• The device a user is accessing your site with
•  The browser, on the device a user is accessing your site with
• The personal settings in the browser, on the device a user is accessing your site with

Not to mention the fact that for a site to truly be successful, it needs to not only work today, but be built in a way that is “future friendly” allowing it to work tomorrow, on devices not yet being used.

Succeeding in this environment means we need to accept that we’ve lost control, embrace it, and then design and build sites that are successful based on that criteria.

Brad Frost illustrates this point well, with this series of images he put together:

Websites Are Destinations

Unlike advertising, people are not randomly exposed to websites, so the rules of “being interruptive”, “breaking through the clutter”, “doing something wildly different to get attention”, etc. don’t necessarily apply. People come to websites with a purpose, whether it’s to shop, to buy, to learn, or to be entertained. They don’t just arrive, they are directed by some other communication – a tweet, an ad, a blog post, etc. Their visit is fueled by a purpose. Successful sites recognize that, and tailor the experience and content accordingly.

Content Is King

Optimizing a website for search so that content is also meaningful and useful to the end-user is a challenge, but well worth the effort. It starts with identifying which keywords and phrases will best allow potential visitors to find the site. It also requires identifying both business and organic search competitors and determining what words and phrases drive their success. Then carefully crafting content to contain the most relevant keywords in a way that is meaningful and relevant to users. Writing website content that increases site findability, while also being relevant to users, is an artform.

Success Is Driven By Users

Before assembling a site map and content outline, it is important to understand all the goals and business needs the site is required to achieve. It is also important to understand the goals users will have when they are on the site. Business and user goals will influence every site design/development decision from home page copy, to a simple contact form submissions, or the purchase of a product.

Accessibility Matters

You can have the slickest site on the web, but if users can’t access it, it doesn’t do anyone any good. For content to truly be king, the site needs to work whenever, wherever, regardless of device, or connection speed.

The Future is Unpredictable

Clean, flexible interfaces, that are designed in a way that is responsive to the user’s device, ensures that no matter how they access the site, they’ll be able to do so in a way that is both engaging and intuitive. Today’s ever-changing list of devices means website developers can’t think in the here and now, they have to be thinking in the then and there. They must acknowledge the unpredictable nature of the web, and embrace it fully.

In 2010 Square introduced, and I do not use this word lightly, a gamechanger. Download their app, sign up, and plug in in the little card reader they send you for free. You can now accept credit cards anywhere from anyone.

The app itself is pretty minimal. You type in a price and a description, swipe a card and let the customer sign with their finger. Square keeps a record of the transaction, takes a 2.75% cut for their trouble (less for non-profits), and deposits to your bank the next day.

Selling flowers at a Farmer’s Market? Done. Tutoring around town? Swipety-swipe-swipe. I was introduced to Square last year through a friend’s community theatre company. The plays they produce are free to attend, so they use Square to sell concessions and take donations from the lawn of an historic home. Square has really opened up the possibilities for small companies and freelancers in an increasingly cashless society.

Square was satisfied with this for about a year before they released another – yes I’m going to say it – gamechanger. Square Register combines the original square app with the ability to add and manage products as well as get detailed analytics about each transaction. Customers can then create their order, add a tip if they like, and get their receipt all from an iPad screen.

How amazing is that?! The answer is “Very.”

Square is an integral part of the larger trend of making powerful business tools available to small businesses or individuals who have no budget for large fees or setup costs. Don’t want to buy Microsoft Office? Use Google Docs. Need help collecting startup capitol? Use a site like Kickstarter. And now, accept credit card payments from anywhere with Square. The market is opening up to anyone brave enough to get into it.

UPDATE: PayPal has released their Square competitor, PayPal Here. It is very slightly cheaper with a 2.7% cut instead of Square’s 2.75. It also lets you add products on the iPhone version, which Square doesn’t support yet. That being said, you have to deal with PayPal, who are infamous for freezing accounts. No thanks!

Data is the new soil

I’m not a designer, but I keep a copy of David McCandless’s book, The Visual Miscellaneum, on my desk. Because it is beautiful. In his TED talk McCandless referred to data the “the new soil”, and that by “visualizing information, we turn it into a landscape that you can explore with your eyes.” Pie charts and Venn diagrams aren’t cutting it anymore. Not when visualizing the efficacy of popular dietary supplements or a cultural and commercial breakdown of Pinterest users.

Data is the new history

Jer Thorp, also a TED speaker, talks about how data visualization was used to understand the history of the New York Times (where he is, true story, the Data Artist in Residence). By taking a full year’s worth of news, Thorp shows the importance and connections among the several tens of thousands of pieces of content the New York Times created. With later projects he showed how a single story is shared over time, providing a way to map it’s effect on the Twittersphere.

Google Analytics is a great everyday example of this. A tool that remembers every visitor to a website – where they came from, where they go, how they interact, and where they drop off – and presents it to you in an easily digestible format. And what makes it easily digestible? The design. The time and effort put into creating something visual out of something analytical.

Data is the new competitive edge

The more we know, the more we can do, but only if we understand the information we’re given. Data visualization, like a flash card, gives us a quick and memorable birds-eye-view of what mountains of data can tell us. And the more that becomes available, the people (or clients, or users, or visitors) want it. Infographics have become popular because people want to know! They want transparency into their social networks, their governments, and the companies they do business with. Open data means more trust, more clarity, and more possibility for positive change. So when I say data is the new competitive edge, I don’t just mean having it. I mean giving it.

