At Codazen, curiosity is at the heart of who we are. Beyond partnering with the world’s most innovative brands, we’re always experimenting with new technologies and exploring novel pet projects. Things around here are never boring, so we’ve asked our team members to share some of their most memorable experiences. HR Coordinator Britney Lien offers her advice for prospective employees and shares her favorite snacks below.

<h1 aria-level="2">&nbsp;</h1>
<h1 aria-level="2">What is the best part of your job?</h1>
Being able to connect with and help everyone in the office! Whether it be a small or big task, I like to know that I am making an impact in creating a positive work environment that people enjoy.

<h2 aria-level="2">&nbsp;</h2>
<h2 aria-level="2">What is something that you would like prospective employees to know about Codazen?</h2>

Codazen has a great and supportive culture! Not only do we provide benefits such as free snacks and drinks, catered lunch and breakfast, and fun team building events, but the company also promotes open communication, values work-life balance, and invests in employees’ professional development.

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<h3>What is the best advice you’ve received at Codazen?</h3>

“Don’t forget to take care of yourself.” These days, I think it’s easy to get so wrapped up in work that you sometimes forget to take the time to focus on yourself. Whether it’s working out, spending time with the people you love, or even taking a quick power nap in our Zen room, it is important to engage in self-care so that you can be the best version of yourself, inside and outside of work.
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<h3>What is the best thing about working at Codazen?</h3>

Being able to count on my team when I need support! Whenever I am out sick or on vacation, my co-workers are always willing to cover for me and take on my duties in addition to their own. Even when I need help on certain projects, they always find a way to support me.

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<h3>Anything else fun you can think of?</h3>

Some of my favorite snacks and drinks at Codazen are the cheddar jalapeno Cheetos and Fairlife chocolate protein shakes! Honorable mention goes to the Poppi prebiotic sodas.

<h1 aria-level="2">&nbsp;</h1>
<h1 aria-level="2">Codazen: Rethink Experience</h1>
Our team of dedicated strategists, designers, and developers help businesses to rethink their strategies for the economies of the future. We engineer ways to rethink the limits of digital platforms for the complex needs of global enterprises. And by helping the world’s most innovative brands reevaluate the possibilities of the digital landscape, we help people rethink experience.

We cultivate diversity, inclusivity, and balance above all. Our ego-free culture prioritizes collaboration as well as personal growth. While our differences define us, what connects us is a passion for the good that technology can do. What we want to know is: are you in? <a href="https://www.codazen.com/careers/">See current openings</a>

At Codazen, curiosity is at the heart of who we are. Things around here are never boring, so we’ve asked our team members to share some of their most memorable experiences. Office Coordinator Britney Lien offers her advice for prospective employees and shares her favorite snacks as part of our Employee Spotlight.

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Employee Spotlight: Britney Lien

Over the past 16 years, our company has dramatically expanded in size and capabilities. We’ve spent the past year assessing the huge breadth of work we’ve done, figuring out what we are good at, and making sure that we could clearly articulate our story. We engaged the branding agency, Ignyte, for their creativity, expertise and external perspective. Our expert team of strategists, designers, and engineers have worked together to execute this rebrand and relaunch of <a href="https://www.codazen.com/">codazen.com</a>. We’re excited to show you all the changes we’ve made.

<h1 aria-level="2">Seeing “Digital” in 5 Seconds&nbsp;</h1>
Our employees loved our previous logo. I loved our previous logo. It was rich and complex and steeped in meaning. I could talk for 15 minutes about all the meaning behind it. It was hard for us to change. So why did we change it?

As a digital innovation company, we want people to recognize and remember the “digital” nature of our brand within 5 seconds. We don’t have 15 minutes to explain it. In addition, we needed to convey the premium, global scale of our services.

With that goal in mind, our designers crafted our new logo, using monospaced, condensed typography to give an upscale, exclusive feel to the brand, while reinforcing the digital aspects of the work we do.

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The cursor line on the logo pays homage to command-line interfaces and text editors and teases what’s to come. The cursor is where thoughts become code, where ideas become copy – an origin point for creativity, for value creation, and a source of constant change.
Using this dynamic nature of the cursor, we also designed a simple typing transition from the full logo into an icon form. Once we started riffing off these concepts, there was no turning back. If you want to excel at innovation, you need to practice the art of letting go.
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<h1 aria-level="2">New Color Scheme</h1>

With our new branding also comes a new color scheme. We used our proprietary generative AI color tool (we’ll be sharing more on that next week) to choose a color palette that matched emotive words like: zen (90.3%), confident (89.4%), and agile (88.2%) – a word that has an appropriate and special meaning in our line of work. Smart, clear, and modern also ranked high.

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<h1>Expanded Capabilities</h1>

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We believe in technology for good. And we want every digital experience to be frictionless and fulfilling.
To achieve this, we’ve focused on three key offerings:
Innovation Strategy - Guiding businesses to better understand what the customers of tomorrow will expect.
Digital Platforms - Utilizing digital platforms that are built for ROI, performance and scalability.
Connected Experiences - Building elevated, omnichannel experiences that build brand equity and connect with customers.&nbsp;

<h1 aria-level="2">Codazen: Rethink Experience</h1>
Our team of dedicated strategists, designers, and developers help businesses rethink their strategies for the economies of the future. We engineer ways to rethink the limits of digital platforms for the complex needs of global enterprises. And by helping the world’s most innovative brands reevaluate the possibilities of the digital landscape, we help people rethink experience.

<a href="https://www.codazen.com/">Check out our new website</a> and see firsthand how we rebranded the Codazen experience. If you need help elevating your brand experience or digital strategy, <a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/">get in touch with us</a>.

We’re excited for this new chapter of our company’s story. We’d love to help you and your business start a new chapter of your own.

Over the past 16 years, our company has dramatically expanded in size and capabilities. We’ve spent the past year assessing the huge breadth of work we’ve done, figuring out what we are good at, and making sure that we could clearly articulate our story. We engaged the branding agency, Ignyte, for their creativity, expertise and external perspective. Our expert team of strategists, designers, and engineers have worked together to execute this rebrand and relaunch of codazen.com. We’re excited to show you all the changes we’ve made. 

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Rethinking the Codazen Brand Experience

Over the last two decades, virtual reality therapy (VRT) has gained wider acceptance in the treatment of mental health issues. VRTs are helping treat things such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, phobias, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Institutions like the <a href="https://www.cuanschutz.edu/centers/national-mental-health-innovation" title="https://www.cuanschutz.edu/centers/national-mental-health-innovation" data-renderer-mark="true">National Mental Health Innovation Center</a> at the University of Colorado as well as startups are innovating treatments using VR therapies.
What makes VR therapy distinctly different from traditional “talk therapy” is that people respond physiologically to their virtual experiences. Virtual reality therapy can be another tool to traditional therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy and it could be an alternative to drug therapy for some patients.
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6659125/#:~:text=VR%20exposure%20therapies%20are%20particularly,posttraumatic%20stress%20disorder%20(PTSD)" title="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6659125/#:~:text=VR%20exposure%20therapies%20are%20particularly,posttraumatic%20stress%20disorder%20(PTSD)" data-renderer-mark="true">Several studies </a>have found VR therapies to be highly effective because of the way simulated images provoke fears in controlled environments. The <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/02/virtual-reality" title="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/02/virtual-reality" data-renderer-mark="true">American Psychological Association</a> (APA) has reported that a growing number of psychologists are using this innovative technology. Researchers are also using it in labs and clinics.
<h2 id="How-It-Works:-Exposure-Therapy" data-renderer-start-pos="1185">How It Works: Exposure Therapy</h2>
VR therapy helps treat patients safely through exposure therapy. Virtual reality creates the conditions that can trigger fears in a safe space. Imagine the client viewing scenes through VR goggles, feeling the fears and traumas but with the help of a therapist who adjusts the scenes.
Dr. Albert "Skip" Rizzo is a psychologist who researches VR systems in clinical assessment and treatment at the University of Southern California. "At its core, virtual reality is essentially a controlled stimulus environment," Rizzo told the APA.
Rizzo has worked with US military troops experiencing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from combat operations. He uses software, Full Spectrum Warrior, created at the <a href="https://ict.usc.edu/prototypes/pts/" title="https://ict.usc.edu/prototypes/pts/" data-renderer-mark="true">University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies </a>that simulates virtual scenarios of combat operations. Patients wear VR headsets and play out scenes.

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The VR exposure therapy can include Middle Eastern-themed villages, deserts, and cities—much like what troops may have experienced in Iraq. The visual stimulation is accompanied by 3D audio, vibrations, and smells. Meanwhile, Rizzo and other clinicians control the scenarios.
By carefully immersing a patient in virtual scenarios that caused the trauma, patients begin to heal. And it’s not only PTSD that’s treated with VRT.
In the US, <a href="https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics" title="https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics" data-renderer-mark="true">40 million adults suffer from depression and anxiety</a>. VRT is now more accepted as a way of treating clinical depression and anxiety disorders. In one study from <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-open/article/embodying-selfcompassion-within-virtual-reality-and-its-effects-on-patients-with-depression/1A1217651159D085145A7999CFFFF772" title="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-open/article/embodying-selfcompassion-within-virtual-reality-and-its-effects-on-patients-with-depression/1A1217651159D085145A7999CFFFF772" data-renderer-mark="true">Cambridge University</a>, researchers used VRT on patients diagnosed with depression. They developed an 8-minute scenario in which 15 patients delivered compassion to a virtual body and then experienced receiving it from themselves in another virtual body. They repeated the scenarios three times.
Researchers reported “significant reductions in depression severity and self-criticism, as well as a significant increase in self-compassion, from baseline to a 4-week follow-up. Four patients showed clinically significant improvement.” While this trial is very small, there is reason to believe that VRT may have the potential to help patients heal from depression and anxiety.
The promising treatment is also being studied to treat other types of fears. A recent study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders reports that 45 percent of children with autism treated with VRT were freed from their fears and phobias—and that the treatment lasted.
Another study in JAMA Psychiatry found that adults with a fear of heights significantly reduced their symptoms in a fully self-guided treatment using virtual reality. Are you suffering from <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/aayushipratap/2021/03/23/virtual-reality-startup-raises-29-million-to-help-with-chronic-pain/?sh=3635caf519dd" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/aayushipratap/2021/03/23/virtual-reality-startup-raises-29-million-to-help-with-chronic-pain/?sh=3635caf519dd" data-renderer-mark="true">chronic pain</a> or have a fear of <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031031062843.htm" title="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031031062843.htm" data-renderer-mark="true">spiders</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029152047.htm" title="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029152047.htm" data-renderer-mark="true">driving</a>, or <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12556117/" title="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12556117/" data-renderer-mark="true">public speaking</a>? VRT can help.
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-Supporting-VRT-Technologies" data-renderer-start-pos="3975">Codazen Solutions: Supporting VRT Technologies</h2>
Innovative technologies, <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/virtual-reality-travel-is-ready-for-takeoff" title="https://blog.codazen.com/virtual-reality-travel-is-ready-for-takeoff" data-renderer-mark="true">like virtual reality</a>, are expanding into many industries and mental health is only one of them.
VR therapies are successful when they have well-built software and <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/nlp-helps-doctors-save-more-than-just-time" title="https://blog.codazen.com/nlp-helps-doctors-save-more-than-just-time" data-renderer-mark="true">digital tools to help clinicians effectively treat patients</a>. Codazen helps companies using VR technologies to develop, create, and sustain their digital capabilities. We build websites and digital products that can help organizations keep their VR therapy technologies aligned with their mission.
We understand what it takes to sustain the technology and leverage its capabilities. Our teams of designers, engineers, and product managers have embedded with global brands at the helm of VR to help them succeed in their digital products.
Codazen Labs works with<a href="https://www.codazen.com/labs/" title="https://www.codazen.com/labs/" data-renderer-mark="true"> innovative technologies. </a>We know how they're transforming our everyday lives and the way we approach our mental health.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to find out how we can help elevate your brand with virtual reality.

Virtual reality therapy is providing clients with effective and long-lasting treatments.

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Virtual Reality Is Helping Heal Traumas

Among emerging technologies, there’s a culture of mistrust around artificial intelligence (AI) in Internet of Things (IoT) devices. IoT with AI integration is in nearly every home device on the market. From Google to Apple to Amazon, the technologies surrounding our lives provide sophisticated experiences.
From smartphones, smart TVs, and smart homes to smart cars and smart security systems, we are more dependent on technology now than any other time in human history. But in this world of innovation, there’s a shadow of uncertainty for how AI is affecting our privacy, control, and business responsibilities.
Almost every major brand is now using AI in some capacity to serve and collect big data. As privacy concerns grow, organizations need to cultivate trust in their brand’s AI capabilities. Ironically, it’s AI itself that can help seed that trust.
<h2 id="Mistrust-in-Technologies" data-renderer-start-pos="1020">Mistrust in Technologies</h2>
There’s no shortage of reasons for why people are concerned about what information AI is gathering and for what purpose. <a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/resources/doc/2019/trust-opportunity-exploring-consumer-attitudes-to-iot/" title="https://www.internetsociety.org/resources/doc/2019/trust-opportunity-exploring-consumer-attitudes-to-iot/" data-renderer-mark="true">Internet Society</a> reported that 63% of people surveyed find connected devices “‘creepy’ in the way they collect data about people and their behaviors.” Users attributed the creepiness factor to IoT devices gathering and using information without permission. One example is when advertisers misuse data that consumers thought was being collected for a different purpose.
Globally, consumers have shown concern about the ethics of this practice. Almost a third of survey participants revealed they are deterred from purchasing a smart device because of mistrust in how their data is used.
In similar findings, researchers from WMG and Computer Science at the University of Warwick conducted a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0231615" title="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0231615" data-renderer-mark="true">survey of UK consumers</a> designed to measure the adoption and acceptability of smart home devices. They focused on attitudes toward awareness, ownership, experience, trust, satisfaction, and intention to use these technologies. They found that people aren’t convinced that their privacy and security will not be at risk when they use smart home devices.
Privacy and security are the primary reasons consumers won’t purchase smart technologies. But <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/" title="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/" data-renderer-mark="true">96% of Americans own cellphones</a>, so the necessity and dependency on some type of AI devices with IoT integration still supersede privacy concerns.
Businesses need consumers to trust them. Using brand experience can help build relationships with customers while relying on big data to help make sound financial decisions.
<h2 id="Creating-Trust-in-AI-Systems" data-renderer-start-pos="2633">Creating Trust in AI Systems</h2>
Sowing the seeds of trust may appear a Sisyphean effort for businesses reliant on data to improve customer service and compete in a tough market. But there are ways to instill trust in AI-based technologies.
The best way to salve the mistrust is by providing services and solutions that feature <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/05/14/even-with-the-help-of-ai-human-conversation-is-essential-to-brand-trust/#c9fbb237f0f0" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/05/14/even-with-the-help-of-ai-human-conversation-is-essential-to-brand-trust/#c9fbb237f0f0" data-renderer-mark="true">human interaction</a>. Consumers are willing to invest in companies where they feel valued and understood. Conversations about family, weather, or work— even trivial ones— can create bonds of trust and brand loyalty in a way that an automated service can’t. That’s because customers crave<a href="https://medium.com/@BULLDOGDRUMMOND/using-machine-learning-to-build-brand-trust-1d0117f29096" title="https://medium.com/@BULLDOGDRUMMOND/using-machine-learning-to-build-brand-trust-1d0117f29096" data-renderer-mark="true"> intimacy between themselves and the brand</a>.
The need for connecting human-to-human is as necessary as ever, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. There are stories of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2020/08/20/10-examples-of-amazing-customer-service-during-covid-19/#b046c6448d18" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2020/08/20/10-examples-of-amazing-customer-service-during-covid-19/#b046c6448d18" data-renderer-mark="true">customer service agents going out of their way</a> to deliver an above-and-beyond customer experience from companies like UPS and Zappos.
However, despite the human connection, organizations that sell devices with AI in IoT integration rely heavily on collecting data. It’s ironic that what’s gathered in devices like Siri, Alexa, and Nest delivers uniquely tailored and highly customized experiences.
The intimacy humans are developing with their smart devices is a double-edged sword of trust and mistrust.
That’s because intimacy begets brand transparency. More and more global businesses are transparent about what they do with the data they collect. Even if the details are in the fine print, consumers want to know how much an organization can protect their privacy and security. This transparency is not only ethical, but in many countries, <a href="https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/" title="https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/" data-renderer-mark="true">it’s also the law</a> for companies to disclose data collected from smart devices.
As AI innovations continue, humans will need to learn how to build intimacy and trust with these advanced technologies. Scientists are already observing how to do just that.
One such study is published in the journal Scientific Reports. Dr. Celso de Melo is a computer scientist with the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71919-6" title="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71919-6" data-renderer-mark="true">U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory at CCDC ARL West</a> in Playa Vista, California. He collaborated with researchers from the University of Japan for a study on how people react to AI-controlled robots. They found that emotional expressions can influence human-AI cooperation.

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De Melo says, “Autonomous machines that act on people's behalf are poised to become pervasive in society; however, for these machines to succeed and be adopted, it is essential that people are able to trust and cooperate with them.”
That trust extends to smart systems. As the study shows, communicative expressions like voice and tone cues can lead to human cooperation with AI systems. Many IoT devices with AI are loaded with sentiment analysis that interpret and establish human communication.
Another study focused on how people’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S074756322030354X?via%3Dihub" title="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S074756322030354X?via%3Dihub" data-renderer-mark="true">attachment styles affect their trust in AI</a>. Key findings show:
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People's attachment anxiety predicts less trust in artificial intelligence.
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Enhancing attachment anxiety reduces trust in artificial intelligence.
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Conversely, enhancing attachment security increases trust in artificial intelligence.
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Professor of Psychology, Omri Gillath, who led the study with an interdisciplinary team from the University of Kansas, says, “Most research on trust in artificial intelligence focuses on cognitive ways to boost trust. Here we took a different approach by focusing on a 'relational affective' route to boost trust, seeing AI as a partner or a team member rather than a device.”
The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S074756322030354X?via%3Dihub" title="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S074756322030354X?via%3Dihub" data-renderer-mark="true">study</a> is published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. 
A partnership with AI technologies can help enhance customer experience and trust. Consumers have grown to enjoy the benefits of smart devices, smart programs, and smart solutions designed around AI. But as AI has penetrated so much of our lives, how can companies develop this trust with their brands?
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions" data-renderer-start-pos="6586">Codazen Solutions</h2>
Organizations can develop trust with their customers when they take a strategy-driven approach. Codazen knows about building trustworthy AI solutions. This is why some of the world’s most influential brands trust us with their smart products.
We handle big data responsibly and ethically. Our team of data scientists embed with clients to help them develop AI-based solutions that can humanize customer service, create brand trust, and develop customized user experiences. Using big data, we’re able to craft services and products that are helpful and relevant to consumers.
Our team uses <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/data-in-the-driver-seat-for-auto-industry-future" title="https://blog.codazen.com/data-in-the-driver-seat-for-auto-industry-future" data-renderer-mark="true">machine learning</a> to dramatically upgrade the customer service experience. Your customers’ trust in your brand is priceless. We value it too and we can help you leverage technology ethically to preserve and protect that delicate relationship.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn more about how our capabilities can work for your smart products and services.

Handling data responsibly and ethically can help build user trust in smart technologies.

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Creating Brand Trust With AI in IoT Integration

Today, it’s no longer enough to design a website or app that works. Digital products also need to provide users with a positive and memorable experience in order to stand out from the crowd and deliver results to a company.

Investing in emotional design and user experience (UX) as part of a brand’s digital strategy not only improves the quality of digital interactions for consumers, but can also increase conversions. A site or app that fosters negative emotions can turn customers and clients away. It doesn’t matter how efficient a website is if the target audience doesn’t want to interact with it.
The grandfather of emotional design, <a href="https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/emotional-design" title="https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/emotional-design" data-renderer-mark="true">Don Norman</a>, explains that “everything has a personality: everything sends an emotional signal. Even where this was not the intention of the designer, the people who view the website infer personalities and experience emotions.”
When designing a digital product that elicits positive emotions, all the different <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/business-branding-with-color-psychology" title="https://blog.codazen.com/business-branding-with-color-psychology" data-renderer-mark="true">aspects of it from color choice</a> and typography to <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/colorful-advertising-vs.-black-and-white" title="https://blog.codazen.com/colorful-advertising-vs.-black-and-white" data-renderer-mark="true">image selection</a> and asset placement need to add up to a harmonious whole. Creating the right emotional cues can influence a user’s decisions and affect whether they want to keep using the product.
Andrew Chen, a general partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, studied data points from over 125 million mobile phones and found that the <a href="https://andrewchen.com/new-data-shows-why-losing-80-of-your-mobile-users-is-normal-and-that-the-best-apps-do-much-better/?utm_content=buffere4fa2&amp;utm_medium=twitter.com&amp;utm_source=social&amp;utm_campaign=buffer" title="https://andrewchen.com/new-data-shows-why-losing-80-of-your-mobile-users-is-normal-and-that-the-best-apps-do-much-better/?utm_content=buffere4fa2&amp;utm_medium=twitter.com&amp;utm_source=social&amp;utm_campaign=buffer" data-renderer-mark="true">average app loses 77% of its Daily Active Users</a> (DAU) in the three days after it’s installed. Within 30 days, 90% of DAUs are lost, and by the 90-day mark, less than 5% of users continue using an app.
With the average app losing a majority of its userbase in a matter of days, it’s vital for companies to design digital products that are not only functional, but evoke positive emotions that make them enjoyable to use.
<h2 id="UX-Design-and-the-Bottom-Line" data-renderer-start-pos="1944">UX Design and the Bottom Line</h2>
Creating the right emotional experiences is key to unlocking the full potential of digital design. Effective UX makes users feel good or excited about being on a website or app. By designing digital products with the goal of making customers look forward to using them, companies can increase sales and foster a better brand experience.
Aarron Walter, former <a href="https://uxplanet.org/design-for-emotion-expert-tips-by-aarron-walter-2f847e75a962" title="https://uxplanet.org/design-for-emotion-expert-tips-by-aarron-walter-2f847e75a962" data-renderer-mark="true">VP of Design Education</a> at InVision and current Director of Product for US COVID Response, says, “What if an interface could help you complete a critical task and put a smile on your face? Well, that would be powerful indeed! That would be an experience you’d recommend to a friend.”
Look at successful interfaces like the ones used by <a href="https://twitter.com/" title="https://twitter.com/" data-renderer-mark="true">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/" title="https://www.facebook.com/" data-renderer-mark="true">Facebook</a>. Their designs are uncluttered and intuitive, and users form an emotional bond with the product that makes them sign in to the services multiple times a day. That’s the power of emotional design.
This isn’t something new. In the 90s, two Japanese researchers conducted a study on how <a href="https://www.toptal.com/designers/product-design/design-for-emotion-to-increase-user-engagement" title="https://www.toptal.com/designers/product-design/design-for-emotion-to-increase-user-engagement" data-renderer-mark="true">aesthetics affected “perceived usability”</a> by comparing different ATM control layouts. All the ATMs were identical in function, the only difference being that some had more attractive interfaces. The researchers found that the ones possessing these attractive interfaces were perceived as being easier to use, with subjects remarking that those ATMs actually “worked better.” The study suggests a visually pleasing experience can lead to such a high degree of customer satisfaction that users will forgive minor frustrations when encountering problems with the product.
This customer satisfaction leads to greater ROI for a company. The more satisfied a user is, the more likely they’ll continue using a website or app, and the more money they’ll spend on the brand.

