Posts by Tama Easton for UpDate
Website Owners Need to Take Bing Seriously in 2023
For the past two decades Google has dominated searching for stuff on the internet. “Google” & “search” became interchangeable.
Read more →Social Connections vs Social Transactions and Why They Matter
To say humanity is built on communities is an understatement.
Read more →When Computers Choose What You Read (And It's Written By Other Computers)
As we enter the age of AI where computers can write like humans it's worth thinking about the computers that choose what we read.
Read more →Writer's Block, ChatGPT and the Future of Content
For someone who loves writing, 2022 was a rubbish year for me.
Read more →I've Got an Idea for an App! What Next?
We’ve built a lot of apps at UpShift, from small prototypes to complex systems involving multiple apps and services.
Read more →Why You Should Connect Your Website to the Google Ecosystem
We all know about Google’s search engine, but did you know an underlying ecosystem allows you to connect your website directly with Google's services? The Google ecosystem comprises several complimentary services.…
Read more →What Does Google Analytics 4 Mean For Me?
If you have a website there’s a good chance you’re using Google Analytics, and if you have Google Analytics you’ve probably received a bunch of emails from Google saying you…
Read more →Why we don't use WordPress to build websites in 2022
One of the challenges of software development is explaining the differences between different languages, platforms, frameworks & approaches.
Read more →Visualising Santa’s Sleigh at Your House
We thought we’d round off a busy year of work with the important question of visualising where Santa can park his sleigh on Christmas night.
Read more →Building in Shopify Online Store 2.0 - a Case Study
Shopify Online Store 2.0 was announced in mid-2021. We have recently built our first site using this new platform and wanted to share our experiences.
Read more →Digitally Chainsawing Doorways
We’re great believers in technology empowering people, especially in the digital sphere. But sometimes Do It Yourself turns into Wreck It Yourself and people come to us for help.
Read more →Spreadsheets are Simultaneously Fantastic & Terrible
Why did Public Health England’s Covid contact system lose 16,000 coronavirus cases? Because the Excel spreadsheet ran out of rows.
Read more →Mistaking Conflict for Engagement in the Digital Age
At UpShift we really like the concept of “engagement”, if you want to communicate with someone you need them to be engaged, behind which lies some art, science and luck.
Read more →Why UpShift went Climate Positive
Yesterday I was reminded of the importance of talking about why we take action on issues that matter to us.
Read more →Digital Spec Builds vs Custom Builds vs Journeys of Discovery
Today I’m going to look at three different ways to build a website or app. Not for the first time this is going to involve talking about houses.
Read more →UpShift Turns Eight & Opens a New Chapter
Birthdays are certainly a time for retrospect and UpShift’s eighth birthday has given us plenty to think about.
Read more →DiabetesWise Device Finder: Unbiased Comparisons of Diabetes Technology
The 10th of October 2020 saw a major milestone in DiabetesWise with the launch of the Device Finder functionality.
Read more →How to Ride a Bike for 1,051 days in a Row
Yesterday was the 1,051st day in a row I went for a bike ride, not that I’m counting or anything.
Read more →How Long Should Technology Last?
17th of September 2020 was a big day for millions of people around the world.
Read more →The 10% Rule of Community Engagement
I’ve been talking to a few people about community engagement recently. The topic of how much engagement you can expect often came up.
Read more →FLO Engage: A Digital Community Engagement Platform
One of UpShift’s North American clients - FLO Analytics - approached us about building a community engagement platform for their clients. That platform - FLO Engage - recently launched.
Read more →The Bots Know Best: Redux
Recently I’ve been having a few conversations with people concerned about the direction social media is taking.
Read more →Tracking a Decade Old Joke: Part 1
Trying to track the evolution & spread of a decade old online joke opens a can of questions about provenance, privacy & walled off data.
Read more →The NZ Flag Referendum as a Case Study for a Terrible Design Process
From 2015-2016 New Zealand spent $27 million and countless hours on a flag change that didn’t happen.
Read more →UpShift's Approach to SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
We often get asked if we “do SEO” and are never quite sure how to answer.
Read more →Digital Transformation with Humanity
The concept of digital transformation has been around for a couple of decades. Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated many plans, or lack of plans towards digital transformation.
Read more →Hedgehogs vs Recessions
New Zealand has just left our Covid-19 lockdown, but is now facing a massive global recession.
Read more →Website Content Architecture 101
One of the most important, yet most overlooked components of a website is its content architecture.
Read more →Being a Digital Agency in Level 4 Lockdown
New Zealand is a month into a Level 4 Lockdown, with almost the entire population staying at home to prevent the spread of (and hopefully eliminate) Covid-19.
Read more →Start Selling Online: Covid-19 Edition
New Zealand is currently in full lockdown to combat Covid-19, with many businesses exploring how they can still serve their customers in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Read more →How to have Friends (Virtually) Over for Dinner
In these strange days of lockdowns & social distancing it’s important we continue to socially connect with each other in quality ways.
Read more →Going Remote
Instead of writing about work we’ve done or technology I’m interested in I thought I’d write about Covid-19 & our business.
Read more →The Perils of Monkey's Paw Development
In the classic short story by W. W. Jacobs a magical monkey’s paw grants three wishes at great cost.
Read more →DiabetesWise: Prototype to Medical Trial
Since 2017 UpShift has been part of a Stanford Medical School project called “DiabetesWise”.
Read more →Building Two Bees - Court Costs Calculator
Two Bees is a great example of taking something complicated & turning it into an accessible online tool.
Read more →Do Something you Love (at least) Once a Day!
Here’s a case study on how I’ve improved my work/life balance by doing something I love (at least) once a day.
Read more →Working for Overseas Clients from New Zealand
Over half of UpShift’s business is with overseas clients.
Read more →Telling the Story of Where Your Food Comes From
UpShift recently worked on “Better Fishing” a web app which gives visitors an intimate view of fisherman Karl Warr as he catches fish off the coast of New Zealand.
Read more →Observations on Kicking my Facebook & Instagram Habits
In July 2019 I kicked my Facebook & Instagram habits. I thought people might be interested in my experiences so far.
Read more →How to Price a Railway Line
Have you ever wondered the most cost effective way to build & maintain a railway line? Probably not, but if you’re in the business of managing railway lines this sort of…
Read more →Plastic Beach: Visualising Ocean Plastics
We’ve been working on a super interesting project with the Cawthron Institute to help people visualise how plastic waste is moved around the oceans.
Read more →Too Many Keywords on the Dance Floor
A long long time ago, web creators used “keywords” as invisible metadata to tell search engines what their websites were about.
Read more →Data Model in a Bottle
Today I’m going to answer the question that’s been on your mind all month “What are data models & can they be used to describe pop songs?“ For this example I’m…
Read more →Futureproofing Digital Architecture
I often find myself using house building analogies when it comes to explaining software development.
Read more →AI: Around the Corner or Down the Road?
Last week I spent two interesting & insightful days at the ITx Rutherford conference.
Read more →Developing Digital Desire Paths
“Desire paths” is the name given to those short-cuts our feet follow, which aren’t part of the planned pathways around us.
Read more →Social Media as Junk Food
I originally wrote this post in October 2013 and thought it was worth a repost as I'm talking about similar issues in 2021.
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