After a series of disastrous attempts to find a career that suited him, Ben Zipkin, a partner at Boston-based RDVO discovered that interactive was the perfect fit.

10.03.07

Social Bookmarking

What's currently your favorite site/project? Del.icio.us, for social bookmarking. While it's certainly no longer cutting-edge, it's still where I go to catalog all the Web content I'm interested in.

What's the subject/topic of it? Del.icio.us lets you tag and store bookmarks to sites and articles that pique your interest. The site also keeps a running list of what's popular and new among the user base, a great source for tracking the Internet zeitgeist.

What's so great about it? It's one of the best sites for keeping up with trends and what's hot. The Popular links change in real time, and are a great place to check out what people are currently finding remarkable, which can range from a breaking new technology to an obscure news article to a tasty new recipe for grilled salmon. All my bookmarks get stored to my account and, because I've been using the site for awhile, I can see what was going on in my head months and months ago. Who knows how long this data will be around? I fear that 25 years from now my kids will uncover my links and be like, "WTF? We never knew dad was into extreme origami!"
 
What makes it technically compelling? There's nothing groundbreaking about the site but they do a nice job organizing information. Del.icio.us was one of the first sites to use tag clouds as a technique for organizing and presenting large amounts of data.
 
How would you improve it? I'd love to see some more data visualization, perhaps some interactive charts and graphs that would allow users to better track trends around topics. And some UI upgrades would be timely! They haven't done much to the service in months (what's Yahoo up to?).

Where do you work?/What's your job?  I'm a partner at RDVO, a digital design firm in Boston. We develop user experience design solutions for a wide range of applications including web, software, consumer products, and mobile devices. I oversee all strategy and planning around our projects, which includes research, UI design and technology development.

If you have a degree in what field is it? I have a BA in journalism from the University of New Hampshire. "Live free or die," as they say.
 
How did you get involved in this industry? That's a long and disastrous story involving tragic failures in other industries ranging from advertising to valet parking.

What's your biggest Web (design) turn-off? I'd like to see bloggers put some more effort into design. I get the sense that bloggers think that the sheer might of their prose negates the need for any design or typography development.

Who, in this industry (or not), has been your biggest inspiration? Edward Tufte. I crack open his books whenever I'm struggling with a complex design problem. I also like what the guys at 37Signals are doing right now, building powerful, useful software with small, incredibly smart teams.

What's the weirdest thing you've bought online? One of those "set it and forget it" rotisserie ovens. And it actually works!

What do you do in your spare time? I like to travel or, more accurately, dream about places I'd visit if I had more spare time.

What music are you listening to right now? I'm hooked on the '80s, both classic rock balladeers like Journey, Styx, and Asia and new wavers like New Order and Tears for Fears. Pop music has met with a slow and painful decline since 1989.
 
What product/gadget can you not live without? My iRobot Scooba floor cleaning robot. Scrubbing your floors is much more enjoyable while lying on the couch.  
 
What's your dream computer set-up? Did I hear that Steve Jobs is planning to announce the iHal 2000?