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<h2 id="The-User-Centered-Approach" data-renderer-start-pos="3774">The User-Centered Approach</h2>
By focusing on the user experience as the guiding force behind building new digital products and improving existing ones, designers can translate user feelings into product parameters.
A 2020 study on website design for Turkish universities utilized the Kansei Engineering approach to identify <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311916.2020.1770915" title="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311916.2020.1770915" data-renderer-mark="true">design elements that were emotionally appealing</a> to students ranging in age from 18 to 37. Kansei Engineering is the Japanese design methodology that links consumers’ emotional responses to the properties of a product or service.
The students were asked to use 22 Kansei words to evaluate 9 sample websites of different Turkish universities. The results showed that an emotionally attractive university website needs to include a top menu, small header, and a logo that’s on the left side. These findings can help universities add elements to their webpages that attract more students by meeting user demands for better, emotionally-designed sites.
Humor is another way to strike an emotional bond with users. Designing loading screens or error pages that illicit a laugh rather than a groan creates a positive experience out of a negative one. <a href="https://thenextweb.com/news/4-years-later-google-finally-explains-the-origins-of-its-chrome-dinosaur-game" title="https://thenextweb.com/news/4-years-later-google-finally-explains-the-origins-of-its-chrome-dinosaur-game" data-renderer-mark="true">Google Chrome does this effectively</a> with its dinosaur game. The Tyrannosaurus rex jumping over cacti keeps users engaged when they lose internet connection.
A funny and helpful 404 page is another way to alleviate negative emotions when the unexpected happens. No one likes seeing a “Page Not Found” message instead of their intended webpage. But if a designer utilizes links and witty graphics on that page to help customers get back on track, it can leave those users with a positive feeling.
<a href="https://www.tacobell.com/deliver" title="https://www.tacobell.com/deliver" data-renderer-mark="true">Taco Bell’s self-aware sense of humor</a> shines in its 404 page which features a dancing taco tripping and spilling all its fillings. It also includes useful information like links to Taco Bell’s homepage, menu, and locations so customers can find what they need. By designing with emotion in mind, the fast-food giant is able to turn an embarrassing website error into a great opportunity to show off its brand’s personality.
Websites and apps that keep the user experience at the forefront can foster positive emotions, decrease negative ones, and create memorable brand experiences for their customers.
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-Form-and-Function" data-renderer-start-pos="6047">Codazen Solutions: Form and Function</h2>
Digital products that are emotionally appealing and user-friendly show customers that you care about their experience. By incorporating emotional design from the very beginning, businesses have a higher chance of not only getting users, but keeping them. This in turn leads to higher revenue streams and a better brand reputation. At Codazen, we build digital products with that in mind.
According to Josh Grieve, one of our UX designers:
<blockquote>
Getting to know your audience can uncover their needs and state of mind when interacting with your product. Are they relaxed, anxious, focused, or frustrated? Emotions impact our experience. When a product anticipates that, it creates a sense of empathy anyone can appreciate and remember.
</blockquote>
Codazen’s designers and software engineers work closely with companies toward a personalized and creative digital strategy. We focus on the user and understand that how they feel can drastically impact the success of a site or app.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn how we can help you leverage the power of emotional design.

Emotional design for digital products can increase sales and create better brand experience.

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Emotional Design: The Digital Experience

Artificial intelligence is part of a group of emerging technologies that over the past decade have changed the brand experience financial institutions offer clients. But the tools that create AI are rapidly progressing, and only the financial institutions that use them properly will be able to keep up in the race to the future of finance.
A 2017 <a href="http://www.evergage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2016-Trends-in-Personalization-Survey-Report-Evergage-final.pdf" title="http://www.evergage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2016-Trends-in-Personalization-Survey-Report-Evergage-final.pdf" data-renderer-mark="true">survey by Evergage</a>--a cloud-based software--found that 33% of marketers surveyed use AI to deliver personalized web experiences. But, since the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, there has been such a large shift in digital consumption that <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/11/1001563/covid-pandemic-broken-ai-machine-learning-amazon-retail-fraud-humans-in-the-loop/" title="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/11/1001563/covid-pandemic-broken-ai-machine-learning-amazon-retail-fraud-humans-in-the-loop/" data-renderer-mark="true">many AI models have been thrown off</a>, forcing companies to retrain their AI algorithms to accurately reflect the changed spending patterns.
If there has ever been a time to catch up in the game, it’s now. Now is the moment when other companies are re-evaluating their AI interactions with society. Now is the time to consider how consumers will rely more on digital AI banking in a post-Covid-19 world.
AI is helping make online banking, digital marketing, social media, and other types of content much more efficient for financial institutions, employees, and clients. Below are five ways AI supports brand experience while helping organizations excel in their business goals:
<h3 id="1.-Recommendation-Systems" data-renderer-start-pos="1447">1. Recommendation Systems</h3>
Recommendation systems shape your world. When you type “What to eat in Paris,” the results that make it on your first page are not pulled from a hat: they are tailored for you. A recommendation system is a component of AI that uses data you provide to personalize experiences with the tools you use. The more data the recommendation system has, the better your personalized recommendations will be.
It’s this AI that keeps so many users scrolling on Facebook to see the next niche video, adding that particular one extra item to their Amazon cart before checkout, and discovering their next favorite series to binge watch on Netflix.
In banking, this same AI analyzes, manages, and optimizes paid ad campaigns targeting specific users. This helps banks respond to the needs of clients in a more specific way. It also helps match specific services to specific customers.
<h3 id="2.-Fraud-and-Theft-Prevention" data-renderer-start-pos="2347">2. Fraud and Theft Prevention</h3>
Fraud detection and theft prevention capabilities have come a long way as more and more people are using mobile devices. The AI toolbox also offers anomaly detectors: tools for finding the irregular patterns that betray fishy activity.
This form of AI helps prevent fraud and theft. <a href="https://www.cognilytica.com/2018/08/09/infographic-8-ways-in-which-ai-is-improving-your-banking-experience/" title="https://www.cognilytica.com/2018/08/09/infographic-8-ways-in-which-ai-is-improving-your-banking-experience/" data-renderer-mark="true">USAA uses AI</a> to monitor client behaviors using apps to analyze patterns of use and detect any anomalies. According to the <a href="https://emerj.com/ai-opportunity-landscape-finserv/" title="https://emerj.com/ai-opportunity-landscape-finserv/" data-renderer-mark="true">AI Opportunity Landscape</a> research, approximately 26% of the venture funding raised for AI in the banking industry is for fraud and cybersecurity applications, more than any other use-case category.
But this technology isn't only to protect clients. <a href="https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/artificial-intelligence-fraud-banking/" title="https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/artificial-intelligence-fraud-banking/" data-renderer-mark="true">Emerj, an artificial intelligence market research firm</a>, reports that detecting fraud within banking entities is a necessary capability. Fraud can happen between merchants and issuers with problems like pricing and the omission of unpaid merchandise.
Clearly, there is a need for these tools for finding fraud. However, this area of research is currently less developed. It can be reassuring that your bank has your back. But because the tools are still unrefined, certain non-threatening purchases will be flagged and require inconvenient approval, while larger costly purchases may fly under the radar. For instance, it seemed like overkill for the bank to need to validate my wife’s $40 purchase for blinds from Home Depot, just because it was her first venture into home improvement. A month later, her purchase of a $1000 electric standing desk required no such approval.
The future of detecting suspicious activity will rely not only on customer data, but on better understanding customers themselves to polish off what this tool in AI can offer. This is a ground on which those financial institutions who really succeed will likely get big returns in savings and in customer retention.
<h3 id="3.-Improve-Customer-Journey-Personalization" data-renderer-start-pos="4229">3. Improve Customer Journey Personalization</h3>
A good customer journey personalization makes for many-a-happy ROI. <a href="https://www.bcg.com/publications/2019/what-does-personalization-banking-really-mean.aspx" title="https://www.bcg.com/publications/2019/what-does-personalization-banking-really-mean.aspx" data-renderer-mark="true">Boston Consulting Group</a>, a global management consulting firm, estimated in a 2019 report that “for every $100 billion in assets that a bank has, it can achieve as much as $300 million in revenue growth by personalizing its customer interactions.”
You want to be validated and understood, right? Well, you’re not the only one. For that exact reason, people are drawn to organizations that reflect an understanding of their own interests. Within the past couple of years, game-changing techniques in deep learning have been added to the AI toolbox. This development has further expanded the space for everyday natural language to drive personalized systems that have been popular in a<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2019/04/25/20-examples-of-machine-learning-used-in-customer-experience/#18f70c454052" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2019/04/25/20-examples-of-machine-learning-used-in-customer-experience/#18f70c454052" data-renderer-mark="true"> wide variety of customer experience domains</a>.
Because the customer journey is more about creating connections rather than creating sales (ironically thus creating sales), improving the journey means improving ways in which a financial institution guides the customer in their personalized needs. AI can help anticipate a customer’s needs through service and information on various channels, such as emailing product recommendations or inviting a customer to apply for a debt loan. This is a good formula for both quality customer experience and a pleasant brand experience.
<h3 id="4.-Investment-Analysis" data-renderer-start-pos="5602">4. Investment Analysis</h3>

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AI has helped leave the piles of data, human number crunching, and hours of analysis meetings behind. A decade ago, investors depended on the prowess of traders, but as computing technologies expanded, the human need of finding useful patterns in financial time-series data has grown in parallel. This has made it easier than ever for AI to be integrated with longstanding methods to help financial organizations manage wealth, trade, and finance. There’s also a myriad of laws regulating investments in the US, and AI can help financial institutions meet compliance.
Organizations also need to protect their investments. Banks must follow debt collection compliance, and AI can help banks collect in a more humane way. AI contributes to highly personalized user experiences by reaching out to customers through the channels they prefer. By allowing customers to choose how they want to be reminded of their <a href="https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/artificial-intelligence-at-investment-banks-5-current-applications/" title="https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/artificial-intelligence-at-investment-banks-5-current-applications/" data-renderer-mark="true">debt and payments</a>, banks are having higher rates of debt re-payments.
<h3 id="5.-Hyperpersonalization-of-Chatbots-and-Customer-Service" data-renderer-start-pos="6635">5. Hyperpersonal Chatbots and Customer Service</h3>
Chatbots can help financial institutions and customers save time. According to a study from the analyst group, <a href="https://www.juniperresearch.com/analystxpress/july-2017/chatbot-conversations-to-deliver-8bn-cost-saving" title="https://www.juniperresearch.com/analystxpress/july-2017/chatbot-conversations-to-deliver-8bn-cost-saving" data-renderer-mark="true">Juniper Research</a>, chatbots can save at least 4 minutes of a customer service agent’s time. Chatbots are connecting clients to the right service while handling simple requests. Many legacy banks serve clients all around the world and chatbots allow for 24/7 service.
Chatbots are becoming more sophisticated through natural language processing (NLP). They’re now more hyperpersonalized and customers are becoming more accustomed to interacting with them.
Hyperpersonalization also eradicates having too many choices for the customer. In banking, when a client needs to make an appointment for a specific type of loan, hyperpersonalization can steer them to the right loan officer and offer their available times. Recent advances in NLP have made big strides toward understanding human emotion through the rapidly growing subfield of sentiment analysis.
Both sentiment analysis and hyperpersonalization are sets of AI capabilities allowing for the automatic detection of the mood of a speaker, making writing tools such as <a href="https://www.grammarly.com/blog/tone-detector/#:~:text=By%20analyzing%20your%20word%20choice,sound%20to%20someone%20reading%20it.&amp;text=You%20may%20find%20that%20the,as%20sounding%20excited%20and%20joyful" title="https://www.grammarly.com/blog/tone-detector/#:~:text=By%20analyzing%20your%20word%20choice,sound%20to%20someone%20reading%20it.&amp;text=You%20may%20find%20that%20the,as%20sounding%20excited%20and%20joyful" data-renderer-mark="true">Grammarly possible</a>. These same tools can help a financial institution’s ROI when they are applied to areas such as customer service to automatically assess and analyze the feelings and responses of clients.
This kind of automatic analysis provides a guaranteed way to gather usable information from every customer call and interaction, rather than relying on the seemingly arduous process of customer satisfaction surveys to get the feedback you want.
The tech marketing blog, <a href="https://martechseries.com/mts-insights/guest-authors/leverage-ai-hyper-personalization-transform-mass-marketing-precision-marketing/" title="https://martechseries.com/mts-insights/guest-authors/leverage-ai-hyper-personalization-transform-mass-marketing-precision-marketing/" data-renderer-mark="true">MarcTech</a>, finds these AI capabilities have an incredible capacity for improving CX:
<blockquote>
It’s not just about who the customer is, however, it’s about very rich context, such as the use cases or problems they’re trying to solve, what other products they might be interested in, which country or regulations they operate under, their persona, their stage in the buying cycle, their pain points and other data.
</blockquote>
This kind of data analysis can yield a high rate of return on brand experience.
<h3 id="Codazen-Solutions" data-renderer-start-pos="8799">Codazen Solutions</h3>
From legacy banks to credit unions, financial institutions are evolving through a digital transformation. Their brand experience is rapidly changing to keep up with the digital demands of consumers in a world surviving through a pandemic.
Codazen works with clients to leverage their AI capabilities as the <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/three-emerging-technologies-taking-on-covid-19-challenges" title="https://blog.codazen.com/three-emerging-technologies-taking-on-covid-19-challenges" data-renderer-mark="true">demands of the digital landscape change</a>. Our team of data scientists find what’s hiding in your organization’s big data. We use Amazon Web Services to secure data and we also format and structure data features to input into an AI model. We embed with your team to work closely and bring creative solutions.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us to learn more</a> about how to maximize your AI capabilities. Codazen can help your institution keep up with the rapid changes of emerging technologies and demands of the market.

Leveraging AI can help a financial institution’s ROI while improving brand experience for customers.

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5 Ways AI Can Help the Financial Industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) can give investment firms a competitive edge. By creating better predictions, and therefore, better results, AI can improve the way firms make decisions, execute trades, and manage client portfolios.

Smart algorithms can change the way investment managers look at companies. Because most businesses release their financial statements weeks after a quarter ends, it’s difficult to obtain real-time public information.

But with more companies accelerating their shift toward digitization, there is now a multitude of websites for AI to crawl, tracking metrics such as a brand’s consumer reviews, inventory levels, and pricing strategies. Algorithmic programs utilizing this data can indicate the probability of whether a company will be a good investment, quickly adjusting strategies and optimizing trades based on that data.

According to statistics portal, Statista, stock markets in the[ U.S. accounted for 54.5% of the world’s stocks](https://www.statista.com/statistics/710680/global-stock-markets-by-country/) in 2020, with over half of adults in America investing money in the stock market. Apollo Global Management valued the world-wide [stock market at $95 trillion dollars](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/value-of-the-world-wide-stock-market-soars-to-record-95-trillion-despite-resurgence-of-coronavirus-11605196894).

With so much money on the line, AI-powered analysis has the ability to help investors maximize their returns while reducing their risk.

## Data-Driven Decisions
Artificial intelligence combined with human experts creates an investing dream team. By taking advantage of AI’s speed to analyze millions of data points in seconds, investors and money managers can make better strategic investment decisions.

Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions processes [over 9 million trades globally per year](https://www.datadriveninvestor.com/2020/01/17/artificial-intelligence-as-a-tool-for-investing/). Before implementing AI, employees would have to review each trade manually, conducting time-consuming research to ensure the trades met regulatory compliance. Now, Citi leverages AI to conduct the research, providing employees the data they need in an easy-to-understand format, decreasing both human error and fatigue.

AI is also helping asset managers optimize their portfolio construction process. By utilizing AI’s data analysis and statistical models, managers can better predict future economic outcomes to help investors minimize risk in their portfolios.

Gopal Appuswami, Practice Lead at LatentView Analytics, explains that these data-driven analytics can [track multiple economic indicators](https://money.usnews.com/investing/investing-101/slideshows/ways-artificial-intelligence-is-improving-investing) and regulatory trends “to produce insights and timely advice, which financial advisors can leverage to make proactive portfolio rebalancing recommendations or help customers build the right financial management solutions.”

The power of AI lies in its high-speed tracking and analyzing capability. This ability plays a crucial role in forecasting markets with greater accuracy and predicting future patterns.

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## Different Scenarios, Same Goal
While there are a multitude of strategies that can be implemented, all of them have one goal in common: maximizing returns. Smart machines can help investors increase their returns by analyzing data and calculating the probability of outcomes in real-time.

Trade Ideas, a stock market analysis company, utilizes an [AI-powered self-learning trading platform](https://builtin.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-trading-stock-market-tech) named “Holly” to go through over a million different scenarios using dozens of investment algorithms to come up with the most optimal trading strategies.

The strategies with at least a 60% probability of success and a 2:1 profit/loss ratio are shared with traders the following day. In 2018, Trade Ideas’ stock market return was 16%, compared to the S&P’s return of negative 1.0%.

Asset managers can further [leverage AI to forecast financial risk](https://money.usnews.com/investing/investing-101/slideshows/ways-artificial-intelligence-is-improving-investing). Mark Antonio Awada, Chief Risk and Investment Sciences Officer at Alpha Innovations Global Investment, says, “historical and live time series data provide subtle clues and autonomous patterns that can be used to predict future patterns with strikingly high accuracy.” This pattern analysis can significantly improve an investor’s risk/reward ratio.

The ability to track and analyze data to forecast trading outcomes is not limited to numbers. Artificial intelligence can also understand and analyze human speech to predict market sentiments.

## Understanding the Language of Investing
Online articles, reports, and press releases all provide vital information about how a company is performing. Artificial intelligence can use speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP) to save financial advisors and investment traders from the time-consuming task of sifting through conversations, notes, and financial reports.

Utilizing NLP, artificial intelligence can read, interpret, and understand human text to help investors gauge the sentiment in the text. Whether the tone in the news articles about a company is positive or negative can help predict how well that company’s stocks will do.

NLP can also detect [relationships between companies called intercompany momentum](https://www.gsam.com/content/gsam/global/en/market-insights/gsam-insights/gsam-perspectives/2016/big-data/gsam-roundtable.html). This focuses on how the price movement of a security might impact the price movement of other securities. Osman Ali, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, says, “these not-so-obvious relationships can be assembled from the clustering of companies in text-based data, appearing together in news articles, regulatory filings or research reports.”

Being able to analyze text is critical to making the best trading moves. With the [average stock market return at 10%](https://spendmenot.com/blog/average-stock-market-return/), investors that want a greater ROI need the right tools to make it happen.

## Codazen Solutions: Investing in AI
Investment firms who seek a competitive edge can find it in AI. By helping stock traders and asset managers [effectively analyze millions of data points](https://blog.codazen.com/information-wealth-in-big-data) in real-time, artificial intelligence can predict future trading outcomes to maximize returns while mitigating risks.

According to Michael Blum, one of our data scientists:


>AI is one way investors can ease the uncertainty of Wall Street. That’s because using data along with modern algorithms has become a sophisticated way of making accurate predictions. Markets give us tons of data to use. It’s a no-brainer that AI has a firm place in investing.

At Codazen, our team of data scientists and software engineers works closely with you to create effective and customized AI solutions for your investment needs. We take pride in integrating data-driven technology with personalized strategies to reach client goals.

[Contact us](https://www.codazen.com/contact/) to learn more about how we can help you leverage the power of artificial intelligence for your investments.


Artificial intelligence can help investment firms maximize returns while reducing risk.

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Smart Machines for Smart Investors

Creating brand authenticity consists of multiple factors, but choosing the right colors is at the heart of it. Studies show color is used by marketers to strategically alter brand personality, purchase intent, likability, and brand familiarity.