Open up the coffers and let your users in.

Brands that are on the list include Best Buy, McDonald’s, Whole Foods Market, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Century 21, The Cheesecake Factory, Dell, FedEx Office, FTD, Gulf, H&M, Seamless.com, Sports Authority, Ticketmaster, Virgin America and Zappos.

We can argue over whether or not this is a great idea, but you can’t fault AmEx for trying here. They’re doing a great job leveraging social services to connect with their customer base, and to engage with them in a way that their customers are already comfortable with.

The intriguing thing here will be to see what analytics look like on this in a few months, and how well it does – or doesn’t – catch on.

I’m a big fan of this effort, and have already jumped on board to give it a shot. How about you?

I guess the world of business communications is changing as evidenced by this recent Businessweek cover.

I’m sure this caused a lot of conversation in their editorial review. What do you think?

The 50 Best Websites of 2011
Time Magazine’s annual round up of the best websites.

30 Freakiest Ads of 2011
Get your freak on with AdFreak’s video list of bizarre ads from the year and see if their crazy worked.

Print’s Best New iPad Apps of 2011
Ad Age’s list of the most impressive publication apps highlights the increasing trend of interactivity required in print media’s digital expansion.

Ads That Entertain: YouTube’s Top Spots of 2011
Kids using The Force, Meme-interupting Aniston and playing baskball with The Bull are only a few of Ad Age’s collection of Top YouTube ad spots.

10 Biggest Mobile Tech Stories of 2011
CNN recollects the top stories that defined our new mobile age.

Tech Winners & Losers of 2011
Mashable details the highs and lows of for the tech industry from Apple and Amazon’s continued success to Netflix’s price hike woes and rebranding debacle.

Art of Menu Best of 2011
The newest division of Under Consideration picks the best of their already stellar collection of menus

15 Most Iconic Images of 2011
These pictures worth a 1,000 words captures the events and emotions that highlighted our year.

Top 20 iPhone and iPad Games of 2011
Have some fun and check out the top iOS games for your iPhone and iPad.

Review of the Year 2011
It’s Nice That Magazine takes a look back at all things that caught their eye and creatively pushed boundaries.

According to worldwide StatCounter statistics, Google’s Chrome Browser has just slipped above Firefox to become the 2nd most used internet browser. Despite being the youngest browser in the game, Chrome quickly became a favorite among web and design professionals. It’s fast, it’s light, it gets out of your way. And now it’s #2 in the world. Not bad for a 3 year old.

I use Chrome exclusively, along with several of my office mates. But I don’t discriminate! Safari and Firefox are excellent browsers, and Internet Explorer 8 and 9 have made HUGE strides in functionality and speed. But a handful of surfers, about 3% worldwide, are still lashed to IE 6. A browser that is so behind in functionality and so difficult (and expensive) to build websites for that Microsoft apologized for it, and Google dropped support. But for most of those 3%, IE6 is not a choice. Internal software built especially for IE6 and adopted by large companies during The Dark Times (the late 90s) means that employees often have no other option.

[Cue uplifting music]

That is, until Google Chrome released Chrome Frame, a plugin for IE browsers that allows it to mimic the functionality of Chrome for newer websites without losing legacy support for older ones. It’s pretty amazing. And as of recently you don’t even have to bribe your system administrator to install it for you! Once done, any website that includes this little meta tag: <meta content='chrome=1' http-equiv='X-UA-Compatible' />, will attempt to render using Chrome Frame in all its modern, cutting edge glory. And we include it in ALL new websites.

• This week congress started hearing the case for two new bills: PROTECT-IP and SOPA (Stop Online Privacy Act). While these bills seem well-intentioned, they’re incredibly dangerous. Get up to speed on what they mean to you with this great video.
• In celebration of it’s 85th birthday, the Macy’s Day Parade is getting something of a technology update as it intends to go mobile this year.
• Mark Zuckerberg tells employees that a Facebook IPO is coming, causing them all to go absolutely nuts.
• The future of online advertising is here!

Mobile usage increases daily and is expected to surpass desktop internet usage by 2014. Android OS devices, which are known for supporting Flash, are starting to overtake Apple’s iPhone in number of units sold. Why would Adobe decided to stop supporting Flash now?

Adobe’s reaction implies that they don’t believe that Flash will improve enough in speed and security to compete against quicker and friendly HTML5 that already has the lead in mobile browsing development. Add the fact that Apple made it beyond clear that Flash would never be supported on the iPhone and iPad, and you end up with half of the mobile internet market at best being able to view Flash in some capacity.

So, there’s still regular desktop browsing. Why can’t Flash survive there? The relatively new but fast growing concept of Responsive Design prevents the use of Flash. The idea of Responsive Design is to create and develop your site once with HTML5 and CSS3 in a way that allows the design to display correctly to the specifications of the device it is viewed on. For that to happen, the site must be compatible with mobile browsing practices, which again means no Flash can be used.

Flash has had it’s time in the sun for web development. Now, it appears, it’s time to move on.