Whenever something takes longer than the predetermined time I have alloted for it, I can feel my satisfaction and enjoyment waning. On the other hand some things in life need to be extended: mountain bike riding, a very nice meal with my wife, a good fight scene in the movie and a much needed Sunday afternoon nap. But, finding a critical piece of information or receiving a needed service are not among those items.

Unashamedly, I like to fly Southwest Airlines. Online check-in is quick and easy (although I do have a suggestion about how to make it quicker) and boarding is a breeze. Today I found myself riding ‘twinkie’ on a very full flight to Atlanta via Delta. I don’t love Delta. The online check-in was very SLOW, requiring me to visit 3 more screens than S.W. and also much less user friendly. The ‘boarding’ process had 7 zones, people still mysteriously crowd up to get on and amazingly they found a way for it to take longer getting on. The beverages cost money PLUS they are slow in coming, the airplane & internal tv’s are OLD and even though I could pick my seat, I still have to ride in the middle cause that is all that was left.

I expound on all of this because when it comes to websites, service companies, responses to needs in the world, finding vital or common information, telephone & email interactions… ALL OF THEM should be quick and easy. WHY? Because people just like me and you have already experienced that they can be, so now we won’t find it reasonable or enjoyable to experience anything contrary to that.

This recent clip from Conan illustrates perfectly the modern mindset of consumers — love it or not.

There were definitely some great Super Bowl ads this year, with the one second Miller High Life ad (which was genius I think!), the Coke and Monster ads and some good ones from GE. My favorites are always the funny ones, and although it was hard to pick a favorite, this is definitely one of my top picks.

this commercial has a GREAT spin on name recognition, humor with the obvious and not taking yourself too seriously – who won’t remember this the next time they are needing some quick money for their gold? (how many of us can really  relate to that anyway?)

Its that time of the year again, where we all stop to admire 3 million dollar ad spots for their creativity, edginess, hilarity, or cuteness. 

Hulu.com has all of the super bowl ads up online. In case you missed them, or just have to see it again. 

Here is my favorite ad:

I am sure Ryan and Shannon will post their favorites here soon.

What was yours?

I know I have rambled on about Internet Explorer 6 still being used by some 20% of the population, even though it was replaced 2 years ago by IE 7. So I wont spiral into that post again.

I do have to share this. In a post by CSS tinderbox. Raymond shares his analogy for IE 6.

So true.

Seriously. this needs to be in my office.

Click for full size

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14345531

So in our past a few weeks ago asking Who Reads this, some of you were interested more about personal things. So In an effort to share more about factor 1 staff, here it goes.

• My name is matt, but most of you know that.
• I am 26 (as of august 3rd)
• I started factor 1 in college, but it became full time in 2004
• I have been married for 6 years to my amazing wife Stephanie
• 4 furry kids (2 cats, 2 dogs)
• We do have real kids on the way, but in a non-traditional sense (We are adopting 2 children some time in the next 6 months we hope)
• The factor 1 office is like 2 miles from my house, which is awesome for commuting
• I ride my bike waaaaaaay to much. I love mountain biking, I ride almost every weekend with good friends
• I ride my bike about 50 miles a month to work and back
• I keep said bike in my office, as it is too pretty to leave outside
• I enjoy being home at night and on the weekend.
• I played ice hockey in junior high and high school
• To contrast the ice hockey, my wife and I have completed Bronze level ballroom dancing
• I really stink at sports with balls, I dont even really like watching any of them
• I dont network in person as much as I should, but i have 12,000 myspace friends (kidding)
• I am a total mac geek. but I dont yet own an iphone.
• I am a total design geek, and love great websites, fonts, books, and art
• you can connect with me on linked in here
• I have a myspace page for some reason (because all the cool kids do I guess)

So thats me. Who’s next? I say I put out a challenge for my readers to share some more info about yourself, and link it in a comment. I want to know more random facts about you too.

Maybe I can con some other factor 1 staff to sharing their random details (wink* wink* Ryan and Shannon).

Yep, this is an awesome promotion.

Looks like its outside of a radio station. Not 100% sure. I actually have no idea where I found this pic. Its been on my desktop for over a week now. Not even sure why I saved it. Maybe because it rocks.

seriously. these are awesome.

See the rest here

Found via Brad

So you want to generate buzz for an event? Make a killer video. The Utah state fair made some of the best state fair ads I have ever seen.

Awesome.