With so many social changes, brand authenticity has never been more important. <a href="https://sproutsocial.com/glossary/brand-authenticity/" title="https://sproutsocial.com/glossary/brand-authenticity/" data-renderer-mark="true">SproutSocial</a>, a social media management platform, reports that “younger generations say that brand authenticity is second to only discounts when determining which businesses to buy from.” How a company shapes perceptions to the public can really determine wether it sinks in these volatile markets.
That’s why the impact of color in forming brand perceptions cannot be ignored. From mom-and-pop shops to multi-national corporations, <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/business-branding-with-color-psychology" title="https://blog.codazen.com/business-branding-with-color-psychology" data-renderer-mark="true">color is at the heart of brand story</a>.
The color scheme assembled by designers plays a key role across your various marketing assets - from <a href="https://www.wix.com/" title="https://www.wix.com/" data-renderer-mark="true">building a website</a> and the design of a logo to a site’s colors and much more. Employing brand colors consistently and across all platforms can result in a unified look and feel to your company, making them memorable and recognizable.
<h2 id="Colors-That-Work" data-renderer-start-pos="1227">Colors That Work</h2>
A <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17543266.2013.877987" title="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17543266.2013.877987" data-renderer-mark="true">study</a> from the University of Missouri-Columbia revealed that blue logos invoked feelings of confidence, success, and reliability; green logos invoked perceptions of environmental friendliness, toughness, durability, masculinity, and sustainability; purple logos invoked femininity, glamor, and charm; pink logos gave the perception of youth, imagination, and fashion; yellow logos invoked perceptions of fun and modernity; and red logos brought feelings of expertise and self-assurance.
Colors speak to us in ways we’re not even aware of.
Picking the right colors for a site depends on how the website serves a user and how they want the user to feel during the process. If a brand wants to convey security and trust, the dominating color can be blue like AT&amp;T, Facebook, and American Express. Target, Virgin Atlantic, and Nintendo use red to express excitement. In the digital space, color can help contribute to a brand’s personality, set up a relationship with customers, and build authenticity.
These global organizations have established brand authenticity in their digital spaces (and some of the biggest companies, like Coca Cola, had established brand authenticity long before the Digital Era). <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nikkibaird/2018/08/03/brand-authenticity-is-it-really-that-complicated/?sh=793bab73481e" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nikkibaird/2018/08/03/brand-authenticity-is-it-really-that-complicated/?sh=793bab73481e" data-renderer-mark="true">Brand authenticity is carried in culture</a>. It comes through company values, the CEO, a company’s history, and what a company does internally and externally. But in modern times, brand authenticity is built in the digital space through a delicate dance of UI and colors.
Brand authenticity requires colors that work in the digital and non-digital spaces. The digital space is our first stop with purchases, planning vacations, and browsing all kinds of products and services. The pandemic only reinforced the need to connect customers to brands online and the way to do it is by paying strong attention to the story that colors and brand authenticity tell.
<h2 id="Simplicity-Helps-Authenticity" data-renderer-start-pos="3114">Simplicity Helps Authenticity</h2>

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Companies that have managed strong brand authenticity have simple color palettes— often it’s between 2-3 colors. Think of Pepsi, Apple, or Amazon, and chances are you can name a primary color used in their logos and sites, respectively. Color simplicity is key in UX design strategy and it’s also key in creating brand authenticity.
A triad of colors for a website’s design is enough to balance the messaging around company values with emotions from the user journey. Colors must also uphold the user experience. Seems like a lot to ask of colors but the right UX designer’s eye can achieve this formula through the site’s UI elements.
Strip away unnecessary elements, add the right colors, and you can foster brand authenticity. Brand authenticity needs to be simple. Simplicity lets the users know there is nothing to hide. Users don’t need to overthink. They can trust the brand when the message is clear.
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-Pretty-Is-as-Pretty-Does" data-renderer-start-pos="4089">Codazen Solutions: Pretty Is as Pretty Does</h2>
When you apply colors with brand authenticity in UX design, it is very intentional. Senior UX Designer at Codazen, Josh Grieve, says, “we place chosen colors depending on the section of a page. We pay attention to what we’re trying to accomplish in each section with each UI element, for each step of the user journey.”
Gestalt Theory is the theory of visual perception and how our eyes and brains interpret what we see. The Gestalt Principles are always at play as we take into account the difference between primary and secondary colors. Each part of visual design falls into: Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Closure, Figure/Ground, and Simplicity. Our designers use Gestalt Theory when determining what colors render the most authentic experience for customers and brands.
We consider what colors are more neutral or more vibrant. We also do visual quality assurance and testing for our colors to meet Web Content Accessibility Guide (WCAG) standards. After all, a site has to be easily accessible to help build authenticity.
It’s not just about making a website look pretty with the right colors. It’s about having the colors work well with the website’s function.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn more about how we can help you employ the power of color.

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Building Brand Authenticity With Color

Artificial intelligence (AI) can increase a brand’s competitive advantage when it comes to digital advertising. From optimizing ad spend and improving performance to segmenting and targeting specific audiences, AI is transforming how companies market to consumers.
Customer relationship management systems and ad platforms provide a trove of data on impressions, click-through rates and demographics. While more data is better, humans can only process so much information. That’s where AI comes in.
With the right data, artificial intelligence can detect useful patterns, predicting campaign changes that would improve the effectiveness of each ad. And all this data analyzing can take seconds for the AI, instead of weeks for a human.
According to statistics portal Statista, <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/1176/online-advertising/" title="https://www.statista.com/topics/1176/online-advertising/" data-renderer-mark="true">$330 billion is projected to be spent</a> on global digital advertising by 2021. With that much money on the line, it’s crucial for companies to leverage the power of AI to maximize ROI.
<h2 id="Optimizing-Ad-Spend-with-AI" data-renderer-start-pos="1170">Optimizing Ad Spend with AI</h2>
By watching campaign performance in real-time, artificial intelligence is able to help advertisers determine how much to spend on digital ads. The ad spend plans factor in not only the monetary aspect, but also the target audience to figure out the optimal cost of each ad.
AI systems monitor market shifts and the behavioral changes of consumers to adjust ad spend dollars. Naomi Simson, co-founder of online marketplace RedBalloon, was spending $45,000 each month on ad agencies and <a href="https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/blog/how-one-ecommerce-company-used-ai-to-get-a-3000-return-on-ad-spend" title="https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/blog/how-one-ecommerce-company-used-ai-to-get-a-3000-return-on-ad-spend" data-renderer-mark="true">paying at least $50 per customer acquisition</a>. Needing to cut costs, she switched to Albert, an AI marketing platform that uses machine learning to optimize ad campaigns by analyzing data across ad accounts and customer databases. With the AI solution, Simson now spends 25% less on marketing, achieves 30% better results and her return on ad spend hit 3,000%.
Perpetua, an advertising software for <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/perpetua-unlocks-scalable-omnichannel-growth-for-brands-with-ai-powered-optimization-and-intelligence-for-instacart-ads-301182087.html" title="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/perpetua-unlocks-scalable-omnichannel-growth-for-brands-with-ai-powered-optimization-and-intelligence-for-instacart-ads-301182087.html" data-renderer-mark="true">Amazon and Instacart ads</a>, also leverages AI to make the best bid at the best time on keywords that are the most likely to bring conversions. These optimizations maximize ad spend efficiency so a company’s marketing dollars don’t go to waste.
With so much data available, being able to utilize responsive AI-based ad systems can give brands a competitive edge. But what if browsers stop collecting certain kinds of data?

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<h2 id="No-More-Cookies" data-renderer-start-pos="2537">No More Cookies</h2>
Cookies are bits of data loaded onto a computer’s browser that lets marketers track what users do online. Apple’s Safari currently <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-updates-safari-on-ios-and-mac-to-block-third-party-cookies/" title="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-updates-safari-on-ios-and-mac-to-block-third-party-cookies/" data-renderer-mark="true">blocks all third-party cookies</a> and Google’s Chrome is planning to do the same. Without this tracking technology to follow consumers around the internet, how will advertisers reach potential customers? AI is the answer.
Artificial intelligence can recognize patterns that cookies can’t. It can see that a user lives in Los Angeles, note that the weather is forecast to be 98 degrees and pitch an ad for sunscreen without needing any personally identifiable data.
According to Randi Stipes, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultalbot/2020/11/17/inside-the-world-of-ai-at-ibm-watson-advertising/?sh=504bb33d3f70" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultalbot/2020/11/17/inside-the-world-of-ai-at-ibm-watson-advertising/?sh=504bb33d3f70" data-renderer-mark="true">CMO at IBM Watson Advertising</a>:
<blockquote>
Because of its inherent identifier-free data processing and machine learning capabilities, we believe that AI will be the backbone of the new digital economy and provide stakeholders across the ecosystem with greater value, confidence and trust.
</blockquote>
By utilizing one of Watson Advertising’s AI solutions to identify brand-safe social media influencers, Hyundai was able to increase its positive sentiment score to 100%. Another retail brand that leveraged Watson Advertising’s AI capabilities to deliver tone-appropriate messages to a target audience increased their campaign performance by 206%.
GumGum, a contextual intelligence platform, developed an artificial intelligence called Verity that relies on <a href="https://aithority.com/technology/native-and-programmatic-advertising/mediavine-expands-access-to-contextual-ad-targeting/" title="https://aithority.com/technology/native-and-programmatic-advertising/mediavine-expands-access-to-contextual-ad-targeting/" data-renderer-mark="true">contextual data instead of the behavioral data</a> that third-party cookies track. It helps advertisers target ads using keyword and contextual categorization. GumGum CEO Phil Schraeder says that Verity “considers images, text and metadata when scoring relevance and determining suitability, ensuring brand safety and campaign success.”
Artificial intelligence can help pave the way for advertisers to navigate through a cookie-less future and provide the most effective customized campaigns.
<h2 id="At-the-Right-Place-With-the-Right-Message-at-the-Right-Time" data-renderer-start-pos="4407">At the Right Place With the Right Message at the Right Time</h2>
With customized advertising, companies can personalize ads for target audiences by leveraging AI’s ability to process and detect patterns in real-time. This <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/data-in-the-driver-seat-for-auto-industry-future" title="https://blog.codazen.com/data-in-the-driver-seat-for-auto-industry-future" data-renderer-mark="true">deep customer analytics</a> helps marketers better understand just who it is they’re trying to appeal to.
Artificial intelligence not only offers precision targeting of advertisements, but can also self-adjust and optimize individual campaigns. By assessing websites for content and context, AI can analyze specific pages where ads show up, raising targeting accuracy rates and reducing the risk of ads appearing next to content that is negatively related to the ad. For example, there are plenty of websites focusing on diet plans, nutrition and healthy eating. Since the pages are full of food content, they’re also full of advertising deals for fast food chains and delivery services. AI context analysis can help prevent this irony.
Dun &amp; Bradstreet, a commercial data analytics company, created D&amp;B Buyer Intent which utilizes <a href="https://martechseries.com/analytics/b2b-data/dun-bradstreet-launches-buyer-intent-help-increase-roi-uk-b2b-marketing-teams/" title="https://martechseries.com/analytics/b2b-data/dun-bradstreet-launches-buyer-intent-help-increase-roi-uk-b2b-marketing-teams/" data-renderer-mark="true">Natural Language Processing and billions of unique web engagements</a> to identify in-market buyers. Marketers using Buyer Intent have found an increase in ROI, with their email open rates and click-through rates going up by 37% and 22% respectively, as well as a 13% increase in conversions.
Marketing and sales teams who want a competitive edge can benefit from AI’s audience targeting capabilities. By predicting the best ads to run in the best places and adjusting in real-time, advertising campaigns can become more engaging and attractive to customers who appreciate personalization.
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-Advertising-and-AI" data-renderer-start-pos="6043">Codazen Solutions: Advertising and AI</h2>
Artificial intelligence is changing the advertising world. It’s helping companies optimize their campaigns to reduce ad spend while making those ads more relevant to individual audiences. With more personalized and effective ads, not only will marketers get better results for each ad dollar spent, but because the AI is analyzing trillions of data points to predict human needs, customers will also be able to get ads for products they would actually want.
The more artificial intelligence advances, the greater a role it will play in the advertising industry. Codazen’s data scientists have the skills necessary to help accelerate a brand’s digital transformation by maximizing the benefits of AI .
According to Michael Blum, one of our data scientists:
<blockquote>
Finding the right advertisement to show someone is not an easy task, as it’s difficult to capture someone’s interest when they’re likely focused on something else. There are a ton of factors to consider when launching an ad campaign, which can be overwhelming for people to handle on their own. Personalized ads are always better at getting my own interest, and AI is the most effective way forward to handle those types of campaigns.
</blockquote>
Our innovative team of data scientists and software engineers works closely with you to create effective and customized AI solutions for your advertising needs. We take pride in integrating data-driven tech with personalized brand strategies to reach client goals.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn more about how we can help you leverage the power of artificial intelligence for your campaigns.

Artificial intelligence can customize digital ads and predict changes in real-time to improve the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.

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Artificial Intelligence Is Changing the World of Advertising

One of the hardest parts about building a machine learning (ML) pipeline is making sure you have enough clean labeled data to train a model. Good data can occasionally be easy to come by, but good labeled data is much more rare and it can become quite expensive to label a dataset manually. That is why data scientists use Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). MTurk uses contracted or temporary workers – commonly referred to as “gig workers” – that can help label massive amounts of information.

Gig workers are part of many startups and Big Tech organizations. In 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2018/07/29/the-gig-economy-opens-the-door-for-employment-opportunities/#7b1372be7662" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2018/07/29/the-gig-economy-opens-the-door-for-employment-opportunities/#7b1372be7662" data-renderer-mark="true">reported</a> that 55 million people in the U.S. are gig workers. These free-agent workers can complete a variety of tasks.
Even though many companies are putting their focus on<a href="https://blog.codazen.com/the-digital-transformation-has-arrived" title="https://blog.codazen.com/the-digital-transformation-has-arrived" data-renderer-mark="true"> emerging technologies</a>, gig workers are still relevant to helping a company meet financial and technical goals. As an online marketplace for temporary workers, MTurk is part of the growing digital transformation.
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/employment-and-growth/independent-work-choice-necessity-and-the-gig-economy" title="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/employment-and-growth/independent-work-choice-necessity-and-the-gig-economy" data-renderer-mark="true">The McKinsey Global Institute</a>, an economic research firm, found that up to 162 million people in Europe and the United States—or 20 to 30 percent of the working-age population—engage in some form of independent, gig work.
The digital age has created a litany of jobs requiring outsourcing — not only to intelligent machines, but to a variety of humans. Part of strengthening ML capabilities involves occasionally relying on gig workers. There are still many jobs that require a human touch, such as gathering information via conversations or writing product reviews.
Gig workers help data scientists gather data for ML. This data can be used by developers to build algorithms. Depending on the scope of the project, the process can be time-consuming and expensive. MTurk can help large-scale organizations advance their ML techniques.
<h2 id="Training-for-Machine-Learning-Models" data-renderer-start-pos="1937">Training for Machine Learning Models</h2>
MTurk is a way for companies to access the power of a large swath of temporary workers who can bring diversity in talents, ages, ethnicities, cultures and locations, while collecting data and labeling it for ML.
It can take years for an organization to develop this type of workforce. With so many workers readily available, there is also inherent flexibility that employers and gig workers can take advantage of. Both can use MTurk’s large workforce capabilities on an as-needed basis and can help mitigate stressed budgets while helping workers subsidize their income, especially during a recession.
Because a large workforce brings so much diversity, MTurk has been used in <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/01/16/pete-buttigieg-amazon-mechanical-turk-gig-workers/" title="https://theintercept.com/2020/01/16/pete-buttigieg-amazon-mechanical-turk-gig-workers/" data-renderer-mark="true">political campaigns</a> for canvassing,<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/05/04/researchers-are-rushing-to-amazons-mechanical-turk-should-they/" title="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/05/04/researchers-are-rushing-to-amazons-mechanical-turk-should-they/" data-renderer-mark="true"> in social science for research </a>and in <a href="https://psychcentral.com/blog/mechanical-turk-to-the-rescue-of-psychology-research/" title="https://psychcentral.com/blog/mechanical-turk-to-the-rescue-of-psychology-research/" data-renderer-mark="true">psychology to gauge opinions that are representative of the general population</a>. For organizations who have sensitive data that can only be shared with a private group, MTurk helps provide labeling options such as choosing one of the third-party vendors pre-selected by AWS.
One of MTurk’s biggest perks is its integration with another one of Amazon’s services, SageMaker. Together, they form a third service called Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth. This combination builds labeled data that can be used to train ML models with a public workforce. Developers can use it to label their data using human annotators through MTurk, third-party vendors or their own employees.
<a href="https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/groundtruth/customers/" title="https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/groundtruth/customers/" data-renderer-mark="true">Several global companies use MTurk’s Amazon SageMaker</a> for ML. Airbnb uses MTurk to generate and maintain high quality data in order to train and test ML models. T-Mobile uses labeled data to create high-performing ML models and to lighten the task loads of their data scientists and software engineers. ZipRecruiter uses it to help their ML model extract relevant data automatically from uploaded resumes. Codazen also utilizes MTurk as well to gather data used in creating several of our innovative projects in computer vision and deep learning.
The<a href="https://blog.mturk.com/aws-introduces-a-new-way-to-label-data-for-machine-learning-with-mturk-2f9c19866a98" title="https://blog.mturk.com/aws-introduces-a-new-way-to-label-data-for-machine-learning-with-mturk-2f9c19866a98" data-renderer-mark="true"> Amazon Mechanical Turk Blog</a> describes the process:
<blockquote>
Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth learns from these annotations in real time and can automatically apply labels to much of the remaining dataset, reducing the need for human review. Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth creates highly accurate training data sets, saves time and complexity, and reduces costs by up to 70 percent when compared to human annotation.
</blockquote>

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<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-Making-Data-Collection-Easy" data-renderer-start-pos="4388">Codazen Solutions: Making Data Collection Easy</h2>
Human intelligence collaborating with artificial intelligence is the trend of the future. However, companies must know not only how to use Amazon Mechanical Turk or other gig work providers, but also how to use it so they meet bottom line revenue while leveraging the right technologies.
MTurk can come in handy because it allows the tedious tasks of data collection to be completed by gig workers without burdening the workflow processes of developers and data scientists.
Codazen can help organizations leverage MTurk as a way to speed up data collection and labeling, while staying on track with project timelines and leveraging AI capabilities. Labeled data is integral to building sophisticated algorithms—especially on a gig economy platform. After our team collects massive amounts of data, we work on training machine learning algorithms.
Datasets for deep learning are an integral part of this process and our experts collaborate with client teams to provide creative, technical solutions. We work with companies who have existing AI capabilities and those without. Codazen has the expertise and experience many companies need, but may lack, to make full use of the MTurk platform.
Codazen developers and data scientists create effective projects, experiments, and surveys using MTurk. We can help organizations minimize the costs and maximize the returns of tedious workflows and complex machine learning models.
To learn more about how to leverage the multiple benefits of MTurk and ML, <a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">contact Codazen</a>.

Machine learning techniques using MTurk can accelerate training data.

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Easing the Burden of Building Good Training Datasets

Colors communicate with us in a way that words can’t. By strategically selecting the best colors for a campaign, marketers can send out a persuasive message to consumers even before those potential customers read what the advertisement is promoting.

The most memorable brands not only know how to use color to reach their customers on an emotional level, but do so in a way that can drive specific, consistent behavior. A study by Dr. Gemma Calvert, Professor of Consumer Neuroscience at Nanyang Technological University, found that seeing images of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-apple-a-company-or-a-religion-2012-6" title="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-apple-a-company-or-a-religion-2012-6" data-renderer-mark="true">brands can actually trigger the same reactions in the brain</a> as seeing images of religion.
When research subjects were given images associated with large companies such as Apple, Harley-Davidson, and Ferrari, the fMRI data showed the regions of the brain associated with memory, emotion, decision-making, and meaning were activated in the same patterns as when the subjects were given religious images.
Since we perceive an image all at once, it can deliver a lot of information in a very short amount of time. Even if we read words that convey the same information, it can take significantly longer to process.
Images are powerful tools. The color of the images in ads can help make or break a campaign. Marketing teams must be careful that their <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/business-branding-with-color-psychology" title="https://blog.codazen.com/business-branding-with-color-psychology" data-renderer-mark="true">color choice sends out the right messaging</a> that’s appropriate to both the company’s product and its target audience.
Some brands choose black and white to convey a message of traditionalism, while others go for a kaleidoscope design in hopes of standing out from competitors.
But which color scheme is better: black-and-white advertisements or ones that take inspiration from a rainbow?
<h2 id="The-Case-for-Black-and-White" data-renderer-start-pos="1849">The Case for Black and White</h2>
It’s essential for advertisers to not underestimate the impact of color on their customers. Many purchase decisions can be influenced by subconscious forces rather than logic.
According to <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/pressReleases/2015/January/150127_JCR_black_and_white_advertising.html#:~:text=Companies%20should%20carefully%20consider%20whether,product%20apart%20from%20the%20competition" title="https://press.uchicago.edu/pressReleases/2015/January/150127_JCR_black_and_white_advertising.html#:~:text=Companies%20should%20carefully%20consider%20whether,product%20apart%20from%20the%20competition" data-renderer-mark="true">a study in the Journal of Consumer Research</a>, consumers who see ads in black and white tend to focus on the basic features of a product, while those who see the same ads in color focus on the nonessential aspects. When researchers showed study participants pictures of four pairs of shoes and asked them to categorize the footwear into two groups, those who were given the black and white images categorized the shoes based on function, such as high heels and sneakers. But those that were given color images instead created categories based on shoe design like leopard print and plain.
Hyojin Lee, one of the researchers, says:
<blockquote>
Color has become dominant in marketing because it attracts attention and promotes favorable attitudes. However, there may be times when companies might prefer to use black-and-white advertising. If a product’s primary features are superior, companies can successfully promote the product by using black-and-white images.
</blockquote>
An iconic brand that does this is Apple. If you close your eyes and imagine one of their ads, what do you see? Probably a lot of white. And rightly so. Apple has consistently used white as the backdrop for their marketing campaigns. Even scrolling through their website, you’ll see a lot of white space. The <a href="https://www.ceros.com/originals/evoking-emotion-color-6-brand-examples/" title="https://www.ceros.com/originals/evoking-emotion-color-6-brand-examples/" data-renderer-mark="true">use of all that expansive white space</a> helps direct the viewer’s eye and put Apple’s products into sharp focus.
Black is also useful in directing a customer’s attention, especially in <a href="https://www.impactplus.com/blog/the-psychology-of-design-black-in-marketing-design" title="https://www.impactplus.com/blog/the-psychology-of-design-black-in-marketing-design" data-renderer-mark="true">situations where high-contrast and legibility</a> are important. For example, the logos for Vogue and The New York Times are completely black. This functional design translates well from traditional print publication — where legibility is the priority — to the digital age.
Does this mean your marketing team should go all in on black and white advertising? Not so fast.

