The ZURBlog is where we discuss interaction design and strategy.

More than a year ago we began a comprehensive redesign of TinyPic.com, sister site of Photobucket. As a free image and video uploading and sharing service, we faced a unique task of handling several requirements in our redesign. After several iterations, we ended up very happy with an improved two-column layout for viewing images.

Our layout for TinyPic created a great balance between ads, tools, and the media itself.

Imageshack, longtime competitor of TinyPic, recently redesigned their full view page, too. And it looks just like TinyPic—save for a few "changes" their team made.

Imageshack copies the layout and adds tabs, lots of inappropriate "related" images, and poor negative spacing.

When we designed this page, we went through several different layouts including different columns, ad placements, image/video sizes, and most importantly the calls to action. That's where this design really took off for us. We had three goals in mind for the page when we started:

1. Continue to monetize the page by serving up ads
2. Ensure that the media (image or video) comes first and foremost
3. Encourage sharing and uploading

We nailed each goal with this design. In our experience (with TinyPic and others), we have had a lot of success using med recs on ad-driven services. Even better, the large size of the images and video player, along with the "quick browse" at the bottom of the page, makes sure we're always thinking about your stuff. And with the unique toolbox area in the left column, along with an inline uploader for signed in members, sharing and uploading is our priority at all times.

TinyPic has some great minds behind the scenes, able to constantly improve the service, which is exactly what we've been helping them do. Their related images, the fast servers, unique tools (sharing, links, actions, etc) the cross-browser support, and much more give them the tools to pull this kind of layout off. However, Imageshack isn't able to create a sustainable environment on these pages. Tabs, ads, and random images make it rather dull, literally not what I want to see when looking at images online.

The fact that one of the other heavyweights in the same market as TinyPic has virtually duplicated our design shows that we did something right and—dare I say—revolutionary with our work. Moreover, our client's competitors are now trying to play catch up :).

We recently launched 5MinuteConsult.com for Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a business unit of Wolters Kluwer Health (say that five times quickly). The 5-Minute Clinical Consult is in it's 17th edition and is the medical professionals leading choice for trusted clinical content. It's a honor to work with a company that has a rich history- Lippincott is one of the oldest publishers in the United States and was founded in Philadelphia in 1792.

Social tools like Twitter and Delicious are typically associated with blogs and personal sites, but we decided in our project planning that they would be great for a number of business reasons:

1. We we're able to quickly integrate a few publishing tools without having to rely on their engineering team- this reduced the costs and overhead of bringing in another person.
2. The microsite can stay fresh with new content without much effort (5-10 minutes a day). It's a marketing site to drive clicks and centralize links in one location, so heavy content building is not necessary.
3. Using social tools instead of a custom CMS has the added benefit of creating inbound links on social websites (an SEO win). It also makes it easy to integrate these feeds across their other health related publishing properties.

Social tools are a simple way for businesses to get up and running quickly.

TinyPic is an image and video sharing service with a no-frills (registration-free) uploader. We've worked with TinyPic since last year and have had tons of fun working on great projects with their team. The latest feature to launch was themed member profiles. We had the pleasure of designing and coding the six starter themes.

Little Background Info

TinyPic first launched registration for their members several months ago and have since had much success in new sign-ups. Long time unregistered users were huge fans of the easy uploading process, simple sharing, and even vanity URLs. Many signed up in short order and were quickly enjoying enhanced features like editing, deletion, and even albums.

Although members loved all those features, they clamored for more. Profile themes was one of the most popular requests. We decided it was an easy to implement feature and pushed forward on it. So far, people seem to love it!

Themes in Action

You can check out some of the new themes for yourself by visiting the TinyPic team's pages.

Mike and Tony are in the dark and Alex is busy playing in the grass. If you use TinyPic already and aren't registered, sign up today and get your own themed profile. All your pages—Home, Uploads, Albums, and more—get styled when you set your theme. It's pretty slick!

Stay tuned. We're launching more and more exciting features with these guys in the coming months!

It's not often that your work gets covered on network television, so we were ecstatic when britneyspears.com popped on Entertainment Tonight. It's fun to be able to show family members something everyone gets (never mind that our work probably touches three times as many people every day on the internet!).

We've been catching up on our case studies over the last couple weeks. Here is a case study from a recent client, Britney Spears. Go Britney!

Britney Spears Needs a New Website... in 2 Months

When the world's number one pop princess needed a new website to coincide with the upcoming release of her new single--a mere 8 weeks away--Britney Spears' team turned to ZURB.

Britney's team was emphatic about getting the site completed before the album was released. The ZURB team understood the time constraints, realizing how important it was to be able to visualize the site immediately, focusing everyone's efforts and attention on the quick wins that could be achieved throughout the process. We also understood that what we created should not be 'just another "artist" site'--it needed to reflect the energy and star power that Britney Spears uniquely brings.

Quick Decisions Facilitate the Design Process

With a project as fast and furious as this one, you've got to have someone inside the client's organization who can tell you 'yes' or 'no', if you are going to keep things moving and meet the deadline. So, prior to accepting the project, ZURB made sure that we would have access to the folks who could make decisions--and make them quickly.

Once we confirmed this direct connection to the top, we had several group work sessions with the entire team (including both Britney's management and members of Team ZURB) to share information and ideas on how to create 'something different' for Britney.

Building on Early Steps Eases the Process

By relying on our early surveys and interviews and keeping the entire team focused on achieving a specific set of goals, we were able to quickly drive the decision-making process forward. After delivering multiple designs, we were able to work with Britney's team to refine several potential visual options down to one.

We decided on a cool and simple Britney aesthetic that complimented her personality and stood out among a sea of other artists' web sites. We also employed a set of XHTML/CSS style guides to help manage the site and make future additions and updates easy to seamlessly integrate. ZURB was able to create a user experience that encouraged repeat participation-giving visitors a reason to return again and again.

1 Million Visitors in 24 Hours

Britney's team was happy over the results--the site was completed on time, and positioned Britney's brand to stand out within the music world. "I think I've visited the new britneyspears.com more times since its relaunch than I visited it during any of its previous incarnations...I find myself reading the posts, watching the videos, and checking out the photo galleries," said Lauren LeGarde a long time Britney fan. "Good job, Team ZURB! Eveyone who worked on this deserves a bonus!"

Lauren wasn't the only one that took notice--in the first 24 hours, the revamped site received more than 1 million visitors. And the site's message boards were lit up with posts as Britney's fans clamored to connect with her--and each other.

Visit BritneySpears.com