adobe co-sponsored an Internet application summit in the spring of 2007, and EffectiveUI was a major exhibitor and sponsor at the recent CSIA (Colorado Software and Internet Association) annual DemoGala in Denver.

"They're friends with all of us now," Downey said, noting that EffectiveUI executives recently visited Adobe at its California offices, showing a military simulation application built using the Adobe Flash 10 Player.

Downey said a bunch of Adobe engineers came to see the demonstration, donning goggles and headphones, watching and hearing a scenario being played out on a circular screen. EffectiveUI is developing the user interface to go with a military cultural training program for Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa produced by Intelligence Gaming Inc. for the Army.

"We're always fascinated by uses of our technology that we didn't originally dream up," Downey said. "And when someone walks in with virtual reality goggles, that gets people fascinated."

Ron Rogowski, an analyst with Forrester Research, in March wrote a report about how rich Internet applications - a term Adobe coined but now is used generically - can enhance online experiences compared with text-based HTML functions.

One of the "standout" examples, he wrote, is the Discovery Earth Live site created by EffectiveUI. Rogowski described the site as "offering crisp imagery and high-quality video" consistent with the Discovery TV channel.

"But the truly unique part of the site," he wrote, "is its highly interactive interface. Graphic overlays appear on a 3-D globe that users can spin with the flick of a mouse . . . The globe is more than a flashy gimmick: Site visitors can use it to engage with high-value content like environmental news stories and field reports from experts in environmental science."

Franco said the company looks for "humble, passionate and smart" employees. Most, though not all, have been hired from within Colorado.

Three employees the company picked to talk to the Rocky Mountain News said they all had worked for large companies before and were happier working at EffectiveUI under a structure they described as "flat" rather than hierarchial. They reported that it's not unusual for an employee to make a suggestion and be asked to run with it.

Sean Chrismann, who has worked at EffectiveUI for two and a half years, said employees aren't required to come into the office, but are encouraged to do so. He said the "open pit" results in employees talking to each other.

"Teams intermingle," Chrismann said. "No one is sectioned off. We have cliques like every company does, but we're not as isolated. It helps encourage an atmosphere of collaboration."

EffectiveUI may face its challenges amid the financial turmoil - experts have warned of an Internet shakeout.

But Franco noted EffectiveUI was a bootstrap operation, starting in his basement, it's profitable and it has never had to seek venture-capital financing.

"If we were focused on financial-services applications I think we would have closed (already)," Franco said with a laugh.

Even in the financial-services industry there may be opportunities. For example, he said the company is in discussions with a bank that hopes to save $100 million a year by expanding its customer self-service applications on the Internet.

smithje@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5155

Some of EffectiveUI's body of work

* Discovery.com's Cancer Collage that went with a Ted Koppel special. The Web site shows a reel of photos of cancer survivors spinning out from a globe. Users can click on a photo and read the person's story.

* Discovery.com's Earth Live. Field reports and information about the Earth's condition layered upon a spinning globe. A recent report featured researchers traveling to remote areas of Alaska to check on how rapidly glaciers are melting.

* eBay Desktop application. Desktop is a new user interface for people selling and bidding on items. One of the niftiest features is the ability to put the site in the background and get alerts on a desktop computer when you've been outbid on an item or new items become available. The site also features a large countdown timer.

* User interface for Intelligence Gaming Inc.'s RealityV, a cultural training exercise for the U.S. Army. A soldier dons virtual reality-like goggles and headphones, while RealityV plays a 360-degree video with audio. As the soldier turns his or her head, he or she moves inside the scenario. At the end of each situation, the video stops and the soldier is asked a question. Eleven episodes are being created, each with 18 decisions designed to build a soldier's cultural awareness of Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa.

* Microsoft's interactive Surface table. EffectiveUI is one of only about a dozen Web shops asked to build applications for the Surface table. The applications haven't been disclosed. Surface is being used at some hotels and casinos. At selected Sheraton Hotels in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Seattle, for example, users can sit in front of a Surface table in the lobby and book a restaurant with a virtual concierge, view a city map and create a sightseeing route, listen to customized music lists, and view other Sheratons around the country.

* An application for Herff Jones that enables high-school students to more easily design and lay out high school yearbooks, and send the Adobe page files electronically to the company.

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