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<h2 id="Why-Roy-G.-Biv-Matters" data-renderer-start-pos="3913">Why Roy G. Biv Matters</h2>
Color strongly influences how a brand is perceived. It’s the first thing that people register when they look at your ads or website. It’s so essential to branding that companies have trademarked specific colors.
That robin’s egg blue you associate with Tiffany’s? <a href="https://strategicfactory.com/about-us/blog/the-psychology-of-color-how-to-make-your-brand-stand-out.html" title="https://strategicfactory.com/about-us/blog/the-psychology-of-color-how-to-make-your-brand-stand-out.html" data-renderer-mark="true">They’ve trademarked it.</a> Just like how UPS owns the rights to Pullman brown and no other soda manufacturer can use Coke red.
These iconic brands understand the impact color can have. Readex Research, a survey research company, ran the same ad twice - <a href="https://www.readexresearch.com/ad-effectiveness-color-2012/" title="https://www.readexresearch.com/ad-effectiveness-color-2012/" data-renderer-mark="true">first in black and white and then a second time in color</a>. When the ad was run in color, 33% more survey participants recalled seeing it.
Color not only affects memory, but <a href="https://www.pangea-cds.com/display-advertising-modern-world-color-vs-black-white/" title="https://www.pangea-cds.com/display-advertising-modern-world-color-vs-black-white/" data-renderer-mark="true">also grabs attention</a>. A sign with colored images captured the eyes of almost 50% of an audience, while the same sign with black and white images only managed to grab 24%.
Colors themselves and not just their use has also become a vital marketing tool. <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90149703/the-big-money-behind-naming-a-color-of-the-year" title="https://www.fastcompany.com/90149703/the-big-money-behind-naming-a-color-of-the-year" data-renderer-mark="true">Naming the Color of the Year (COTY)</a> is an effective way to garner attention, boost website traffic, and sell products. According to Laurie Pressman, Vice President at Pantone Color Institute, “Pantone has 95% brand awareness among designers and design-minded customers, due in large part to the Color of the Year program.” For 2021, Pantone announced two colors for COTY: <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/pantone-gray-yellow-pandemic-colors-2021-1234579124/" title="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/pantone-gray-yellow-pandemic-colors-2021-1234579124/" data-renderer-mark="true">Ultimate Gray and Illuminating</a>.
Want to add color to your advertising campaign? Use it wisely. Color can direct the eye to the most important areas on an ad. The <a href="https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/color-for-ecommerce" title="https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/color-for-ecommerce" data-renderer-mark="true">signal detection theory</a> states that the human brain is only able to fully understand information when the colors and shapes within the visual field are kept to a minimum. An ad that has too much going on makes it impossible for the consumer to focus on anything.
Just like a store is made of brick and mortar, color is the basic building block of visual experiences. It plays a critical role in a customer’s purchasing decision.
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-In-the-Eye-of-the-Beholder" data-renderer-start-pos="5846">Codazen Solutions: In the Eye of the Beholder</h2>
Color sends out subconscious messages, and being able to successfully implement color in your marketing campaign can change consumer behavior. Be it black and white or the hues of a rainbow, when an advertisement has the right colors to match the services and products a company offers, it can lead to increased sales and better brand awareness.
According to Nancy Cadena, one of Codazen’s UX designers:
<blockquote>
Color is key in creating a great user experience. It guides the user’s attention through the journey of using your website or application. Using color the right way can create a seamless experience that will generate a positive emotional response tied to a brand. But misusing color can affect contrast, legibility, and possibly generate frustration.
</blockquote>
At Codazen, we work closely with companies toward a personalized and creative digital strategy. Our UX designers and data scientists combine color with machine learning to create the right palette for our clients’ needs.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn how we can help you leverage the power of color for your advertising campaigns.

Ads with colors that match a company’s services and products can lead to increased sales and better brand awareness.

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Colorful Advertising vs. Black and White

The demands of paperwork on doctors and nurses can be a tedious burden on medical care workflow. On top of one-on-one patient care, a doctor’s day can easily entail hours of charting, following up on paperwork, and tending to business needs that eat up a lot of time. Natural Language Processing (NLP) can help.
NLP is when machines read, listen, and process spoken words and written text. NLP can detect differences and similarities between words and phrases.
In medical practices, NLP is being used to prevent documentation burnout for physicians. This natural language processing software takes speech and transcribes it to where it’s relevant on medical records, doctors are able to spend more time with patients, ease workflow, and save lives.
A <a href="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M18-3684" title="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M18-3684" data-renderer-mark="true">study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine</a> found that physicians spend an average of 16 minutes and 14 seconds per encounter. The study has data from some 100 million patient encounters with about 155,000 physicians from 417 health systems. The most time-consuming tasks were: chart review (33%), documentation (24%), and ordering (17%). While tasks vary based on industry and specialities, these appeared as the most common.
A day in the life of physicians is a balancing act of conducting business and human healthcare. But NLP could help doctors ease the workflow by cutting the time spent on these tasks.
<h2 id="NLP-to-the-Rescue:-Saving-Time,-Saving-Lives" data-renderer-start-pos="1510">NLP to the Rescue: Saving Time, Saving Lives</h2>

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Most people are familiar with speech-to-text capabilities via their smartphones that come with Siri, Alexa, or Google. The feature is meant to serve as a hands-free way of easing communication and as a timesaver.
When it’s used in a medical workflow, it can help increase the quality of healthcare to patients. A 2018 study published in the<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5961784/" title="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5961784/" data-renderer-mark="true"> AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science </a>explored the time crunch of physicians burdened with documentation.
The study followed workflows of doctor-client sessions and the time doctors spent on post-session documentation. It found the majority of respondents noticed an improvement in documentation quality and completeness as well as a decrease in time spent on documenting a patient encounter after implementing a speech recognition solution.
NLP software eavesdrops on conversations between a physician and patient. The language processing system is programmed to look for keywords and patterns. The words are data that the machine categorizes and matches to other data within a doctor’s patient documentation. It looks for red flags.
For example, if there is a patient that has a pattern of symptoms, the machine is able to match them to potential diseases. It can also find if there are other patients who have expressed similar symptoms. This helps doctors to better care for patients. It gives them a more informed practice by helping them see patterns they may have missed on their own.
Microsoft recently partnered with clinical documentation company, Nuance Communications. The tech giant has developed a “software that understands patient-clinician conversations and automatically integrates that data into the patient's medical record,” according to health industry journal <a href="https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/microsoft-lands-new-partner-in-race-to-reliable-speech-to-text-ehr-documen/565297/" title="https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/microsoft-lands-new-partner-in-race-to-reliable-speech-to-text-ehr-documen/565297/" data-renderer-mark="true">HealthDrive</a>.
As speech-to-text becomes more common in the medical industry, this type of NLP technology will need a place to store information.
Amazon has tapped into this niche with <a href="https://hitinfrastructure.com/news/amazon-announces-new-healthcare-data-lake-service" title="https://hitinfrastructure.com/news/amazon-announces-new-healthcare-data-lake-service" data-renderer-mark="true">Amazon HealthLake</a>. This cloud-based service allows for information to be stored and shared between health systems and with third-party applications. In the patient care workflow, healthcare providers will be able to collaborate more effectively and ensure patients access to their personal medical information.
HealthLake, like any other technology, has to be HIPAA-approved before using. That helps protect client confidentiality with data.
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-Speech-to-Text-Capabilities" data-renderer-start-pos="3955">Codazen Solutions: Speech-to-Text Capabilities</h2>
At Codazen, we know time is of the essence in organizational workflow and management. In an industry like healthcare, where the demands for human interaction are great, AI can really assuage the documentation-heavy workflow.
Our team of data scientists can help leverage NLP technologies for health-based organizations. We take audio transcriptions and turn them into text using open-source and in-house speech recognition packages in Python.
We also help figure out what speech is about by summarizing or classifying speech data. Our data science team can provide any sort of analysis that finds patterns in phrases or audio.
Whether your company needs assistance automatically transcribing thousands of pages of text, or analyzing the sentiment and finding patterns throughout the corpora, our team of dedicated and experienced data scientists can help you do just that.
We can help ease the demands on physicians and provide better healthcare to patients. <a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Learn more</a> about partnering with us.

Natural language processing can ease a physician’s paperwork load and improve client care.

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NLP Helps Doctors Save More Than Just Time

Artificial intelligence (AI) is leveling up the video gaming and online gaming industry. By freeing developers and designers from time-consuming tasks while creating content faster and at a lower cost, AI has become increasingly popular for game manufacturers. Players also reap the benefits with higher quality graphics and better gameplay on their consoles, PCs and phones.
According to commerce platform PYMNTS, online gaming makes up almost <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/news/security-and-risk/2020/biometrics-battles-evil-on-gaming-platforms/" title="https://www.pymnts.com/news/security-and-risk/2020/biometrics-battles-evil-on-gaming-platforms/" data-renderer-mark="true">75% of all in-app spending</a>, with the gaming industry expected to generate $159.3 billion in global revenues in 2020. In the U.S. alone, 3 out of 4 consumers interact with gaming platforms, spending up to 14 hours a week on them, which is up from 12 hours in 2018. A <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/technology/video-game-industry-trends.html" title="https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/technology/video-game-industry-trends.html" data-renderer-mark="true">2020 digital media trends</a> survey by Deloitte found that during the Covid-19 crisis, a third of consumers have subscribed to a video gaming service, used a cloud gaming service or watched an esports event for the first time in their lives. With numbers like these, it’s essential for companies to leverage AI to increase player interest, engagement and satisfaction.
The power of this cutting-edge technology lies in its speed. AI bots can play years’ worth of game time at an accelerated rate. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/25/17492918/openai-dota-2-bot-ai-five-5v5-matches" title="https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/25/17492918/openai-dota-2-bot-ai-five-5v5-matches" data-renderer-mark="true">OpenAI’s co-founder</a> and CTO Greg Brockman says that if a human player takes between 12,000 and 20,000 hours of gameplay to become a professional, then OpenAI’s agents can “play 100 human lifetimes of experience every single day.”
AI is helping make gaming more efficient for manufacturers and more realistic for players. Below are five ways the video gaming and online gaming industry can leverage artificial intelligence.
<h2 id="1.-QA-Testing" data-renderer-start-pos="1845">1. QA Testing</h2>
Software glitches and bugs are an inevitable part of the game development process, and extensive testing is required to achieve the best possible product. The problem is that testing is extremely time-consuming and repetitive. The solution? AI can run thousands of tests in a fraction of the time a human tester can.
Video game company Larian Studios built a proprietary <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2020/10/16/21519815/baldurs-gate-3-testing-ai-super-gamer-larian-studios-development-pc-steam" title="https://www.polygon.com/2020/10/16/21519815/baldurs-gate-3-testing-ai-super-gamer-larian-studios-development-pc-steam" data-renderer-mark="true">AI that it calls the World Tester</a>. When a new build for a game is put together, the World Tester pushes the game’s boundaries, going through combat, dialogue options and menus in search of bugs faster than any human QA team could ever hope to do. Human testers no longer have to do the grunt work of pressing different combinations of buttons and input commands to see what will break. The World Tester can even juggle multiple builds at the same time, simulating hours of gameplay at once.
<h2 id="2.-Automation-of-Graphics" data-renderer-start-pos="2724">2. Automation of Graphics</h2>
Artificial intelligence’s ability to automate the animation process can save game makers millions in expenses while making games more lifelike and efficient. In order to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/game-makers-inject-ai-develop-more-lifelike-characters/" title="https://www.wired.com/story/game-makers-inject-ai-develop-more-lifelike-characters/" data-renderer-mark="true">speed up the development process</a>, a team from gaming company Electronic Arts and the University of British Columbia are using a machine learning technique called reinforcement learning to automatically animate humanoid characters. When fed enough data, AI can automate the creation of photo-realistic characters and scenes, helping designers cut production time and costs.
Microsoft is also utilizing machine learning in its latest Xbox console to generate <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2020/10/06/xbox-series-xs-machine-learning-auto-hdr-renders-stunning-results/" title="https://venturebeat.com/2020/10/06/xbox-series-xs-machine-learning-auto-hdr-renders-stunning-results/" data-renderer-mark="true">High Dynamic Range (HDR)</a> content from much less detailed Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) content. Artificial intelligence fills in the gaps from the limited input data to process the HDR image and get the desired effect of expanded contrast and color in SDR games.

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<h2 id="3.-Toxicity-Monitoring" data-renderer-start-pos="3671">3. Toxicity Monitoring</h2>
Because of the intense nature of online gaming, some players take their in-game speech from competitive to abusive. Finding a way to ensure game chats are free from toxic language has been challenging for developers. That is, until AI came along.
Artificial intelligence has helped <a href="https://www.explica.co/toxicity-in-overwatch-dropped-thanks-to-the-use-of-artificial-intelligence/" title="https://www.explica.co/toxicity-in-overwatch-dropped-thanks-to-the-use-of-artificial-intelligence/" data-renderer-mark="true">Blizzard police game chats</a> in Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm by verifying player reports of abusive behavior and issuing punishments. By continually looking for patterns in player reports, the machine learning algorithm gets better at identifying offensive communications.
Blizzard president J. Allen Brack says the use of AI “allows us to do appropriate penalties faster, and we’ve seen an incredible decrease in not just toxic text in chat, but an overall decrease in recidivism rates.”
<h2 id="4.-Player-Verification" data-renderer-start-pos="4472">4. Player Verification</h2>
With real money being gambled, it’s essential for online casinos to screen their players to make sure that the people signing up on their site are not only real people, but are also of age. UK-based tech company Innovative Technology’s (ITL) Intelligent Identification system, which it dubs ICU, uses AI to verify the age of players, blocking children from gambling.
Marcus Tiedt, Sales Director at <a href="https://www.biometricupdate.com/202001/biometrics-ai-machine-learning-innovations-to-boost-gaming-industry-growth" title="https://www.biometricupdate.com/202001/biometrics-ai-machine-learning-innovations-to-boost-gaming-industry-growth" data-renderer-mark="true">Innovative Technology</a>, says, “ICU uses artificial intelligence and ITL’s own algorithms to instantly verify age, and the next iteration of ICU can now identify faces. ICU Age Verification can therefore ensure compliance to prevent underage gambling and safeguard children.” So far, ICU has a 96% success rate in identifying underage gambling, far surpassing the human accuracy rate of 69%.
<h2 id="5.-Game-Creation" data-renderer-start-pos="5287">5. Game Creation</h2>
Imagine being able to create a video game without knowing how to write a single line of code. AI makes it possible. Nvidia, a company that designs graphics processing units, along with researchers from the University of Toronto and MIT developed GameGAN, an <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/game-makers-inject-ai-develop-more-lifelike-characters/" title="https://www.wired.com/story/game-makers-inject-ai-develop-more-lifelike-characters/" data-renderer-mark="true">AI engine that can recreate Pac-Man</a> without any of the game’s original code. By watching the video game screen and monitoring the controls used during thousands of games of Pac-Man, GameGAN was able to create its own version of the classic game with new, never-before-seen levels. If given enough data, GameGAN can generate entirely new games that don’t require any coding.
Matthew Guzdial, an AI Researcher and Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta, and his team trained their own AI to build games. By having it watch hours of videos showing people playing different video games, the AI was able to figure out the rules of each game. <a href="https://time.com/5779217/artificial-intelligence-video-games/" title="https://time.com/5779217/artificial-intelligence-video-games/" data-renderer-mark="true">It then combined the styles and rules</a> of the various games to create something new. Guzdial says that rather than replacing game creators, his goal is to use AI to reduce the barrier of entry to game creation. With AI, gamers can build their own novel game levels without first having to learn to code.
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-Level-Up-With-AI" data-renderer-start-pos="6515">Codazen Solutions: Level Up With AI</h2>
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how we live our lives. Not only do we ask Amazon’s Alexa about the weather and watch <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/data-in-the-driver-seat-for-auto-industry-future" title="https://blog.codazen.com/data-in-the-driver-seat-for-auto-industry-future" data-renderer-mark="true">Tesla’s self-driving cars</a> zoom down the freeway, but we also enjoy video games brought to us by the power of machine learning.
The more artificial intelligence advances, the more embedded it will be in the gaming industry. However, there are still many companies that have yet to take advantage of the opportunities AI has to offer in improving developer efficiency and player experience. Codazen has the skills necessary to help these companies explore those opportunities in a cost-effective way.
One of our data scientists, Neal Munson, believes that the fast-paced advances in AI should be embraced. He says:
<blockquote>
Our teams evolve with ever-changing technologies, including how to leverage AI. People talk about how challenging it is to keep up with new technology in gaming. The weather may change every hour, but the weatherman who checks on it every minute keeps up with it no sweat. Here at Codazen, we make it our job to be familiar with the newest algorithms and techniques to tackle the AI problems our game manufacturing clients want to take on.
</blockquote>
Our innovative team of data scientists and software engineers works closely with you to create powerful AI engines capable of generating customized gaming experiences.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn how we can help you leverage the power of artificial intelligence to level up your game.

Artificial intelligence in the video game industry can free workers from time-consuming tasks while creating content faster and at a lower cost.

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Power-Up: Five Ways the Video Game Industry Can Leverage Artificial Intelligence

Amazon Rekognition is using digital image processing to help people find love while preventing fraud and decreasing manual labor.

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Amazon Rekognition: Recognizing Love

Big data is necessary for achieving key insights that lead to maximizing competitive advantage and ROIs. Companies can have all the information in the world, but without a team of data scientists, they can easily miss blindspots that can cost millions in revenue. In other words, you can have all the bricks in the world, but without an architect, tools and labor know-how, you won’t have a well-built house.

Most modern corporations have more data than they know what to do with. The Forbes Technology Council compiled a list of the most <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/01/15/dont-make-these-14-common-big-data-mistakes-at-your-business/#560dcdfd3ca8" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/01/15/dont-make-these-14-common-big-data-mistakes-at-your-business/#560dcdfd3ca8" data-renderer-mark="true">common mistakes businesses make</a> when dealing with data, such as analysis paralysis and letting data sit in a silo. It’s crucial for companies to avoid these pitfalls on their path to digital transformation.
That’s where data science comes in. It’s the data scientist’s job to gain actionable insights from all those gigabytes of information. When strategies are data-driven, they bear powerful results.
<a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/how-do-netflixs-algorithms-work-machine-learning-helps-to-predict-what-viewers-will-like" title="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/how-do-netflixs-algorithms-work-machine-learning-helps-to-predict-what-viewers-will-like" data-renderer-mark="true">Netflix uses big data analytics</a> for targeted advertising, collecting search and watch history from its millions of subscribers to gain insights on what keeps viewers hooked. The streaming platform’s recommendation system is powered by machine learning (ML) and sophisticated algorithms, sending personalized suggestions of what viewers should watch next. This data-driven personal touch amps up customer experience, keeping viewers subscribing month after month.
<a href="https://www.mentionlytics.com/blog/5-real-world-examples-of-how-brands-are-using-big-data-analytics/" title="https://www.mentionlytics.com/blog/5-real-world-examples-of-how-brands-are-using-big-data-analytics/" data-renderer-mark="true">PepsiCo also takes a data-driven analysis approach</a> to business. The global drink brand analyzes metrics collected from its warehouse and point of sale inventories to forecast production and shipment needs, ensuring retailers consistently have the correct products in the correct amount.
Big data can help businesses increase ROI, drive customer retention and mitigate risk factors. Unlocking the power of that data starts with the Discovery Phase, Codazen’s unique approach to analyzing our clients’ data and putting it to work. Here are the five steps our data scientists use, from nailing down the initial problem to building out machine learning models.
<h2 id="Step-1:-Understand-the-Problem" data-renderer-start-pos="2237">Step 1: Understand the Problem</h2>
The first step of big data analytics is understanding the context of the problem that needs solving, with a focus on the motivation. Even the biggest, most well-funded corporations struggle with understanding what data they already have, what they still need and how to leverage it to achieve their goals. To find answers, they need data scientists to ask the right questions.
Codazen Data Scientist, Neal Munson, explains the importance of understanding the business directive in order to find real insights specific to the data project. According to Neal:
<blockquote>
We may find a lot of correlations from the data we get, but the key is to sort out which ones are useful. For example, data from a restaurant could say that food is cooked before it’s served, but that information probably isn’t new and wouldn’t provide additional value. Discovering that particular tables at the restaurant tend to produce higher paying customers could be game-changing.
</blockquote>
Identifying in detail the needs and uses of each project is integral to maximizing the benefits of big data.
<h2 id="Step-2:-Access-the-Data" data-renderer-start-pos="3331">Step 2: Access the Data</h2>
Once the goal of the project is figured out, the next step is to look at the information. Connecting to your company’s database or using APIs are two common ways of obtaining usable metrics.
Maryam Farboodi, assistant professor of finance at the <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-problem-with-big-data/" title="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-problem-with-big-data/" data-renderer-mark="true">MIT Sloan School of Management</a>, and her colleagues calculated the different availability of data in small and large companies, looking at how data interacted with the growth of processing power. Farboodi says that since large companies produce more data than smaller companies, this abundance in data “accelerates advances in processing speeds and computing and helps investors view these large companies as a less risky bet.”
But what happens if a client has access to only one type of data when other types are needed? Data scientists can access the missing information by looking for open sources on the internet. If a zoo wants metrics on the weather to figure out how to keep its animals comfortable but it hasn’t collected any weather data, scientists can acquire what they need from open platforms online. These open datasets are an incredible resource of additional information.
Once a company has collected the required data, our scientists can confidently assess how projects can benefit from artificial intelligence.
<h2 id="Step-3:-Identify-the-Value-of-AI" data-renderer-start-pos="4635">Step 3: Identify the Value of AI</h2>
Although artificial intelligence is a powerful tool, data scientists need to first understand how to go about solving the problem without AI before they try to automate the solution or create an ML model.
Let’s say you’re trying to classify dog breeds. You have a video of different dogs and you want to know which breeds are in the video. As a human, you can watch the video and figure out the breeds visually from your limited knowledge of dogs. An ML model, however, can be trained to recognize hundreds of different dog breeds from what they look like and potentially other aspects of the dogs such as their bark. It can do so much quicker and with much more accuracy than a human who’s visually identifying the breeds.
In the vast majority of cases, the question isn’t whether an ML model should be used to solve the problem, but the best way to have an ML model fit into a solution. Determining how AI can use information from the data is the key to delivering the desired results.

