ESPN's Persistent Score Panel... Very App-like

There's lots of innovation currently around persistant headers, footers, and bars. I wrote about Quora's notification 'panel' last week. You can also check out Apture (which I had been testing), Meebo, Wibya, etc. As with Quora, the 'bar' phenomenon is making its way to the publisher side. And it is being used creatively to deliver key news (ie Quora :: notifications), navigational flows, or promotional content.

Here is another good example.

Months ago, ESPN introduced an interactive score panel (almost like the sports ticker that sits persistently on ESPN's TV channels). When browsing content within in a particular sport / league, ESPN now has the that panel lock atop the screen to provide persistent live scoring. The UI is very slick as the bar is glossy, animates nicely and maneuvers down the pages seamlessly.

Expect to see more and more of this around the web (and mobile). The experience itself is very much like mobile applications... and the web itself is starting to look and interact more like apps.

Here is the NFL score header on ESPN

As you scroll down, the scores panel attaches itself atop the screen and follows

Drive Engagement Through Email Reports: Apture, Yardsellr Ex.

Email is a well known acquisition and activation lever - but it can be particularly powerful as an engagement driver... which in turn drives activity and potential conversions. Below are two examples of weekly emails that arrive from consumer web services Apture (a web toolbar that I have installed on this site) and Yardsellr (a social classified site and Dogpatch Labs graduate). Both emails are automatically generated, highly personal and visual. Apture's email contains weekly reports and charts for various pieces of data associated with your website's readers and their interaction with the Apture bar. It is very informative and simple to digest - but most importantly, it conveys if and how Apture improves your website (time on site, searches, etc)... and because they are confident it will, these email reports drive loyalty:

Yardsellr's "activity report card" delivers weekly and all-time statistics about your Yardsellr account and active listings. In addition to being colorful and full of useful data, these emails are actionable: users can edit / cancel listings, generate traffic virally (ie Twitter and Facebook) or upgrade listings for additional traffic.

Best Practices:

We often think about email as a way to drive new users, deliver announcements, or move products / sales. But consider your active users too. Craft personalized, visual emails that are regularly delivered and sum up users' sitewide activity. It is a powerful way to convey the value you are providing while encouraging ongoing activity (upgraded activity too!).

Testing Apture on RyanSpoon.com

My friends at Apture have given me access to the new Apture 2.0 and I am actively testing it on RyanSpoon.com. You will notice that as you scroll down, the Apture toobar appears and allows you to: - share / view shares on Facebook - post / view posts from Twitter - share via email - search and access results directly onsite

Two screenshots are below - followed by a video of how Apture 2.0 works. Would love feedback

Close up: