Apple Stats from Hanson-Developed Apps, Q1 2014

Apple Stats for Hanson Apps, Q1 2014

It’s been another three months of cranking out apps and tracking their usage (regular readers know we do this for all the apps we build, to augment the data that Apple and Android share with developers), so it’s time for another quarterly report of stats for Hanson-developed iOS apps.
Maria Simmons
Maria Simmons, Software Engineer
Chris Kujawski, Senior Metrics and Media Strategist
This pic asks: Could the Apple wearable be a watch?

Apple Wearable and Other 2014 Predictions

With the “Internet of Things” and physical computing becoming more popular, there’s been speculation that Apple will soon join the “wearable wars” and create an Apple wearable device. We’re always up for a little friendly competition here (such as our infamous cornhole tournament and chili cook off), so recently we polled Hansonites on their predictions for Apple developments. What do we expect to happen this year?
Apple Wearable and Other 2014 Predictions
Apple Wearable and Other 2014 Predictions,
Hansonites check out the new Oculus Rift at PAX East 2014

En Guarde! Couch Knights and the Oculus Rift at PAX East

While there were a lot of cool things demoed at PAX East 2014, the most exciting part of my experience there was getting to try the latest version of the Oculus Rift. The Oculus Rift, for the unaware, is a head-mounted virtual reality display. VR headsets have been forgotten about or made fun of since the mid-90s (rightfully), but the Rift shows that technology can now do the concept justice.
David Williams
David Williams, Sr. Software Engineer
Tools for inspiring great social content

Tools for Writing Great Social Content

Most community managers and social content pros will admit that writing fresh and remarkable content week in and week out can be hard. Very hard. Not only does the content need to be strategic, it has to strike the right balance of length, engagement, branded but not too branded, shareable, actionable, conversational...did I leave anything out? Oh yeah…and legal, it has to get by legal, too.
Private: Steve Dwyer
Private: Steve Dwyer, Connection Strategist
Android stats 2014 for Hanson developed mobile apps

Android Stats for Hanson Apps, Q1 2014

Spring has finally arrived here in Northwest Ohio, and with it our latest report of Android stats based on Hanson-developed mobile apps.
Maria Simmons
Maria Simmons, Software Engineer
Chris Kujawski, Senior Metrics and Media Strategist
Dave Rodriguez presents at the April 9, 2014 meetup of the Toledo Web Professionals

Exploring the New Frontier of Front-End Development

Last week it was our pleasure to host another meeting of the Toledo Web Professionals. Over 25 members of the local web development community joined us April 9 in the Hanson Treehouse for pizza and a presentation by our Director of Front-End Development, Dave Rodriguez, on “Front-End Development: IN SPAAAAAACE!”
Mindy Withrow
Mindy Withrow, Managing Director of Strategic Planning
visual representation of the design systems concept as the cure for responsively-challenged sites

Design Systems: The Cure for the Responsively-Challenged Site

In my previous post, I reviewed some of the characteristics of responsively-challenged sites. I ended with this mantra: To move forward, we have to discard the idea of web pages and instead create design systems. Tomorrow’s web will be designed and built from collections of content modules, each optimized to provide the best experience for each type of viewing device. Today I’ll outline a new responsive process that we’re using at Hanson to create a better end product with fewer wasted steps.
Dave Rodriguez
Dave Rodriguez, Director of Front-End Development
visual representation of the challenges of a non-responsively designed website

Is Your Site Responsively-Challenged?

This year, the world wide web turns 25. It’s been a long, sometimes awkward journey to adulthood (a journey I recently summarized elsewhere). From simple beginnings (check out the first website ever published), the web has grown up to change the world. Recently we’ve seen the web transcend the computer and become ubiquitous. That ubiquity presents a problem for people who write, design, and build content.
Dave Rodriguez
Dave Rodriguez, Director of Front-End Development
Hansonites pursue multiple forms of on-the-job training

School’s in Session: Keeping up with Digital

How do you keep up with the Joneses in the digital age? As a new intern at Hanson and a college student, every day I learn something new. However, you can’t stay in college forever, so once you’re on the job you have to find other ways to keep learning. This is especially crucial for those with jobs in the digital world because technology is constantly changing. I interviewed several of my colleagues to find out how Hanson employees stay sharp.
Lisa Wendel
Lisa Wendel, Intern
The Hanson team takes a selfie at SXSW interactive 2014

Recapping SXSW Interactive 2014

The 2014 SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin concluded two weeks ago, and you might call it a Hansonite’s paradise. Several members of our team were among the 30,000 that gathered to talk about a range of industry topics. Read their recaps.
Mindy Withrow
Mindy Withrow, Managing Director of Strategic Planning
visualization of how ibeacon proximity sensing technology works

Beacon, Lettuce and Tomato: A Tasty Intro to iBeacons

iBeacons are a common lunch topic here at Hanson. Not just because we’re developing with them, but because it seems everyone is talking about them lately: SXSW, The Washington Post, even Major League Baseball. But what is this technology du jour, how does it work, and what might it offer you?
Josh Jacob
Josh Jacob, Director, Mobile and Emerging Technologies
Panelists at SXSW 2014 session on "Should brands be part of the real-time conversation?", photo by Mike Osswald

SXSW 2014: Should Brands be Part of the Real-Time Conversation?

I started my SXSW 2014 Interactive experience in the AT&T Conference Center at the University of Texas where MediaPost’s OMMA hosted a panel titled “Should Brands Be Part of the Real-Time Conversation?” In our continuously-connected society, there’s no answer to me other than: yes, most brands and businesses must be available on-demand to intersect with consumers at a moment’s notice.
Mike Osswald
Mike Osswald, Vice President, Experience Innovation