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<h2 id="Step-4:-Clean-the-Data" data-renderer-start-pos="5689">Step 4: Clean the Data</h2>
The next step is to transform the data into a useful format for ML models. Making sure data is homogeneous and clean can be time-consuming. According to a survey by <a href="https://www.anaconda.com/state-of-data-science-2020" title="https://www.anaconda.com/state-of-data-science-2020" data-renderer-mark="true">data science platform, Anaconda</a>, 45% of a data scientist’s time is spent loading and cleaning data before they can use it to develop models and visualizations.
If videos are being used, they must be transformed into sets of images, which must again be transformed into matrices of numbers. To classify dog breeds by bark, each bark needs to be broken down by volume and pitch with a scale for every millisecond. This preprocessed data is then fed into an ML model.
Raw data can also be cleaned by combining it with other raw data using feature extraction. For example, the number of customers at a store can be combined with the sum of money that store made to figure out per capita profits. Combining different variables into features reduces the amount of data that needs to be processed, turning it into a format that can easily be used by ML models.
<h2 id="Step-5:-Create-the-Model" data-renderer-start-pos="6736">Step 5: Create the Model</h2>
This step in the Discovery Phase includes clustering data points together, creating algorithms used in predictions and building specific processes for turning data into desired insights or results. It’s crucial to determine the kind of ML model that’s helpful for a project.
For example, unsupervised algorithms can be used to find patterns or draw inferences from unlabeled data. Supervised learning, on the other hand, can be used in training models to predict or classify variables such as height, price or number of customers. Reinforcement learning is used to attain a complex objective or maximize a specific dimension over many steps.
<a href="https://venturebeat.com/2020/09/14/how-amazon-is-using-machine-learning-to-eliminate-915000-tons-of-packaging/" title="https://venturebeat.com/2020/09/14/how-amazon-is-using-machine-learning-to-eliminate-915000-tons-of-packaging/" data-renderer-mark="true">Amazon uses ML tools</a> built on data from product descriptions and customer feedback to identify the best packaging with the least waste, reducing the use of boxes from 69% to 42%. This reduction not only saves the company money, but helps the environment.
Another example is with the medical industry: Aarthi Janakiraman, <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/data-science-to-accelerate-drug-discovery-with-artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-says-frost--sullivan-301140011.html" title="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/data-science-to-accelerate-drug-discovery-with-artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-says-frost--sullivan-301140011.html" data-renderer-mark="true">Technical Insights Research Manager</a> at Frost &amp; Sullivan, a research and consulting firm, says, “Integrating AI and ML methods into drug discovery pipelines would cut down cost and time, and increase the efficiency of the entire research and development (R&amp;D) process.”
Choosing the right ML model maximizes ROI. Our data scientists use pre-trained models available online or build their own from scratch.
<h2 id="Step-6:-Refine-the-Solution" data-renderer-start-pos="8136">Step 6: Refine the Solution</h2>
The Discovery Phase doesn’t end after the ML model is built. In order for the model to remain accurate, it needs to be continuously improved, given new data and retrained. Iteration is key to unlocking the power of information.
Adjusting the model appropriately produces more accurate results. Since data can change over time, predictions offered by static machine learning tools begin to <a href="https://machinelearningmastery.com/gentle-introduction-concept-drift-machine-learning/" title="https://machinelearningmastery.com/gentle-introduction-concept-drift-machine-learning/" data-renderer-mark="true">degrade as time goes on</a>, becoming less accurate and, therefore, less useful.
Companies can overcome this by continuously updating and retraining their ML models with new data and identifying and implementing new features. Our data scientists can provide these sustainable solutions to keep your data working for you.
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-Data-Discovery" data-renderer-start-pos="8875">Codazen Solutions: Data Discovery</h2>
Information is only useful with the right understanding. Our in-house data science team analyzes your data and builds machine learning models to provide effective solutions for your business.
From retail and banking to the auto industry and the medical field, companies can benefit from discoveries in big data to accelerate their timelines. But, to truly make use of it, organizations need to have a data science-driven strategy that aligns with business goals.
Codazen’s data scientists know how to leverage data to increase revenues and customer satisfaction while reducing costs and risk. We specialize in data collection methods and partner with clients to propel their digital transformation.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn more about how our unique Discovery Phase can help you harness the power of data.

Our data science team uses a unique approach to discover the richness of big data and how it can help organizations grow.

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Information Wealth in Big Data

We engage with thousands of colors every day, from our clothes and morning coffee to our furniture and computer screens. They spark emotions within us: a bold blue blazer can breed confidence, the dark brown of espresso invites a taste, and earth tones in the bedroom comfort our heavy heads to sleep.

Our connection to colors is why they’re so intrinsic to how brands project their values and how customers respond.
A website’s choice of color is a fundamental element that reinforces both the brand’s personality and the qualities of the products and services it offers. Color not only impacts customer experience, but can also influence perceptions and sway decisions, with different colors having the power to evoke specific emotions.
This color-emotion association is the heart of color psychology, which studies how hues can influence human behavior. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200910150247.htm" title="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200910150247.htm" data-renderer-mark="true">Johannes Gutenberg University</a> of Mainz conducted a survey of 4,598 participants from 30 nations and found that people from all over the world actually associate the same colors with the same feelings. For example, red was globally associated with both love and anger.
The colors a company chooses for their web design and digital marketing can be used as emotional triggers to increase brand recognition and conversion rates. Research compiled by Jill Morton, <a href="https://www.colorcom.com/research/why-color-matters" title="https://www.colorcom.com/research/why-color-matters" data-renderer-mark="true">Color Specialist</a> and CEO of Colorcom, says that consumers “make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone.”
Since colors stick out strongly in our minds, a company’s brand will often be associated with the color of their logo, website and packaging. It’s vital to choose colors that match the brand’s personality best and will leave a positive impact on the customer. Color psychology can help inform this decision.

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<h2 id="Color-Psychology-in-Marketing-Strategy" data-renderer-start-pos="2040">Color Psychology in Marketing Strategy</h2>
The design of a website showcases a company’s unique style and identity, setting them apart from competitors and marking the tone for their marketing narrative. The right use of color can increase a brand’s appeal, with different colors representing different ideas. Businesses need to make sure that the perceptions created align with the message they want to convey.
According to digital marketing agency WebFX, 84.7% of consumers attribute <a href="https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/color-psychology-in-web-design-how-to-choose-the-best-color-scheme-for-you/576772/" title="https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/color-psychology-in-web-design-how-to-choose-the-best-color-scheme-for-you/576772/" data-renderer-mark="true">color as the main reason they buy</a> a particular product, with 80% saying that color increases brand recognition. When you think of McDonalds, do you visualize red and yellow? Can you recognize Facebook’s shade of blue, or Starbucks’ iconic green?
That’s the power of color psychology.
McDonald’s choice of colors was designed with this in mind. The fast food chain’s <a href="https://digitalsynopsis.com/advertising/psychology-of-colors-in-marketing/" title="https://digitalsynopsis.com/advertising/psychology-of-colors-in-marketing/" data-renderer-mark="true">bright red increases appetite</a> and creates a sense of excitement, while the yellow of its Golden Arches fosters a sense of cheerfulness, creating positivity around the brand.
Branding isn’t the only benefit of choosing the right hues. WebFX found that <a href="https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/color-psychology-in-web-design-how-to-choose-the-best-color-scheme-for-you/576772/" title="https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/color-psychology-in-web-design-how-to-choose-the-best-color-scheme-for-you/576772/" data-renderer-mark="true">ads in color were read</a> up to 42% more often than the same ads in black and white.
Colors influence people, and whether conscious or unconscious, these visual cues impact customer behavior. Retirement service provider Voya Financial partnered with top universities to conduct research on how changing the color scheme of the options on Voya’s <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/02/how-digital-design-drives-user-behavior" title="https://hbr.org/2020/02/how-digital-design-drives-user-behavior" data-renderer-mark="true">online enrollment interface</a> could affect the initial contribution decisions of employees with 401(k) plans. Changing the color of the interface from orange to green, yellow and red increased the rate of personalized enrollment by 15%.
Software company HubSpot also conducted a color experiment on its website, testing the <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/20566/the-button-color-a-b-test-red-beats-green.aspx" title="https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/20566/the-button-color-a-b-test-red-beats-green.aspx" data-renderer-mark="true">colors of its call-to-action (CTA) buttons</a>. They found that changing their green CTA button to red resulted in 21% more people clicking the button. Everything else on the page remained the same, with the button color being the only change. Behaviorally-informed design decisions as simple as a shift in color can dramatically increase ROI.
Color psychology has the ability to help digital marketers connect with consumers, strengthen brand recognition, convey a company’s messaging and drive conversions. <a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">At Codazen</a>,&nbsp;we work closely with companies toward a creative digital strategy.
Our data scientists combine color psychology with computer vision and artificial intelligence to create easy-to-use tools for our clients’ needs. Subscribe below to get our latest blog posts and see how we can help your business harness the power of color.

Color psychology can help digital marketers strengthen brand recognition and increase conversions.

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Business Branding With Color Psychology

Imagine a future where you can try on clothes without even touching them. A tomorrow where you won’t need to buy three different sizes online to figure out the perfect fit, only to return two of the sizes. That tomorrow is already here.
Augmented reality (AR) is revolutionizing how we shop for clothes. According to a 2019 <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/617470695/npr-marist-poll-amazon-is-a-colossus-in-a-nation-of-shoppers" title="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/617470695/npr-marist-poll-amazon-is-a-colossus-in-a-nation-of-shoppers" data-renderer-mark="true">NPR/Marist Poll</a>, 84% of online shoppers have purchased clothes or shoes from a digital retailer. With hundreds of big-box retail stores having closed their doors for good, the fallout has opened the door wider for shoppers to spend money online.
It’s no wonder that emerging technologies, like AR, are finding a stronger niche in consumers looking for at-home retail therapy. This rising trend will transform the customer journey and decrease return rates, which has been a constant pain point for retailers.
<h2 id="The-Right-Fit:-Expectation-vs.-Reality" data-renderer-start-pos="1019">The Right Fit: Expectation vs. Reality</h2>
We’ve all been there: those pants that looked great on the model chopped us in half in real life. Online shopping is a tug of war between expectation and reality. It can be fraught with uncertainty as we purchase clothes based on how we project ourselves onto a 2D image. But with AR, online shoppers can see whether those trendy harem pants or neon orange socks are bad ideas before buying them.
Augmented reality apps on phones and tablets allow users to scan a 3D image of their body and face, or take videos and photos of themselves to upload onto a retailer’s website. By capturing image data of a <a href="https://streetfightmag.com/2020/05/12/augmented-reality-for-ecommerce-the-why-and-the-how/#.XtGhZZ5Kj6A" title="https://streetfightmag.com/2020/05/12/augmented-reality-for-ecommerce-the-why-and-the-how/#.XtGhZZ5Kj6A" data-renderer-mark="true">customer’s measurements</a>, AR apps can reproduce an accurate silhouette of the user, making it easy to virtually try on clothes and find the perfect fit.
And it’s not just for clothing. Online jewelry retailer Kollectin’s app provides an augmented reality feature that lets customers <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/10/23/238473/augmented-reality-in-retail-virtual-try-before-you-buy/" title="https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/10/23/238473/augmented-reality-in-retail-virtual-try-before-you-buy/" data-renderer-mark="true">try on jewelry</a> through their device.
Need a pair of glasses but can’t make it out to a shop? Eyeglass maker Warby Parker’s AR app lets you try on frames before making a purchase. The glasses are rendered on a person’s face in live 3D, so potential customers can turn their heads to see how the glasses look from various angles.
Seeing how products fit go all the way down to your feet. Luxury brand <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/26/guccis-ios-app-lets-you-try-shoes-on-remotely-in-ar/" title="https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/26/guccis-ios-app-lets-you-try-shoes-on-remotely-in-ar/" data-renderer-mark="true">Gucci’s Ace sneakers</a> collection uses an augmented reality app that lets users see how shoes look on their feet just by pointing the phone’s camera down. The app tracks movements so customers can walk around to get a sense of style, just like what shoppers commonly do in brick-and-mortar stores.
In 2019, 100 million people used <a href="https://observer.com/2020/02/augmented-reality-retailers-asos-gap-smart-mirrors-mobile-apps/" title="https://observer.com/2020/02/augmented-reality-retailers-asos-gap-smart-mirrors-mobile-apps/" data-renderer-mark="true">augmented reality technology</a> to try on clothes and accessories while shopping for new outfits. According to market research firm IDC, the <a href="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS45679219" title="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS45679219" data-renderer-mark="true">retail sector</a> is expected to spend $1.5 billion dollars on AR/VR technology in 2020.

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<h2 id="The-Expensive-Costs-of-Free-Returns" data-renderer-start-pos="2933">The Expensive Costs of Free Returns</h2>
One of the biggest financial downsides of e-commerce is returns. It’s a burden to the consumer, retailer and environment.
According to a <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/05/augmented-reality-can-improve-online-shopping-study-finds" title="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/05/augmented-reality-can-improve-online-shopping-study-finds" data-renderer-mark="true">Cornell University</a> research team, online shoppers tend to practice “bracket shopping,” which is ordering multiple sizes and colors of an item with the intent of sending back the ones that don’t fit correctly or aren’t the right color. Fatma Baytar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design at Cornell, says that “bracket purchases increase shelving and shipping costs.” She’s hoping that AR tech, with its ability to help online shoppers accurately and confidently confirm size and fit, will be able to reduce these costs.
VNTANA, a 3D design company, found that AR <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2020/05/29/three-ways-technology-can-help-save-retailers/#5e702d8e61a3" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2020/05/29/three-ways-technology-can-help-save-retailers/#5e702d8e61a3" data-renderer-mark="true">decreases returns</a> from online shopping purchases by 40%. And when <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/05/augmented-reality-can-improve-online-shopping-study-finds" title="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/05/augmented-reality-can-improve-online-shopping-study-finds" data-renderer-mark="true">online shoppers</a> return 70% of the clothing they order, a 40% drop is significant. This would drastically help <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/13/returned-goods-are-a-problem-for-retailers-resellers-are-cashing-in.html" title="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/13/returned-goods-are-a-problem-for-retailers-resellers-are-cashing-in.html" data-renderer-mark="true">online clothing retailers</a> like Revolve, which made $400 million dollars in net sales in 2017, but incurred $385 million in cost for returns.
A 2019 <a href="https://see.narvar.com/2019-09-GLO-WebContent-Consumer-Report-Returns_2019-Report-The-State-of-Online-Returns-EN---PDF-LP.html" title="https://see.narvar.com/2019-09-GLO-WebContent-Consumer-Report-Returns_2019-Report-The-State-of-Online-Returns-EN---PDF-LP.html" data-renderer-mark="true">Consumer Report</a> by customer experience platform Narvar shows that 48% of U.S. consumers bracket their online purchases, with Gen Z shoppers incurring the most costs at 71% and Baby Boomers the least at 36%. With numbers like that, bracket shopping is hurting retailers.
The environment is also taking a hit. Trucks delivering items to your house only to pick them up at a later date increases the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere with each trip. In 2016, for the first time since 1979, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/13/11911798/emissions-electricity-versus-transportation" title="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/13/11911798/emissions-electricity-versus-transportation" data-renderer-mark="true">transportation overtook power plants</a> as the number one producer of carbon dioxide emissions.
According to Sharon Cullinane, a Professor of Industrial and Financial Management and Logistics at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, “the returned goods make journeys of thousands of miles” with most <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/online-shopping-carbon-footprint-1.4914942" title="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/online-shopping-carbon-footprint-1.4914942" data-renderer-mark="true">returned items</a> not directly going back to a local store, but being shipped for processing in another country where labor is cheaper. Or worse, to a landfill.
With 3.5 billion products being returned each year in America, 5 billion pounds of those returned items <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/02/as-americans-send-back-millions-of-holiday-gifts-theres-a-hidden-environmental-cost" title="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/02/as-americans-send-back-millions-of-holiday-gifts-theres-a-hidden-environmental-cost" data-renderer-mark="true">end up in landfills</a>. This waste pumps 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
A decrease in bracketing through AR fitting would not only save retailers money on return shipping, but lessen the negative impact on the environment.

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<h2 id="Augmented-Advertising" data-renderer-start-pos="5391">Augmented Advertising</h2>
In 2019, the <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/forced-cancellations-remote-working-jumpstart-virtual-vr-ar-fashion-technology" title="https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/forced-cancellations-remote-working-jumpstart-virtual-vr-ar-fashion-technology" data-renderer-mark="true">London College of Fashion</a> livestreamed its Womenswear Show in augmented reality. Broadcasting to each remote viewer’s smartphone made it seem as though the models were walking in the viewer’s own living room. With this technology, celebrity brand ambassadors can promote new clothing lines by appearing right next to a potential customer’s couch.
The fashion show is part of a growing trend: fashion advertisers are embracing AR to reach their audience with next-gen tech.
E-commerce fashion retailer Asos has been using an AR system to <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/05/18/asos-using-ar-promote-and-sell-fresh-products-lockdown" title="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/05/18/asos-using-ar-promote-and-sell-fresh-products-lockdown" data-renderer-mark="true">promote new products</a> since last year. The “See My Fit” tool digitally fits models with new clothes, providing multiple images of garments digitally mapped onto the model with different sizes, cuts and fits to ensure product presentation is as realistic as possible.
Shopify found that when potential customers view products in AR, <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/fashion-beauty-brands-taking-ar-seriously" title="https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/fashion-beauty-brands-taking-ar-seriously" data-renderer-mark="true">conversion rates increase</a> by up to 250%. Global fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff reports that visitors on its site who interacted with a 3D model of an item were 44% more likely to add that item to their cart and 27% more likely to actually place an order.
<a href="https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/nike-aims-phones-at-the-sky-in-search-for-sneaker-shaped-ar-cloud/577523/" title="https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/nike-aims-phones-at-the-sky-in-search-for-sneaker-shaped-ar-cloud/577523/" data-renderer-mark="true">Nike took AR advertising</a> to the sky to promote its Air Max 2090 sneakers. As part of its mobile campaign, Nike urged customers to point their phones up to find an augmented reality cloud in the shape of the Air Max sneaker to unlock exclusive content. Luiza Baffa, Strategy and Business Innovation Director at digital agency AKQA, talks about the AR cloud advertisement:
<blockquote>
For times like this, people are eager for something different. But most of the brands remain doing the same advertisement formula and delivering content in the same way as always. So we understood that we should surprise the consumer. How can we deliver content in a way that also responded to people's expectation on innovation and newness? And that was how the idea came. The interaction changes the way of how people connect and relate themselves with the content.
</blockquote>
This wasn’t Nike’s only play in the AR advertising game. During the 2019 Christmas season, the sportswear giant ran its <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2020/05/06/always-ar-changing-the-game-retail" title="https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2020/05/06/always-ar-changing-the-game-retail" data-renderer-mark="true">AR Gifting campaign</a> where consumers could use their phones to shoot hoops in Nike’s Augmented Reality Basketball Game to unlock prizes, boosting NikePlus Membership and brand experience.
As AR technology evolves and gives consumers increasingly accurate renderings of digital objects in physical spaces, the greater benefit AR marketing can provide to brands. From clothing and accessories to fashion models and footwear, augmented reality has the potential to transform the shopping experience. AR can help retailers better connect to their customers and empower shoppers to make more informed and accurate purchase decisions.
At <a href="https://www.codazen.com/labs" title="https://www.codazen.com/labs" data-renderer-mark="true">Codazen Labs</a>, our designers and engineers know how to maximize the power of AR technology. <a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn more about how we can leverage augmented reality for your business.

Augmented Reality can help department stores and online retailers increase ROI and connect with consumers while decreasing costs.

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Augmented Reality Drives Bottom-Line Results for Retailers

Advances in technology are continuously reshaping the online shopping experience. Being able to view products in 3D used to be limited to large, multi-million dollar companies that had the resources to invest in innovative experiences to draw in customers. But then came WebGL.

With its ability to render interactive 3D objects entirely within a web browser, this JavaScript API is vital for businesses that want to create a differentiated, interactive e-commerce experience. Unlike 360-degree image views, which are an array of images stitched together, WebGL’s 3D objects let users interact with products dynamically, positioning the camera in real-time.
Potential customers can rotate a handbag or change the color of a car they’re thinking of buying with a simple stroke of a touchscreen. Since everything is done within the browser, nothing special needs to be downloaded, making for an easy and seamless customer experience (CX).
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Enhancing the Shopping Experience
According to data collection company Statista, American shoppers spent $365.2 billion dollars on <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/272391/us-retail-e-commerce-sales-forecast/" title="https://www.statista.com/statistics/272391/us-retail-e-commerce-sales-forecast/" data-renderer-mark="true">online retail sales of physical goods</a> in 2019. By 2024, online retail sales are projected to reach $600 billion. With so much profit on the line, businesses need to make sure that the online shopping experience they’re providing is as useful as the ones shoppers get inside a brick-and-mortar store. This includes providing customers not only with detailed product descriptions, but interactive product views.
Verge3D, a <a href="https://www.soft8soft.com/gallery/ready-to-use-3d-e-commerce-website/" title="https://www.soft8soft.com/gallery/ready-to-use-3d-e-commerce-website/" data-renderer-mark="true">real-time renderer and toolkit</a> for creating 3D experiences on websites, uses WebGL to do just that. By featuring a full 3D view and zoom function, online shoppers can scrutinize a product from all angles and sides to inform their purchase decision.
This ability to examine a product before buying becomes even more necessary when purchasing something as expensive as an automobile. Car buyers need to have as much information as possible about a vehicle’s exterior, interior and available options. A website utilizing WebGL technology can provide shoppers with an interactive 3D configurator that lets them conveniently click on car parts and color palettes to customize their dream ride.
A 2019 <a href="https://www.coxautoinc.com/learning-center/2019-car-buyer-journey-study/" title="https://www.coxautoinc.com/learning-center/2019-car-buyer-journey-study/" data-renderer-mark="true">Car Buyer Journey Study</a> by Cox Automotive shows that the majority of the automotive industry’s potential customers make their initial buying choices online. By the time car shoppers go to a dealership, they’re ready to make a purchase. Because of this, dealers need a way to entice buyers on their website.

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Color plays a significant factor in the purchase decision. As WebGL makes advances in implementing complex shading, online car buyers can choose from realistic depictions of car paint options. Those interested in a Volkswagen can use the <a href="https://partner.viscircle.com/VWPolo/" title="https://partner.viscircle.com/VWPolo/" data-renderer-mark="true">VW Polo configurator</a> to test out which colors they like best on the vehicle.
Meanwhile, the <a href="http://experiences.xymatic.com/car/" title="http://experiences.xymatic.com/car/" data-renderer-mark="true">BMW 7 series configurator</a> uses WebGL technology to give potential customers the chance to not only see the cars with different paint options from any angle, but to also choose the wheels and interior colors, viewing their customizations in real-time.
Furniture is another big commitment purchase. Target has a feature on its site called <a href="https://corporate.target.com/article/2017/10/see-it-in-your-space" title="https://corporate.target.com/article/2017/10/see-it-in-your-space" data-renderer-mark="true">“See It In Your Space”</a> that allows online shoppers to use their phone camera to see how the furniture they’re considering buying will look in their home. The feature uses WebGL to render the interactive graphics in the customer’s browser, allowing shoppers to move, scale and rotate the home decor. A Target spokesperson explained to <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/24/target-adds-ar-shopping-to-its-mobile-website/" title="https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/24/target-adds-ar-shopping-to-its-mobile-website/" data-renderer-mark="true">TechCrunch</a>, a tech online publisher, that “guests can easily snap pictures using their phone, they don’t have to use any additional hardware or apps. We just felt like it was a really straightforward experience.”
This straightforward experience enhances CX. If a company is planning to launch an online store, WebGL can help them stand out from the crowd of digital marketplaces on the internet. 3D technology is the next evolution of the digital user experience.

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Codazen Solutions: WebGL in Action
With <a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/feature/path-to-purchase-search-behavior/" title="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/feature/path-to-purchase-search-behavior/" data-renderer-mark="true">63% of shopping occasions</a> beginning online, it’s crucial for brands to have a strong digital presence. No matter where customers are making their purchase—online or in a brick-and-mortar store—their customer journey is starting in front of a screen. By improving the CX from the very first step, businesses have a higher chance of getting customers to buy their products. An e-commerce website featuring a 3D experience could give online retailers the competitive edge they need.
Codazen works closely with companies to improve CX using WebGL. Josh Grieve, Sr. UX Product Designer, explains how WebGL has enabled our team to create immersive web experiences by leveraging client-side hardware to render 3D visual effects in the browser:
<blockquote>
We have the ability to create elaborate immersive experiences with a relatively low load time. Imagine being able to place a couch in your living room without downloading an app to see it. Downloading an app is a hurdle for the consumer. We want to remove as much friction as possible to make it easier for the user. If they can see that the couch fits and looks good in their space, that helps them feel confident in the purchase.
</blockquote>
Creating these visual experiences is a partnership between UX and engineering. Elton Dan, Associate Full-Stack Engineer, thinks “overall WebGL is a really great tool, but for people who are new to working with 3D spaces and such, understanding the concept can be a bit challenging.” Our team keeps up with the ongoing updates to the JavaScript API’s libraries and can use existing platforms to build 3D experiences.
In our R&amp;D division, <a href="https://www.codazen.com/labs/" title="https://www.codazen.com/labs/" data-renderer-mark="true">Codazen Labs</a>, our designers and engineers know how to leverage WebGL and other 3D capabilities. <a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn how 3D can propel your digital transformation, deliver higher revenue streams and create better brand experience.

WebGL brings digital transformation to e-commerce websites with convenient 3D graphics and better customer experience.

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WebGL Is Leveling Up E-Commerce With 3D

Codazen isn’t just a place to work. It’s a place to develop skills. Our Lunch &amp; Learn (L&amp;L) program provides us with lessons on topics ranging from data science and coding to UX design and meditation.
Josh Studley, Engineering Manager (and unofficial Coding Guru), recently taught us about CSS techniques and how it’s possible to create amazing images with less code. And just for fun, how to do it using a single div.

Writing HTML and CSS to match a design is a useful skillset for every developer to have. While domain knowledge is great, the ability to write code that’s both simple and reusable can help an engineer stand out from the crowd.
Studley taught us how to overcome one of the major challenges found in creating page layouts: elements sharing code. During his L&amp;L, he created two flags on the same page—one from Japan and the other from France, each having dimensions of 300px by 200px.
And just like a pixelated Phoenix, once Studley successfully created the flags, he destroyed them to start anew and show us different ways for the flags to rise again. Below are his techniques broken down step-by-step to help build up your skillset.

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Japanese and French flags before coding. (Source: <a href="http://shutterstock.com/" title="http://Shutterstock.com" data-renderer-mark="true">Shutterstock.com</a>)
<h2 data-renderer-start-pos="1415">CSS Technique 1: Flexible Box Layout (aka Flexbox)</h2>
One goal engineers have when writing code is to make it reusable. This can be done with shared CSS classes. A shared .flag class helps set the dimensions, border and background color of both flags. Scalability and dynamic measurements are also essential. This is where Flexbox shines.
To create the circle in the Japanese flag, use a height and width of 100px and set the border-radius to 50%. One feature of Flexbox is its ability to center child elements both horizontally and vertically, so the circle doesn’t need to position itself. The Japanese flag centers everything with two simple lines: align-items: center for horizontal and justify-content: center for vertical.
A scalable solution is best for creating the stripes on the French flag. Since each stripe is one-third of the container, use width: calc(100%/3). Flexbox by default will line elements left-to-right. Because one of our goals is simplicity, and the flag has a background color of white, we can eliminate the white stripe. As we have only the first stripe and the last stripe remaining, the justify-content property can be set to space-between. This puts as much space as possible between the flexed items.
HTML
<pre data-renderer-start-pos="2652">&lt;div class="flag japan"&gt; &lt;div class="circle red"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="flag france"&gt; &lt;div class="stripe blue"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="stripe red"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;</pre>
CSS
<pre data-renderer-start-pos="2827">.flag { background-color: white; border: solid 1px black; display: flex; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 300px; } .japan { align-items: center; justify-content: center; } .japan .circle { border-radius: 50%; height: 100px; width: 100px; } .france { justify-content: space-between; } .france .stripe { height: 100%; width: calc(100% /3); } .blue { background-color: blue; } .red { background-color: red; }</pre>

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Japanese and French flags after coding. (Courtesy: Josh Studley.)
<h2 data-renderer-start-pos="3357">CSS Technique 2: Background Gradient</h2>
The color patterns of the Japanese flag’s circle and the French flag’s stripes make them perfect candidates for background gradients. Typically, a gradient blends one or several colors into others over a distance.
The circle in the Japanese flag can be expressed as a radial-gradient with a circle shape instead of the default ellipse. To achieve the red circle, the gradient must include color stops, which are comma-separated color and measurement pairs. When the color stops are the same measurement, they create hard lines that no longer look blended. Radial gradients can look like they have jagged edges if they are the same measurement, so it’s good to make the next color start very close, within 1px.
To get the stripes in the French flag to line up, use linear-gradient instead of radial-gradient. The color stops can be the same measurement since we want lines and not curves. Use to right for the direction to accomplish the three-striped design.
Color stops can be expressed in the same section without repeating the color name. The stops white 33%, white 66% can be written as white 33% 66%. If the first color has a stop, like blue 0, blue 33%, the first value can be removed and blue 33% can remain. Likewise the last color stop can be removed if it is also the previous color stop. So red 66%, red 100% can be just red 66%. Taking out these extras helps keep your code length to a minimum.
HTML
<pre>&lt;div class="flag japan"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="flag france"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<code>&nbsp;</code></pre>
CSS
<pre><code>.flag {
 background-color: white;
 border: solid 1px black;
 height: 200px;
 margin-bottom: 10px;
 width: 300px;
}

.japan {
 background-image: radial-gradient(circle, red 25%, transparent calc(25% + 1px));
}

.france {
 background-image: linear-gradient(to right, blue 33%, transparent 33% 66%, red 66%);
}</code></pre>
<h2 data-renderer-start-pos="5199">CSS Technique 3: One Div to Rule Them All</h2>
Using just a single &lt;div&gt; to create both flags is possible if we creatively utilize background colors. Multiple gradients can be applied to the same element, and background-position and background-size can move these gradients around that element, with hard color stops creating the necessary lines.
Since the flags should not repeat, set background-repeat to no-repeat. The Japanese flag’s position will start in the upper left corner (0 0) and have a size of 300px by 200px. To add the French flag into the mix, we will include the gradient, position and size into the existing properties, separated by a comma.
Linear gradients which have hard 1px color stops and a transparent color in the middle will add the flag borders. Since gradients are layered based on their order in the list, the first items will be on top and the last items will be at the bottom. The border will appear first in the list as we want that to appear on top.
HTML
<pre><code>&lt;div class="flag"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</code></pre>
CSS
<pre><code>.flag {
 background-image:
 linear-gradient(to right, black 1px, transparent 1px 299px, black 299px),
 linear-gradient(to right, black 1px, transparent 1px 299px, black 299px),
 linear-gradient(to bottom, black 1px, transparent 1px 199px, black 199px 200px, transparent 200px 210px, black 210px 211px, transparent 211px 409px, black 409px),
 radial-gradient(circle, red 25%, white calc(25% + 1px)),
 linear-gradient(to right, blue 33%, white 33% 66%, red 66%);
 background-position: 
 0 0,
 0 210px,
 0 0,
 0 0,
 0 210px;
 background-repeat: no-repeat;
 background-size:
 300px 200px,
 300px 200px,
 300px 410px,
 300px 200px, 
 300px 200px;
 height: 410px;
 width: 300px;
}</code></pre>
<h2 data-renderer-start-pos="6978">Codazen: Lunching and Learning</h2>

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At Codazen, we value employee growth. What better way to grow than watching a presentation led by an expert while eating a sandwich?
Nancy Cadena, UX Product Designer, was the one who requested this CSS L&amp;L. Studley had been posting interesting examples of images drawn in CSS on our workplace chat and Cadena wanted to see some examples in action. She says:
<blockquote>
It was actually the first coding L&amp;L that I could follow all the way through. I know the bare minimum about coding, but learning more and more about it from working with devs. This just seemed like a potential bridge between design and development, and could help both disciplines think of solutions and be more creative during projects where we run into issues like these.
</blockquote>
One of our Associate Full-Stack Engineers, Elton Dan, enjoyed seeing the different steps Studley took to tweak his CSS and make it more efficient to the point where he only needed one div. Dan says, “Josh's code examples are really easy to follow and I think he does a really great job of explaining through his examples. You can see the experience he has with teaching.”
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Codazen</a> values teaching its employees to broaden their horizons. So a coding Lunch &amp; Learn is a fun opportunity for both engineers, like Dan, and non-engineers, like Cadena.
You can lunch and learn with us too. <a href="https://codazen.bamboohr.com/jobs/" rel="noopener">Check out our current openings</a>.
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There are multiple coding paths to achieving the same HTML and CSS goal. Codazen’s Coding Guru teaches us how. 

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CSS: One Goal, Many Paths

Big data collection is shifting into high gear in the auto industry. Advancements in sensor technology and emerging markets such as autonomous vehicles are disrupting the traditional ways of building cars and providing services. In order to succeed, dealers and manufacturers must adapt quickly to embrace the power of consumer data.

Modern cars contain at least <a href="https://www.mygreatlearning.com/blog/analytics-is-driving-the-automotive-industry-from-good-to-great/" title="https://www.mygreatlearning.com/blog/analytics-is-driving-the-automotive-industry-from-good-to-great/" data-renderer-mark="true">50 sensors which collect information</a> on driver behavior, like speed, mileage, and braking. Data scientists use this data to find patterns and to develop features that enhance the vehicle-driver experience and create innovations that bring us one step closer to the world of The Jetsons.
<h2 id="Data-Analysis-for-Autonomous-Vehicles" data-renderer-start-pos="859">Data Analysis for Autonomous Vehicles</h2>
Nothing says “car of the future” like a self-driving one. According to market-foresight advisory firm ABI Research, <a href="https://www.abiresearch.com/press/abi-research-forecasts-8-million-vehicles-ship-sae-level-3-4-and-5-autonomous-technology-2025/" title="https://www.abiresearch.com/press/abi-research-forecasts-8-million-vehicles-ship-sae-level-3-4-and-5-autonomous-technology-2025/" data-renderer-mark="true">8 million driverless cars</a> will be added to the road in 2025, with a projected <a href="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/bbbzmt/u_s_autonomous?w=4" title="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/bbbzmt/u_s_autonomous?w=4" data-renderer-mark="true">20 million autonomous vehicles</a> in operation in the U.S. by 2030.
<a href="https://www.cio.com/article/3433931/tesla-the-data-company.html" title="https://www.cio.com/article/3433931/tesla-the-data-company.html" data-renderer-mark="true">Tesla is building its Autopilot system</a> using real-world data and machine learning algorithms. Every time a driver moves the steering wheel, presses on the pedals or shifts gears, that information is logged and uploaded into Tesla’s database. The automaker treats each car, each sensor and each human interaction as data points.
Unlike other automakers working towards autonomous driving, Tesla doesn’t rely on an internal test fleet to collect its data. The company instead utilizes its massive customer fleet, consisting of over half a million vehicles on the road. According to Andrej Karpathy, Tesla’s head of <a href="https://electrek.co/2020/04/22/tesla-autopilot-data-3-billion-miles/" title="https://electrek.co/2020/04/22/tesla-autopilot-data-3-billion-miles/" data-renderer-mark="true">AI and computer vision</a>, as of February 2020, Tesla vehicles have logged over 3 billion miles while using Tesla Autopilot. All those data points from all those miles are used to refine existing algorithms and develop new ones. These improvements are sent via wireless connection to every Tesla vehicle to enhance their capabilities.
Tesla isn’t the only player in the driverless car game. Waymo, which started as the <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2020/01/06/waymos-autonomous-cars-have-driven-20-million-miles-on-public-roads/" title="https://venturebeat.com/2020/01/06/waymos-autonomous-cars-have-driven-20-million-miles-on-public-roads/" data-renderer-mark="true">Google Self-Driving Car Project</a>, has collected 20 million miles on public roads and tens of billions of miles through computer simulations since 2009. According to Waymo, the data from its autonomous vehicles is building “the world’s most experienced driver.”
<a href="https://venturebeat.com/2020/06/21/waymo-and-uber-propose-ai-techniques-to-improve-self-driving-systems/" title="https://venturebeat.com/2020/06/21/waymo-and-uber-propose-ai-techniques-to-improve-self-driving-systems/" data-renderer-mark="true">Ridesharing company Uber</a> has created its own self-driving system called V2VNet to improve the reliability and safety of autonomous automobiles. Cars using the V2VNet system exchange data sets, timestamps and location information, using an AI model to select only relevant data from the data sets.
The autonomous vehicle market is expected to have <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/self-driving-car-market-2018-2023-trends-industry-size-growth-and-region-forecasts-impacted-by-covid19-2020-04-27?tesla=y#:~:text=Apr" title="https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/self-driving-car-market-2018-2023-trends-industry-size-growth-and-region-forecasts-impacted-by-covid19-2020-04-27?tesla=y#:~:text=Apr" data-renderer-mark="true">a global revenue</a> of $173.15 billion by 2023. With so much profit at stake, it’s imperative for car companies to leverage driver behavior data.

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<h2 id="Big-Data-for-Better-Drivers" data-renderer-start-pos="2973">Big Data for Better Drivers</h2>
Automakers can develop new services based on driver data to improve customer experience, making the everyday task of driving safer and less costly.
One such service is Toyota Connected. The average Toyota customer drives 48 minutes per day. <a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/data-science-at-toyota-connected-69bf50982b09" title="https://towardsdatascience.com/data-science-at-toyota-connected-69bf50982b09" data-renderer-mark="true">Toyota Connected cars</a> collect and transmit comprehensive driving data that ranges from speed and distance to steering angle--even whether the windows are up. Over 500 data points are generated every 200 milliseconds, so that 48 minutes amounts to 7.2 million data points per vehicle per day.
Data scientists analyze all this information to develop a driver score, focusing on g-forces, location, speed and brake pressure. Using this individualized score, Toyota is able to provide the customer with driving tips to help them get better miles per gallon. And better mileage isn’t the only perk. Those with good scores can obtain discounts from insurance companies.
Hyundai is also helping drivers equate safe driving with saving money. Hyung Soon Park, Data Analytics Team Manager at <a href="https://tech.hyundaimotorgroup.com/article/how-will-big-data-improve-the-auto-industry/" title="https://tech.hyundaimotorgroup.com/article/how-will-big-data-improve-the-auto-industry/" data-renderer-mark="true">Hyundai Motor</a>, echoes the positive effect that data-based services can have on consumers’ daily lives. He explains Hyundai’s own usage-based insurance program that will lower premiums for drivers, saying:
<blockquote>
Hyundai will utilize the driving data via its Blue Link connected car service from consenting car owners, and assess individual driving behavior. Thanks to the Big Data analysis by Blue Link, Hyundai can encourage safer and more efficient driving.
</blockquote>
Real-time data collection, monitoring and analysis can also give drivers peace of mind during tiring commutes. <a href="https://www.fjmercedes.com/mercedes-benz-attention-assist/" title="https://www.fjmercedes.com/mercedes-benz-attention-assist/" data-renderer-mark="true">Mercedes-Benz’s Attention Assist</a> uses a sensor and detailed algorithm to analyze driving behavior and detect fatigue. Taking parameters like steering wheel movement and driver interaction with vehicle controls into account, Attention Assist sends alerts to the driver to pull over and take a break if it determines that the driving behavior is due to a lack of alertness.
While there is inherent controversy regarding the privacy issues that data collection brings, Lauren Smith of the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carmakers-are-collecting-your-data-and-selling-it/" title="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carmakers-are-collecting-your-data-and-selling-it/" data-renderer-mark="true">Future of Privacy Forum</a> explains “that yes, our cars are learning more about us, but what they learn may save our lives.” Automotive businesses can utilize driver data to incentivize safer habits while improving customer satisfaction.

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<h2 id="Data-for-Safer-Cities" data-renderer-start-pos="5351">Smart Data for Safer Cities</h2>
Data can also be used to build safer cities by identifying streets which, if no precautions are taken, are most likely to be where future traffic accidents occur.
<a href="https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2018/11/29/ford-reveals-how-big-data-could-help-make-cities-safer--by-highl.html" title="https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2018/11/29/ford-reveals-how-big-data-could-help-make-cities-safer--by-highl.html" data-renderer-mark="true">Ford Smart Mobility</a> spent 2018 recording over 621,000 miles of vehicle and driver data in and around London, England. Detailed driving data like severity of braking and hazard light application helped identify near misses on the road which were then cross-referenced against data on existing accident reports. With this information, Ford was able to build an algorithm to determine the probability and location of future accidents. Sarah-Jayne Williams, Director of Smart Mobility for Ford of Europe says:
<blockquote>
The Ford City Data Report is a showcase of what we at Ford can do with connected vehicle data, smart infrastructure, and our analytical capabilities. We are calling on cities to work with us to collectively solve problems that they can become even better places to live and work in.
</blockquote>
Ford also completed an 18-month trial run in 2019 of its <a href="https://cities-today.com/ford-to-test-mobility-solutions-with-six-cities/" title="https://cities-today.com/ford-to-test-mobility-solutions-with-six-cities/" data-renderer-mark="true">City Insights Platform</a> in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The platform utilizes safety, parking and transit data to build interactive models that the city can use to solve mobility issues like traffic congestion and pedestrian safety. By analyzing data collected from Ford connected vehicles, the platform provides a real-time look at traffic flow.
Honda is also contributing to city safety with its <a href="https://csr.honda.com/2018/10/04/honda-demonstrates-new-smart-intersection-technology/" title="https://csr.honda.com/2018/10/04/honda-demonstrates-new-smart-intersection-technology/" data-renderer-mark="true">“Smart Intersection” technology</a> for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication that it’s developing in partnership with Marysville, Ohio. Utilizing object recognition software and V2X communication in conjunction with cameras mounted on Marysville’s intersections, Honda cars can virtually see through walls and around buildings to help alert drivers to hidden hazards.
With intersection collisions causing 20% of traffic-related deaths, Ted Klaus, vice president of strategic research at Honda R&amp;D Americas, Inc believes that Honda’s “V2X technology is an essential component of a smarter and safer transportation ecosystem and can play a role in our dream for a zero-collision society.”
An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. If automakers’ safety algorithms can alert cities of problematic roadways and officials enact changes, the data can help save lives from traffic accidents.
<h2 id="Codazen-Solutions:-Putting-Big-Data-Analysis-into-Action" data-renderer-start-pos="7683">Codazen Solutions: Putting Big Data Analysis into Action</h2>
As sensors in cars become as commonplace as the radio and glove compartment, automakers who want to thrive in our technological world need to adapt the way they build vehicles and provide services. By collecting real-world information and analyzing it to create algorithms, automobile manufacturers can develop services that enhance customer experience as well as improve driver and city safety. They can also catapult transportation itself into the future with autonomous vehicles.
At Codazen, we know the positive impact user data can have on our clients and projects. That’s why we work closely with organizations to leverage that data, utilizing machine learning and AI to <a href="/amazon-rekognition-recognizing-love" rel="noopener" target="_blank">detect and analyze images and objects</a>.
One of our data scientists, Neal Munson, believes that data analysis in the automotive industry has the potential to make our lives better and less stressful. He says:
<blockquote>
Data science applied appropriately to cars can help people form better driving patterns, or it can uphold the AI that drives for them. Either way, there is a lot that can happen that currently isn’t commonplace. Sure, my car can sound a bell if I’m not buckled, but we live in a time when it should ask if I want to refuel before driving out too far past town.
</blockquote>
Codazen believes in creating optimized experiences and improving customer satisfaction. Our enterprise teams and data scientists provide data management and analysis to meet those goals.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn more about how we can help you harness the power of <a href="https://blog.codazen.com/information-wealth-in-big-data" title="https://blog.codazen.com/information-wealth-in-big-data" data-renderer-mark="true">big data analysis </a>to drive your organization’s digital transformation forward.

Big data analysis is changing the automotive industry through autonomous vehicles, safe driver incentives and precautionary city planning.

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Data Is in the Driver's Seat of Auto Industry’s Future

Southwest's current sign-in site vs. Codazen's reimagined concept. (Courtesy: Codazen.)

I travel pretty frequently. As Codazen’s Executive Creative Director, it comes with the territory. My CEO, Mike Merchant, travels even more and has A-List Preferred Member status on Southwest Airlines. On one of our trips to meet up with a client in Menlo Park, Mike leaned over and showed me the A-List Preferred WiFi connection site on his phone:
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Screenshot of Southwest’s A-List Preferred WiFi sign-in site on mobile phone. (Courtesy: Codazen.)
We’re still shocked when we see companies (and even design agencies) that don’t take a “mobile-first” approach to designing their web product experiences.
Southwest is a well-known, successful brand. This website is experienced by top business clients every time they want to connect to the in-flight WiFi. These flyers are running global companies and have flown thousands upon thousands of miles to qualify for A-List Preferred status. As elite business travelers, they expect the customer experience (CX) to be easy, light and beautiful.
A website that’s difficult to use can give off an air of low tech-savviness and unprofessionalism that taints a brand’s reputation. Competition is fierce. If these travelers aren’t getting the CX they want, they could easily go to another airline that’s geared towards executives and commuters.
Over the years, we’ve seen a pattern of companies not taking mobile into consideration. This neglect can have a negative effect on the end user, especially with so many people relying on their phones to access services. When you design an experience with a “mobile-first” approach, the limited screen real estate forces you to think about what’s really important to include.
We took it upon ourselves to re-design the Southwest Airlines A-List Preferred WiFi sign-in site as an example of six ways to improve the CX. These solutions apply to any website.
<h4 data-renderer-start-pos="1937">#1: Avoid Logging in Altogether</h4>
One of the best ways to make a flyer’s life easier is to enable activating free WiFi from the Southwest App. That way, customers don't need to log in on the site at all, and most of the time, they're already logged in on the app. The app currently works while onboard the plane for certain functions, so this is a natural progression of that.
But if logging in is a must...
<h4 data-renderer-start-pos="2495">#2: Make It Responsive</h4>
Mike and I had trouble using the A-List Preferred WiFi site on our flight because the page wasn’t responsive. We had to pinch and zoom just to read the text and interact with the form fields. I had trouble reading the “Click to return” CTA, and wouldn’t have even noticed it if we didn’t zoom in.
Because the screen is designed for a landscape, desktop view, it doesn’t take advantage of the phone’s vertical (portrait) screen.
At Codazen, our Product, Creative and Technology teams work in unison to deliver “responsive” layouts that automatically adjust to different screen sizes to give users an optimum experience, whether they’re on a laptop or smartphone. The words and fields should be easy to access and interaction should feel fluid, with text and images adjusting depending on the screen size. Flyers are saved from the inconvenience of having to zoom in to get the content they’re after, which can be frustrating whether you’re on the ground or 36,000 feet in the air.
Consider our redesign here:

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Mobile-first, responsive concept for the A-List Preferred WiFi site on mobile phone. (Courtesy: Codazen.)
<h4 data-renderer-start-pos="3568">#3: Take Away the Added Steps</h4>
The need to pinch and zoom just to read text and interact with form fields adds unnecessary steps. Each added action is one more opportunity to lose a user. If a website is going to ask users to give information, make it as easy as possible for them to do it. Otherwise, they’ll leave.
For mobile, increasing the form field height size to a minimum of 40px helps solve this problem. Bigger fields lets customers use their fingers to tap on the field to interact with it. The simpler the process, the better the CX and the more likely the user will complete the task. For this website, less really is more.
<h4 data-renderer-start-pos="3993">#4: Keep It Short and Sweet</h4>
This less-quantity, higher-quality approach is applicable to the copy as well. Reading through the site, I noticed there were a lot of words.
For example, the instructions look more like a legal disclaimer. In our redesign, we eliminated excessive copy while using the space for other necessities:
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Applied improvements in concept for the A-List Preferred WiFi site on mobile phone. (Courtesy: Codazen.)
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Too much text runs the risk of users just glossing over it. It’s vital to condense the copy while still getting the message across. One way to do this is to take out repetitions. For example, the text at the top of the website says that A-List Preferred Members can use the WiFi at “no charge.” The button in the middle of the site repeats this fact with the words “Connect Free.” Taking out the repetitive lead-in would create cleaner copy while still providing the needed information.
The lower the word count, the greater the importance given to the words that are there. And making it more scannable increases the probability of users actually reading the text.
<h4 data-renderer-start-pos="5242">#5: Create an Immersive Experience</h4>
The website design right now is static, and static can equate to boring. When I use a website, I want it to build up excitement. I want it to entice me with an immersive experience. I want to know that I’ll be getting value by entering my information.
One way to achieve this is through movement. In our mockup we replaced the motionless clouds beneath the Southwest plane with rolling clouds that gently float past the aircraft to give a subtle yet dynamic feel. The plane itself can fly into the frame to build more excitement. 

All these simple touches give customers a reason to want to interact with and explore the website. And as they explore, they can learn more about the airline, fostering good feelings they’ll remember once they disembark. That’s what good CX is!
<h4 data-renderer-start-pos="6104">#6: Optimize, Optimize, Optimize</h4>
Load speed is one of the major factors in determining whether a customer gives up on a website or not. According to Google, 53% of mobile <a href="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/google-53-of-mobile-users-abandon-sites-that-take-over-3-seconds-to-load/426070/" title="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/google-53-of-mobile-users-abandon-sites-that-take-over-3-seconds-to-load/426070/" data-renderer-mark="true">users will leave a site</a> if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/in-flight-wifi-is-slow-and-expensive-2019-9" title="https://www.businessinsider.com/in-flight-wifi-is-slow-and-expensive-2019-9" data-renderer-mark="true">Aircraft WiFi tends to be pretty slow</a>. That means a site like Southwest Airlines A-List Preferred can take 5 to 6 seconds to load, while our optimized version would take less than 3 seconds, even with animations.
In order to bridge this gap between a customer’s expectation of fast load speed and Southwest’s mobile capabilities, it’s critical to optimize the graphics on the website. Rule of thumb is the bigger the image files, the slower the load speed. The current image being used is much larger (physically) than it needs to be because it’s made to accommodate a desktop screen.
Our version uses mobile-sized graphics at a higher “retina” resolution so the images look much sharper. And with our image compression techniques and utilization of a CSS gradient background instead of the full-screen sky image, these higher resolution assets actually result in a 52% smaller overall file size. This optimization is key to fast load speed and higher user retention.
<h4 data-renderer-start-pos="7175">Codazen Expertise: Customer Experience</h4>
By making the A-List Preferred WiFi website faster, easier to use, and more intuitive, Southwest can provide the professionalism and tech savviness that their top customers have come to expect. A Codazen strategic redesign is low-hanging fruit for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/10/16/southwests-plan-conquer-airline-industry-one-joke-time/" title="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/10/16/southwests-plan-conquer-airline-industry-one-joke-time/" data-renderer-mark="true">Southwest’s signature in-flight CX</a> that serves thousands of their customers.
Keeping the focus on the user at every step when creating a responsive design ensures that the website gives everyone the mobile experience they’re after, regardless of the device used.
At Codazen, we see companies with a lot of similar usability and design problems on a daily basis. We love embedding with clients and presenting creative solutions. Better customer experiences build customer loyalty while heavily contributing to higher ROI.
<a href="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" title="https://www.codazen.com/contact/" data-renderer-mark="true">Contact us</a> to learn more about how we can help your business.
(And if you’re a Southwest exec, be ready to see more on Codazen’s A-List Preferred website remodel.)

Non-responsive websites can ruin the customer experience. Here are 6 ways we improved on one of the nation’s most popular customer sites. 

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Hey Southwest Airlines, Show Your VIPs Some LUV!

Any other year, we would’ve been packing up the sunblock, panama hat and flip flops without a second thought. This year though, as the weather heats up and we head into summer, a lot of us will be staying local.

But what if you could look out at sandy white beaches and hear the waves breaking while sitting on your couch? What if you could bathe in the sunshine all day without worrying about a sunburn?
Virtual travel could make this a reality.
<h2 id="Covid-19-Hits-the-Travel-Industry-Hard" style="font-weight: normal;">Covid-19 Hits the Travel Industry Hard</h2>
With medical authorities advocating for social distancing and warning against nonessential travel to curb the spread of Covid-19, airlines have taken a huge hit. According to the <a href="https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/tsa-screenings" title="https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/tsa-screenings">Transportation Security Administration</a>, the number of travelers at U.S. airports decreased by more than 93% in March.
In that same month, with a majority of the population under some form of lockdown and unable to go anywhere, travel <a href="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/travel-advertising-down-90-percent-march/" title="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/travel-advertising-down-90-percent-march/">advertising fell by 90%</a>.
But travel isn’t dead.
Even after the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/s0409-modifications-extension-no-sail-ships.html" title="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/s0409-modifications-extension-no-sail-ships.html">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> issued and extended a No Sail Order for cruise liners due to the rapid spread of coronavirus on ships, cruises for August are already booked. <a href="https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2020/05/12/cruise-bookings-surge-as-companies-announce-plans-to-set-sail-" title="https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2020/05/12/cruise-bookings-surge-as-companies-announce-plans-to-set-sail-">Carnival Cruise Lines</a> reported a 600% surge in bookings after their August relaunch was announced.
While the desire to go on vacation is there, the safety may not be.
<h2 id="VR-Alternatives:-Travel-by-Staying-In" style="font-weight: normal;">VR Alternatives: Travel by Staying In</h2>
Virtual reality helps solve the safety dilemma. It lets you be in the middle of the action without having to actually be there.
When Covid-19 canceled Finland’s regular May Day celebrations, a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonchandler/2020/05/05/virtual-reality-concert-in-helsinki-attracts-over-1-million-spectators/#7610c0e12812" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonchandler/2020/05/05/virtual-reality-concert-in-helsinki-attracts-over-1-million-spectators/#7610c0e12812">virtual reality concert</a> was held in Helsinki instead. More than 700,000 Finns along with 700,000 “virtual tourists” from around the globe attended the virtual concert. Some 150,000 viewers even created virtual avatars. Although they couldn’t physically be there, they could still share in the experience.
Japan is also embracing the stay-at-home-but-still-have-fun mantra. <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/05/national/hot-spring-inns-onsen-virtual-coronavirus-tourism/#.XsMHpxNKjkI" title="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/05/national/hot-spring-inns-onsen-virtual-coronavirus-tourism/#.XsMHpxNKjkI">Arima Onsen</a>, one of the oldest hot springs in Japan, is offering virtual reality videos so viewers can wear VR headsets and pretend they’re at the famous tourist attraction while sitting in their own bathtub. Hot Spring owner Kazushige Kanai says:
<blockquote>
We’ve seen the number of visitors dwindling, but we can’t ask people to come under the current circumstances. So we decided to change our message, to ‘stay home and relax.’ We want people all over the world to enjoy Arima Onsen and ease their fatigue from the battle against the coronavirus.
</blockquote>
Feeling uneasy about crowds but have always wanted to see a national park? No worries. You can take a solo virtual rafting trip through the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtour.htm" title="https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtour.htm">Grand Canyon</a> or a virtual hike to Phantom Ranch. Bummed about your canceled vacation to France? You can still immerse yourself in the <a href="https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne?nrppage=15" title="https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne?nrppage=15">Louvre’s exhibits</a> by taking a virtual reality tour around the museum. You’ll be able to see Egyptian antiques, the Louvre’s moat and famous paintings while never having to leave the comfort of your living room.
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<h2 id="Benefits-of-VR-Marketing:-Try-It-Before-You-Buy-It" style="font-weight: normal;">Benefits of VR Marketing: Try It Before You Buy It</h2>
Virtual reality is helpful not just for going on a trip when you can’t, but for planning a trip when you finally can.
Although VR marketing has been around for some time, the pandemic has changed it from a nice touch to a necessity.
With Covid-19 slowing travel, the <a href="https://www.lbbonline.com/news/why-virtual-reality-may-be-the-saviour-of-the-travel-and-tourism-industry" title="https://www.lbbonline.com/news/why-virtual-reality-may-be-the-saviour-of-the-travel-and-tourism-industry">World Travel and Tourism Council</a> (WTTC) is asking governments around the globe to help protect the industry. One of the WTTC’s ideas to encourage tourism is increasing the promotional budgets for travel destinations. This is where VR marketing can shine.
3D excites the sense of sight more so than 2D and that spark of excitement can lead to more vacations being booked.
Savvy travelers usually scrutinize hotel descriptions and images, poring over customer reviews before booking a vacation. By using virtual reality apps, <a href="https://www.revfine.com/virtual-reality-travel-industry/" title="https://www.revfine.com/virtual-reality-travel-industry/">hotels and travel companies</a> can provide these potential travelers a VR tour of the hotel — an experience that can offer more transparency than standard static photos.
Tourism businesses can also use virtual reality to let prospective customers sample attractions to draw them to a particular destination. For example, a resort in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbq6IQglHKM&amp;feature=youtu.be" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbq6IQglHKM&amp;feature=youtu.be">Barbados</a> can provide a virtual taste of the nearby beaches, or a hotel in Tokyo can give a glimpse of a local <a href="https://sfree.life/tour-the-cherry-blossom-festivals-in-japan-through-vr-free/" title="https://sfree.life/tour-the-cherry-blossom-festivals-in-japan-through-vr-free/">cherry blossom festival</a>.
John C. Graham, President of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/solrogers/2020/03/18/virtual-reality-and-tourism-whats-already-happening-is-it-the-future/#2ecab1ce28a6" title="https://www.forbes.com/sites/solrogers/2020/03/18/virtual-reality-and-tourism-whats-already-happening-is-it-the-future/#2ecab1ce28a6">Travel World VR</a>, says he foresees “VR videos becoming the ultimate tool for travel advisors and meeting and incentive planners. This is about creating a new kind of sizzle that will dramatically increase sales.”
Echoing this sentiment, Norm Rose, a Senior Technology Analyst at travel market research company Phocuswright, believes travel agencies should be preparing for life after Covid-19 by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/02/coronavirus-could-be-catalyst-to-reinvigorate-virtual-reality-headsets.html" title="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/02/coronavirus-could-be-catalyst-to-reinvigorate-virtual-reality-headsets.html">investing in virtual reality technology</a> to help potential travelers plan for and get excited about real vacations.
Rose says, “If I were a major travel company, I would be cutting deals with equipment manufacturers to get headsets into consumers’ hands.”
And VR marketing isn’t just limited to hotels and destinations. It can also be used for airlines, showing <a href="https://toomanyadapters.com/vr-travel/" title="https://toomanyadapters.com/vr-travel/">prospective travelers</a> a glimpse of their plane:
<blockquote>
Even before booking a flight, passengers will get the chance to explore the actual aircraft they’d be boarding, see the layout, and choose a seat. ... In-flight VR could also offer virtual maps of the destination airport, helping travelers get their bearings before landing rather than having to run around looking for a connecting gate or onward transport.
</blockquote>
VR marketing can entice the travel-shy to say “yes!” to adventure. It can give would-be travelers a taste of the king-sized bed they’ll be flopping into at a luxury hotel or a 360-degree view of Machu Picchu.
At a time when the farthest most of us travel is to our mailbox, VR can be the entertaining escape we need. One day, we will emerge from the pandemic into a world hungry once more for travel. Until then, airlines, hotels and other tourism industry organizations should be readying themselves with VR marketing.
At Codazen Labs, our designers and engineers are leveraging innovative VR technology. <a href="https://www.codazen.com/labs/" title="https://www.codazen.com/labs/">Learn more</a> about how we work with immersive experiences for web, mobile, and virtual reality.

Could virtual reality marketing save travel?

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Virtual Reality Travel Is Ready for Takeoff

Every day, we’re seeing organizations apply solutions in creative and meaningful ways.

Sophisticated technologies are crucial at this time. They’re helping track the coronavirus by crowd-sourcing data, assisting healthcare professionals to communicate better and aiding the government in attending to the needs of the public.
One of our core beliefs is that technology is meant to serve the world. Here are three ways in which emerging technologies are helping us fight and get through the global pandemic.
<h3 id="BIG-DATA:-TRACKING-THE-VIRUS" style="font-weight: normal;">Big Data: Tracking the Virus</h3>
There’s been a lot of controversy over big data tracking technology in mobile devices because of privacy concerns. But as the pandemic continues, it’s helping public health authorities pinpoint hot zones and track the coronavirus’s movements in the global population.
Time reports that <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://time.com/5805622/coronavirus-pandemic-technology/" title="https://time.com/5805622/coronavirus-pandemic-technology/" rel="noopener">geotracking on phones</a> is streamlining the task of Covid-19 contact tracing, which is a way of tracing the steps of infected patients and contacting those at risk of getting sick.
<a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covidsafe-app" title="https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covidsafe-app" rel="noopener">Australia’s COVIDSafe</a> app collects the information of people who've been exposed to others with Covid-19 in the past 21 days and contacts them.
Similarly, Harvard teamed up with Massachusetts General Hospital, King's College London, Stanford University and a health science company called ZOE to develop an <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2020/04/06/covid-19-symptom-tracker-app" title="https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2020/04/06/covid-19-symptom-tracker-app" rel="noopener">app that tracks</a> the symptoms of Covid-19 among the public. Thousands of people are reporting how they feel daily, even if they feel well.
Big data tracking is being used by researchers to harness valuable information for digital health, across different sources and to understand population health patterns.
In Taiwan, big data technology helped authorities slow the community spread of the coronavirus. A study published in <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762689" title="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762689" rel="noopener">The Journal of the American Medical Association </a>reports:
Taiwan leveraged its national health insurance database and integrated it with its immigration and customs database to begin the creation of big data for analytics; it generated real-time alerts during a clinical visit based on travel history and clinical symptoms to aid case identification. It also used new technology, including QR code scanning and online reporting of travel history and health symptoms to classify travelers’ infectious risks based on flight origin and travel history in the past 14 days.
The <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-05/coronavirus-koreans-know-where-it-was-helping-contain-outbreak" title="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-05/coronavirus-koreans-know-where-it-was-helping-contain-outbreak " rel="noopener">South Korean government</a> has had a similar approach. They have <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://coronamap.site/" title="https://coronamap.site/" rel="noopener">a&nbsp;website</a>&nbsp;that shows areas where infected individuals have been, helping people to avoid those places. It’s proven to be more effective than locking down large swaths of cities and counties to avoid the spread of coronavirus.
While there are valid concerns about big data and privacy, when it comes to infectious disease, big data has helped scientists to track the outbreak of various illnesses globally.
<h3 id="THE-CLOUD:--KEEPING-BUSINESS-ONLINE" style="font-weight: normal;">The Cloud: Keeping Business Online</h3>
Cloud technology has enabled millions of people to work from home. It has given organizations access to secure documents, increased scalability in remote work and allowed for easy internal and external communication and collaboration.
Large companies are relying heavily on the cloud to help clients across the world access streaming, apps, rapid data systems and other services.
In March alone, <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-cloud-services-demand-up-775-percent-prioritization-rules-in-place-due-to-covid-19/" title="https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-cloud-services-demand-up-775-percent-prioritization-rules-in-place-due-to-covid-19/" rel="noopener">Microsoft</a> reported a 775% increase in demand for cloud services in regions that were enforcing social distancing.

![A laptop displaying a video call.](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/4_D0589_A3_E4_C6_4_CA_2_BC_9_C_508168_AD_1_F4_E_1_105_c_f324dc2e9e.jpeg)

Photo by&nbsp;<a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://unsplash.com/@cwmonty?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" title="https://unsplash.com/@cwmonty?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noopener">Chris Montgomery</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/video-chat?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" title="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/video-chat?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noopener">Unsplash</a>
In order to keep up with shelter-at-home demands, <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-netflix-is-adjusting-network-operations-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/" title="https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-netflix-is-adjusting-network-operations-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/" rel="noopener">Netflix moved its primary servers</a> from Santa Clara, California--an area that has been devastated by Covid-19--to other areas. This move allowed them to lean on their cloud infrastructure to maintain services to employees and clients.
Indeed, cloud technologies are the foundation of many tech solutions during this pandemic.
Google Cloud is bringing machine learning into healthcare by <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/google-cloud-launches-new-ai-chatbot-for-covid-19-information/" title="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/google-cloud-launches-new-ai-chatbot-for-covid-19-information/" rel="noopener">launching an AI chatbot</a> to answer questions about Covid-19 and provide users with information from the World Health Organization and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
It's designed so various organizations like government, travel agencies and retail industries can integrate the AI chatbot into their existing infrastructure using the cloud.
In places like China, Italy and the US, collaborative tools and digital service providers (like Zoom) saw massive upticks in usage. As the pandemic continues, the demand for these <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://ischool.syr.edu/infospace/2020/04/01/suddenly-essential-infrastructure-cloud-computing-resources-at-the-forefront-of-the-covid-19-crisis/" title="https://ischool.syr.edu/infospace/2020/04/01/suddenly-essential-infrastructure-cloud-computing-resources-at-the-forefront-of-the-covid-19-crisis/" rel="noopener">cloud-backed technologies</a> is expected to increase.
<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">Virtual Reality &amp; Augmented Reality: Adapting to Social Distancing</h3>

![a man using virtual reality](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/laurens_derks_b_Cd_Ix5_Ljr_Yo_unsplash_1_ca30077acf.jpg)

Photo by&nbsp;<a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://unsplash.com/@flderks?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" title="https://unsplash.com/@flderks?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noopener">Laurens Derks</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/virtual-reality?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" title="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/virtual-reality?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noopener">Unsplash</a>
VR &amp; AR are also helping industries cope with the market changes brought on by the coronavirus.
Real estate has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Social distancing rules are making it challenging for agents to show properties to buyers. In the past few years, more real estate companies, like <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://www.geekwire.com/2017/zillow-group-makes-first-investment-leads-10m-round-augmented-reality-home-design-app-startup-hutch/" title="https://www.geekwire.com/2017/zillow-group-makes-first-investment-leads-10m-round-augmented-reality-home-design-app-startup-hutch/" rel="noopener">Zillow</a>, are turning to VR and AR technologies to enhance the customer experience through apps that allow virtual tours of properties.
With social distancing rules, these technologies are easing the sales and rentals of properties. They allow for virtual staging, which saves landlords and real estate companies money, while allowing buyers and renters to visualize a furnished property.
Another industry adapting to the post-coronavirus changes is the retail industry. The financial analysis agency, <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US46171420" title="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US46171420" rel="noopener">IDC</a> reports that growth estimates for global retail in 2020 will be halved from pre-Covid-19 forecasts with fashion, furniture, and electronics retailers being hit the hardest.
What may save retail businesses is augmented reality. Consumers still want the browsing experience of online shopping but AR adds another element to it. Companies like <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://gizmodo.com/ikeas-expands-augmented-reality-app-lets-you-fill-an-e-1838362429" title="https://gizmodo.com/ikeas-expands-augmented-reality-app-lets-you-fill-an-e-1838362429" rel="noopener">Ikea are using AR</a> apps to allow customers to see what a Skarsta table and other furniture look like at home before making an online purchase.
These technologies are also being tested to help keep healthcare workers safe.
The University of Southern California (USC) is combining virtual reality and medical science by <a class="sc-cbkKFq cWBUBV" target="_blank" href="https://news.usc.edu/167401/new-technology-coronavirus-usc-experts-virtual-reality-smartphone-apps/" title="https://news.usc.edu/167401/new-technology-coronavirus-usc-experts-virtual-reality-smartphone-apps/" rel="noopener">creating people-friendly simulators</a> to assist the medical community in handling the wave of new patients. A virtual human agent will screen sick patients, monitor patient recovery, help hospitals answer calls and provide comfort to people under quarantine.
Industries who are using emerging technologies are helping businesses get through Covid-19 while giving health officials the tools to fight it.
Codazen believes we will all emerge from this pandemic stronger with innovations that can help us navigate the future.

Every day, we're seeing organizations apply solutions in creative and meaningful ways. Sophisticated technologies are crucial at this time. They're helping track the coronavirus by crowd-sourcing data, assisting healthcare professionals to communicate better and aiding the government in attending to the needs of the public.

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Three Emerging Technologies Taking on Covid-19 Challenges

Codazen is a rapidly expanding company based in Orange County, California. We have our main office in Laguna Hills and now we have a satellite office in Salt Lake City to accommodate our growing team of engineers, coders, analysts and data scientists. 

<h3 id="why-salt-lake-city" style="font-weight: normal;">Why Salt Lake City?</h3>
You’ve heard of Silicon Valley, home to Big Tech, but have you heard of <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/five-things-to-know-about-silicon-slopes_b_5a2eb682e4b04cb297c2aed8?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jb2RhemVuLmF0bGFzc2lhbi5uZXQv&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGEpx-sfELlA-BHOXXo-dqTdLNSpnQsrry2eJylk0tU2bNfHXqJ2cQSB_1G6SE3-A5qEdtVdkGLU2ZECVanmE7P_HUMRI_wB51qebrXLELYG5qfqGQ8d8r5rCh8FRlh_8C6lLcCZI22lgi2wGpL3zTD2ktCHRxNEVnf9_M-Gk5B0" title="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/five-things-to-know-about-silicon-slopes_b_5a2eb682e4b04cb297c2aed8?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jb2RhemVuLmF0bGFzc2lhbi5uZXQv&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGEpx-sfELlA-BHOXXo-dqTdLNSpnQsrry2eJylk0tU2bNfHXqJ2cQSB_1G6SE3-A5qEdtVdkGLU2ZECVanmE7P_HUMRI_wB51qebrXLELYG5qfqGQ8d8r5rCh8FRlh_8C6lLcCZI22lgi2wGpL3zTD2ktCHRxNEVnf9_M-Gk5B0 ">Silicon Slopes</a>? The nickname refers to an area that is surrounded by mountain slopes and covers Salt Lake City, Provo and Park City. And like Silicon Valley, it’s home to several software and hardware startups. The two “silicon” areas are only a two-hour flight apart.
Codazen’s office is located in the heart of downtown and is close to two light rail stops: Old Greektown Station and Planetarium Station. When our team gets hungry or needs a break, they have a lot of options. The office building opens up to The Gateway--a mall offering tons of food, shopping and entertainment. It’s also within walking distance of Pioneer Park, which hosts a weekly farmers' market during the summer.

![the gateway](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/the_gateway_2d3319e4d5.jpeg)

For those who drive to the city, the building is right next to the I-15 and close to the University of Utah. (If you attend a career fair at U of U, come say hello to us!) But some employees prefer a walking commute and live in nearby apartments.

![nearby apartments](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nearby_apartments_717bfde52b.jpeg)

Throughout the year, employees can enjoy the mountains on the east and west side of the valley. The colder months offer a special treat when the office boasts picturesque views of snow-topped peaks.

![mountains](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mountains_74ed918bb1.jpg)

Zane Hooper, one of our Senior Full-Stack Engineers who works out of the office, moved to Utah from Aliso Viejo, California in 2018.
What he loves most about living there is….well, he doesn’t have just one reply. Zane loves that he gets the chance to visit several national parks. And he’s amazed that Utah’s landscape has different types of scenery, “from deserts to forests to snowy mountains and Salt Lake City in particular is really beautiful, especially during spring and fall,” he says.
Codazen’s Salt Lake City crew has accommodated well to running operations there. We’re looking for talented folks to join us too.
Check out our job openings in Salt Lake City: <a href="https://codazen.bamboohr.com/jobs/" title="https://codazen.bamboohr.com/jobs/">https://codazen.bamboohr.com/jobs/</a>
Our office is located at:
<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/440+W+200+S,+Salt+Lake+City,+UT+84101/@40.7652372,-111.9057969,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x8752f501f6fce553:0xf2b66538e2e1bc02!8m2!3d40.7652372!4d-111.9036082" title="https://www.google.com/maps/place/440+W+200+S,+Salt+Lake+City,+UT+84101/@40.7652372,-111.9057969,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x8752f501f6fce553:0xf2b66538e2e1bc02!8m2!3d40.7652372!4d-111.9036082">440 West 200 South, Suite 410</a> <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/440+W+200+S,+Salt+Lake+City,+UT+84101/@40.7652372,-111.9057969,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x8752f501f6fce553:0xf2b66538e2e1bc02!8m2!3d40.7652372!4d-111.9036082" title="https://www.google.com/maps/place/440+W+200+S,+Salt+Lake+City,+UT+84101/@40.7652372,-111.9057969,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x8752f501f6fce553:0xf2b66538e2e1bc02!8m2!3d40.7652372!4d-111.9036082">Salt Lake City,&nbsp;UT&nbsp;84101</a>

Codazen is a rapidly expanding company based in Orange County, CA. Now we have a satellite office in Salt Lake City to accommodate our growing team. 

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New Salt Lake City Office

<h3 class="p1" style="font-weight: normal;">First, what are "Heuristics"?</h3>
They’re a set of principles developed by <a href="https://www.nngroup.com/people/jakob-nielsen/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Jakob Nielsen</a> that we use as a guide while designing user interfaces. Following these 10 general rules of thumb will improve the usability of your digital product:
<h3 style="font-weight: normal;">1. Visibility of System Status</h3>
 The system should always inform the user about what’s going on through appropriate feedback and within a reasonable time.
<h3>2. Match Between System and The Real World</h3>
The system should speak the user’s language with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user rather that system oriented terms. Follow real world conventions making information appear in a natural and logical order.
<h3>3. User Control and Freedom</h3>
Users often choose functions by mistake and we’ll need a clearly marked emergency exit to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.
<h3>4. Consistency and Standards</h3>
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.
<h3>5. Error Prevention</h3>
Even better than a good error message is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
<h3>6. Recognition Rather Than Recall</h3>
Minimize the user’s memory load by making objects, actions and options visible. Users should not have to remember information form one part of the dialogue to the other. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
<h3>7. Flexibility and Efficiency of Use</h3>
Accelerators unseen by the novice user may often speed up the interaction for the expert user so the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
<h3>8. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design</h3>
Dialogue should not contain information that is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and then diminishes their relative visibility.
<h3>9. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose and Recover from Errors</h3>
Error messages must be expressed in plain language, meaning no codes. Precisely identify the problem and constructively suggest a solution.
<h3>10. Help and Documentation</h3>
Even thought it’s better if the system can be used without documentation,&nbsp; it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user’s task, list concrete steps to be carried out and not be too large.
In conclusion, follow these guidelines for good heuristics and you’ll have happy users!

First, what are “Heuristics”? They're a set of principles developed by Jakob Nielsen that we use as a guide while designing user interfaces. Following these 10 general rules of thumb will improve the usability of your digital product:

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Heuristics: 10 Rules for Better Usability

‘There should be an app for this!'&nbsp; I’m sure being a developer this thought must have crossed your mind many times. But these thoughts rarely go beyond ideation phase. Why? Busy life? Steep learning curve?

How about this… Let’s just learn the basics of android development required to build any RESTFul mobile app in next 30 mins and by the end of this blog you will have your own fancy Pokémon battle app. Then you can decide if you are finding Android to be interesting enough to spend more time learning it.
<h2 style="font-weight: normal;">&nbsp;Prerequisites</h2>
You should have some programming experience and an understanding of Java.
<ul>
<li>Install <a href="https://www.java.com/en/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Java Development Kit (JDK) 8</a> or later</li>
<li>Install <a href="https://developer.android.com/studio/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Android Studio</a></li>
</ul>
Follow the prompts. Please follow any android installation tutorial on YouTube if you run into issues. <a href="https://youtu.be/7vvMltQtfxY" rel="noopener" target="_blank">My personal recommendation</a>.

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</div>
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<h2 style="font-weight: normal;">Quick tour of the Android studio</h2>
When you go to the Android Studio, you have an option to start a new project, import or open an existing project. We will start a new project. 

![01_QuickTour-NewStudioProject.jpg](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/01_Quick_Tour_New_Studio_Project_b7c5c15bba.jpg)

 After starting a new project, you will get an option to select an activity for your home screen. The Activity defines how your app will look and behave. Some of these activities come with predefined functionalities and UI elements. For our app we will use an empty activity.

![02_QuickTour-ChooseProjectv2.jpg](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/02_Quick_Tour_Choose_Projectv2_1120884a8a.jpg)

&nbsp;
Next you will define the configurations for your app. You will get an option to decide name and minimum API level support for your app. Some functionalities are not available in phones with lower API levels. So make your selection based on the functionality of your app and the target audience.

![03_QuickTour-Configure.jpg](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/03_Quick_Tour_Configure_4b4680cd8d.jpg)

&nbsp;
<div data-node-type="mediaSingle" data-layout="align-start" data-width="80">We will be testing our app on the android emulator. Please create your own emulator by clicking the highlighted button below and following prompts.</div>

![04_QuickTour-Emulator.jpg](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/04_Quick_Tour_Emulator_df7235d51c.jpg)

<h2>Code… Code… Code</h2>

Now we will start with our development. Here I have selected the 4 most important files of our project:

![05_Code.jpg](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/05_Code_388ac4c818.jpg)

&nbsp;
Following is the use of each of these files in layman’s terms -
<ol>
<li>activity_main.xml This file defines how the UI will look. You have an option to drag-and-drop UI components like buttons, images etc.</li>
<li>MainActivity.java This file defines the functionality and logic for the UI. Ex - Action to be taken on button click.</li>
<li>Manifest.xml This file defines project and app level configurations. Things like permission requests from app user, app icon and many more are defined here.</li>
<li>build.gradle(Module: app) This file is mainly used for importing 3rd party libraries so they can be used in our app.</li>
</ol>
Let’s start with the UI. Open activity_main.xml in design mode 
 Play around with all the UI elements. At the end, our UI should look something similar to this: 

![UI%20Elements.png](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/UI_20_Elements_86a7132b23.png)

There is an ID associated with each of these UI components, as shown below.&nbsp; 

![06_Code-ID.jpg](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/06_Code_ID_d8281ea9c8.jpg)

&nbsp;
For this project we will be using the following IDs:&nbsp; searchTerm1, pokemonImage1, pokemonName1, pokemonType1, pokemonPower1, pokemonAttack1, searchTerm2, pokemonImage2, pokemonName2, pokemonType2, pokemonPower2,&nbsp; and pokemonAttack2.
Later we will be using these IDs in the MainActivity.java to define the logic for each of these components.
For this app we will need some 3rd party libraries. Open build.gradle(Module: app) and add the following code in the dependencies block and run 'Sync Now ’:
<pre><code class="language-java">// Volley library for sending HTTP requests to an API
compile 'com.android.volley:volley:1.1.0'

// Picasso library to fetch images over internet
compile group: 'com.squareup.picasso', name: 'picasso', version: '2.71828'</code></pre>
Let’s begin with setting up the logic now. Open MainActivity.java and define references for our UI components in onCreate method. 
<pre><code class="language-java">TextView pokemonName1;
ImageView pokemonImage1;
TextView pokemonType1;
TextView pokemonPower1;

TextView pokemonName2;
ImageView pokemonImage2;
TextView pokemonType2;
TextView pokemonPower2;

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
 ImageButton searchButton1 = (ImageButton) findViewById(R.id.searchButton1);
 final EditText searchTerm1 = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.searchTerm1);
 pokemonName1 = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.pokemonName1);
 pokemonImage1 = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.pokemonImage1);
 pokemonType1 = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.pokemonType1);
 pokemonPower1 = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.pokemonPower1);
 Button pokemonAttack1 = (Button) findViewById(R.id.pokemonAttack1);
 
 ImageButton searchButton2 = (ImageButton) findViewById(R.id.searchButton2);
 final EditText searchTerm2 = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.searchTerm2);
 pokemonName2 = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.pokemonName2);
 pokemonImage2 = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.pokemonImage2);
 pokemonType2 = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.pokemonType2);
 pokemonPower2 = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.pokemonPower2);
 Button pokemonAttack2 = (Button) findViewById(R.id.pokemonAttack2);
}</code></pre>
Now our java code understands what are we referring to from the UI.
To make our app more dynamic, we will be fetching the following information for our Pokémons from a <a href="https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">3rd party API</a>. We will be using Volley library for sending a GET request to this API and fetching the data.
Add this code at appropriate places:
<pre><code class="language-java">RequestQueue queue;
String baseURL = "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/";

@Override
 protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
 queue = Volley.newRequestQueue(getApplicationContext());
 }</code></pre>
To fetch data for a particular Pokémon (For example, Pikachu), we need to send a GET request to the API with the name of the Pokémon appended to it: <a href="https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/pikachu" rel=" noopener">https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/pikachu</a>. Let’s define two functions fetchDataForPokemon1 and fetchDataForPokemon2. These functions will hit the API using Volley’s syntax to fetch the required data and assign it to the corresponding UI components. 
<pre><code class="language-java">private void fetchDataForPokemon1(String pokemon) {
 JsonObjectRequest stringRequest = new JsonObjectRequest(Request.Method.GET, baseURL + pokemon, null,
 new Response.Listener&lt;JSONObject&gt;() {
 @Override
 public void onResponse(JSONObject response) {
 try {
 pokemonName1.setText(response.getString("name"));
 // Picasso library to download an image from a URL and assign it to a UI component
 Picasso.get().load(response.getJSONObject("sprites").getString("front_default")).into(pokemonImage1);
 pokemonType1.setText(response.getJSONArray("types").getJSONObject(0).getJSONObject("type").getString("name") + " type");
 pokemonPower1.setText(response.getString("base_experience"));
 } catch (JSONException e) {
 e.printStackTrace();
 }
 }
 }, new Response.ErrorListener() {
 @Override
 public void onErrorResponse(VolleyError error) {
 pokemonName1.setText("No such pokemon exists");
 }
 });
 
 // Add the request to the RequestQueue.
 queue.add(stringRequest);
}</code></pre>
Similarly, define fetchDataForPokemon2 for all the UI components corresponding to Pokemon2. We will be calling for these functions when the user enters a search text and hits search button.
Let’s define onClick listeners for our search buttons in onCreate method.
<pre><code class="language-java">searchButton1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
 @Override
 public void onClick(View v) {
 String pokemon = searchTerm1.getText().toString();
 fetchDataForPokemon1(pokemon);
 }
});</code></pre>
Note, we are fetching the search text of the user and sending it to the function. Similarly define onClick listener for searchButton2 and call fetchDataForPokemon2.
Our Pokémons will now be able to attack each other. We are fetching the power of our Pokémons from the API. Whenever a Pokémon attacks, we will be reducing power of the opponent by 2.
We will now define onClick functions for our attack buttons in the onCreate method.
<pre><code class="language-java">pokemonAttack1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
 @Override
 public void onClick(View v) {
 int newPower = Integer.parseInt(pokemonPower2.getText().toString())-2;
 pokemonPower2.setText(newPower+"");
 }
});</code></pre>
Similarly, define an onClick listener for pokemonAttack2.
Our app is now ready! There are many opportunities for customization here. Some ideas: 
<ul>
<li>Create a game-over pop-up to display when one of the Pokémons runs out of power.</li>
<li>Make it multi-device. You can remove all the duplication of code and UI by introducing a communication or database layer. You can explore various options like <a href="http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/wireless/bluetooth.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">BluetoothSockets</a>&nbsp;or <a href="https://firebase.google.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Firebase database</a>.</li>
<li>Use <a href="https://pokeapi.co/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">PokeAPI</a> to fetch different types of attacks your Pokémon can perform. This will allow the user to choose a type of attack. Assign different weightage to the varying attack types. 
<ul>
<li>Particular types of Pokémons are more/less effective against a particular type. Define a map for this. Compare the type of Pokémons received from the API and assign a weightage accordingly.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Now you have your very own Pokémon battle app. Enjoy battling with your friends!&nbsp;

Following is the use of each of these files in layman's terms - activity_main.xml This file defines how the UI will look. You have an option to drag-and-drop UI components like buttons, images etc.

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Learn Android App Development in 30 mins

Keyframes control the intermediate steps in a CSS animation sequence by defining styles for keyframes (or waypoints) along the animation sequence. - MDN web docs

<h2 style="font-weight: normal;">What Are Keyframes?</h2>
Keyframes are one of two halves responsible for front end animations built with CSS. Simply put, keyframes tell an element&nbsp;what it should look like&nbsp;and&nbsp;when it should look that way. Keyframe’s other half, CSS&nbsp;Animation&nbsp;properties, allow further animation traits to be configured (such as: animation duration, iterations, acceleration, etc.). These two halves working together allow for animations to be built quickly and easily while performing efficiently.
<h2 style="font-weight: normal;">Why Use Keyframes?</h2>
Besides the awesome visuals and simplicity in its use, keyframes have numerous benefits for developers. First and foremost, you do not need to know JavaScript (or another scripting language). Simple animation in JavaScript can often lead to poor performance (if not written well), but keyframes can run well even under moderate system load. The rendering engine can utilize frame skipping and other techniques to keep the performance as smooth as possible. Allowing the browser to control the animation sequence helps optimize performance and efficiency by reducing the update frequency of animations running in non-visible tabs.
<h2 style="font-weight: normal;">How To Use Keyframes?</h2>
You can imagine keyframes as a collection of rules, whereas each rule holds a set of styles and a percentage value. This percentage value translates to a specific point on the animation timeline. It is responsible for applying its set of styles on the element at its given time in the animation sequence.
Keyframes can be initialized by stating the&nbsp;@keyframe&nbsp;keyword followed by a unique name for the keyframe (to be used later in conjunction with an animation property to bind the animation to an element). Then, within the keyframe, you’ll define each step by defining a percentage value followed by an set of CSS property/values. These steps are syntactically similar to CSS selectors and should look familiar if you have experience with them.
<pre><code class="language-css">// Syntax Example
@keyframes &lt;keyframe-name&gt; {
 &lt;percentage-value&gt; {
 &lt;css-property&gt;: &lt;css-value&gt;
 }
}

// Actual Example
@keyframes fade-in {
 0% {
 opacity: 0;
 }

 100% {
 opacity: 1;
 }
}
</code></pre>
The steps you’ll take to successfully utilize keyframes goes as follow:
<ul>
<li>Define the keyframes (create the set of rules with appropriate styles and percentage values).</li>
<li>Bind the keyframe onto the desired element (designate which element you want the styling blueprint applied to).</li>
<li>Apply animation properties (finalize configurations of the animation)</li>
</ul>

![53302279_257032235177518_2599501914789904384_n.jpg](https://codazen-website-cms-uploads.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/53302279_257032235177518_2599501914789904384_n_03332d946d.jpg)

<h2 style="font-weight: normal;">Summary</h2>
Keyframe’s small learning curve and vast configurability make it an effective way to get amazing animations in little to no time. Simply define a keyframe with the desired styles at the appropriate animation intervals (via percentage values), then bind them onto an element and configure the rest of the animation sequence via CSS’ Animation properties.
<h2 style="font-weight: normal;">Helpful Links and Tools</h2>
<a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@keyframes" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MDN Document (Keyframes)</a>
<a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_Animations" rel="noopener" style="color: #128bbc;" target="_blank">MDN Document (Animations)</a>
<a href="https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/keyframe-animation-syntax/" rel="noopener" style="color: #128bbc;" target="_blank">Basic Keyframe Animation Syntax</a>
<a href="https://caniuse.com/#feat=css-animation" rel="noopener" style="color: #128bbc;" target="_blank">Can I Use</a>
<a href="http://cssanimate.com/" rel="noopener" style="color: #128bbc;" target="_blank">Animation Builder</a>
<a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_animated_properties" rel="noopener" style="color: #128bbc;" target="_blank">Animatable CSS Properties</a>

Keyframes are one of two halves responsible for front end animations built with CSS. Simply put, keyframes tell an element what it should look like and when it should look that way.

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